Daybreak

I love my Scottys. I have used just about all the brands out there and still wouldnt buy anything else. You would not regret your purchase. Though like all things in life, everybodys different. Boats around here on Lake Superior probably have Scotty riggers at least 5 to 1 over all other brands. We fish deep around here and are quite a bit more harsh on riggers than other in other places. Ask the guys on Lake O whats their favorite rigger. 5 to 1 for the Scottys. Same thing on most of that Lake, they fish DEEP. People talk about the "plastic" parts on a Scotty but the funny thing is ....they never break. They are tough as nails. My riggers unspool over 300' of cable dozens of time a day, every day for the whole summer. I have yet to see another rigger that will handle this flawlessy like my Scottys. Look on this forum and others at the Downrigger Threads. Big Jon, Cannon and others all have numerous threads about issues and problems and how-to's.(I will say Big Jon service is second to none!) But the point is you dont see those kind of threads on Scottys....ever. People bash the "Horizontal" reels on a Scotty.....but then they moan about how when they swing their boom riggers to the side and wind up the cable it all bunches at one side of the spool. Funny, that dosnt happen on a Scotty. Also, look into the power draw numbers on the different brands. Nothing more effiecent than a Scotty. Well, now that my bias is out there....To each their own! Thats whay they make more than one kind! Good luck with your purchase. Everybody makes quality these days, its just nit-picking it down to what brand YOU like best!

I switched from a Depth Raider to a Fish Hawk X4 this season and I couldnt be happier. Deep water perfromance that I could never get with my DR and clear signals down to over 250 feet. No coated cable and no finicky spring antenna, great battery life, ect.... Also a much more stable speed reading than my DR, and I can put the probe on any rigger I want at any time. Very happy with this unit! If I had 1 complaint, its that you cant dim the LCD screen. Its nice at dawn and dusk, and during the day, but when its black out its just way to bright.

100% Agree! I have yet to hear of anyone who is less than satisfied with the ATOMIC weights. Once you try them, you'll never go back to a round ball or pancake again!

You can get away with any average size ball(10-12) just fine, though I prefer heavier, especially if you want to fish them deep. I run 15lb. Atomik Torpedo weights down to over 250' with great results, but they are not a must. If you are going slow like you should be, blowback wont be as big as a problem. Lead lengths behind the ball are usually 8-20 feet. Almost never longer than 30' or you could start to have some issues. 15 feet is my standard starting point and then I tweak it to the fish from there. I dont have any issues running 3 meat rigs off the riggers at the same time as long as the seas are tolerable. I do have a 10' beam and have 4 riggers mounted there, but more and more I am only using 2 or 3 at a time. Though I do sometimes run 3 riggers all with meatrigs, more and more I am using the center rigger with a 2-4 color SWR rig and a Mauler spoon or better yet...a J-Plug instead. This is a killer and simple spread to run as you have the 4 big meat rigs staggered above (2 on riggers and 2 on divers) and then a spoon or a plug, run "stealth" under all of it behind some lead core. I will Run this set-up from 11a.m. till 5p.m., 2-5 miles outside (deeper) of where the fish were for the morning bite As long as you dont make super hard turns and things like that there should be no issue with tangling....at least not more than anything else! John King and others also make directional rotaters as well which I have never run, but I have heard helps on smaller boats. Then you have a Port and Starboard paddles. This way instead of both of them rotating the same direction, they both roll "outward" from the center of the spread, aparrently helping reduce tangles. ---1mainiac... I am used to the "slow" stuff due to all my fishing on Lake Superior, where SLOW is the ticket. My starting point for fishing meat spreads on Lake Michigan is usually 2.3-2.5mph GPS speed (1.8-2.0 Depth Raider) (2.4 on my Fishhawk X4). When I am fishing the mid-day timeframe in a "big fish" derby, I will be in 300'+ of water, dragging all meatrigs at 2.0 or less on the GPS. It dosent take much to spin those meatheads and big paddles, and the slower the better when looking for the big boys!

