MY2SONS

Can you mount another transducer plate to the opposite side of your transome? The farther apart the are the better.

After reading all these posts I have to laugh. The cost of catching salmon goes up every year with all the gear we put on our rigs, but hey, it's an addiction right? I was looking at adding wire dipseys, but never ran them before. Do you run these the same as regular dipseys, or are they set up differently? What size reel is required? I know ou need roller rods, but will a Takota 600 work, or do you need a 700?

What have you added to your boat or spread for this year?

Did you remove anything from you boat?

I have added a chart plotter, wire divers and copper rods.

Hoping to catch the fish I missed .

Took off 2 life jackets and replaced with Auto inflating ones.

Added new third electric downrigger, new Fishhawk, shore power, 8 Big Daddy planer boards, 2 SWR's, rotating rod trees (replacing current stationary ones), cabin heater, more rod holders, and various lures. Still kicking around the idea of wire dipseys, but not sure if it will happen.

Adam, were would I find this, I need to put plates under my tree's

www.speedymetals.com I've used these guys before. Very fast service, and cheap prices. They will even give discounts to returning customers.

You can count the number of Battery manufactures on one hand and probably close to 75% are made by the big 2 Excide and Johnson controls.

I work at Johnson Controls, and I purchased two blue tops for my boat with my discount. We can buy two per year. Saweeet batteries! Highly recommend them. The can be mounted in an position since they're gel batterys. They won't spill.

Maybe I'm some sort of sicko, but the boat is already cleaned, gassed, batteries charged and all of my brown trout gear is rigged and ready with the poles already in the boat. I keep thinking that if I stare at the ice hard enought at the Manistee launch I can melt it, but all I got so far is a headache and a lot of strange looks.

:lol:

The vc-17 interlux is that a 2 year paint .I would not be the cost factor for paint but will it last 2 seasons .

It depends on how much you use your boat. If you let it set in a slip all season, and only use it on the weekends it will last for a couple seasons. If your a true die hard, and your out a lot during the week too it may require a "smile" application after the first year. The wear areas (bow, sides, etc.) I was going to use VC-17, but it doesn't seem as durable as bottom paint. A few places I checked said the same thing. It is easier to reapply though. A good bottom paint is like a bar of soap. As you move through the water the paint wears off (ablaitive) so you have to apply a touchup coat ever year.

Thats alot of work.

It's no work at all if you have someone else do it. You just need deeper pockets. I had Bowkers Fiberglass repair in Zeeland do mine. He stripped the layers off, applied two coats of epoxy, and sprayed on a coat of Interlux Micron CSC. Looked saweeeet! I highly recommend him for any fiberglass work. He does an awesome job. He repaired some fiberglass damage on my boat and you couldn't even see where the damage was, or where he worked on it even under high powered lights.:thumb:

So I read a bunch of reviews at an online outfitter (rhymes with "fellas") and a lot of guys over there seem to think that the newer Dipsy Divers aren't built "like they used to be", and were very disappointed in the poor build quality in the new ones. Crappy reviews were more common than positive ones. However, the Walker Deeper Divers seemed to have nearly all positive reviews.

I read this thread but it is over 3 years old, and thought opinions might have evolved so I thought I'd revisit this topic, since I need to buy divers soon.

What are your thoughts?

I use to run LJ's for years, but ever since I tried the Walker's I've shelved the LJ's. Probably won't ever use them again so they may end up on Craigslist.

Satellite images show how quickly warmer temperatures have melted ice along Lake Michigan. The images posted by the National Weather Service show the thickening of the ice last week, and how it has melted in the past several days.

More...

Oh crap! Don't tell Al Gore. He'll be back up on his soap box again.

Hi guys i leave boat in water for the season what is the best bottom paint for fiberglass .

I use Interlux Micron CSC on my Baha. It's not cheap ($150.00-$200.00/gallon), but it's worth it. My boat sat in Lake Macatawa all season (brown silty water), and when I pulled it out in the Fall the only growth I had on it was on my trim tabs which weren't covered with paint. That will change this year though as I'll be painting the tops of my tabs as well.

When I started out I had two manual cannon downriggers on my Lund. I used them successfully for a few years while I built up my rod/reel collection. When I went to a bigger boat (17' to 28') I thought it would be better to upgrade to electrics because I would have a wider spread, and flipping a few switches vs. winding up manual DR's would be a lot easier. I liked my manuals unless you went really deep, and you had some false releases.

I think im gonna do this but with reg bolt heads that i can get off easy. The bottom will be in my locked rod locker so they would have to break into that along with having right tools. Might just do wingnuts on one side for easy on off. This will allow me to still take off easy to go tubing and such. Thanks for the help guys.

I would suggest the nylon inserted locking nuts. They won't vibrate loose like a wingnut might. That would really suck. I'd just carry a socket wrench with the right size socket should you want to take them off. JMO. The carriage bolts are round on top so you can't get a good grip on them.

sad day when a man gives his balls away LOL

Isn't that day also called "wedding day"?

