Satisfaxion_Gauranteed

It must have been tough to leave to head to work from the lake! Thanks for the report.

I'd vote two halves and two fulls. You can always snap weight deeper if you're limitted in number of rods.

That's a very interesting post. It ties in with a similiar post about fast trolling speed for salmon on L. MI(by Hitman I thinK). Thanks for posting.

Congrats on the new ride! She looks like a beauty that will surely provide many hours of quality time on the lake.

Fortunately, it was just minor. I had it plugged into the a spare accessory that had an existing 5 amp fuse. The inline fuse to the radio is 10amp. The previous radio I had recommended 5, so that is why the 5 was in there. I switched the fuses tonight and she's ready to go again, hopefully for good this time!

We ventured out to 80fow just to check I had my new lure speed indicator installed and working correctly. I noticed a couple of boats out there; probably in the 100fow range. The graphs were dead in 60+fow, but we did notice several bait clusters 45-55fow. I did not hear one way or another if anyone caught fish out there. We did get checked by an DNR officer at the ramp. He said that most people were coming back with 0-3 fish and most were being caught shallow.

Two of us fished South Haven Sunday morning for a shake down trip. We hit the lake at about 7:30 am and headed south looking for temperature breaks. We finished 3-6 on the morning; 1 king, 1 coho, 1 steelhead. All hits came about 2 miles south of the piers in about 30fow. Speed was 2.6 at the ball. All hits came on 2 color and 5 color cores. A king hit first on the smaller size Stinger NBK, ended up being a nice first fish of the season at 9lbs. Two hits came on a Dreamweaver green Easter egg; one landed, which was the griller sized coho. The Fishlander Chipmunk lure took two hits, one of which was the steely. We had one fish on the rigger; 100' behind the ball down 20', but lost it due to a bad swivel. Overall, it was a good shake down trip with the only negative being that the brand new marine radio I installed quit working when I went to transmit a signal on the ride back into port. It just plain died. The inline fuse is still good, but I have not yet had the chance to check my boat fuse where the radio gets power. It worked when I checked on Saturday, but Sunday, she died and never came back to life.

You can buy farm gas that does not have road tax on it. I'm not sure the legalities and all that lawyer stuff with using farm gas in a boat. You just have to have it delivered to a storage tank and sign for the fact is it not for general automotive use. Perhaps a storage tank in the back of that big Ford V-10 you have?? I totally agree that a 'road' tax is in place to help maintain roads and a boat doesn't generally do anything to the wear and tear on a road. The farmers are REALLY feeling the crunch. Imagine those machines out there drinking down that diesel fuel..........

That is a mess! I try to stay optimistic about things like this, so I'd like to think that this huge mess will finally makes this issue more visible and wide spread so that a real solution comes. Some times it takes something major to go wrong before the realization will sink in that there is a problem. I hope this mess triggers a good outcome in the long run. I do know that if I lost something in the lake that was unmarked and could hinder another vessel, I'd be in big trouble!

I'm with you, Lymans are my go to plug of choice. Come July and August, there's always a white Lyman plug in the water for me.

I knew you'd get it. Besides that, working on the boat and getting a job done gives good satisfaction. I still haven't even gotten my boat out due to studying for my licensing exam. If the boat comes out, I know I won't study........

There are many good makes out there and I personally think it comes down to personal preference. I have a Lowrance and Garmin on my boat. My future units will likely be Garmin due to their great user functions and great technical service. For the Great Lakes, if you want to track the bottom, deffinately get a unit that has the following: 1) hyperscroll feature, great for going a little faster on a 'search and destroy' mission to find fish prior to dropping lines 2) whether it be dual frequency or single, ensure it can operate at 200khz or higher. They will track the bottom much better. I personally would do a 50khz/200khz dual frequency unit. They are not much more expensive and offer the advantage of great bottom tracking and water coverage at the same time. 3) 1500W peak to peak minimum power(3000 if dual frequency) 4) This is also personal preference, but I really would not consider a unit that does not have color. I've got both on my boat and the additional colors are much easier on the eyes and can really give you detailed info at a glance. I hope this helps! Good shopping and welcome to the site.

