zgrinder on Fin Warrior

Ed, attached is a pic of how I am currently stowing my Ninja divers. 3/4" hook and loop cable tie wraps from Amazon work great for securing the rods and anything else. With the blue noodle from Walmart, so far this is holding up well for storage. Hope this helps or inspires you to create a better storage solution!

Regarding your first point, I meticulously inspected the surface of where the line wraps around the release arm and was impressed that the molded part had a very smooth surface. DW must have received a lot of feedback on the performance of this part. However, mono or flouro being stressed on any surface is something I shy away from. That is why I was searching for a system that would allow braid to run at this point of the system to reduce the stress on the line. Too early in the trial to determine if braid will cut and compromise that smooth surface. Next time I am at the boat I will try to remember how I have the diver secured to the rod. Since my spooling set up has the micro swivel downstream from the diver, it never gets to the guides. However, I use micro swivels on all my long lines and have never had a problem to date with the ceramic guides getting compromised.

My UC slide divers have the spring inserted through the release arm. I suspect that is where the break in the mono occurs but I have yet to prove that. With running Smart Troll probes on these lines, I get a bit worried of losing a probe when a break off occurs. I have dropped one probe to the bottom with a standard dipsey diver before I improved how I secure them to the line with two OR-16 clips. The only braid type line I have ever used is Power Pro. Started using it 30 some years ago and never found a reason to move to something different. Use 30lb test. I had straight up braided diver set ups at one point in time but found wire divers did the same job. Don't recall ever having a break off on any of these lines nor with OR-1 & OR-8 clips. However, I never could get PP to hold well in these clips. All my long lines use PP for the backing with a 8' section of mono between the two segments to attach the OR clip. I did experiment with PP in place of wire downrigger cable. Worked fabulously going up and down but after dropping a ball or two, I gave that up. Don't recall what test I used but it was beefy. Not to say I haven't dropped a ball with steel cable however, I can spot a frayed cable easier than I could find a weak spot on braid.

The lake finally laid down, actually flat and was thinking about a dusk run but with the storm coming in, settled on pushing off just after 3:00pm and fishing till the front moved in at 7:00pm. Set up in 130 FOW strait out of the harbor and headed south to SW. Two Ninja 3-set slide divers and one rigger. Just after getting lines in the water and before adjusting the depths, the SB diver down 41' with a mag Green Hulk RV spoon took a 6-7lb king in 136 FOW. I released it expecting better things to come but I could not stir up another bite. Chased some impressive marks with the SWR on a rigger trailing a mag DW Soda spoon but no takers. Moved the slide divers between 40-55' down with no luck. The Blue Hulk RV spoon on the Port slide diver did not get touched. Ample marks between 130-140 FOW so I stayed in that water for the evening trying to make it work. First time running the DW Ninja slide divers. My slide diver reels are set up with 30lb Power Pro tipped with 8' of 25lb fluoro by way of a small Spro swivel with the diver running on the Power Pro. What I like about the Ninja slide divers is it holds the braid without sliding down the line once deployed. The UC slide divers would not hold the braid line so the reels had to be configured with mono and the mono was prone to breaking - ALOT. The Ninja release is very easy to set and holds tighter than the UC product so it requires some fine adjusting to get it to pop open which simple to do with the screw setting in the back. Last, the weight dial adjustment clicks nicely into place and can be tightened with the screw so it will not move out of the chosen setting. I could see myself moving away from running conventional dipsey divers other than I have a bunch of them and they are quicker to get in the water.

Good coho fishing in St Joe. Hoping the coho migrate up the lake in the near future. Would enjoy adding a few to my dinner table!

Your new ride appears to have ample fish catching room on the aft end. Hope you catch a bunch! What is her name????

Your a crack of dawn troller! Happy you tried the evenng bite. Unfortunately, it is slow morning, noon or night on this side of the lake. Need to check in how Illlinois/Wisconsin are doing. Happy fishing!

Great work Ed!

no biters at first light. you really had to work to get what you caught. thanks for the report.

Set out to fish at noon with my first mate and eventually pushed off at 5:00pm. Sometimes things just don't go as planned. First time out for us as well. Set down in 130FOW neat Saugatuck and pushed out to 212 with only a couple of tip ups. Marked very little and what we did was pasted on the bottom in >180FOW. Tried running a SWR near the bottom with a UV Wonderbread spoon but no luck. Came back in and found bait on the bottom in 138FOW but no marks and no action. Pulled lines at 8:30pm so we got skunked. Spent more time figuring out why the PSS shaft seal started leaking then stopped, reloading the new Smart Troll app to get it to run then actually fishing and losing gear on a mono DR rod that I knew I should have respooled in the off season. But I believe everything is squared away and ready for the next run after I clean all the flys out of the boat. All reports on the water were slow.