---(This is from a fisherman..not a bioloigist!) Lake Superior has 2 major strains of Lakers. The Mackinaw(also called "leans" or"redfins") and the Siscowet(also called "fats" or greasers") The Mackinaws are the fish we all love up here! Nice orange/reddish fillets with very little fat, brighter coloring, and sometimes nice red fins. They also have a longer snout and a "pointed" face. They are normally found in water under 160' deep. The Siscowets are usually found in water deeper than 200' and many miles from shore, and many live their whole life in the mid levels of the watercolumn in depths of 700' or more. The DNR netted Siscowets at the deepest hole in Lake Superior 4 years ago...1330' down! These are the same fish found in the other Great Lakes as far as I know. Lighter coloring, bulging eyes, short snout, tan or brown fins, white/yellowish meat with lots of fat...only good for smoking or bear bait! I have read a lot of different things on these fish and ther seem to also be tons of "sub-strains" and things as well. I have caught quite a few "redfins" that had white meat as well. Like I said, I am no biologist, but what is stated above is how I understand it. Hope that helps!

Here are a few 30's from this season from Lake Superior, but no Kings over 24 this year for me. Its been a while since I've broke the 40lb. mark....but I gotta good feelin" about next season!

Thanks again guys! I cant wait to be heading back out there! I do fish a lot to the NE of the light, especially as the year goes on. June is a good time to be in the shallows near the Rock itself. When the 2 week bug hatch is happening there are fish on the surface feeding almost all day. Other than that, I stay away from the Lighthouse as it gets more traffic than other places, and seems to hold smaller fish. Early in the season(late April-early May) the fish are down deep because thats where the warmest water(39 degrees) will be. Everything above that will be colder(32-37 degrees). This is a great time to be on the deep banks on the NE and NW sides of the reef. As you can imagine, very little of the good structure out there is on the chart.

One thing to keep in mind when running Meat rigs is speed! You need to be going slower than nowmal pulling these big rigs. If you go your normal "spoon" speed, its to fast. I think its a big reason many people have issues producing when they just throw a meat rig into their normal spread. If your heavy spoons have the right action in the water, your going to fast for meat rigs. This is why the guys that are very sucessful running meat almost always run a dedicated spread to that tactic, they dont just drop one into a spread of random lures. My normal meat fishing spread is 2-3 riggers with meat rigs, 2 wire divers with meat rigs, and maybe a few very LIGHT spoons on the leadcore. I will also drop an SWR rig below all rods in the spread to catch any stragglers hanging below the other rigs. Maulers, FINN spoons, and Super Slims are great spoons for slower speeds. You dont need to stack tons of rods into the spread. Better to concentrate on running 5-7 rods properly than to have a dozen just randomly thrown in. I consistantly outfish guys with 20 rods in the water with my normal daytime spread of 5-7 rods. Its more important to run 5 rods properly, than 10+ rods just thrown in with no thought. Keep in mind....they are NOT seperate rods and baits in the water....they are a SPREAD, that should work together, not alone. I run almost exclusivly the 12" John King Flashers for meat rigs, ALWAYS White or Glow, with the 3 fly rigs and Herring strips or whole Alewife. **Important note...I dont care what anyone says...Fake meat WILL NOT produce like the real thing. If your gonna fish meat, use MEAT! Herring,(whole or strips) or Alewife work the best for me. You should always be running the big flashers with a Meat rigs as well. They give a far bigger and slower roll than the smaller ones and produce 10x more fish on rigs. Remember, unlike a flasher/fly, the paddle on a meat rig is NOT imparting action to the bait behind it, its simply an attractor. Finally, the most imporatnt part of running a meat rig in getting the correct "roll" of the bait head. A baithead that spins real fast wont cut it, and neither will a head thats not turning. Put the rg in the water next to the boat and watch the baithead. You are looking for 2-4 rolls per second. If it needs to be adjusted, just bend the tab on the baithead to adjust it. This should be checked after every fish, as the head may have straightend out after catching a fish. The one tip I remember getting directly from John King about running meat that helped me the most was SLOW DOWN! Especially during the day and especially when targeting bigger fish! Hope that helps! Everything above is just my opinion. I know there are different ways to do things and I dont want to upset anyone. But running meat has won me more money in tourneys and full boxes on charter days than any other single tactic in the water, and I have spent a lot of time trying to perfect it. But its a touchy tactic, as everything needs to be done correctly to really produce.

