Eyefull

I took a real hard look at it a couple times this weekend. It is an awesome boat and also a great deal. Even though I am looking for a trailer boat, I still stop each time walking by.

Luck of the draw on the fish. Laughed myself silly when someone pulled a braveheart:lol::lol:

Had a great trip over to Holland this weekend. Buddy Mark Kraak (Just Hookin) invited me over to fish the Gold Coast tourny with him and his father. I brought along good friend Tom Beirlein to fill up the crew. Friday we got out around 5:30pm and set lines in 80fow heading south. We got our whole 9 rod spread set up without incident. Finally about an hour into the troll, things just went nuts. We had singles, doubles, and ended with a triple. We were 11 for 15 or so. There was still at least an hour or so of daylight left, but we couldn't get the cooler shut anymore, and wanted to get a good nights sleep. Blood Run wire divers pulling Mt. Dew flashers/flys, Blood Run Coppers with the same did most of the damage. We did get a few spoon bites on SS Lemon Ice. A couple fish came on plugs also. It seemed like the fish had little or no preferrence, all rods got bit.

Saturday we were signed up to fish the Gold Coast tournament. We got to the channel at around 5:45 and setup for check in as we were the weather and check in boat. Promptly at 6:30 we shot out to our previous evenings stomping grounds. We had two riggers set. I was letting out the Blood Run 400 and the rigger right under my hand went. A nice 15lb king went in the box. Shortly after another fell victim to the plug off the other rigger. We thought we had it going on. Then it just slowed down and quit on us. At around 10:30 after throwing everything in the boat at them, we were sitting on 5 fish. We decided to drag bottom and finish our tourny box of 9 fish with lakers. It paid off and we put two nice lakers in coming off wire divers with trashcan dodgers and green spin n glows. We ended up with 7 fish at noon, having lost at least 5 or 6 kings. The weigh in was very impressive. The first place boat had a 9 fish box weighing 146lbs!!! The second place boat was only a couple pounds off that. As a matter of fact, the top ten boats all had serious boxes. Never saw that many over 20# fish in one spot, it was crazy and says alot about the DNR and their management of the kings and plants. Over and above the great king fishery, we caught 4 cohos, a couple over ten pounds, and a nice fat porky Brown Trout. Awesome mixed bag.

That was our Fridays box, if we had repeated that effort, we would have been right in the thick of things. Things changed and we didn't pick up on it. Thats fishing. Our captain and host was awesome all weekend, Tom and I had a great time. Thanks for inviting us. If things go right, I will be taking the Eyefull over there in two weeks to see if she can get in on some of that action.

Awesome job Don!

Master

This recipe calls for 5 or 6 thick salmon or trout fillets. I used fillets from fish that were proven stupid by eating my wanting presentations, but smarter ones will work as well.

Use a sharp knife to cut a "pocket" into each fillet, almost to the point that it comes out the other side, basically making a fish fillet pita pocket. Fill each pocket with a mixture of cottage cheese, mozzerella cheese, and parmesan.

In a seperate pan, cook two large onions to the point of carmalization, use a cup of apple snaps to deglaze the pan. I place a soaked cedar plank in the bottom of the tin cooking pan. Pour the carmalized onions over the plank, covering the entire bottom of the cooking tin. Place the fillets on the cooking tin, skin or bottom down. Season with your favorite seasoning and sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top of each fillet.

I used indirect heat on one half of my grill set on high which read out appx. 450 degrees. Place the cooking tin with fish on the non direct side of the grill, close lid and don't peak for a half hour.

I made a side dish of rice pillafe and spooned the drippings from the tin over the rice. I would have posted this earlier, but fealt miserable cause I ate too much. There was a pleasant smoked apple taste incorporated into the entire dish.

It is just a matter of the lever principle. The longer the rod, the more lever arm the fish has on his end of the fulcrum (your left hand). Tuna rods are built for ultimate power, and most are 4-5' long. Longer rods absorb more shock, thus less strain and pounding on the angler, so that can be percieved as having more power. It is also why you can fight a big fish with much lower poundage line using a 12' steelhead/salmon rod, because the longer rod takes more of the stress. When you talk power, or the ability to move a fish, shorter is always king.

Another way to test the power principle is to take a 5 pound weight and tie it to your line ( a shaker king will suffice:eek:). Lift it with a 10' diver rod, then again with it tied to your 7' (equal line rating) rod.

Length of your rigger rods is a personal choice and there is no wrong answer. Pick the rods length that fits your setup on your boat and your preferred fishing style. What works on one boat isn't the best choice for another boat.

There are really two good reasons for shorter rigger rods. The first is that they are easier to get other rods over and around. The second and the most important is that you can control a fish better with shorter rod. Most of the time, your riggers are the shortest lines out and the fish often come to the net quick and very green, so being able to put power to the fish and have quick reactions is important.

Dave I suck at it to. I bought a 12", and a 6" Black Forest custom fillet knives from a local knife maker about three years ago. I am amazed at how many fish they can do before needing touch up. