killerbe20

i always make sure to use a clear bead, any other color would scare the fish away of course!

i used to use a brass thimble, crimps, tubing, bead for my wire connection. real pain when you have to re-rig on the water or in a hurry. Since switching to the softer blood run wire, i just tie an over hand knot with a bead in front of it. i don't think i could have tied a knot in the old wire i was using.

Name: Josh Keeran Age: 29 Residence Location: Caledonia, Wisconsin Area(s) Most Often Fished: Racine, Wi (fish N. to milwaukee and S. Kenosha) Years of Experience: 18 Boat Size and Info: 2000 Tiara 29 Open Boat Name: First In I started first mating on charter boats at the age of 12. From there on all my time from April to November was devoted to salmon fishing. While most kids spent their summers playing with friends i was out on fishing charters, often three trips a day back then. I knew from the start i wanted to run my own boat. The first thing i did after graduating college in 2005 was buy my own charter boat. That was a 27 foot Baha and i have just been trying to grow my operation ever since. I still occasionally work on other charter boats, but i really love the stress, excitement, thrill, and sense of accomplishment running my own boat. There is no better feeling then seeing the look on someones face when they catch their first lake michigan fish.

i dont see any reason why you would have to buy new DRs next year if you bought manual ones this year, besides personal preference. they are not going to wear out. it all depends on your fishing style. as many have already stated you can catch a lot of fish with out DRs. I have dropped from four to three and some days seems like i am wasting time fishing the three i have. other charter boats fish with 5 or 6 DRs.

seems like it has already been answered, but i will put in a third for just 1000' of Blood Run Wire. Fits very nice on a 30 series Okuma reel. after my issues i have had i will pass on some knowledge i learned from Okuma and Tuna Tom's. the wire may not cinch up on the spool. I have sent in a couple 30 series Catalinas for drag work only to find out the wire was not gripping on the spool. i thought the drag was not working when really the wire was spinning on the spool. Tuna Toms added pins to the spool so that is no longer an issue for me. other suggestions i was given was to add a real short section of mono backing just so there is something to grab on the spool. another solution i have heard of but can not comment on the success is to wrap the spool with electrical tape prior to spooling up your wire.

i am coming on thursday

i am working for Blood Run at the GR show. thanks for all the advice guys!

i love my raymarine a65, discontinued a while back though . i actually use that 95% of the time over my 10in Furuno navnet. the only down side is interference under power with the transom mount transducer. did not have that issue with the thru hull on my old boat.

i got into it a bit towards the of last season. i would love to hear from some of the guys that do it regularly.

thanks for the parking info. that sounds good. i cant even remember where i parked last year, it may actually have been on the street by a meter i forgot about internet! definitely need to have that. i could not imagine four days without it. i just got my first "smart" phone a month ago and i already can not imagine life without it

thanks for the info guys! i kinda had information overload looking for hotels outside of downtown. some reviews i was reading stated a few of them were in shady neighborhoods. arron - i am driving, i may have to take you up on the offer to show me around if there is time. tony - the pool/hot tub is a definite must! and a few beers!

waukegan has a fantastic spring perch fishery. starts usually march/april and goes up to +/-june.

Looking for some opinions on where to stay in Grand Rapids. Would like to be downtown so i can just walk back and forth from the sports show but the "downtown tax" is making me look else where. seems like the airport area may be better? anyone know about parking downtown?

welcome!

until last year i couldn't buy a fish on a spin doctor. then last summer they were the hottest thing on the boat.

for a leader, ten level winds +/- on the reel. gives you enough to cut back when needed. when you get under 10ish feet, redo it. i use mono backing but i an in the minority on that. most people use some sort of braid. braid will allow for more backing but i prefer mono for the stretch factor. and honestly, i have never needed more backing. i have switched exclusively to wire divers, even last summer in 20 fow and less. i love wire divers!

this is what i got to come home to http:// the dog is happy too!

Green Dot Spin Doctor and a green and pearl fly last year for me

24'' with drifts....well bigger then i can even count. we got stopped this morning on a county highway by drifts that were at least 12 feet high. spent from 10pm until 11am rescuing stranded motorists. any description i can give of what it was like out in the blizzard would never do it justice. absolutely unbelievable, like in a movie. put our fire department hummer in the ditch twice, once up to the windows, thankfully we were able to get ourselves out both times. our ladder truck was stranded for a couple hours and one of our engines was stranded for about 6 hours. throw in a house fire and a car vs snowplow accident before the storm, i am glad to finally be going home 34 hours after my 24 hour shift started. definitely a once in a career shift. i will be happy if i never see another snow storm the rest of my life.

i would go with three. its nice to have extra rod holders for storage purposes. my biggest pet peeve on my boat is laying my expensive rods on the deck where they can easily get stepped on. Plus you would hate to have that day when you want to fish three boards but don't have an extra holder!

fishing out of Racine, Wi - I consider anything over 200' "out deep," anything over 300' is "out really deep." A lot depends on where you are on the lake. The northern portion of lake michigan sees deeper water a lot closer to shore than the southern portion. 200 fow could be 5 miles out of one port and 20 miles out of another port. Fishing out 15-20 miles can be REALLY lonely sometimes!

I have a pair of brand new, never mounted Perko wishbone outrigger mounts. These are have the larger 2'' diameter opening. I have decided i no longer want to add outriggers to my boat. I would rather invest the money in other upgrades. Any reasonable offer will be considered. http://www.greatlakesfisherman.com/gallery/files/1/7/5/0/2011-01-31_00001.jpg' alt='2011-01-31_00001.jpg'>

this is my prime fishing time! most of my charters don't usually leave the dock until 7am and if im coming off shift at the FD then 8am or later. away from traffic if possible. my "10 fish theory" 10 biting fish and 10 boats = 1 fish per boat. 10 biting fish and 1 boat = 10 fish. deeper water at times. spread out your spread - coppers, leadcores, SWRs, deep riggers, wire divers deep. i fish a lot of fly combination during the day. general salmon patterns during a typical summer will be coming in to feed at dusk and dawn and out deeper or "hiding" during the day. usually have to find a whole different school of fish then those the early morning or evening guys are fishing. most days salmon will have a decent mid-day feed too if you are on them.

this is how i fish when i have smaller crews 6 rods - two downriggers, two divers, and two boards (regular, leadcore, or copper depending on where the fish are) to start. adjust according to whats working. 9 rods - add a third downrigger and two more boards. again adjust according to whats catching fish and whats not.