MY2SONS

Anyone use the Z-Wing downrigger system rather than lead DR weights. Seems like a good concept, but want to hear feedback from those who may have used them.

When it costs $400 to go out for the day it's tough to do that on a regular basis. I would like to get a bigger boat with a 12' beam, but then I would probably have to turn the fishing into a paying proposition like a charter captain.

Marina gas is almost $1.00 more per gallon than on-shore so filling up a BIG boat would be out of the question. It hurts like heck to fill my 28 footer up with twin 60 gallon tanks. OUCH!

Well we're KNOT one's to sit at the dock, so I cannot let this boat intimidate me, and not use it like a 32 footer. When we're at the marina's like Elk Rapids, we use our boat all the time and actually got the Award for the season "People who actually get out and use their boat Award" I know it sounds weird, but Damn Why wouldn't you want to get out and enjoy the water, views and weather, if not just only to go across the bay anchor in the swimming water and swim... This boat drafts 48 inches,so we're still good to go swimming, We work too damn hard NOT to get out and enjoy Life and what life has to offer. I truely do not understand sitting at the dock all day and drinking Beer... sorry Guys Not a beer Drinker but I still don't understand sitting at the dock when the water has so much to offer.....

Amen to that! Life's too short not to enjoy all it has to offer. Especially on the water. Fish On!

what i'm afraid of.... is the saying "the bigger the boat, the less you use it" I've read that in Lakeland boating... We're just going to have to take her out on the water every weekend possible... good thing is, we don't really cruise that fast, like 10 knot's is good for us.. so it won't burn that much fuel...

I see this quite a bit at the marina where I keep my boat. The big boats rarely ever go out if at all. It's a shame because if you tie that much money up in something that's not going to be used for it's intended purpose it's a waste. The slips for those big boats are very expensive too so it's a very expensive parking space.

Pictures like these help me through the winter....1st pic is just a friends boat on another Site. 2nd pic is the actual boat We're looking at purchasing. As of now I'm going to have a conversation with "Hour Time" Captain Mark about Trolling Valves...

Actaul Boat we're looking at in Grand Haven Michigan Below..

And This is How I get through Winter, That and Having the worst COLD I've ever Had this week! Man I'm sick..

I don't know. Pictures like that make it harder for me. I've been down with a doozy of a cold myself. I feel your pain.........literally.

I've seen that boat, THought it was a 50 footer though.... Snafu doesn't go out on the water that much though....We're going to see this boat Next weekend, providing the ADMIRAl doesn't get sick with MY cold that I have right now.... man this is a bad cold..I've used two boxes of Kleenex so far and it's not over.. and this one came from the MOTHER IN LAW... she's living with us now... But sh'es a good woman..

Yeah, but once you go that big what's a couple more feet right?

I went and visited my boat yesterday, just for something to do:D

Mine is shrinkwrapped in my yard. I'd love to putz around with it, but way too cold. Man I've got the fever bad.

I fish out of milwaukee and I write my name and phone number on the boards and of the two I lost last year, both were returned.

I did that on my walleye boards too. Planning on doing the same for my "Z's".

I am in Wisconsin so we will see when my big daddys get to me. Ordered Thursday. The stocking dealers are almost one hour from me. Not really any price difference and I could get them unrigged. I had one on braided line that I lost last summer. I am going to try the offshore OR18 snapper Release on the back. Offshore med release on the front. I might have to put some mono between leadcore and Braided line for grip.

Just a suggestion, but rather than shell out $12.00, or so for an OR-18 you could use a snap swivel on the back like the one you use for connecting your lures. They're strong, relatively inexpensive, and like most of us we already have a few extras in our tackle boxes. The red Offshore release is nice for the front of the board since it has the pin to keep the board attached, and the Z-boards already come with one! I was going to put the OR-18's on mine, but didn't like the little plastic pin on the release that seems like it would break easily. Not to mention the additional cost to an already expensive board.

Well after nine months of trying to make a go of it here in Ohio I decided to call it quits.

Heading back to Michigan on Feb 8th. Start work back in Hudsonville on the 9th.

now lets just get rid of the snow and get the boat out.

I'm glad I didn't haul the boat down here. It will be really good to get back home and be with my family once again.

Been there, done that. Ohio SUCKS!

559 at armstrongs in whitehall

Thanks for the reply. I was looking around for one of these a while back, but the only place I could find was a place in Jenison who said they were giving me there "sale" price of $599.99. I got mine at Boat Services in Holland.

http://www.greatlakesfisherman.com/gallery/files/1/1/4/4/fishhawk.jpg' alt='fishhawk.jpg'>

Just out of curiosity. Where did you get it, and what did it cost? Want to see if I got a deal on mine. Just bought one to for $550.00.

St. Lawrence River fish are loaded with antidepressant drugs such as Prozac, leading scientists to wonder if the "happy hormone" is altering the lifestyle of the chronically grumpy-looking marine animals.

More...

