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Thats what I think I am going to do I have another boat that will get me threw this year anyways. What really threw me off was the marina tech and manager saying that It was probably going to be ok as they saw no performance and operating issues.

I decided to turn my fathers old donzi into a project boat. We ran it last year 4 or 5 times fishing with a cracked block that was not leaking water. And then when we went to winterize it we found out that it need a boot job. So I take it in to get an estimate on getting everything including the engine. The estimnate with some gimbal bearing work and ujoints was 5100. Well that is about what I had budgeted for all my fishing thgis year. Now I am toying with the idea of not getting the new engine till next year and getting everything else fixed and running it as long as the engine doesn't leak. I have a kicker as a back up incase it does fail. The marina said the engine runs great as they ran it for a few hours to check everything out. Should I just bench the whole boat till next year or run it as long as it will with the expectation of a new engine next year. Thanks Steve

I have an old pair of wave walker foam boards that I love. but now they are starting to break down and I can't find the company to get new ones. So I am going to use the same hard wear and use the old boards for templates. I need some ideas as what to use for the new boards. I don't think we want wood and I am in the process of trying some PVC 1x12 I found in the local lowes. What are some of your ideas like a foam or anything synthetic. Thanks Steve

Not you I think I got off and started Lowrance v. Hbird thread again. I actually got alot out of the response to your questions. Like adjusting the ping rate and the screen speed..

I've seen windy summers before and they look just like this. Hopefully old mother nature will blow herself out this spring and we can get a mild winded summer. My fingers are crossed

With 2 or 4 kids old enough to go out and a father with deteriorating health I have cleared my calender and will only be working 1 weekend a month this year. We will be over to Holland 1 a month and to muskegon for the dreamweaver. We started off the season with a great St Joe trip with my dad and son And even though I didn't bring in a single fish it was the best trip ever. Now I am unfortunate enough to have to run 2 trips a day 1 in the morning with the dad and son and 1 in the afternoon with the wife and daughter. So I get to double up on the fishing. So far this season has been good to me and th efamily and they are looking forward to getting out more and so am I. Steve Kelly

We carry an anchor at all times. with 100' of rope. But I also carry a sea anchor and that has saved my on 1 big occasion. It allowd us to float bow into the b=waves while I had to work on the motor. I have no doubt that had we been turned beam or stern to the waves we would have been in very bad shape. With the 100' of rope out we were just bumbing bottom in 60' I now carry sea anchors/drift sox on both our boats.

I think I helped jack my own thread. How about more thermo opinions Thanks Steve

I was not bashing lowrance. I loved my HDS, it was rerally nice When it worked. I hope they did change because I really like their products. I hope to see more positive things from them. When did the company change hand?

Any other advice i can get using the hds5 would be great Thanks

I have an Hbird with the switch fire mode. I first marked it on an inland lake in the deep holes as a line across the screen. Next time out on Lake Huron I marked a very faint line down 68'. On switchfire I had a solid line from 65-69'. I was able to call a buddy and he confirmed that his fish hawk had it about 70' down on the rigger counter. I can get a light return with the gain at 100% and the 50 mh frequency. I can't mark it at all with the 200 mh without the switch fire. I was also able to confirm that it was the thermo I was marking while in Manistee with a hand held temp finder.

When the thermocline sets up am I supposed to fish above it, below it or both? Last year was the first year I had been able to see the thermocline with a fish finder. So now I have to figure out what to do with it. Thanks steve

Welcome to the site. As far as the down riggers go Electrics will make easier and more enjoyable for the 2 of you. And you can get some of last years cannons mag 5 for 349.00 at gander moutian. I have a track set up on my boats so I can take out whatever holders I plan on using that day. Good luck Steve

Was it a sportsman aution and where would i be able to get an aution of general stuff. Thanks Steve

Has any one seen 500' spools of 32lbs for sale. I am rigging 2 more copper rods and don't need 1000. It would just sit around like the rest of the extra line I have stock piled in my garage. I want to set up a 300 and a 200 to go along with my 300(45lbs) and 150 (45lbs)

I know I went to St Joe last year for the B blast and this year. We were 13-21 on sat in 3 hours. Last year we were 0-0 in 6 hours of trolling. And jumping all over the coast and depths. There was a big urge in the weigh ins also. most boats this year had at least 5 fish.

good to see thet ar still around. That ftiger T stick was super hot on my riggers last weekend

Nice looking fish you guys got. Good luke with the tourney seris this year

Good start to a season.

Nice What a weekend we all had

Good job thanks for the report we were heading up next weekend.

For got some info in the excitement. Most fish were taken in 23-32' with my speed about 2.2-3

We ended up 25-38 for the weekend with 13 sat and 12 today. All Coho. We started out to the north of the piers and got nothing so we moved down to the pump house and and started with a triple and then a double and then a quad. in 30 min. we kept on the same area and picked up the rest. Everything took fish best were Dr down 14 with thin-fin and thunder stick jr. in red tiger. And reef runners 800's in purple demon and erie decent back 45- 50 on boards. Gold and red thin fin back 75 took a couple. Sunday was the same but the dirty water was to the north and so were the fish Same set ups but we lost a big king at the net. This was our first time getting into fish like this and it was a riot. I can't wait till next year. Thanks to the guys that set up the B Blast we had a ton of fun. Steve and hunter

We were out at teh pump house just south of the channel and went 12 -21. we didn't get our first fish till 9am

I be there around 9