Just in time

Depends on the fow I am fishing. In 100 fow I usually put mag diver with ring set on 1 back 75 and otherside 90. I run 6 divers. Next set on two. Mags no rings 100 and other side 140. High divers are number 1 with rings set on 3.5 spoons on these 90 back with fuzzy bear buffalo bill and other side 120 back usually a dreamweaver uv spoon. This is usually good to me in the morning

I have lost many walleye boards with mono in the setup. I find the albright knot fails fairly quick when tied to the copper with braid. I do fish 100 plus trips a year and mono worked great in the beginning of each season it gets weak after many uses. I now tie power pro directly to the copper using a howy knot. Make a single knot in the copper with the braid going thru it. loop the braid and twist over copper and braid 20 times approx. Pull line thru loop.pull that knot up tight to other knot. Hasnt failed this year yet. Comes through levelwind of Tekota and Convector reels fine. I have had SPRO swivels fail in the past. With in experienced fishermen on board I have seen it all and the above mentioned howy knot has worked best for me.

Fishing was great in Whitehall this past weekend. Hottest bait was northport nailer Belding bait. Friday we caught 11 mostly on downriggers. 60,70&80 down with sliders. Belding bait catching majority. It was slider set on 80 rigger. Saturday Belding bait set same place caught majority again. We caught 10. Dipsey 140 back with stinger froggy plate and big weenie green fusion fly produced well also.Sunday same program caught 10 fish same hot two baits. Today the water was cooler and everything caught fish. Belding bait produced 4. Entire weekend I fished 100 to 140 fow. I caught 15 of 23 this morning fishing 4 hours. I had a lot of lost fish over the weekend but cant remember the numbers. Caught a few cohos everyday. Have photos but uploading from phone I do not know how to do.

www.justintimefishingcharters.com

I catch alot of steelhead on dipseys. Run a number 1 dipsey set on 3. Put a Fuzzy Bear Buffalo Bill or a double orange crush lure 6 foot behind the dipsey. No ring on dipsey. I also do best with an orange dipsey. I can make this combo catch steelhead almost all the time. 90 to 140 back.

I run flea flicker line and they do not get on it. The sea fleas are a parasite in the lake. Another invasive species we have aquired.

Good report. I have been having great success with the dreamweaver UV lures. Dipseys have been on fire with large white paddle and oceana fly. Green froggy spin doctor with blue bubble fly has been good for me also.

I use polomer knots on all my swivels. Albright knot on my copper. I do not know what the name of the knot I use on lead core. I make a large loop in the leadcore, feed some lead out and remove about three inches, feed the mono into the sleeve and the work my loop down to the end of lead core where the mono is and I pull it tight. Small knot and it doesnt fail. I do check my lines every time I send them out for burrs or knicks. Retie if I feel anthing. I also let the fish run with light drags. I like them wore out when they get close to my boat.

I am going out tomorrow am. I am heading south. Trolling the shore to Duck lake then head west. First time out this year. After the water warms Stoney Lake is usually very productive for me. I monitor channel 68 and fish alot in the mornings because I work second shift. Give me a shout on the radio and I will share anything that is working for me. This is the only time of year I head south. Once the fish show up I always fish north of the pack of boats. I rarely fish near many boats. Never had long line caught and dont plan on it.

I like #2 and #4 best. I am sure these would work in Whitehall.

Only dipsey rod I point down is mag. I have talora rods with tekota reels and the mag creates enough drag even when popped I have never lost one. I keep the other rods either straight or angled up. I use Michigan rod holders. I also always have the cap on my rod holders. I have lost a lead core setup when my planer line pulled it out of my tree. Only rod I have ever lost. Knock on wood. Been salmon fishing for 35 years, 25 with my own equiptment. I worry more about a thief. I have had a few rods stolen in the past at marinas.

I have tried interline rods on the west side but the sea fleas clogg the tips.I have also had many Blue diamond roller rods break. Never had an issue with Talora roller rods. Twilli tips are the best low budjet option in my oppinion.

The current direction and speed at the ball are most important. In Whitehall fishing in the morning 90% of the time I troll north west. In the evenings I troll north or south east. I find it best to be in shallower water at sun up and sun down. At those time temp isnt as criticall the fish are feeding.

Last year the water was warm here in Montague and short cores didnt work well for me. 15 and 18 colors worked best. 300 and 450 coppers were equally as productive. I have a set of Z Boards and can get them to run good then they need tuned again next trip. The walleye boards are much better in my oppinion. Adjust the weight forward to one for heavier lines. If you buy copper and are a beginner get the coated copper it is more forgiving. The 45 lb copper sinks further. Not enough differance between 30lb copper sink depths to lead core to justify higher cost.

