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Ed, all three kings were females, two natural and one plant. They had not fed recently until they met up with my spread.

Good work Zgrinder!!!! Sent from my iPhone using Great Lakes Fisherman

Nice looking fish. Never give up! You, Janet and endurance were great fishing partners. A nice cookout. Hopefully this is the start of what we have been waiting for. Congratulations! Lots of alewives in fish?

Janet and I made plans over the weekend to fish Sunday evening hoping the mild SE wind forecast held. Set up Fin Warrior in the afternoon. Swapped out a pair of 25lb mono diver reels for the reserve 40lb mono reels to mitigate the water fleas that have showed up early this year. Pushed off just after 6:00pm and setup in 115 FOW north of the harbor heading N/NW. The program: Five lines, two standard 1.5 set mono dipsey divers, two riggers and 300’ steel down the shoot. Dipseys targeted 45-50’ down and the riggers 55-65’ down. All spoons of a mixed variety on dispeys and riggers and a dark J-plug on the 300’ steel. The clear skies darkened with the two incoming fronts. Not sure if we were going to fish a little or fish a lot. The BP began to drop and I knew it was going to drizzle a bit. This got me jazzed up as fishing can be really good just before a storm, providing there is no lightening to deal with. Started off marking plenty of fish down 50-80’ in 115-125 FOW. Pushed out to 130 FOW and the marks were gone, same as Friday night. Moved back in and more marks began to appear. Everything looked good but not a bite. The current was wacky. Trolling speed 2.1 then 2.8mph and the dipseys per Smart Troll were up then down in the water column. After about an hour into the troll, the first front intensified so I made the big turn to head south, put on my rain gear and trolled 120FOW back to the harbor in case we had to rip and run. Rain started to pop up on and off. I was thinking this was ideal. Pulled one of the dipseys and retooled it with a mag bloody nose glow charged spoon thinking this would be money (it didn't work). Like an alarm clock, at 8:00pm, SWR with the mag blue green spotted dolpin got bit. Same time, same setup and spoon as Friday night. Down a bit deeper at 66’ on a south troll, we boated a 13.5lb king. Perfect. Got that rig back down and at 8:22pm it went off again. Boated a 12.5lb king. Hard to tell them apart but I did weigh all the fish. Changed out a now dull hook (do this!) and got that rig back down. The opposite downrigger tipped with a mag Yellow Tail spoon (or Mixed Veggie, I never can tell) was silent this trip so I switched it out to something darker (DW Half Moon – it didn’t work). I also pulled the SB diver orange/gold spoon and replaced it with a trusted Purple Stinger was not in the water but for a few hot minutes and bang it went singing. Another 12.5lb king ventured into the cooler. That one worked!!! It was now 8:50pm. I promised Janet I would pull lines at 9:00pm and with lightning visible on the horizon at that time, and more rain was coming down, even though the bite was good, it was time to call it a night. The long line did nothing. Not sure if it was the presentation or the depth of the lure as this was likely the high in the water column compared to the rest of the spread. Janet can handle the net well so there were no one man clown shows this trip. Three bites and three solid fish. A very satisfying outing. The black flies were terrible but we managed through it. Lot of Fin Warrior cleaning tomorrow. The fish will likely make it to the grill at the Eldean 4th of July cookout this coming weekend. Happy to donate. Made simple steaks with Friday nights catch. Salt brine for 4 hours, dry well, crushed black pepper and Old Bay, then on the grill for 6-8 min a side. Delicious. Brought fish to my mother-in-law for lunch. She loved it. Chef was very happy!

One thing I noticed about the ninja diver. I have to deploy it a little more carefully because it slipped out of the hooking trigger mechanism easily.

That's one lure I always keep a spare as you suggest. I had the ninja set too light, so I snugged it up a little. Waiting to see what size fish triggers it. I use one of those sea fleas tools to get them off the line. But you got to watch your line so you don't nick it. Even with that it still takes a little time trying clear the fleas to change lures.

Glad you hand is on the mend and can handle a rod. Two very nice fish. Appears the lake did not lay down at all from last night. I ran North for 2 1/2 hours from Saugy to Holland to be close to port at sunset. Didn't want to run full throttle at dusk in the chop. The water fleas seam to be early this year, no? I was unable to trip some of the Ninja slide divers with all the pods on the lines. Hope you have a backup Hulk Mag - that spoon is money!

Fished 5:30-10am, stayed just inside of 80fow, 2 for 2, king 13.6# and a coho 6.2#. Both full of alewives and eggs. Ran drs,150,170, 210 coppers and new ninja 124 diver. 1- King, 13.6#, hulk mag spn, DR ball depth 46ft, W trl, 2.4 sog, ball temp 55.4 , 78.4 fow(6:15am) 2-Coho, 6.2#, 5 eye std on slider, DR ball depth 46ft, N trl, 2.6sog , ball temp 52.7, 67.6 fow (7:22am) Lost my hulk mag when swivel broke off at slider Lots of sea fleas, sliders got stuck in fleas, 1-3 ft waves, surf temp 63, wind 10-19mph up and down alot. Very strong currents today, notice the SURFACE speed vs the PROBE speed on the display. Fishhawk really helped BIG difference between surface currents and ball speeds. I was by myself until the 1st fish and then every boat that passed me on there way out came back to keep me company. Normally I don't fish the weekends. But I've been sitting on land to long. Wrist is getting better, but still weak.

Well stored for a 2 piece rod folded up. Different situation for me. My rods are full length. I just roll the diver one turn under the mainline that has the snap-swivel attached to a hook holder near the reel. Weather might break hoping to get out.

Ed, attached is a pic of how I am currently stowing my Ninja divers. 3/4" hook and loop cable tie wraps from Amazon work great for securing the rods and anything else. With the blue noodle from Walmart, so far this is holding up well for storage. Hope this helps or inspires you to create a better storage solution!

Glad we are comparing feedback. Fishing solo all the time I need to keep the tackle close to me for operational purposes. Wear, grooving, nicks and performance are all items I follow very closely.

Regarding your first point, I meticulously inspected the surface of where the line wraps around the release arm and was impressed that the molded part had a very smooth surface. DW must have received a lot of feedback on the performance of this part. However, mono or flouro being stressed on any surface is something I shy away from. That is why I was searching for a system that would allow braid to run at this point of the system to reduce the stress on the line. Too early in the trial to determine if braid will cut and compromise that smooth surface. Next time I am at the boat I will try to remember how I have the diver secured to the rod. Since my spooling set up has the micro swivel downstream from the diver, it never gets to the guides. However, I use micro swivels on all my long lines and have never had a problem to date with the ceramic guides getting compromised.

That is composite decking attached with Marine grade adhesive. The bearings on the trailer were replaced 2 seasons ago. They have less than 150 miles on them. They also have bearing buddies.