Wondering if anyone does it or if its even worth the investment in two new wire diver rod/reels.  It's not a cheap investment so I wanted to get some insight on what others think first.  If I had three people on the boat, I would run two downriggers with sliders, 4 dipsey divers and 2 lead core or copper rods.  

Thoughts?

Seaguar 100% red label 20 lb 

Seaguar 100% regular 25 lb

Pline coated  25lb

The coated is cheaper

I did have leader breakage when I went to lighter leader material - Thanks

I am fortunate to know the owner of Parkway Inn and he allowed me to install a radio and antenna on the roof as well as using his Internet connection to upload the live stream to the streaming server.

The last week of testing has been great. It’s picking up all radio chatter on channel 68 from Grand Haven down to Saugatuck.

Hopefully this will be a great fishing tool for all this year!

Check it out:

http://www.bigredclassic.com/radio.htm

This is an excel spread sheet that will calculate how much of the various lines will fit on your reel. It was created by Eric Lang who goes by the username Arbogaster here. You have to have excel in order to use it.

There are directions on how to use this on the spread sheet, and I am going to walk you through it also.

Step one

The first thing you need to do is to is to enter the line capacity for you reel in the Advertised Reel Data box. It is important that you use the Big Game dimensions for this first box. I have a reel in front of me that says it will hold 430 yds of 25lb line. In the line spec table it shows berk. big game 25 = 0.019.

In the Line Capacity in Yds box I am going to enter 430.

In the Diameter of line in inches box I am going to enter 0.019.

This shows the Calculated Reel Volume Capacity = 4.389 Cubic Inches.

Step two

Enter the diameters of the lines you wish to use on your reel in the Proposed Line Data box. I am going to use 30lb power pro for backing, 27lb lead core, and a 20lb leader.

Enter the diameters in the boxes.

Backing 0.011

Core 0.032

Leader 0.018

Step three

Enter the length of the propsed lines you wish to place on the reel. I am going to use 300 yds of backing, 100 yds or core, and 25 yds of leader.

Enter these lengths in the boxes.

Backing 300

Core 100

Leader 25

This shows the reel is 94.6% full.

Play around with different line combinations and see what you come up with.

reel_fill_calculator.zip

  If you don't think that fish will be effected at a distance, pay attention. If a boat doesn't fish well, will that boat catch fish by going deeper with the lures? It depends on how bad the boat is and the conductivity of the water (mineral content). We fish for salmon beyond 200 ft on a regular basis in BC. When a boat does not fish well, that angler won't catch much fish even beyond that depth. This phenomenon is regulated by the boat's electric signature in water. Here is an example of one chap that I helped.

 He has a 19' aluminum boat with outboard and kicker and fishes Lake Ontario. He could not catch fish within 150 ft of his boat. Some aluminum, by itself, will actually give off a negative signature. Aluminum is basically anodic in nature. What is required, is to change the hull signature to cathodic. In his case, it was simply running a jumper wire from his lower outboard legs to the steering swivel and ensuring that there is electrical continuity from the trim zinc through to the hull. The outboard zincs are now protecting the aluminum hull as well as the outboards. This changes the boat's signature from negative anodic to positive cathodic, or at least neutral, where fish are not being repelled. Adding more sacrificial anodes to the hull will also boost the positive signature. 

 Most newer outboards will already have a factory jumper wire seen at the lower portion of the steering swivel. Some guys (manufacturers) will also use nylon or wood on both sides of the transom where the outboard is clamped. This may cause you to loose electric continuity from the outboard to the hull. The best test is to use an ohm meter and test for continuity between the trim zincs to the bare hull. My preference is to use the 20 ohm setting.

 Oh yeah! The guy with the problem, he is now catching fish under his boat and is simply amazed that one jumper wire cured his problem. He was only one of many boat owners that I helped. Fiberglass boat owners can have just as much of a problem, and from small amounts of underwater metals. Aluminum is not the only problem metal. Absolutely every underwater metal that is by itself, or in a group of interconnected metals, will give off a signature. Saying that, a boat can have several signatures coming from it. This is where "bonding" comes in. Every underwater metal should be interconnected to each other and joined to the engine block and negative ground. This means metal through hull fittings, trim tabs, transducer brackets, bow protectors, everything. Once you do this and have an adequate amount of protective anode attached, you will be giving off one positive signature, and you will catch fish under the boat. You will also catch more fish with lures closer to the boat instead of being 100ft away. For receptive fish, the positive voltage field will put them "in the mood", and if close enough, they will seek you out. I say receptive, because not all species respond to it, but the important ones do.  For the most part, aluminum boats do not require much bonding, as the hull itself is conductive.

 I am still willing to help anyone with issues, no charge, nada, free. Just message me, or reply so it can be seen by all. (c:} 

Hello Pro’s. I have a 2018 Lund Tyee with the 42 degree Sport Track system.

Last spring/summer I trolled with cheap plastic rod holders for dipsies and leadcore. I had a ball. My wife had a ball. We actually found something that we both enjoy and we were getting pretty good at.

I have saved all winter for downriggers and rod holders to make trolling and rid management easier and make the bot a little more professional looking.

I am ready to make a huge purchase but wanted to voice my concerns and see if you guys will guide me in the right direction.

My gut feeling and current path forward is to buy Big Jon Pro Pro Tournaments affixed to the Lund Sport Track downrigger plate. The silver finish and the autostop are the sell points for me. This will also give me the ability to move the downriggers up and back, and remove them on overnighters. I have seen zero reports of the Lund Sport Track not providing solid support. Let me know if I am making a mistake.

My second purchase is Big Jon vertical rod trees (the three rod holder) on the Lund Sport Track downriggers plate. The one hand operation is the sell point here. My concern is...Do you guys run dipsies on these vertical rod holders? I am kind of worried about the strength of the tree especially at the top. Seems like my dipsies are beastly pressure.

My other purchase is to by the TX-44 Church Magnum Planer boards for dipsies. Do you guys use planer board with dipsies? I like the big boards for lead core, but never used them for Dipsy divers because I thought the diver would just pull the board under or the board would just come off.

Thats quite a lot to digest, all responses appreciated. Target date for purchase is 5 March for all the gear.

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If you could only have 4 long lines what would they be?

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Thanks guys

Just wondering what other anglers run at daybreak when targeting kings. I had gotten out of salmon fishing for about 12 years, but in the last three bought another boat and am getting back into it. So much has changed inthe last 15 years. Anyway, I usually go out in the dark and have my lines set by daybreak or before. For simplicity, I tend to run all or mostly glow spoons to start. Then switch to 50/50 spoons flashers as the sun starts to rise. I usually get fish, but don't do as well as other anglers. So just wondering how you all start your day? Would I have better odds running flashers to start? If so, meat rigs, flies, or spin n glow type lures?

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Thanks 

-Joel

For any Rapala shallow or deep been using loop knot.

Dreamweaver size 3 snap swivel for Thin Fin, Thin Fish, Hot N Tot, etc. Started 30# mono, now 12# mono from boards various length coppers.

Anybody out there feel strongly about snap only (no swivel) for these lures? Been reading about bass guys only using snap for crankbaits? Does it really matter?

Trying to keep lures changing and fingertips warm at same time...