medic

I'm flying back home June 4th and my son should be back in MI on his post deployment leave somewhere around July 1st. He has to spend about another 30 days at Camp Pendleton after we get back to Cali before he gets his post deployment leave. He just called me to wish me a happy birthday (He's in Guam right now) and told me that for my birthday, he booked a half day charter out of Honolulu... DAMN!!! Do I ever feel like a lucky dog!! BIG fish here I come!!

Mike...I think the top 20 ft will work.. Isn't that where they normally troll those chunks of broomsticks with gaffs in them for Marlin, anyway?? Do you think 20 lb test will do it or should I respool with 30 lb?? I'll definately pass on your thanks, bro!!

Yes.. I'm pretty excited!! My son is a Marine on the way back from the sand box and I was invited to participate in the Tiger Cruise. It should be really cool! It's getting close now and I'm getting pretty anxious! I will DEFINATELY pass on everyone's thanks! THANK YOU for supporting our men and women in the military, everyone!!

Hey Fella's... Yeah.. One footers, sunny, and the fish were turning on in the mud line.. And we both had to DRAG our butts to work... That bit, big time!! Oh well.. I have a feeling it's going to be a good season!! Mike, I fly out the 24th.. 3 days in Hawaii..7 days on the pacific..2 days in San Diego.. I'm still trying to figure out how I can take a couple of rods and a rigger and mount it on here...

Went out with a fiend of minefor his shakedown cruise Tuesday morning. After a little bit of a late start, we hit the water about 8:00.. Set up in 60 fow and headed west. Went out to 160 fow with nothing but a little shaker on a full core and a quick rip on a swr behind a board but no one home to show for it. Started hearing reports of a few fish being taken in tight so we headed back in. We took 2 small kings in 40 fow. One off the swr with a DW 4D in blue dolphin and the other on a 5 color with a Fishlander orange froggy. It was picking up for us between 11:00 and 12:00 but unfortunately, Larry and I both had to go to work. Trolling speed of 2.0 to 2.4 at the ball.

Fishsniffer, I also always have at least one or two flasher/fly combo's in the water all season. They may not catch as many fish early, but like Paulywood said, I believe they take larger fish early in the season. They also act as an attractor to pull active fish into your spread. It never hurts to have one or two down. Good luck this season! Bill

I am currently running the Garmin 2010 monochrome chartplotter (new..$900) with the GSD 20 black box fishfinder ($239.00). I have had this set up for four seasons now and absolutely love it. Never one issue with it other than stepping on the power connection for the GSD 20 in the bilge and breaking it off. Garmin sent me a brand new GSD 20 for $75. I had it in two days after the phone call. Just had to sent the broken one back in the postage paid box they sent with the new one. That was excellent service!! I would really like to play with some of the new Garmin stuff (Radar, autopilot, etc..) and see if it's worth upgrading..

We hit the river Friday morning. Got a late start but was on the water by 10 am. It was a beautiful day but the fishing was real spotty. We only managed to boat 1 walleye (21 incher) in 5 hrs. It came on a green jig head w/ a twister tail and tipped with a minnow. The most fish I heard of cauht in 1 boat was 5. More suckers than anything else. Water temp was 50 degrees. Was in contact with a couple of friends that were fishing Erie out of Luna Pier and they got completely skunked on Friday. Bill

Too cool!!! We were really slow too. Only 1 eye in 5 hrs.. Bill

That's a beautiful pic nailer... This is just another thing I miss about not living in Alaska any more. Loons and eagles thick as flies there. Thank you. Bill

Sleepyweas3l, Here is a link to a sale on Daiwa Heartlands I just received. Decent prices. http://www.fishusa.com/Daiwa-Heartland-Trolling-Rods_p.html?i=16DC8357861D4042853F9C213C709162 Good luck, Bill

Sleepyweas3l, Any decent medium to medium/heavy rod will work for downrigger or planer board application. The two things you want to consider for dipsey rods is that they have enough backbone to widthstand the pressure of the dipsey along with the strike and if you are going to run multiple dipsey's on one side, you want to stagger the length of the rods to give you more clearance near your tips. Alot of that will depend on how you have your rod holders set up. IE.. I can run a 8'6" Okuma wire rod, a 9' 6" Daiwa Heartland PP dipsey, and a 10' 6" Heartland dipsey on one side and not have any clearance issues. I run 8' 6" Okuma leadcore rods for my in line planer boards (leadcore). I have 8' 6" medium heavy Okuma Classic downrigger rods. Personally, other than length and reel setups, I don't think it would be an issue to switch any of these rods around to use for multiple applications. (Other than wire) So..Is that clear as mud?? I guess what I'm trying to say is that a good medium heavy rod will work for the majority of your applications. Good luck, Bill

SHU9265, I'm not sure where you are located, but here is an excellent surveyor. His name and number is: Capt. Mark Veurink (Reel Action Charters) 14630 144th Ave Spring Lake, MI 49456 (616) 638-3331 I have used him personally and he does an excellent job at a reasonable rate. Good Luck. Bill

Hey Rich, Deending on what you are looking for, here is a good place that has a lot of selection. I've ordered from them before and their customer service is OUTSTANDING! Check them out. www.crutchfield.com I am considering the Pioneer DEH-P6000UB (?) for the boat. It will play all types of home burned cd's and it also has a front USB port so if you load a bunch of music onto a thumb drive, just plug it in and it will play your digital music right off that, too. If memory serves me, the stereo lists for $249.00. Good luck, Bill

Very nice, Bill...Very nice indeed!!

Ken, The easiest way to attach a swivel to a wire rig is this. (Hope I describe it well) Run your wire through the swivel and bring it back up making a loop. Hold both sections of the wire above the swivel and tie a granny knot (Like tying your shoes). Pull it as tight as possible. Trim your tag end and you're good to go. I have used this knot for wire since I started and have not had it fail yet. Good luck, Bill

Welcome to the site George!! Lots of good folks that aren't afraid to share info here. You'll like the addiction!!!

Naw, Skeiner....I'm new to this rodeo... Soo.... Can anyone explain to me what a SWR is???

Welcome aboard Chris! Good to see you over here!!

Definately a better price than the two I found. There are definate advantages to going to a thru hull, like getting good readings at speed. My next one will be a thru hull also. Good luck and enjoy! Bill

Welcome aboard Walleyemagic!!

Wow..I did it.. THANKS MIKE!!!

Ok...I'll attempt this link thing again!! Here is the link to buy directly from Garmin.

Thanks Mike... Someday I'll get it...Not so much!! Erdocdan, I just checked Garmin's website and you can buy them (The dual freq bronze thru hull) directly from them for $247.00.. DEFINATELY better than West Marine! Good Luck, Bill

Ok..Apparently I cannot add a link to my post. West Marine has them. If you go into their Garmin FF section, on page two about half way down on the left side there is a 200 khz ducer that says "From $62.99" click on that and it brings up a list of transducers. The bronze dual freq through hull is about half way down the list. It says it is in stock right now. Once again, Good luck. Bill