j1musser

I tie the line to the spool, than crank a 2" pc. of electrical tape on over the line.

I do about the same

Area 51 on the rigger maybe as a slider:thumb:, beefeater lowest, bloody nose highest

Awesome! Congrats and glad everything went well:banana:

I have a bunch for my core and small copper. They have held up well for this weekend warrior. Slowly upgrading to convectors but wouldnt have crap now if id started with spendy gear. Not big fan for dipsy but have had good experience for 4 yrs for others. Not bad for midrange cores that i dont use a crapload too. Just my .02.

I need to learn how to do drag upgrades would be nice.

Lacking a top or rocket launcher I have fog lights mounted on spring clamps. These are used to see my boards which have DOT reflective tape on them. I have the ends spliced into a 110v plug and power lines are the 110v receptacle. These can be removed, adjusted, and cost me about $25 total. I had near back but later moved up as they do get hot and didnt wanna get line touching. I have a 12v tractor light on a clamp for the back. I would do different if i had a top or permanent place to mount not in the way.

Do LED's not get so warm?

The best bang for the buck is a blue diamond roller rod.

Located here for $70 shipped.

The convector 30d is a fine reel.

For the connection to the swivel give this knot a try

Yeah That:D

I ran across this starcraft islander with a similar platform to the others. http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/boa/2209279039.html I know a lot of others love the islanders. I personally have never fished one, but do know they are similar.

Never fished the others but have fished Islanders very similiar to that and they are really nice. If i woulda had money/space this year I woulda bought one of dem. They all look like nice fishing rigs with lots of room in the back. Good Luck

Will be in Ludington 1st weekend of June for family fishing trip. That would be great. An April trip in South Haven would be great too but understand if u cant do it Terry.

I would not run that on the same side, either way, inside or outside there is going to be trouble.

I was thinkling same thing. Im hoping to be able to fish copper one side or both and core on the other.

I would suggest the nylon inserted locking nuts. They won't vibrate loose like a wingnut might. That would really suck. I'd just carry a socket wrench with the right size socket should you want to take them off. JMO. The carriage bolts are round on top so you can't get a good grip on them.

These are just for the end caps. Everything else is bolted down very well. Went with 2" SS carriage bolts and this took about 5 minutes. Even if the wingnuts fell off the bolt would have to come up 2 inches. Thanks for the help guys. I feel much better about my eq now.

I run SS carriage bolts through the tracks (one on each end) with lock nuts on the bottom. The would-be thieves cant get a grip on the round head, and the rod holders, or downriggers won't slide over the top. I've done this for my rod holders, and downriggers so it would be very difficult, and obvious if someone wanted to take them off. They would sure have to work for them. And if they're stealing to begin with they're too damn lazy to work for anything.

I think im gonna do this but with reg bolt heads that i can get off easy. The bottom will be in my locked rod locker so they would have to break into that along with having right tools. Might just do wingnuts on one side for easy on off. This will allow me to still take off easy to go tubing and such. Thanks for the help guys.

Now how do I make a knot with 45# copper that will fit through a 30 reel guide? Use PPro or mono? Thanks for the help!!!!!!!!!! Rick

Albright knot works great for me. I believe the 30 guide is the same as the 45 and 55 if i remember correctly. Knot really any difference in size btw. pp or mono knot. I have been adding a 30' piece of mono btw the backer and copper to clip on boards. I believe the make an after market replacement for the reels that is bigger to fit big knots. I have have never really had an issue with them fitting.

http://www.animatedknots.com/albright/index.php?Categ=fishing&LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

I thought about running the outboard with hose out in the driveway just to make sure starting fine, batt, etc.

It did last year, pushing ice out of the launch. Had to wait for the wind to clear the entrance to the river, On another day.

Last year there was 200 yds of ice off north pier on Fri night. So sat morn we launched to find the wind switched and blew it across channels mouth. 50-100' of ice between us and the open water.

