JoeMan

Welcome aboard Dan.

I reel the swivel all the way to the rod tip. This prevents the swivel from possibly getting stuck in the rod tip, or damaging it.

I reel it all the way to the rod tip to prevent the coils in the line when a diver is removed with slack line.

Thanks for the explanation. I normally hook the swivel to the loop near the reel. With the 8'-9' rods its a pain chasing the swivel at the other end of the rod. I usually snip off and retie my lines 3-4 times a season anyway. Thanks.

I use the same not as what Ken(Nailer) posted. It ties easy with the 19 strand wire. Remember to put a plastic bead above the knot.

I don't understand, what's the bead for?

Here is a portion of a report I found yesterday on another forum. You just about gotta be a math wiz to follow this one.

"Water cooled off up north along the bank, 41deg 50 down, started to warm up at 58.4 on the 33 line and by 58.2 it was 48deg down 50ft. This warmer pool stretched from the 30.5 to the 35's and 58.2 to 56's where it started to cool off again. 3 good stretches of water today, 33 line from 58.4 to 59.4 working it north and south, although this water was not good for me. 35 line in the 56's until the the wind died and the water went glassy, then the fish disappeared. Trolling in to the pier head from 30.5 to the 29 line straight out we hit 8 fish while pulling lines, here the water was colder at 20ft down than in the 34's 70 ft down.":confused:

Once I pulled my depth map out and marked the areas, it makes complete sense. My map with the Lat/Lon scale is as valuable as my GPS.

i will usually say something like...im in 130fow trolling north to the 16s....

George, the 16s is reference to the decimal minutes on your GPS. If Fishsniffer were fishing out of Muskegeon then his GPS Latitude would be reading N43deg 16'. I've heard it on the radio a couple of ways, with Latitude and FOW or Latitude/Longitude. Again, both are the decimal minute readings on your GPS.

Great fishin Dan. We saw a number of boats on Sun straight out and south of the harbor but never got over there. We were still workin out in front of the bath house for our bite.

Are there any limits for the tournament? #of fish per boat, # of rods allowed to fish. Wondering how your tournaments are set up over there. What are the favorite lures?? Sounds like a fun tournament?

Went out with a friend this morning. We left the dock at about 6:15am and motored out to 80fow on top of the bank. We had 2 in the boat in the first 15min. Trolled north into 120fow and hit a double all before 7am. We worked the bank from 90 to 140fow all morning, marked lots of bait up till 10am then the graph went quite. Good size fish 70-90down, smaller fish above 50'. Finished the morning 10 for 12. Riggers were best with Mag Lemon Ice, and Blue Dolphin. Glow frog on a full core took 3 hits. Most of the fish were between 8-12#, all kings. Great morning to be on the water.

I completely agree on several topics. First, the guy at the helm has to be on his toes when driving while a fish is on. Second, GLF's typical spread is very similiar to mine. I'll run a dipsey(braided or wire) on a #2 setting, then either a full core or 300' of copper, then a half, then a 2 or 3 color core. I comfortably run 10-12 lines on my 18' Lund without issues.

I'll add one additional note. I've gone to running my planer boards with the balance weight more toward the front of the board. I think it helps the board go further to the side of the boat and get pulled less to the back of the boat.

I find it's best to practice and practice, so I'll be fishing this weekend

--Jason

I agree with Jason and Mike, the person at the helm is just as important as the one with the rod to avoid tangles and land the fish. Of course sometimes the fish just doesnt cooperate!

I usually run a mag diver on 1, high diver on 2.5, full core and half core on each side. I set all my lines straight out the back of the boat and bring the fish in the same way. Good fishin:grin:

how far north did you get what number was it

We started in the 59's, and went north to the 02's then turned around and came back thru the same area. Fished the bank from 70fow to 140fow. Fish were mostly up on top of the bank. I don't like getting all the way up to the stick, too crowded. We try to stay clear of the traffic when were working the cores.

Great job Andy! Any size to the kings?

We had 4 over 14#. It looks like the kings are bigger this year.

Went out last night about 5pm with a friend, went 10 for 13. Great way to start the season. Ran out to the shelf (80fow) in front of the bath house and started a north troll. We started the first rigger at 50 down with a green frog SD/fly, once all the lines were set we dropped it down to 75' and as soon as we turned around it hit! Once the first fish was in the net the half core went off. Great fishing all night. Best lures were Gree frog SD/fly, Kevorkian on a full core, green glow on the half core. We kept the speed at 2.4 GPS. All Kings.

Fished Saginaw Bay last weekend with my brother. The wind kept us limited most of the time. Best day was Friday, caught our limit, we fished 18-20 fow straight out from Linwood Beach Marina. We started keying in on suspended fish about 10' deep and the action was fantastic. Fish preferred Stinger spoons, kevorkian and confusion were the best. Had three hits on kevorkian on a 2 color lead core Saturday and Sunday the wind was back up so we tucked in behind dredge island. The fish were back on crawlers/bb. We had 23 fish for the weekend.

Kevin, I agree with Tom. Stick with the braided lines on the Dipsies. I use about 500' of 35#Gorilla braid with the 20# mono backer. I've never seen the knot. If you have two reels spool the first one backwards, Braid first then mono until it's full. Keep track of your line counter. Then transfer to your second reel. Put the same amount of mono backer on the first reel then braid and your all set. I agree with Tom on the lead core also. Best thing I did was get my first core rod all rigged up. Have the tackle shop show you the Willis knot for attaching mono to core. This is a real easy knot to tie and has never failed on me. I have since switched out my leader section from mono to 20# flourocarbon line. I think I get more hits. Good luck.

Frank, Thanks for the comeback. I realize anyone can drag worms around on a nice day. Heck, my brother does it on the bay all the time! Normally this time of year I would be at the river mouths targeting the post spawn fish. Except in this scenario the river levels and runoff should be high. I think your suggestion of watching the wind direction and looking for weed edges is good. What other baits would you consider this time of year. I have a couple of old erie-deeries but no one ever mentions them any more. I'm trying to put some Saginaw Bay action in this forum, all the scenarios can't just be on Lake Michigan.

Your fishing Saginaw Bay (Linwood) in Mid-May. Targeting walleye. Just following a storm front and river runoff is strong. Winds are mild, temps in the mid 50's. You've got big planer boards, inline boards, divers, 2 & 3 cores. Where would you start in the AM and what type of lures.

Nucleus,

Wow, some really nice fish! What time of year were these caught? How do you like to cook the salmon, any recepies to share?

In Ludington the Copeyon launch off of Washington Ave. is the best place to launch in early spring with a large boat. The Loomis launch needs to be dredged every spring before they put all the docks in, be careful. Fish shallow along the shoreline from the pier heads north to the Lincoln River outlet and up to the first curve and the Sable River outlet. Or south to the water project. Browns and Steelies are great in the spring.

I love my cores. I have a 4, 6 and two fulls. More than once I have had a fish take the line out of my hand while I am attaching the board. I was out with my son a couple of years ago it was Sunday PM and we had been fishing all weekend. We set 2 riggers, 2 dipsys, a full core and a half core. After the lines were set my son layed down to take a short nap while I steered the boat and watched the lines. A short time later the rigger went off. I got the rod and was fighting the fish when my son woke up. He netted the fish and got it to the cooler when the full core went off. My son jumped on the rod and watched as the fish just kept taking line. As I turned around a dipsy went. I fought that fish and had to net it myself. My son had not ever got the board back to the boat yet. I set the dipsy rod aside and the half core went. I had to put that rod in the holder mid-fight to finally unhook my sons board. I landed the fish on the half core and just as I cleared the net my sons fish was at the back of the boat. Finally landed my sons 20# king after 45 minutes and about 1.5 miles with no one steering the boat. We finally looked around to find boats on both sides of us cheering us on. What a trip!

What are you running behind your divers Joe?

I run all those combos, also White on White has taken some hits. The Blue on Blue on my wire has been slow, I know it should be alot better. I run my flys 22-24" behind the flashers, and my flasher is about 5' behind the dipsey. The only other thing may be my speed. I usually range between 2.6mph to 3.2mph. I start on the high end early in the season and will slow down later in August as I add more plugs to the presentation. Then I pick it back up for steelhead in Oct/Sep. What is the preferred speed for Spin Doctor/Flys?

2Unreel,

Great suggestion! I get so focused on the lures and the other end of the rod. You've got such a simple tweak for these rods. Thanks.

I love to catch fish on a wire, what a fight. I have 2 okuma blue diamond roller rods with diawa heartland reels. I was told early on, that for most reels you should just plan to get the drags redone every couple of years. The blue diamond rods have been good so far. The only thing I don't like about the rods is the butt end. The blue diamonds have a large foam end that slides on the handle end of the rod. It gets stuck in the rod holder and pops off when your pulling the rod out of the holder. Went to start fighting a fish and couldn't figure out that little black thing was floating away from the boat. I took the other one off and keep it on the side until a fish hits. Once I get the rod out of the holder I put the end cap on to fight the fish.

Jim, I'm usually running 10 rods; 2 riggers, 4 divers, 4 cores. I'll need a couple more rod holders to run additional rods. Love them cores!! I'll take you up on the trip if we can hook up this summer. Maybe we can swap trips. I have a 21' searay.

I am going to check out the Sampo swivels. It soundslooks like the Sampo Coastlocks have the best snap configuration. Also I like JustEnough's technique to tie a barrel swivel just up the line and put a good snap/swivel to attach to the lure. Going to change my rigger and core lines to this setup. Thanks. I only have two riggers so I have never had the trouble with rigger lines tangling. My trouble with tangles, while not often, has been my high divers catching my inside core lines. Usually don't lose equipment but makes quite a mess.

I use a #5 Rosco SS swivel on the main line and I attach to the large BB swivel, still get the twist. I like the idea of the bead chain. Does the length behind the ball have an impact? Shorter length may allow the swivel to work better?