Daybreak

Here are a few of my new FF combos for this season. Mikes Eyeflys and Spin Doctors...All with GLOW beads ofcorse!

What ya think?? Any winners??

A #16 behind a White/Mountain Dew

A "Superior Eye" behind a Chrome/Blue Bubble

My personal favorite...A Captain Yoop Eye behind a Glow/Blue Frog

A #22 behind a Glow/Green Frog

My Laker Killer...A Yellow Eye Ghost behind a Greasy Chicken Wing

This is a custom painted "Relentless Edition" 5 inch Mini Spindoctor in Fire Red Mettalic Clearcoat with a Blue Mettalic back and a custom 3" Single hook Mikes fly we'll just call "Skamania"!

Fred Smith started the day early,

having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6 am.

While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking,

he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG),

...and put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA),

designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE) and

tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA).

After cooking his breakfast in his new

electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA),

he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO),

to see how much he could spend today.

After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN)

to the radio (MADE IN INDIA),

he got in his car (MADE IN JAPAN),

filled it with GAS (from SAUDIA ARABIA)

he continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB.

At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day

checking his Computer (made in MALAYSIA),

Fred decided to relax for a while.

He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL),

poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE)

and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA),

and then wondered why he can't find

a good paying job in AMERICA.

And now he is hoping he can get help

from the president (MADE IN KENYA).

Here's my girl... "RELENTLESS"

Tiara 2700 Open

AWSOME!

Great Pics!!

A few clips from early last year, and a few from late in the year. I cant wait to get back out there this spring!! All those Lakers with nothing to do for 6 months but wait for my return

Enjoy If you have a high speed connection, click on 720P to see the video in Full HD!

yep. Just because they are expired doesn't mean they won't work if you get into a bad situation.

I agree 100%! I have probably 20 or more flares on my boat.

Have you ever opened a new package just to try out? I bet you would be suprised how many brand new ones dont work or are duds. If your a** is on the line...you're gonna want more than just 3 on board!!

Same with fire extinguishers. I carry 6 on board...at least. Ever try to put out a fire with one of those small extinguishers that are the min. size required? Its barely enough juice to put out a ciggarette let alone a engine fire offshore. If your boat was on fire, you'd feel pretty dumb if you only had 1....because thats all that required.

With all the money we spend on fishing equipment, spending a couple hundred bucks every few years on MORE than the required safety gear just seems like an easy call! Your familys will thank you!!

I just found this in my rule book....

"The pistol-type visual distress signal has now been defined as a dangereous weapon and subject to rules of purchase, resistration, and carriage as required for any handgun. The pistol-type visual distress signal is NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE and MAY NOT be carried aboard Michigan Charter Boats."

FYI--I was just told by a Coastie buddy of mine... "they ARE still legal for a passenger vessel, but not for long. Michigan has plans to outlaw them completely by next year".

When I had a DR, I got tired of the spring real quick! There is a MUCH better way!

http://www.moorelectronics.com/partsinfo/partsinfo.html

Click this link. Then scroll down under the Heading of "Trolling". Look at the "Special Anntenna", part # 88-088-020-5

Its a short metal sleeve instead of a spring anntenna. It works great with the DR set-up, and eliminates any issues with beads going through the spring type anntenna. I have Scottys that also use a stop-bead and this was the answer to my problems!!

Hope that helps!!

Heres a pic I found....

I am not 100% on this but....

I know on charter boats in Michigan, that the 12 guage flares with the "pistol" launcher are Illigal to have on board anymore, and are considered a "firearm". This was changed about 3 years ago. Not sure if it goes for rec boaters as well?

For the guys with 15+ year old engines, I would caution you on running synthetic oil. I run Mobil 1 in everything I own....except my boat. Older engines had much larger clearances and I think synthetic is just to thin resulting in excessive blow-by. I run standard Valvoline 30W....but I do use the Mobil 1 filters. As Yoda said, the filter is the most important part of the equation. Plus, I did 6 oil changes last year during the season on twin inboards at 7 quarts each. 84 quarts of Mobil 1 each season would be a bit much $ !

Gander Mountain in Marquette also has a ton of them in stock

Color should be about #4 to worry about when trying to raise your production on FF. Speed, Leader legnth, Depth, and Delivery devise are all more important factors to me than color. The "hot set-up" or "hot color" means nothing if its not in the right place, at the right speed, behind the right devise!

If color really gets confusing, any part of any of the Great Lakes I have ever fished.... White flasher/Aqua Fly will do the job every time.

My preference is for 8" Spin Doctors with a 24" lead from the end of the loop to the bend in the Treble hook. And for what its worth...I dont put any fly in the water anymore unless it has glow beads. If it dont glow...it dont go.