I use 15lb. Atomik Torpedos. They are a must for fishing deep! Most of my deep fishing is on Lk. Superior, but the weird water temps last year on Lake Michigan had us searching far deeper than ever before to find mature fish. Any weight of at least 12lbs. would get the job done, but a Torpedo shaped weight is a FAR better design and a 15lb. Torpedeo has the same blowback that a 20lb.+ round ball would have. I bump bottom in 200' of water with 230' of cable out, running about 2.1-2.5 gps speed. If you wanna fish deep, you HAVE to check out the A-Tom-Mik Torpedos! Blowback is tolerable with good heavy weights, and when I am fishing down in the deep cold water, I tend to run a bit slower as well, so that helps reduce blowback. Plus, I have found the big Kings to like the slower presentations, especially during the day. With my new Fishhawk X4 unit, I have cut out the coated cable and can send my probe down 250' or more and never lose signal. The currents down that deep can be crazy, so a probe is almost a nessecity to get the baits running properly. I dont like to fish like that if I dont have to, and on most charter trips I run I would stick closer to the warm water and catch plenty of mid-sized fish. But in the few tourneys I fish, they are all "Big Fish" derbys, so one fish at 20lbs beats a box full of 18lbers. When targeting Bigger fish,.....SLOW and DEEP is the ticket! I will usually go down to a 4-6 rod spread for that fishing. 2 super deep riggers, both with leadcore and clean spoons. 2 Mag Wire Divers with Meat Rigs, usually run from 250-450 feet out. And sometimes I will add 2 Slide Divers above the Wire in search or a random offshore Steelie. You may want to stick more rods in, but Dont! That defeats the pourpose and can cause issues with that much line out. I am a firm beliver in "Big fish like Small spreads", especially during the day.

Just some thoughts..... I run 2,3 and 4 color SWR rigs behind my riggers. I almost always am running clean spoons on these rods, so i really like running lighter leaders as well. I use 12lb. leaders on Lake Superior and 15lb. leaders on Lake Michigan, usually 30'.(All Floro) I truley belive that lighter line will put more fish in the boat. I use 17lb. Andes Mono for backer on all my lead core rods and have no problems. Let your drags do what they are designed to do and keep your thumb off the line!! We boated dozens of Kings from 15-20lbs. last year on the 10 lb. test rigger rods, just enjoy the fight! To many people are in a hurry to get the fish to the boat. Why? Enjoy it! Plus, a fish that has been played for a while causes a lot less chaos at the back of the boat! We catch 30lb.+ Lakers all summer at The Rock using 12-15lb. leaders. The line can take it.....Can you? Another thing to try....I also almost always have a flasher/fly on the rigger right next to the SWR, usually set about 5' above it. Using 2 riggers as a "team" can be deadly! Many times with this set-up in the water, if you pull the flasher/fly out, or move it further away, the SWR goes dead. Never underestimate the effect your other rods have on the spread. For those of you that have Ridgeback Rattler weights, the SWR is a perfect rig to run behind those balls as well! Having a bait 10+ feet below and 100 feet behind the comotion of those balls is an awsome set-up! As a lot of research shows, fish will swim Down after leaving a spread their not interested in.....This is where the SWR rig shines! Below and behind everything else, fish just cant seem to resit it! When fish are DEEP, dont hesitate to put some of your bigger cores behind riggers. I usually only do this in Tourneys because of all the extra reeling, but it works great, especially for mid-day negitive fish. We were finding active fish in the shipping channel last year, but they were 200-300 feet down due to the water temps. An 8 color Leadcore on a rigger with 250' of cable out is an awsome way to reach fish down deep in a "stealth" way! I refuse to jump on the bandwagon of Copper line because I .....well....I hate the stuff! But a 30' peice of Copper can be used instead of the 2 colors(60') of lead as well to achieve the same depth below the ball. I belive however, that leadcore and copper are NOT interchangable. Leadcore gives a completely different action to the bait then Copper does, but some people really like it. Just a few of my opinions! Hope it helps someone!!

Here is the new video, shot near the Pictured Rocks and other places along Lake Superior a few months ago. Pretty sweet to see a Michigan boy keepin it at home! Its the UP........way North of Detroit and just South of Heaven! http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mtv.com%2Fvideos%2Fkid-rock%2F593593%2Fborn-free.jhtml%3Fxrs%3Dshare_fb&h=044b4

Great Shots! I really like the close up! Its amazing how much color is in a fish when you look at it really close! Very cool

I use 40lb. pp for braid divers. 20-30 will work too, but I think you get a little better abrasion resistance with the 40lb. I run the Mag Dipsys on Superior a lot when trolling for Lakers. 250-400' out they really get down there a ways! For Kings on Lake Michigan though, my braid never come out of the cabin. Especially because I run almost exclusivly Meat rigs on my divers for Kings, Wire outperforms the braid at least 5 to 1. Three years running, the hottest rods on the boat are Wire Mag Divers with Meat Rigs. The biggest fish almost always come on that set-up as well. I also run PP on my Slide Divers which I run above my Wire Divers. I like the 40lb. on those to. Hope that helps!