Way cool, looks like the fishin' itch is growing with the new addition....... It may be just me, but it seems like I add something new to my rig, then say, "wow, this is cool and I think I'm all set." Then, the very next week, I'll say to myself, "wow, this is cool, now if I just had (fill in the blank)" LOL Cool lookin addition to an already nice fishin rig, Frank.

HA!!! I ended up in N. Carolina!!! Maybe it's the spirit of spring just driving us to warmer climates

I've had very similiar experiences with Garmin. Thier tech services and customer support is fantastic. The equipment has great functionality and is easy to use. There are good units made by a few different companies, but my experience has been so good wiht Garmin, it'd be hard for me to stray to something different. my 2cents,

Frank, you took the words right out of my mouth. We all take turns at the helm when we go out fishing and the more information the helmsman has, the better we all are at catching fish. Plus, it's only a couple steps away to take a look for yourself at what is happening.

My fishin' buddy just bought some to try out this summer. He was on a business trip in northern California and stopped by a fishing shop. The guy showed him several lures used for salmon out there that aren't widely used over here. We're going to give them all a try and I'll post pics if any are a hit.

For me, a walk around with a hard T-top and canvas enclosure. It gives the best of both worlds.

Cool pics, but I agree on that being a risky venture. I think I'd rather just hit up a river port that is already open......

Just two years ago, I was out on the big lake Brown fishing the first week of March. Last year, it was April. This year, it will be after my licensing exam on April 11th. I normally just look at the weather forecast to see what the average projected highs and lows are. If it's consistently above freezing during the day and I don't think there's not a danger of a prolonged, hard freeze, then the boat is coming out and getting ready to go. April 1st is just 6 days away! Spring can't be too far off.........

I will often run a glow program on a choppy lake with overcast skies, too. The glow finish on Lyman plugs is awesome. I like running them with the Moonshines for the glows. My crew and I have termed that time in the sun just starts to kiss the surface of the water in the evenings as the 'witching hour'. It just seems like the next hour, you'd better watch out!

My set up is similiar to Caz's with 4 riggers mounted in the back and also on a Lund. I've run my riggers at varying depths with the insides shallower or deeper than the outsides. I haven't had an issue with tangles between the riggers. My 6 line setup is exactly like Caz's; 2 side riggers with 12lb balls, 2 dipseys, and 2 cores. I'll adjust from there. If I have 3 or 4 people onboard, I'll use 3 or 4 riggers, a couple dipseys, and 2-4 cores. I've also been 10-12 miles offshore before, particularly in May out of South Haven, when the fish tend to be deep. I also make sure I can get back in a hurry should something start to look strange with the weather. With that Lund Tyee, you'll be very happy with the stability it has in waves. I've been impressed with how mine handles time and time again despite being a smaller boat. Hope that helps

Most of my lead core and dipsey fish are netted off the stearn. The occaisonal screamer off core or dipseys get taken anywhere the fish will allow me, in which case the side nearest the fired rod and stearn are all fair game. The riggers offer me more options, particularly with the electric riggers and swivel snap in place bases that allow me to move equipment in just a few seconds. I hear you 100% on a good helmsman. We had a newbie last year that fit in great as a helmsman and rod handler. He learned very quickly what to do and how to do it and it was a blast having him on board. Now, if he can only improve his netting.....

Good advice all the way around. My backing material is plywood. It has treated me well, but I would recomend using large diameter washers with the locknuts if using plywood. My setup is to have the four riggers mounted in the back; two booms off the backs and one that pivots on swivel mounts to the side of the boat per side. Using slide tracks to mount your riggers will help you a lot. That'll give you the flexability of moving things around if you don't like the way your set up is without having to drill new holes each time. I've seen Caz's setup and it is very nice to have the board as a barrier between you and the drink while netting fish. Big congrats on the 1850! I like those boats. I'm also the pround owner of a Lund. They make a very good, stable boat.

I agree. I used 1/2" plywood and it's treated me well. Also, I used a very thin gasket material, like rubber or silicone around the holes to help keep water out and prevent scratching on my boat finish. I've seen it without any gasket material without issues as long as you don't mind a small amount of moisture in the gunnell. The tracks are great for versatility future add-ons. You'll like them.