Icemann

I took the option to have it come due the same time as my license. Should have taken the full five yr option. Brian

TWIC centers seem to be getting better. Had to renew in Feb. Our office is only open on Mondays. Renewal was processed and back to the enrollment center in 1 week. Brian

I installed a Simrad in my Starcraft Islander last yr. Had to swap out the rack & pinion steering cable with a rotary cable that I got from west marine for about $110. Replaceing the cable is the hardest part of the AP install. Took my son & I about a half day to complete the install. I got the AP14R , I liked the ability control the AP from anywhere on the boat not just from a fixed position. If you are going to intigrate (sp) the AP with a chart plotter then the AP12 is fine. I like the compass display on the 14 head unit. You won't be dissapointed with the Simrad AP whatever one you get. You will wonder why you didn't get one yrs earlier Brian

Looking for an online source for LJ needlefish other than Cabela's or Bass pro. looking for the 2" size. Thanks, Brian

Kevin, you may want to get a couple of wire dipsy sets or at a minimum one wire and one power pro. I don't run power pro anymore. The wire seems to catch the majority of fish for me. A Convector CV30D holds a 1000' spool of 30# 7 strand nicely. Any dipsy rod will work, I use roller rods with twilly tips but a lot of people use standard rod with or w/o a twilly. Brian

Okuma reels, have over 30 Convectors. just ordered 6 Magda's, haven't tried the Magda's yet but they will be used for light duty only. Do have one Penn, 600' copper set. Brian

I've been using the black box for the past 6 seasons. I haven't noticed any increase or decrease on catch ratios. I stopped using the box last yr. with the black box you will need to keep a milivolt/voltage meter on hand to dial in the proper voltage for diffrent spieces. I personaly have had a higher catch ratio since I started using Fool-A-Fish on spoons and flies a few yrs ago. Personal tests durring a couple of tournies on Champlain in VT. had results of F-A-F sprayed spoons outfished plain spoons 8/1 up to 12/1.. I haven't looked back since. Everything gets sprayed with F-A-F Brian

I have the Cannon speed & temp and love this unit. Gives true depth and light % at depth. Over the past 2 seasons we have learned much about light transmission through the water column. Some days the sun can be high but the water is (dirty) enough that no light penitrates below 40'-50' I am going to give the new Fish Hawk a try this year also. Want a second probe to give me the lower and upper ends of the thermals Brian

Sean, want to thank you for the information on the fishfinder. Called bethel marine today. great people, talked to Cheryl and ordered a DS600X. has already shipped. Cheryl said they bought a big lot of raymarines existing enventory on the 400,500 &600 fishfinders. If you are looking for a matching chartplotter,check out CascadeGPS. I bought my Simrad AP14R from them last yr. Another great company to deal with. I ordered a Raymarine RC435 today also. They are on vacation till the 16th but are shipping internet orders within 3 days http://www.cascadegps.com/store/raymarine-rc435-w-external-antenna-chartplotter-gps.html Thanks again for the info, I have passed the info on to a couple of other sites also Brian

I have been useing the hot chip and pro chip flashers for a few years. I am sold on the effectivness of the e-chip. While running a spin doctor off a rigger one morning and not taking a hit, I pulled the SD and super glued a e-chip to one of the fins. Took 3 fish in the next hr off that set. Everybody has their own "confidence" lure, mine is the e-chip Brian

Frank, I'll take 25/50# & 25/25# Let me know how & where to send payment Thank you, Brian

One thing to think about is if you decide to have more than 1 F/F on the boat. I run a Si-Tex color sounder with a 120 kHz ducer up front. That way it doesn't interfere with the 50/200 kHz ducer that is on my Garmin F/F @ the back of the boat. Brian

I just went through my photo album to find a picture of how I have mine set up but couldn't find it. I use the 210# coated cable, I slid a crimp on wire connector ( the type that you use to make connections to a battery ) and crimped it on about 3' above the end of the cable. Then used a canon terminator for the ball connection. About 6" below the wire connector is where I stripped away about an inch of the coating on the rigger cable for the SNT connection. Clip the safety cable on the SNT into the eye of the crimped wire connector, attach SNT to the bare cable and good to go. I have been down over 200' with the SNT and got consistant readings. I will try to find a picture of the connection I use. Easier than trying to explain it. You are going to like the SNT Brian

I usually tell people to take Bonine the night before going out on the water. The wife wouldn't go without it. Brian

I love the Canon SNT. I do get a little more blowback with it over the fish hawk that I used to run. The SNT will give you true depth so blowback is no issue. The best feature IMO on the SNT is the light % at depth. We have logged what colors work best at differnt light % . You could have high sun on a clear day but at 60' down the % of light could be 35% or 0% depending on the water clearity of any given day. The SNT is one pc of equiptment I wouldn't be without Just one guys opinion, Brian

The best price I got was through United Marine underwriters, they were about $300 cheaper than Charter Lakes for a 1,000,000 liability package. http://www.unitedmarine.net/bbquote.asp I'll check out the insurance shop when my current policy is close to expiration Brian