First time out and your already slaying fish. Do they sell Pug Parkas on Amazon? Looks like your buddy can use one. Fin Warrior has been in the water since April 20th. But we have been slammed with travel; 8-d in NOLA for Jazz Fest, 4-d in Jackson Hole on a property matter and 6-d in Buffalo for a memorial service and a devastating Sabre loss to Montreal. Hope the weather and flies favorable around this weekend for a shakedown trip. Catch'em all!

A brown trout let alone that size is a rare find on this side of the lake. Must have been vacationing from WI.

I am putting up the following reels for sale: · 3 Penn GTi 320 - $50/ea + shipping · 6 GT2 320 - $50/ea + shipping · 1 GTi 330 - $60 + shipping · 2 Shimano TLD 2000 - $30/ea + shipping (I missed taking pics for these, can send if interested) All reels have only been used for trolling in fresh water. There is no internal or external corrosion of any parts. The reels were always stored in the cabin after trips (not on rocket launchers); sun damage and fading of the composite housings is very, very minimal. I have owned the reels since about 2000 and most of the reels have not been used since the 2023 season. These reels were primarily my backup 40lb mono reels used only when the water fleas were prevalent or used for long lines as the opening in the line guide carriage is wide, readily accepting knots to copper and weighted steel. As I understand Penn manufacturing, the GTi reels were made in USA. The GT2 reels were made in Asia. Internally, the only difference between the two reels is the design of the clicker mechanism. The GTi utilizes a metal clicker tongue with a brass ring to control the tension. The GT2 utilizes a plastic clicker tongue and the spring/pin tension mechanism, similar to current Penn reel designs. All other parts of the two reels are interchangeable. I have never had a clicker fail on a GTi and GT2 reel. The same cannot be said for the original Penn Squall design (fixed in the Squall II). All the Penn reels have been fully serviced before putting them up for sale as follows: · Both sides of the reel opened up · Old grease removed from all parts and gears; new Penn Precision Reel Grease applied · All bearings rotated to confirm operation and lubricated with Penn Precision Reel Oil · Clicker tongue inspected for damage (none found); mechanism greased · Pawl and worm gear inspected; pawl replaced where needed; mechanism lubricated with oil · Drag washers removed, inspected for wear, complete stack of 5 replaced where needed; all washers wiped clean, lightly lubricated with Cal’s Universal Reel & Star Drag Grease, wiped with a shop towel prior to reassembly · Reels assembled, clicker, free spool and drags tested to confirm performance; drags that did not engage when star drag was backed out all the way, the handle was removed, the tension spring replaced new and reassembled to confirm performance (i.e. when the star drag is backed all the way out, the reel will still engage - over time as the drags and tension spring become worn, the reel will no longer turn when the star drag is backed all the way out) · Outside of reels wiped clean with Krud Kutter to remove any grease/lubricant from servicing · Parts replaced noted on reel tags The Shimano reels have not been used for at least 15 years and were not serviced. As with all my reels, the drags were stored with the star backed all the way out. The clicker, free spool and drags all work fine, I just cannot promote the drags as in ‘new’ condition as I can the Penn reels that I serviced. Service Record Reel Model Drag Tension Spring Pawl OOS 1 Gti 320 2026 2006 2024-25 2 Gti 320 2026 2006 2024-25 3 Gti 320 2024 2026 2024-25 4 Gt2 320 2026 2026 2026 2023-25 5 Gt2 320 2026 2026 2023-25 6 Gt2 320 2026 2024-25 7 Gt2 320 2023 2026 2024-25 8 Gt2 320 2023 2024-25 9 Gt2 320 2020 2021-25 10 Gti 330 2024 2025 11 TLD 2000 2010 12 TLD 2000 2010 * OOS = Year taken Out of Service on the boat Happy to answer any questions on the gear.

I have two Otter Boards that have spent most of their life in the forward cabin or dock box that I am putting up for sale to give them a new home. I fish solo about half the time and running these off my out riggers is a lot of work for a simple 3 rod spread - I simply rarely use them. Both boards have the additional half keel and have been re-enforced with aluminum plates to support the keels and attachment line on each board. The edges of aluminum were polished therefore, there are no sharp edges to damage line. The boards and keels are available new at Fat Nancy's for $180 & $80 w/o tax. I am asking $400 plus shipping for the pair.

I have two Big John planer reels that were last on the boat in 2008 and since been stored on my racks of gear in the basement. Time to give them a new home. Pics show the reels disassembled, all the washers and parts are there. No rust and minimal where. The old lubricant has been removed from the tension screw mechanism. Asking $240 for the pair plus shipping.