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zgrinder on Fin Warrior

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Posts posted by zgrinder on Fin Warrior

  1. Nice brown you have there!

    I have a number of Penn 320's and 330's in my arsenal.  They are not hard to service yourself if you wish to give it a go.  There is a small spring that you need to keep an eye on as it can easily get lost.  Parts at a fair price are available at Mystic Reel Parts.  The video below by Dennis of Second Chance Tackle provides good instruction on how to service the drags.  There are two schools of thought on drag washers, whether to put a small amount of grease on them or not.  I am in the camp of using a bit of grease to prevent the binding of the washers (there are 5).  Before I started to service reels myself, I sent all my gear to Tuna Tom.  They do excellent work and give you back the parts they replace.

    https://www.google.com/search?q=penn+320+drag+replacement&client=opera&hs=KFo&sca_esv=598597704&ei=rlOlZe3dBcWH0PEPr4KR2Ak&ved=0ahUKEwjt7OyA39-DAxXFAzQIHS9BBJsQ4dUDCBE&uact=5&oq=penn+320+drag+replacement&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiGXBlbm4gMzIwIGRyYWcgcmVwbGFjZW1lbnQyCBAhGKABGMMEMggQIRigARjDBDIIECEYoAEYwwQyCBAhGKABGMMESMgXUKkIWM0QcAF4AZABAJgBhAGgAcUDqgEDMC40uAEDyAEA-AEBwgIKEAAYRxjWBBiwA8ICCBAAGB4YDRgPwgIIEAAYCBgeGA3CAgsQABiABBiKBRiGA8ICChAhGAoYoAEYwwTiAwQYACBBiAYBkAYI&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:76ebdacf,vid:Kx5K23SlEl8,st:0

     

     

    • Like 1
  2. I note a Moonshine Bloody Nose on the business end of that rod.  Excellent choice!

    By the looks of those pics, you got up close and personal with the Great Republic.  No doubt the fish bugged out.  Glad you are still getting out.  Inland fishing for those eyes sounds like a better option than the big lake.  Be careful, stay safe and catch them all.

    • Like 2
  3. Janet and I pushed off for the last run of the season last night.  God bless her patience when the trolling is slow - I am blessed.  She packs reading material which unfortunately came in handy.  We ran north of the Holland harbor entrance and found bait fish between 115-135FOW but could not get any takers.  Downriggers were below the temp break and the dipseys just above.  I decided to run inside of 100FOW at dusk which was a mistake.  No inside bait, no action on any line.  We did get a shaker on the long line which when I release it, made for magical gull swarm, perhaps 40+ from all directions, until the lucky guy/girl got its wind and decided not to be gull food.  Funny thing was that as I was bringing in the long line, I noticed the badge was 200' weighted steel and not the 300' line we had intended to put out but oh well.  Dock neighbor boated a nice king on 10 color lead at dusk in the 120FOW that we abandon.  This marks our last time out this year.  The fall weather has been so great this year (for a change) that it is a pity to haul the boat out.  Made plans for Oct to do other things so we will drop lines again next year.  Great season and best of luck to everyone still fishing.

    Look forward to our banter in 2024.

    Go Bills!  The fish got squished today :)

     

    • Like 4
  4. Glad you had a flatter lake to fish on today versus Sunday and were able to put at least one in the box in the middle of the day.  Thanks for keeping us updated on the bait location - seems to be holding at the same depth for a couple of days now.  

    Brad's cut plugs, I am a big fan.  They are a money rig in my arsenal.  I see that they are now offered in UV . . . . . I feel a lure purchase coming on :).

    • Like 1
  5. It appears the fish are not interested in biting anything sharp and shinny.  I am thinking this will continue with (1) warm water piled up, (2) steady blue skies and (3) strong current from the steady east wind.  Looking at the weather forecast for the week, a front is coming in Tue/Wed.  This could change the bite around in a positive way if the lake is fishable.  I am pulling early this year (Oct 6th) for travel next month so not much time left.

    • Like 2
  6. Thanks for bringing this up.  Berried in catch reports that I post, I include (N) if the fish has an adipose fin.  I might go through my data to proved specific numbers but off the top of my head, 9 of 10 kings I caught this year in the second to last year of life, the bigger ones, were naturals - similar to your data.  Perhaps this might be skewed due to the decrease in stocking in Lake Mac but it doesn't explain why the big fish are typically naturals.  What does the Fish Whisper PUG have to say about this?