:thumb:I am with you with that john driving rigging and get the net too.Just got tracking number and new toy will be here tomorrow .Iwill see what raymarine puts in box .I no i will need new hoses have to see what size i wll need for pump .Is it x mas again lol.

Let me know how your install goes. If you get a sec some pictures of the final install would be great. I'm especially interested in the quick disconnect fittings on the hydraulic lines.

Welcome aboard. Got any pics of your boat? Love to see 'em

Good news john a little more training and see mite let you get a autopilot ....

I hope so. It's tough watching friends use your expensive gear when you're driving the boat. Tried a rotation before where each person takes turns driving so we all get a chance to fish. Not the same.

they are 70 00 in catalog john i hopr that does save your marriage lol......

No worries. Thanks! She's put up with me for about 12 years now so she should be use to my addiction by now.

To john my2 sons the quick connects are from grainger.com item #6bu53 hope this helps.

Thanks a lot. I've been trying to find these, but the marina where I was going to purchase them wouldn't give me the part numbers. Probably because they know I could get them a lot cheaper elsewhere.

John, does your wife fish with you? If she does just make her drive a few times. After that she will be begging for the AP. When we got the new boat that was the one thing my wife wanted. She hates driving. Now we both enjoy it more when she goes along.

No, sadly enough she hates my boat. She's only been on it twice since I bought it. Once for the test drive, and once when we took friends out for a cruise.

How many of you change the treble hooks on spoons for singles. I first saw a single in action last may and the hook was actually in the mouth and out the nose on 1 fish and out the top of the head on the other. Last year I didn't lose a fish (but I only boated 28). I am wondering if I should be changing the most used spoons or am I just trying to think useless crap up to do before spring.

Thanks Steve

I'd just make sure your trebles are "sticky sharp". Maybe you can use the single hook as a stinger.

Yes john will use quick disconnect on that used them on on kicker motor to valve. what do you think does it look hard to hook up john took someones idea from this site 2 years ago and modified it did not want selinoid vavle ,shut offs and eletric connections .if you need pics or talk let me know all the home work is done be more than happy to be a help

It looks relatively easy to set up. I'm guessing the hardest part is mounting the unit below deck since it can be tight quarters under there. What diameter hydraulic line do you have, and I'd like to find out the part number of the quick disconnects you're using. If mine is the same diameter I'm betting I'd use the same fittings. The outfitter where I was going to get my AP from said the quick disconnects are expensive, but that could be there mark up since they buy them from the local hydraulic supply store in Holland. I'd like some pics on how you set yours up to give me ideas. That would be great. Thanks a lot!

Hi again guys i got the Raymarine st 70 x -10 autopilot. y that one furuno price and rudder ref piont no good . Garmin hydraulic autopilot needs a tacometer bad reveiws.simrad rudder ref point no good. I donot think it would be to hard to install put 2 way valve on hydraulic steering to steer rudder or outboard .I will install in the spring put compass in middle of boat and computer 3 hoses power neama does not sound to hard .Iwill give it hell .Thanks again for all the input .hope this will help someone else.

Man, I'm jealous. I'm still trying to convince the wife I need an AP for my rig. She's not buying my argument though. Are you putting quick disconnect fitting s on the hydraulic lines? I was told that it's a good idea because autopilots (doesn't matter what brand) will ultimately have to have the pumps serviced, and the quick disconnects will make removal, and installation a lot easier with minimal oil spillage since the fittings are checked.

Nick of those choices I would pick the Generac it might still have a couple of American parts and is not a inverter generator. Since it is a direct drive many of the things complain about them will not be a issue. Not sure what transfer switch you have but most electricians tend to go with over kill on them so you should be fine. I will be honest I am not a big fan of Generac but as long as you maintain it and run it several times a year you should get lots of good use out of it. I mentioned the welders because they are overbuilt and tuff and price compared against the whole house systems are a good deal.

My father-in-law bought my wife and I a natural gas powered Generac generator that has an automatic transfer switch about 10 years ago. It runs the whole house witout issues. :thumb:I haven't had any problems with it whatsoever with the exception of the housing rusting some. It has an exercise timer on it where it runs for 10 minutes once a week. I really like it since we live in the country. I see no reason to switch brands when it comes time to replace this unit. There may be better units in some peoples minds, but I can't bitch about this units performance.

I have Berts tracks that hold rod holders and downriggers and my new boat wont fit in garage during summer. Anybody have any different lock end screws or anyway to lock on $$$ worth of equipment rather than just a hex head? Figure others must have same concerns but never saw anything different. I live in nice neighborhood but never know when a few hoodlums might roll through. Any thoughts?

I run SS carriage bolts through the tracks (one on each end) with lock nuts on the bottom. The would-be thieves cant get a grip on the round head, and the rod holders, or downriggers won't slide over the top. I've done this for my rod holders, and downriggers so it would be very difficult, and obvious if someone wanted to take them off. They would sure have to work for them. And if they're stealing to begin with they're too damn lazy to work for anything.