ChampionShip

I have a buddy that has a white SMITH fish bag he keeps on his swim platform. It's insulated, zips open all the way so you can hose it out or just clean it with lemon joy or dawn when needed. Heavy duty suction cups hold it in place, and a 20 lb bag of ice spread across the bottom seems to last an aweful long time. If you have a spot for it, it's by far the coolest thing I've seen for a swim platform. http://www.alltackle.com/smith_fish_bag.htm

Watch that haywire twist on super copper, doesn't seem to hold as well as regular copper does

Big Papa

200 gets about 45-50' which is close to a full leadcore with a spoon. Our 270 and 300's have been absolutely on fire from June until and including last night. 45lb test Morgan Super Copper. If the fish are deeper than 80' then I snap a small Torpedo Diver on it vs running anything longer.........People have thanked me for that lol

We had great luck with 19 strand for the past 2 years. There was some debate on how to spool it onto Daiwa reels which they addressed on the website- seems to be fine now.

How come??

I know of some guys using old LJ Enduraglass broom handle roller rods- eeesh! They do rip off alot of fish, I like TDR's for braid and with a Mag diver it's just perfect with braid, would work with wire too I suppose but would likely add a torpedo tip. Someone said keep your drags light- I totally agree with that.

What a piece of crap.......Just kidding Big Sexy- that boat is badass!

You're right, I do want a soft rod, but I also NEED backbone to steer a fish around and the Okuma's just didn't have it with mag divers- standard divers, they're fine. As for the stretch in the wire- if you're losing gear with the diver- check your knot, if you're losing it after the diver- add a snubber.

I've ran both Shimano and Okuma Blue Diamond. Gotta say, a roller is not necessary but it is a personal preference of mine- no particular reason why. Had great luck with Blue Diamond but with it had a bit more backbone. Shimano's are just awesome. Matthew from Torpedo let me use his wire rod a few times with the Torpedo tip and it was great.

What kind of leader do you run from the diver to the lure? What kind and length/action rod are you using?

I've heard and read alot of well known Captains that think wire creates a bit of a harmonic buzz in the water that drive the fish crazy and I can honestly say my wire divers out produce my braid (wire low, braid high on both sides). Could it be the depths being targeted??? Sure, but I have to say that there's nothing quite like fighting a fish on wire- it's an absolute blast! By far my favorite setup!

Ever see a study of what fish do when electrical current is present under water- say when downriggers aren't properly wired and the termination is letting the current down the rigger wire and out thru the weight? They turn and run far and fast- that's a fact. It can also be an issue of a bigger problem that can seriously affect your boat and any others nearby in a marina.......If stray current wasn't real, there'd be no reason for slipped boats to have sacrificial anodes- and there'd be no reason for a Mercathode system on a Mercruiser. You have ideals, but you're lacking in information.

Nobody that fishes the Great Lakes (that I've ever seen or heard about) has ever raved about the black box, that's just a fact. Another fact is that stray current from a boat can drive fish away from your boat. Echips haven't ever really done much for me and I haven't ever noticed a difference in catch between them and a standard flasher. If you think the stray current thing is BS, ask Salty how many fish his riggers took until he bonded his kicker. It's not about knowing everything, it's about learning from people that know more about a particular subject from experience. I realize that you've learned quite a bit in the past year but let's not forget how long it took you staring at a diver to learn how it's supposed to work.

Look at ProTroll's website, that will give you quite a bit of info on voltage and currents. As for the black box thing they sell, or even positive ion control on Cannon riggers, yeah I agree that it won't make or break your fishing in fresh water.

Not if your boat is dumping stray current into the water, you can literally see fish streak toward riggers and then blast in the other direction. It's real and it can turn fish off of your inside spread. Some guys that have kickers that aren't bonded can notice a big problem with this. Stray current can sink a boat if not addressed.

You can get it right off their website or email them and they'll find a local distributor for you.

Found this on LOU, and all I can say is ........WOW. Fish are running big this year and I need to change some of my stuff around!

Western shores have been picking up FAST! Algoma, Kewaunee, and Sturgeon Bay have been just absolutely slaying big kings and it appears to be a pretty heavy flasher/fly bite. Long fly leaders and oil slick colors like the one that Eyefly has seem pretty damn productive during the day. Blue/Green/Chartreuse is a very close second with a Mtn Dew blade. I don't know if it's just the fly or what, but same pattern Howie fly hasn't been touched when the same eyefly is getting beat up badly.

SteveO from Green Bay?

That's a beast of a boat! Sweet. 3 knots is nowhere near 4.5 mph by the way.

Got my hands on a few of these and finally got to try them. The helped dial into the fish by not having to re-tie to change fly patterns, just slide over the knot and try a longer or shorter lead.......longer was better for us. Small blue/silver has been a solid coho performer even when our Howie peanut flies failed so that's a plus. Took a nice 15 lb king behind a spin dr on a rigger for us in Algoma this past weekend during our Child's Wish outing. Will keep running them and posting results if anyone's interested.

I tend to go by downrigger hum, blowback and how hard my divers are pulling. My personal feeling when running an all flasher spread is if I get downrigger hum I'm going just a tad too fast, but a spoon or mixed spread I want the hum.

Bingo. The actual amount of feet (for copper as an example) should generally be measured on the ground with the line counter being along for the ride. Leadcore is metered so you'll always know how much is there. Divers are a different story, but a good depth chart for your particular diver makes all the difference in getting you dialed in. I have charts for Dipsy Divers, Torpedo Divers and others blown up and laminated and put on bright paper for ease of use. You may want to invest in a Big Water Troller's Guide.

That's not the point I was making- stop being so defensive. We used to run a spread of 1/2 30 lb copper and 1/2 45 lb copper so, yes, I've seen firsthand the use of smaller diameter copper. I wasn't disputing the pliability of the copper either, again, relax. I was making a point that I do not see the point after having days where our 30 lb copper wasn't being touched but identical setups with leadcore were- that's proof enough. I've heard good things about Blood Run, not disputing that whatsoever, but there is facts and there is opinions. Opinion- Blood Run is good copper- I have no reason to disagree. FACT- sometimes fish don't want copper at all, they want the action of leadcore. Opinion- every manufacturer of copper is different FACT- there's only 2 or 3 manufacturers of wire in the US that sell this stuff. While I'd be willing to support the fact that Blood Run is of better quality with a more relaxed twist/inch count which is making it easier to work with. But it also takes more to dive when the density is lowered (less twists per inch). At our seemingly slower wisconsin speeds we saw no advantage of 30 lb copper over leadcore which is why we keep both, maybe you running faster see serious advantages, if so then I'm more than extatic for you. I'm not starting a discussion saying that Blood Run is no good and you shouldn't run it, which is what you seem to keep outing me on. I'm saying that if you find issues in running 45 lb copper then you aren't doing it right. It's not as easy as leadcore (and probaly not as easy as 32 lb blood run) but it's not brain surgery to run this stuff, or even deploy and retrieve it. Simple things like using the clicker and adjusting your spool tension or even which rods you're using or which knot you're using can make a good setup like 45 lb copper seem like a major PITA when in fact it's operator neglegence 99% of the time.