    • Like 1
  7. Fished from 5:30 to about 30min post sunset before ripping lines.  Went south of the harbor out from the sliders and set up in 130FOW.  2 deep riggers down above and below 80' (big white paddle and fly and a spoon on SWR), 2 side divers spaced between 60-70' (green spinny & fly and a spoon) and 300 weighted steel down the chute with a large paddle and Brads Cut Plug.  Lot of current and the chop made for a difficult N/S troll so we stuck to E/SE and W/NW.  Due to the current, decided not to push out to 200' and stuck to 170' as the turn around point.  Plus I wanted to fish a little shallower at dusk.  Through 7:00pm and few lure changes, we marked very few fish and got only one tip on a mag white spoon on SWR down 82'.  Changing over for the night bite I ran by Janet my lure change options.  She dead panned "it doesn't matter what put down cause we are not marking fish or catching fish".  Hard to have hurt feelings when that was the truth.  So I made the changes and swung into 130-120 FOW based on the bait I saw last night hoping the fish would move inside.  Well, I was right on one of two things.  The bait inside was incredible and mostly pinned near the bottom.  One bait ball completely filled up my fish finder - never had that happen before.  And at least one more came close to that.  Unfortunately, nothing bit what we passed through the bait and we finished the evening with an empty box.  Reflecting on passing through the bait, pulling the high dipseys cause frankly they were too high to the Good Eats below, and running 4 riggers down below 100' with clean spoons and meat, exactly the opposite of my typical strategy might have been a better program.  But that is all hind sight and I never anticipated the bait pinned so low in the water column at dusk.  Only two boats that I could see were out post sunset and there was no chatter on 68.  Perhaps we will give it a go during the week.  A lot of east wind in the forecast might keep things interesting.  Best of luck to all on your fall fishing.

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    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1
  8. Fished from 3:30 to about 7:00pm on Friday.  Almost zero wind on the lake.  Port Sheldon buoy thermistors are spot on - had to get below 80' to find any cold water.  Settled in on working 190-220 FOW as we were getting consistent good size marks down 90-95' but I just could not get anything to bite the deep riggers, one set with a big paddle and a Brads Cut Plug and the stealth line set with a spoon or a J-plug.  The stealth rigger was 88-92' down in 50-52 degree water via Smart Troll.  The big paddle was slightly above that.  Ran N, S, E & W but it didn't make a difference.  Side divers were down 63' & 70' for most of the trip in that 68 degree water with orange and blue spoons looking for steelhead - no takers.  300 weighted steel down the middle with a silver J-plug saw no action as well.  Caught one small shaker king on the stealth rigger line when tipped with a holographic green dolphin spoon.  Coming in we found the same marks in 170-175 FOW.  Likely will go back out tonight but later in the evening and stay to dusk.

    • Like 3
  9. Did not make it out today.  Father-in-law who taught me much about GL fishing back when I ran out of of Waukegan, is now 88 with a hip replacement.  It was not that rough out today but bouncy enough that I did not feel he could get up and grab a reel on the back of the boat.  Plus he and his lady friend have a narrow window when they can go about their business so timing it right was tough.  I have had him on my old boat with a Becks in his hand fishing so it was not a full missed opportunity, just not one we could squeeze in today.

    So sad to have someone go missing on the water.  I think of that all the time when I am out alone . . . what could go wrong that I am in the water unexpectedly.  Can't say I have always lived by that rule but this reminds me I need to be safe ALL THE TIME.

    • Like 2
  10. Pushed off a little after 10:00am on a mid day solo trip knowing the good salmon bite in shallow water would be gone and set out to look for Steelhead.  Went north and found a nice slick that I could run out on a northwest troll.  Unfortunately there was nothing biting from 80 to 150 FOW.  Ran out to 175 FOW and ran a N-S troll but still nothing.  Decided since the water was so flat to test out the new rigging I came up with on one of my outriggers where the Offshore board stays on the outrigger line pulling out to the side while the long line breaks free when a fish hits.  It was a great day to mess around with this and I finally got the program working right but admit it is a lot of work.  Pulled that out of the water and headed back in closer since nothing was happening in the deep water.  Around 2:00pm had back-to-back hits running east at about 120 FOW.  Landed two kings, one on my favorite Brads Cut Plug down 92' at the ball on a downrigger and the second came on a dipsey, 60' down via Smart Troll on a Caddy Shack UV Stingray spoon.  Stayed in the shallower water for the rest of the float but no other takers.  Counted 18 boats out for the evening bite after ripping lines 3:30-4:00 and thought I caught what might have been the Parker racing north in the skinny water towards Muskegon.

    • Like 5
  11. Pushed off with Janet about 5:15pm and headed south to fish 60-70FOW near Saugatuck.  In search of big kings, we ran 3 riggers with meat (2 with paddles and SWR clean), 2 dipseys with spoons and 300' weighted steel with a Brad's Lucky Charm Cut Plug.  The weighted steel line took the first king (10lb, natural) in 75 FOW while making a hard South-to-North turn just south of Saugatuck.  The second king (also a 10lb natural that was released) came on a dipsey 1.5 set, 100' out (38' down on Smart Troll) with a standard alewife spoon in 62 FOW right at sun down.  Tighter in to the Saugatuck harbor mouth was busy so we stayed a bit out.  There were about 10 boats out deeper.  Channel 68 was silent.  Got a pic from a friend with Best Chance (I, II, Jr?) racking 30 fish from the morning.  Nothing of the size 2MD put in the box.  Last, passed over 4 bait balls 50' down to the bottom.

    • Like 2
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