I will leave the brand up to you. I really like the Gander Mountain rods(for trolling rods too). High quality, good guides, good feel, and a lifetime no questions asked warrenty. I like them in 6-7' and med-heavy to heavy action. We use 2-5oz. jigs so you need some backbone, but I feel more comfortable with a "beginner" and a med to med-heavy action because than he cant just horse the big fish up, which is what kills them. I have to remind them.....it may take 45 minutes to get this fish in.....but thats a GOOD thing! Jigging rods have 4000 series Shimano reels(A MUST!) spooled with 20lb. Power Pro and tipped with a 15' leader of 12-15lb. Seagur florocarbon. A tip for ya--- Save a little money on the rod, and spend it on good reels! I wear out high end Shimano drags in 1-2 years with the use I give them out there. For casting spoons out there I like a 7' med action rod spooled with 10-14lb. Seagur Florocarbon line. We throw 3/4 oz. spoons to 4oz. spoons. As you can see, FLORO on everything. I am one of those guys who truly belives it puts more fish in the boat, Lakers on Superior and Kings on Michigan. Hope that helps

Thanks a lot guys! I appreciate it! I am very lucky to do what I do and meet the great people I meet. Creating lifelong memories for people, including myself, is a big reason why I get up at 3a.m. all summer long! Steve, The song is called "Sunrise" by Ted Nugent, without the lyrics.

Here is a Video/Pictures from this year at The Rock. Couple of video clips as well as my best pics from this year. Turn it up and let Uncle Ted play it for ya Enjoy 52iGg8AQaac

The Lakers are bigger, but the fish I am most proud of is this 17+lb. King. My wifes biggest to date! We fished together for 2 days, mornig and night, and she never complained once. St. Martin Island in the background. We are in 160 feet of water where this pic is taken! Cool place to fish on the North end of Lake Michigan! Gotta love it!

Kyle, You got a hell of a wife if she is reeling in your 300' of Copper with a big King hooked up! Thats awsome!

This guy was the biggest of the year at just under 34lbs. Caught the first week of August at The Rock. This guy was second biggest of the year at 32lbs and was caught in May, also at The Rock.

A hell of a good day for my last run of the season! Over 50 fish in the boat and 7 over 20lbs! It should be illigal to have this much fun!

2010 SSFA Marquette Bay Classic Start time 6a.m. on Saturday, September 11th, 2010 --Fishing Classes: Catch and Keep Salmon and Trout, and Live Release Salmon and Trout (You may enter all 4 classes for one entry fee) --Rank will be determined by the TOTAL weight of the 6 largest fish in a class, per team, or total weight of ALL live release catches. A team may enter all 4 classes however classes MAY NOT be combined. ONLY 6 Fish per class per team will be weighed. DONT bring more then 6 fish per class to the weigh-in. Its up to you to select your 6 largest fish to be weighed. --Live Release MAY NOT bring in more than the legal Michigan Limit for their boat at one time. (20 fish max) --Teams of 1-4 anglers per boat. Boat fee per team is $125.00 --Tournament waters are inside of a line extending North from Laughing Whitefish Point, and East from Big Bay. --ALL boats MUST leave from the Presque Isle Marina/Launch, Cinder Pond Marina/Launch, the Fish dock, or Association dock. --ALL boats MUST be inspected by a tournament offical BEFORE leaving the dock or you will be disqualified. --Starting time is 6a.m. on Saturday. Boats MUST remain inside the breakwalls until the flare has been shot at 6a.m. and the tournament officals make the call on VHF channel 68. If you leave early, YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. --Channell 68 is monitered by tournament officals all day --Weigh-in will start at 6:15a.m. All fish must be certified fresh or live by an official at the weigh-in. ALL decisions made by the officials are final. --ALL boats MUST be inside the end of the Lower Harbor wall by 3p.m. SHARP or you WILL be disqualified. A tournament offical will be posted there to make the call. --Boats MUST come to the weigh-in to drop off their cooler BEFORE going to their dock. Drop off at least 1 team member and your catch, then get in line to weigh it. Any boat that does not drop a cooler at the wall BEFORE going to their dock will be disqualified. Coolers that are carried up to the weigh-in will NOT be accepted. --All Michigan fishing regulations apply during the tournament --There is no minimum age, however, minors must fish with an adult. --All members of a team must fish in the same boat. --ALL fish MUST be taken within the tourny waters as described above. --Steelhead, Brown Trout, and Coasters may ONLY be used in the TROUT class. A Salmon is a Salmon, a Trout is a Trout. Period. -Captains Meeting: Friday, September 10th at 7p.m. at Marquette Mountain Ski Area. AT LEAST 1 MEMBER FROM EVERY TEAM MUST ATTEND THE MEETING. --Alternete Date...Posting of a small craft warning by the NWS will result in the tournament being rescheduled for Sunday, Sept. 12th. Forcast conditions will be announced at the Captains Meeting. Anyone not wishing to fish on the alternate date will recieve a full refund of the entry fee. If the weather turns bad during the tourney, the officals have the right to cancel the tourney at any time. If at least 3 hours have been fished, the tourney will be considered completed.

