killerbe20

must be an east side thing I have seen and heard from guys about the super long leads. I personally had an awesome diver program last season with standard 6-8 foot leads. I see the advantage and see how it could be a pain when working the boat by myself....to be honest though, until I am struggling to catch fish on my divers, I am going to stick with my standard leads.

your making me jealous with all your fishing reports! nice job!

The barrier coat is not an anti fouling bottom paint. It is an epoxy coat that seals the fiberglass bottom from absorbing water. fiberglass boats are actually porous and will absorb water over time. it is a preventative measure that is not required but usually recommended for boats that remain in the water. Once the barrier coat is applied, you put your chosen anti fouling paint over that. I used cheap stuff on my last boat and chose VC17 for my new boat.

Thanks, I'm glad it could be useful! I used Interlux 2000 barrier coat under the VC17. I believe I did four coats. I believe I mentioned it before but again I highly recommend having the bottom media blasted instead of sanding. I am glad I had the experience because it made me realize I never want to sand a boat bottom to gel coat ever again! Now looking at the start of this season, all I have to do before splashing her is wiping with acetone and spraying a couple more coats of VC. This may not even be necessary but I want build up a nice hard layer for the bottom.

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Waiting on word back from Okuma, I'll let you know as soon as I know.

I usually use clear or white. When I have to, I will throw what ever colors I have out and have never noticed a noticible difference.

A good friend of mine has decided to part with his boat. Great machine all set up and ready to go! http://racine.craigslist.org/boa/2926122736.html

I have three brand new in the box Okuma Convector 45D line counter reels for sale, $70 each. I planned on using them but have since decided I would rather stick with Clarions. These are still the style everyone is familiar with. If you have seen Okumas 2012 product catalog, it APPEARS they may have changed the Convectors to more of a Magda style reel. I have not found out for sure yet though. the link shows two different reels. https://www.okumafishing.com/product/view/reels/linecounters/convector-line-counter

Was it an over heating alarm?

I agree with faster action early, but bigger fish later in the day

Welcome don!

Jim, I don't know if this is along the lines of what you were thinking the way we fish cohos. I usually do a "wing span" distance from my flasher/dodger, usually 5-6 feet. I try to make sure my flasher/dodger is running just below the surface but still doing its thing. Sometimes, especially on flat calm days, you will see your flasher running flat on the surface and not running properly. That is usually when I add weight. If I want am trying to hit a target zone deeper than what I consider surface fish, 50' of copper or a couple colors of lead

I guess it depends on your wife. The first time I was at the show was with my wife and she really enjoyed it, especially the flying dogs!

Copy That! There are many many times I wish I had a business manager!

I don't think I have seen many people state the most obvious answer to me.....do both! Like you I grew up first mating full time summers since I was 12 years old. Getting my captains license as soon as possible was never a question in my mind. I was easily able to get my captains license, attend and successfully graduate college with a city planning degree and then go back to school again to be firefighter/paramedic. Obtaining you license and going to college are completely unrelated in my mind. there is no reason you shouldn't be able to achieve any other goals in life just because you decided to get your license. Once you have your license, you have it for life as long as you keep up with your renewals. not to mention captains classes were a breeze for me because I was already in the college/school studying mentality. long story short.....go to school and get a good education but get your license too!

I do not see any reason why not. Many boats have all their electronics mounted inside of boxes for storage and security reasons

I am not a Lowrance guy so I am only going off what I have seen and been told at the sports shows.... Apparently Lowrance has a new chip that is supposed to be better than the Lakemaster chip. I was really impressed with the contour lines it had. The hills off Racine were very well mapped out. I personally have not seen any plotter with that much detail, that far from shore. Stop by the booth at the Milwaukee Sports Show and check it out.

you can run the way you described but any fish coming to the back of the boat has the potential to tangle up the ten color off the back. I would just run the ten color off a board outside the 300 copper.

same here

looks great Jim!

orange flashers/dodgers and peanut flies or haircut flies are pretty much all the west side charters run. You can catch hungry coho on just about anything, they really are not picky eaters. As far as guys around here are concerned, if you want consistent catches of cohos just stick with small orange flashers/dodgers and small flies. That being said I am a fan of thin fish for cohos too !

I will be wondering between booths, where ever Blood Run is being sold. I know the Outdoorsman for sure.