Maybe they should feed the "grumpy-looking marine animals" some Viagra. It would help boost the fish population.

i ordered 2 sets of big daddys 1 month ago they took money from card still no boards told me back ordered sending them out 2 weeks ago still no boards sent e mails no answer back are they going out of buss. one should think before they order for them hope to get by the season or something wrong in sales or shipping hate to bad mouth them they do work great

I bought mine from Gold Coast Outfitters in Holland. They have an on-line store you can order from too. It's too bad some of these businesses take so long to deliver their goods. Not setting themselves up for loyal followers. If they sent them USPS it would explain there late delivery. The post office delivery times hasn't progressed much since the pony express days.

http://www.offshoretackle.com/OR18.html

Ever have any problems with the little plastic peg breaking off from these releases?

John that is what I did with my Big Daddy Boards and they work great.

Cabin fever's setting in bad so I decided to go out to the garage, and take a look at my gear for the upcoming season. I took one of my new Big Daddy Z-Boards out of the package, and thought the plug style clip they have on the front didn't look very robust. I modified them a little according to how the BC2 guys did on there off-shore boards. I took the red release, and put it on the front, and then put a swivel snap on the back. Seems like it should work better. Can't wait to find out. Come on Spring!

Looking to buy a hydraulic autopilot looking for some input if any body is running ether model I have a single inboard with 25 hp kicker with hydraulic steering with a controll valve to work one or the other it is on a 28 foot baha thanks for any input guys.

I have a 28 foot Baha Cruiser too, and when I spoke with a local rep about AP's (he sold both Garmin, and Raymarine by the way) he said to go Raymarine. Garmin has some nice features, but he said he's had some of his customers very dissatisfied with the Garmin when trolling at low speeds to the point where they wanted the unit off their boat(s). I like Garmin, but I think they're relatively new to the AP market. Raymarine has been around a while so when I save up enough coin I'm going Raymarine. Any pics of your Baha? What year is she? I'd love to see some pics. I love my Baha! BTW, mine is a single engine in-board too!

How many of you guys have your radio and your GPS Wired together to use the DSC feature on your radios.

Just curious if anyone else is doing this.

How do you go about doing this? Sounds like a good idea.

We played with them this past summer and after about 5 minutes of reeling it back in and re-deploying and screwing with it- they can shove that push pin release up their arse. We haven't retried them yet, and when trying to adjust the arm it seemed like the arm was pulling right off of the board.

I run my regular Big Birds with the red offshore on the back and a big scotty pinch pad on the front and can pull 1lb balls in waves no problem. I like being able to either surf the board in while reeling, or being able to pop the release if I want to so an outside board can drop back.

I caved in and decided to buy a couple sets of the Big Daddys, and a set of the Brother, but a concern I had after looking at them is the durability. I was wondering about making adjustments to the arm if it would break the adhesion, but I guess I was planning on not having to tune them too much. I was thinking about making a jig to adjust them if needed. I bought them primarily for my copper setups since the Church boards tend to ride with the "nose" up making them track funny. I'm anxious to try them out although I'm still skeptical. Who knows they may be the best board I've ever used. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I bought 2 last winter and was ready to throw them away after the first attempt to use them. That plastic plug front release they come with is useless in my opinion.

I replaced the front release with OR 18's and they work like a charm. And as the others have commented, they pull a whole lot different than any of the other boards. 300' of 45# copper is not an issue for them, with a good release added.

However, adding the cost of an OR 18 to the cost of the board makes them very expensive. I'll stay with the Church's I have instead of getting more Z Boards.

I must be dense or something, but what is an OR 18?

Check out autogeek.net, lots of good info & products. I bought a Porter Cable 7424 random orbital polisher. Regular buffers probably work better for large, open areas but are tough to handle in tight spots and can do damage if you aren't careful. I'll eventually have both.

I bought a Shurhold random orbital polisher last summer, but I was using foam pads. I was curious if the wool pad typically used for buffing would work well for applications too. Check it out. www.shurhold.com

Looking for opions on Z boards, I have thought about buying some for pulling heavy copper lines but I dont know if they work as good as they claim they are ?

Never tried them primarily because of the price. I'd be interested in hearing some feedback to, but I probably still won't buy any because they're too expensive.

I dont know anyone that has one that doesnt love it. Im getting one this year myself.

Just picked up an X-4. Seems like a sweet unit. Can't wait to put it on.

this is what i used to restore the gel coat on my florida baked tiara. worked outstanding! it is expensive but worth it. this has the finishing material already in it so that cuts out one step.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_11151_10001_21214_-1?cid=chanintel_google&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=21214

follow that up with a good coat or two of wax. i used Meguiars premium marine wax. again a little more expensive but great finish.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=14676&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=10104&subdeptNum=10384&classNum=10386

I recently picked up a bottle of this stuff, and was wondering if ther's anything I should be aware of before I use it. West Marine wanted over $50.00 for this, but I found it for $40.00 at Boat Services and Outfitters in Holland. Did you use it on mild oxidation as well as heavy oxidation? I've heard use a wool pad for application, and others say foam pad. What did you use that gave the best results? My Baha 277 GLE has mild oxidation on the upper half of the boat where the sun beats on it the most. Would appreciate any input. Do you have any before and after pics of your rig?