mriversinco

I wouldn't mind trying the Gatco sharpener. What kit works the best for the forschner as well as kitchen knives?

I ran chute riggers higher than the others once..... Took a fairly sharp turn by accident, and well.... I'll only do it that one time.

Here's another good site to look at. I haven't compared their prices but their selection is awesome. http://www.luremaking.com/index.htm

Hi, For some reason, I'm trying to set up my reels this year and am having a serious mindblock. How many feet of fluoro do you normally put on your lead core rods at the beginning of the season? I know you cut it down over the year until it hits a certain length but I can't remember any of that. Thanks

How crowded is this show for buying gear? Is it a mad rush in the doors, or is it pretty civil?

gps for me. In valuable to mark a few points where I get hits and go back through those.

I too use the electrical tape since I can't afford the room of even a little mono on my reel. Works fine so far.

That's about all you need. You can also use marine grade grease for spots other than your drag washers. Some people use Cals grease with mixed reviews, Alan Tani uses yamaha lube but that's a hug PIA since they don't make the smaller quantities any more. When I ordered from pennparts.com, I got a tub of the penn grease. Seems to work very well. The main reason I use that instead of Cals grease is the blue color so I know which reels I've worked on, it's more water resistant than Cals, and sometimes the teflon in the cals is too slippery for screws and such (back out too easy). Just make sure you use the Cals for your drags. That's what the teflon powder and oil in the Cals is for.

I was in gander mountain on 28th street in grand rapids the other day and I didn't see one. The highest model humminbird they had was the 586, so I'd make sure to call before stopping by.

Another good spot for carbon fiber washers is smoothdrag.com they also carry the corrosion x and cals grease. If you get the size of washers on the madga reels you can also order the washers from pennparts.com for about half the price of tunas, or smoothdrag.

I second the alan tani site. Cals grease on the drag washers and corrosion x (oil) on the bearings. The carbon drags at tuna toms are awesome and make the reel very nice.

I'd say the reel is fine, especially for the price. They seem to have some problems with the drag on them. If you are comfortable going into it and upgrading to carbon fiber drags, it makes a huge difference. For weekend warriors I'd say the reel with the carbon drags make a pretty good combo. You can get the upgraded drags at tuna toms for 7 bucks. Pretty easy to do too. http://stores.tunasreeltroubles.com/-strse-160/OKUMA-MAGDA-MA45D-MA45DX/Detail.bok

If you swing by northwoods, make sure to bring extra money.... they have all kinds of stuff for cheap. Sometimes I can't believe the prices on things and I end up spending twice as much as I planned just because I "had to have it" because it was so reasonable.

The convecor 30 and a 9' rod are perfect. Welcome to the club of spending all your money on this darned hobby.

If it were me, I'd either look at the convectors from northwoods outlet which are listed at $63 http://www.northwoodsoutlet.com/oscommerce/catalog/index.php?cPath=4_38_130_443 They also have combos on sale commonly at their store. Or, better yet buy some used equipment. The Daiwa great lakes would work fine and you can find those used for 25 or 30 bucks. Get either used poles, or go to mc sports when they're on sale for $15. It seems to me that when you buy used, the reels are the money and poles are cheap. The line is outrageous for braid. Haven't pulled the trigger on one yet, but you can get chinese line on ebay for less than half the price. Looks like 1000 meters of 40 pound will run you less than 50 bucks. Again, I've looked at that deal but haven't done it. Maybe some others here would help with that one.

Walkers all the way, plus they're cheaper.... especially if you find them at MC Sports on sale for $7 for the 124 which seems to be the case fairly often.

Great idea about the tubing maniac!!!

Agree with the dab of glue.

Not to high jack the thread but will the new hummingbird finders, say the 586c, or the 596c with a transom mount be able to mark fish at 25mph or so?

great lakes planers has EXCELLENT customer service. They helped me in all sorts of ways to set up my boat and even sent the backing plates for free before I did it all.

Finally got out for a night fish this year and would've done well but I've got to get more experienced fishing partners. Got 2 salmon into the box and probably should've had 4 more in. Silver Streak Black Screwball was hot on a dipsey set at 150 on #1. Boated one right away, lost one on it, then lost the lure (and fish) about 20' behind the boat when our retie pulled through. Lost one on NBK rigger at 75. Lost one on wonder bread rigger at 84. Lost my whole setup of echip flasher and green crinkle fly on dipsey at 180. Only other fish caught was later on flounder pounder dipsey at 150.

wow, an awesome weekend.

very nice job!!!

After reading all the positive reports, was pretty excited about this morning. Well, ended up going 1 for 5 and fished from 6 a.m. until about 3:30. started at about 50 feet went out to 150, and back through 60 or so. Lost a decent one on a carmel dolphin 45 feet down in 60 foot of water. Lost a really large one that I thought was tired out and found out it wasn't when it charged straight at us and broke off on the far DR wire. About 80' of water free slider on a rigger set about 40 feet, or an orange monkey puke. Lost another on a full core with a lemon ice. Only boat landed was a decent king on a 7 color with an area 51. Sounded pretty slow for everyone else too.

I also run a section of mono between. Usually about 20 feet or so, just enough to be a be able to clips on the board. Willis know for mono to core, double uni for mono to braid.