It would depend on how deep you want your lure to get. If you are looking for depth put it on the leader. Farther out will make the dive bomb deeper. If you put one on your backing you will need to let quite a bit out before putting on your board otherwise it is doing nothing for you. I dont usually run more than 1 dive bomb on each side. They track differant than the other lines in my past experience.

I change my mono every year. I change the backing on my cores and copper every year also. I buy new wire as the reels get low. I had power pro that was 4 years old with no issues. I bought new reels and put new line on last year. Z boards had me change all my copper last year due to false releases.

I have the weight set forward to number 1 on my walleye boards. They pull 300 and 450 coppers fine. I do have rod trees so the line in front of the board is never in the water. Z boards dont work so well on my boat. I have a full set and they need tuned every time the lake changes and their crappy release mis releases frequently. If more than one false release a tangled mess occurs. At first I thought they were great but after many fishing trips they are just occupying space on my boat.Walleye boards are hard to beat in my oppinion.

I agree last year the coppers that produced best for me were 450 and 300. The best producing cores were 15 and 18 color. My short coppers only caught a few fish. 5 color did produce better on my boat. I run 8 boards with one side being all copper and the other side being lead core. Lead core side produced more fish last year on JUST-N-TIME. Water was warm in Whitehall last year and that kept the fish deep. That is why the longer set ups caught fish in my oppinion for what it is worth.

I switch my fly colors to spin doctor colors until I find what they want. I do catch more fish with white spinnies than any other color but that is probally because I always have a couple white ones out in my spread. Change length of flies and longer leads from dipsey to flasher work best for me. I usually have a 5 foot leader along with my snubber. Flies are 18 to 26 inches from my spin doctor. I do run a 4 foot or longer leader on the flie on large paddles. I usually only run flasher flie combos on my dipseys.

I cut the rib cage out after slabbing. I then skin the fish leaving a little meat on the skin so most of the fat (grey color) stays with the skin. I then feel for the bones and I cut on both sides. I catch a lot of fish so the piece I cut out is 3/8 to 1/2 wide. Then I feel inside the cut to make sure I didnt cut and leave some bones. My kids dont eat fish with bones. Then I cut a v and remove the rest of the fat. Salmon with no grey tastes much better in my opinion. I can do this in a quick fashion. If you are slow do some of it at home if the line at the cleaning station is large. With practice you will get good and fast.

Make sure you seal the mounting bolts good when you find one. Thompson boats transom from the factory are not the best to say the least. My platform wasnt sealed and I had to replace the transom. The new one is glassed in and was epoxy coated. I did not put back on the boat becuase swim platforms get in the way netting fish. I havent found a ladder that will work on my boat. You may have the same problem. My gunnel is too wide. If I see one in my travels I will let you know.

I run sliders all the time any sea conditions. I run sliders that are 3 -4 foot long and never have tangles. I only have three riggers on my boat and the beam is 10 foot. I did run four riggers on my old boat that had a 8 foot beam. If the lake was rough I only ran two sliders to help prevent tangles. I use blacks releases and sharpen all hooks even on new spoons. I rarely loose fish on sliders. If I start getting short hits I speed up a little and the hook will catch them. I do put alot of bend in my rigger rods. I usually run my sliders free so they are around half the depth of cannon ball. I do not run a slider on a SWR, or a line with a spin doctor and fly. Those are the only setups when I do not have three sliders. Watch the hook on the lower lure when netting. I have never been hooked but had some close calls. Most of the time when two fish are caught I think one was hitching a ride. Rarely do I catch 2 nice fish at the same time on the same pole. Pay attention to the rod tips and you will see when you have a hitch hiker. Sometimes a small hitch hiker will turn off the bite on your whole spread.

I start with 90 ft and replace when it is 10 foot. I prefer the longer lengths so I know when to get the net. The longer leaders run a differrant depth than a short lead but all my cores have a long lead so I am still covering many depths in the water column.

I have a fiberglass platform I took of my 260 Thompson Fisherman. Not sure what size Thompson fisherman you have.

I have 450 ft of 45lb morgans copper on Convector 55 reels. I had a couple large Penn reels but the retrival was too slow. I use 30lb Ande for backer and I put 100 yards on.

The last time I was in Angling Outpost they had them. They are located in Muskegon. Check their website out. They do have fair prices for when you decide to buy.