Thanks for the comments guys! This was a great day for me because I just took some friends and went fishing.....for a change! It was nice to hook a fish and not have to hand it off to someone else I have sent 23 fish to the taxidermist this season so far.....NONE for MY wall! One of these days I will bring one to MY house!

After hearing all the talk about all the big fish being caught out at Stannard Rock, I decided I just had to try it I booked a trip with Daybreak Charters and brought along 4 of my best friends, ready for some action! Thanks to my friends for making it a hell of a day on the water, and a day I really needed! Its really a lot of fun catching fish out there! We left the dock at 10a.m. and returned after sunset. SE wind 10-20mph and waves that started at 4's and ended up as 2's. Dont know how many fish we boated, but it was plenty! Biggest 2 fish of the day, a 23lb. and a 21lb., were the first two fish in the boat.....at noon! We jigged for about 3-4 hours and then needed to relax for a while, so the "cans" and the sandwich's came out, the trolling gear went in, and we went huntin'! Found a few of my old trolling spots full of fish, as well as 2 new pinnicles I have never seen before. Anything that was hooked to a fishing line and dropped below the surface was HOT! Here is a video from our trip! Enjoy!

Its been a great week at the Rock so far! Lots of fish around with many of them suspended....and very Hungry! Our best depths lately have been 70-110, mostly North and East of the lighthouse. The 18' reef is still mostly empty, except for the dinks. Moonshine spoons have been on fire! Cast em; out, let em fall for 40-60 seconds, then just reel em in! All they do is catch fish 2-3oz jigs have been producing as usual too. Lots of hit on the "fall" or on the "rise" with fish scattered all through the water column. Surface temps out there now are at 67 degrees!! Everyday of the week seemed to get better and better. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were a little below average, mostly due to rough weather and a fast drift. Still managed to put at least 20 in the box both days wit a couple for the wall during that time. Monday got a little better with higher numbers and bigger fish. Tuesday and Wednesday were UNREAL! We boated over 50 fish each day and probably 60% came on Moonshine spoons in the middle of the water column.(and snapped 2 Shimano Rods in half after the strikes!) We brought home 2 for the wall on Tuesday, one at 27lbs. and one at 28lbs. Wednesday......well Wednesday was probably my best single day of fishing IN MY LIFE!! I may have had a few better days as far as numbers, but never have I seen that much weight come over the transom in a single day. We boated about 60 fish yesterday, with 21 fish over 15lbs! 13 of those fish were over 20lbs, with the biggest at 29lbs. Our first drift yesterday produced 4 fish totalling 100lbs! I have never seen so many Hogs in one trip...ever! Of the 13 we had over 20lbs yesterday, 2 came back home for the wall and 11 were released in great shape. The shallower water realy helps the release and survival rate. Overall, its been one hell of a week out there! Hopefully this weather keeps up for another month! Now its time to do some tackle and gear maintnence!! Those fish put a hurtin on my gear yesterday! Here are a few pics from this week.....Enjoy

Thanks for all the comments guys! I would be lying if I said I didnt wish it was going on MY wall! I have put over 100 fish on other peoples walls, but yet I only have 2 on mine, and their both from Florida! One day I gotta find a good charter guy to take me to Stannard Rock to fish for some wall hangers;)