No slips but Covert Twnshp Campground was nice as is Van Buren State Park. Both fairly close to either St Joe or South Haven. There is a RV park in South Haven right next to the river by the Moose Lodge but dont think they have slips. I sure wish the did have more but my guess is the cost of riverfront property versus campground fees is the issue.

Welcome to GLF. Where do u usually fish and what for??

In front of dunes just south of south haven always seems to be good. Look for the packs. Never fished real early in season though.

Do u have any others core or copper so as not to duplicate?

I would definitely do the 2 wire dipsy's, u wont be let down. Wire is productive and awesome for the fight with no stretch.

Time of year, water temps, depth, thermocline, preferred species all come into play for what is gonna work.

Last year it was deep deep deep for me most of the year. I always have luck on my 150' 200' 250' 300' coppers. So i added a 50' and 100' copper for this year. I run 45# copper. Just depends on the day and conditions. I would say just try to spread them out as much as u can. If i had 3 core rods to make i would do a full core, 5 color and 3 color. The nice part of the shorter cores is that u can add weight to get them deeper. Dive bombs, torpedo weights, snap weights, etc. Just my .02 cents:) Im sure others will have different opinions.

i also prefer the wire for the dipseys..on the copper rods im on the side of power pro backer then a section of mono then the copper..mainly becouse you can get larger amounts of copper on smaller reals and becouse the mono degrades over time and whenn you have to replace the mono backing every couple of years it becomes a lot more expensive than the power pro..you just replace the section you put in between the copper and the power pro..i checked the breaking strength on some 30 pound backer i had on a reel i ran for 2 years and it broke at 19 pounds

I agree Don. Wire dipseys are the shiznit. I prefer a little bit stronger backer on my copper. Most of mine are 30 but i like the 40 or 50lb test since i use the 45lb copper. I dont wanna lose $25 worth of copper with a lighter weight backer. The size difference is minimal and still way smaller than mono. I try to get on as much backer as possible, just in case. I bought some Ripcord in the past and actually preferred it over powerpro. I did start adding a 30' section off mono between copper and backer to clip on. Hate to add extra knots but really hate to have boards release.

I start with a 50' flouro leader on my core and copper as it gets trimmed often. So do my cores and coppers too:o

What can I spool on convector 30, Length of leadcore, and length of copper? How deep will 150 copper run? Thanks for any help!! Going to be asking a lot of questions as I ramp up into big lake fishing!!!!!!!

If u have 2 reels u can wind one on backwards to fill it to the max then just reel onto the other. This will let u know how much each can hold without over/under filling them. Although it does take 2 reels.

Keep the questions coming. There is lots to be learned from here. I have only been fishing for a few years and the nice folks at GLF have helped tremendously. My 30D are my wire dipsy rods which are more versatile than a single length of copper or core if u dont have dipsy rods yet IMHO.

Its funny to hear all the Green stuff being the best for you guys! Up here on the North tip of the Lake, BLUE is the ticket, and has been for a few years. Spoons, Flasher/Fly, Meat rigs, ect... Not to say green dosent work, just that around here(Fairport), Blue baits triple the catch of any other color.

It seems to me that green is best in southern Lk Mich and Blue north. Went to Manistee last year and it was almost all blue stuff that took fish whether it be sppons or flashers.

I just bought the 3 rod trees this winter. Have used on others boats and like them. Great price wise. I got them to fit my berts tracks too. Lock downs work great. The ability to move up and down along with 360 degrees makes them very user friendly. Being able to swing them in really helps at the dock.

I bought them on Ebay from Mike at Falcon Outdoors- [email protected] They had good prices and good cust service. Shipped fast also. I believe i paid $260 total for a left and right side. These also have the open top tube to use as an extra rod holder or for net.

Mtn Dew Spindoctor with a No See Um Fly on sunny day and blue bubble spin doctor with blue bubble fly for cloudy days

Ur dads gonna be lonely down here in South Haven. Have fun you will have the summer to remember forever. Congrats!