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ChampionShip

Charter Captain
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Everything posted by ChampionShip

  1. These boards are specifically designed to help shorten the learning curve of the multitude of different setups we all have and use......they're all different so it's nice to be able to ask questions and get several detailed answers and opinions.....keep asking!
  2. I like the offshore releases, but haven't had one of the Church ones fail yet. Be sure to add a berrol swivel between diver and realease- trust me on this one:rolleyes: We used all the snapper, shark, musky and cuda all summer, but the snapper and shark pulled no problem behind a church board, a Musky pulled so-so but I'd want to try it with a big bird before I rule it out on a board...don't even try a Cuda unless you have a triple ski or maybe the new church boards- dunno yet, haven't tried it. To gain more depth, we added the diver at the backing like everyone else said- same as a dive bomb. Our favorite setup was what was described by the owner, Matt Sawrie......Mono or braid with 50' of fluoro leader. -Champ PS- I don't want it to seem like I learned all this on my own, I had an awesome teacher that taught me how it all worked and how to tie it all together.
  3. Like was said- those old style 4.3's seem to last forever with little effort on the owner's part. If they're still running strong, just have a mechanic check them out to be safe and keep running them till you have an issue. If I were going to repower I'd be taking a serious look at a pair of Mercruiser reman's. Rebuilding is a good way to keep cost down, but you just can't beat the amount of precision machining and quality control that they have in that factory.
  4. I asked for a Forschner for Christmas a few yrs ago and wound up with a wood handled Victorinox 10" blade that would likely cut my boat in half if I got near it. I don't know what the difference is, but I see all my Charter friends using knives just like it.
  5. If you get on GLA at all, ask Syonker how he likes his......he's got the coolest rigged 14' boat I've ever seen in my life.
  6. We ran Torpedo's a bunch this past summer- it was a terrific experience and I give the credit to my Buddy Gilligan........here's what we learned: 1. Torpedo's are awesome for fishing deep even when clipped to leadcore of copper when the fish were out in 500 FOW. They're super efficient and their dive charts are awesome! 2. A standard planer board will pull the smaller ones pretty darn well, way better than it would have pulled a Dipsy. 3. The DIRECTIONAL ones (which work great in place of a Dipsy) don't like to go out to the side in anything but calm weather- the pull back of the rod has a tendency to spin the diver on axis which doesnt allow it to pull to the side.....standard ones still work just fine but they're right next to the boat 4. The rod/reel combo needed for them is pretty darn basic.....you can just use whatever- naturally a line counter is favored but you could count passes. 5. Despite what I heard about fighting fish on them before I used them- they don't really have much drag, far less than a pump handle!
  7. Just about anyone you see running lead weights on boards are using Big Birds with Scotty pinch pad releases in front(I like red offshores with the pin in the back)........myself included (this is the only reason I have Big Birds on board). Church boards just don't get it done for some reason, niether do offshores. I like Church better than any other for copper and lead though.
  8. 6 lines is a breeze to turn with......if you have 12 or 16 then turns should be spaced wayyyy out. Just don't try to make a 180 and you will be fine.....multiple boards/side is kind of an art when turning, but is VERY doable. If I'm catching consistantly over a few waypoints, I'm not leaving to go look for other fish- unless what I'm catching is shakers.
  9. I run 8' Med. TDR's for leadcore with great success. Med Heavy seems a bit too stiff for my liking and 8' seems to be the perfect amount of rod for ample tip seperation with enough backbone to be able to horse a board in across a spread if I need to. I can reach the tip of the rod and take the board off WAAYYY easeir than I can with longer rods which is a giant plus. 7' on boards just seems a bit short to me, but if they work for you- use them. For copper I had a chance to compare my TDR's with a friend's Okuma's with big wide stainless guides......guess what my next upgrade will be.... . It's night and day for copper. Riggers are 7 1/2 one piece med light Fugly sticks and they're a blast to catch fish on.
  10. Agreed, we found that often times this summer the direction of troll made all the difference in the world- an AP would keep you on track a little better. Also, with an Auto pilot, more people will want to come along because they aren't pressured into learning to drive the boat which makes it more relaxing in my opinion. Probe would be #2 on the list followed by a good graph then electric riggers.
  11. I don't like pancake weights- too likely to go awry in cross current. I think fish weights help in keeping a straight track, but I run 12lb round with minimal issues.
  12. Mine didn't do jack squat after May for some reason, but it's what you said- 2 colors of lead after a rigger for a stealthy presentation. I have mine on a Shimano Charter Special with the rest of the reel full of mono. If I were running it out deeper then I may consider switching my backing to braid to be safe, but it hasn't been an issue in 2 years.
  13. I like Blacks for running blades down deep (past 70') but that's a personal thing- was told not to use Chamberlain that deep. Scotty pinch pads are great also, but repeatability of your setting is kinda iffy, especially on a boat that is pitching and rolling a bunch. Bands are ok, but are subject to scrutiny for littering and bilge pump fouling.....good for consistant setting though so I can see how people would like them. Chamberlain releases seem to be the perfect solution and I do own a set that I have yet to use (boat was sidelined this year). Releases are such a personal preference thing that you just need to use what you feel comfortable with.
  14. I like rollers, but that's just a personal preference. I also like to have similar rod actions for high and low divers, just different lengths. I have 9.5' Med action Shimano TDR's for high divers and both 8 and 8.5' Okuma rollers with Med action for wire. I do like the Talora guides in lieu of rollers that Eyeful also favors, they're just too pricey for me right now......If I have to choose I want my money tied up in better reels before better rods. One thing I learned form a friend was to tie a section of mono 1.5x the length of your wire diver rod at the end of the wire, then attach the diver to the mono. I use 30 or 50lb mono since I still don't want stretch- that's what the opti snubber is for behind the diver. The mono helps keep all your wire stored on the reel and wrapped tightly.....SIGNIFICANTLY reduces curling. ***If the situation calls for Torpedo Divers, which it often does when Dipsy divers aren't firing, then I use either 8' or 10' med action rods with braid line and a 50' fluorocarbon leader.***
  15. Copper isn't used in a diver application- stainless wire is, however. One question I have is, why the manual hookset when a rigger fires? That's a big, giant 'no,no' in my experience.
  16. Your best bet for keeping your boards from releasing is to use the Offshore OR-18 (black) release. Tighten it down so it doesn't release even with braid. A friend that I fish with often has this setup and it's flawless. Zboards can suck it- we tried for an entire weekend to get them to pull and couldn't make them work so stuck with Church boards. I think the best release for boards like Big Birds and Zboards would be a big Scotty pinch pad- have used them for up to and including 12oz balls on my boards.....the plunger releases from zboard were known to be junk and they will send new ones- but the boards still won't run right for us.
  17. Those guys must smoke alooooootta pot lol
  18. I like the stretch that the Mono splice gives as well during the initial strike or when tripping the board. I've heard of guys using a small berrol swivel instead of an albright know and that seems like the ticket- after losing a copper rig from a bad knot last year I'll be changing all mine this year to the swivels. As for leadcore- just use a double willis knot and be done with it- simple and very effective. I personally never really saw a need for 50 lb test PP so I back most of my stuff with either 30 or 40, but again- just a preference. -Champ
  19. I'm very much a fan of the action in the early morning- but am NOT a fan of being awake at 4 a.m. We've fished a few all-nighters and that was pretty fun and consistant fishing. -Champ
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