Its only one good rip because I accidently deleted the rest of the video from that day:mad: , but with the AC/DC playin, something good is bound to happen!

Come on springtime!!

Can I have my side riggers cannon balls and my chute riggers cannon balls be all the same weight, or should the chute riggers (the deepest ones) be heavier.

You can run slightly heavier Chute weights and still be fine. I run 2 15.5lb. Torpedeos off the chute riggers and 13lb. Torpedos off the booms. With the chute riggers down 150+/- and the booms around 100+/-, the cable angle of all 4 riggers is almost identicle, and thats what I like.

With all that said... When targeting Kings, I rarely have 4 riggers in the water anymore, and its usually just 2. With downriggers being like number 3 or 4 in production, I would rather use a different delivery device( 2 more divers or 2 more Cores) that produce more fish than the riggers. Now when I am on Lake Superior targeting mid-summer Lakers...different story. I will have 150-300 feet of cable off all 4 riggers at once.

I run 40lb. Braid for Slide Divers (Power Pro) and love it. Honestly, I dont own a Braid Dipsy Diver rod anymore. If a Dipsy goes in, its on Wire line.

It can be done....

But I would strongly reccomend running your Chute riggers DEEPER than your Boom riggers.

Aaron...Not sure on the exact size? I think a 4 sounds right. I have seen the double set-up as well. This is just easier for me to do and rigged like this, like my J-Plugs, when a fish bites, the bait can slide up the line away from the hook.

Paulywood... Good Point! Yes, you MUST have a beadchain or swivel at other the end of the leader as well to prevent twist. I use a BB swivel like the one pictured above at the end of the leader and it works great. I pre-tie mine all to specific legnths(usually 10"-for running them clean or 30" for behind a flasher), and terminate them with a BB swivel. When deploying, I hook that swivel to the main line swivel and let er' rip. No tangling issues anymore.

...Another note- Because I am a bit anal .... I also use a drop of super glue on the split ring to ensure it cant open and the hook cant get worked off(I do this on all my tournament fishing tackle as well). They say you learn from experience....they're right

Sorry Aaron....See if this helps...

I use the 40lb. Floro for a leader. I slide on 1 small bead, and then tie on a 50lb. ball bearing swivel. The I run a split ring through the swivel on one end, and I use mostly Owner #2 Trebles on the other. The bead is more to get my spacing right, as I like the treble to be just off the back of the bait. This set-up worked flawlessly for me last season, and makes me far more confident than the "stock" set-up.

I buy them unrigged so I can do them myself. The hooks they come with are a joke! I change that out for a #2 or #1 Owner and rig them on 40lb. Seaguar Florocarbon.

My favorite "filling" for them... For Lakers on Superior - Smashed Sucker Meat, For Kings on Michigan - Tuna in Oil (which I also mix minced garlic into). Not a fan of just using a scent in these, as I belive the "particle trail" that is left by the bits of meat coming out is a huge benifit.

My 2 most productive rigs so far with them have been... Run clean on the SWR rigger, set below 3 or 4 Flasher/Fly combos on the higher riggers/divers. I always ran this set-up with a Plug down deep on the SWR, but the Brads have been out producing the plugs lately.

Or I like them on a Wire Diver, 30" behind a 10" White Spin Doctor. I have also had some sucess while hunting for Steelies running them clean on 2-6 colors of Lead, or run clean about 100' back of a Slide Diver.

My 2 best King colors have been Wonderbread (down deep) and Blue Magic (all over) For Lakers the "old yeller" pattern (all silver w/ chartruse head and tail) is a Killer!!

My favorite thing about them is how slow you can troll them and still get a great action. I can mix them in with my meat rig spreads that I pull at <2mph and Lake Trout spreads on Superior where I am barely moving sometimes.....yet at a 3.5mph Steelie-Search-Mode speed they stll catch fish.

Hope that helps

Catching a big King on Copper is not even that much fun ...I cant imagine Walleye fishing with copper is even worth it.

lb. Balls and drop weights/torpedo divers would probably be your best option. Or get a downrigger if thats an option. You can find the manual riggers pretty cheap, and then its just mono between you and the fish.

I would say ME! All electronics aside, never under estimate the value of a "gut feeling"!

Who cares how big they are Mark??!!

It the size of the memories they create that really count! Some of my "best" fishing memories were with fish well under 10lbs!

Nice work! I'm jealous!

Nice pics Mark! Glad to see your back at it!

Cant wait to be able to say the same!! Keep the pics comin!

Digging through some older pics and found these....

Spring is almost here gentleman!! We're on the home stretch!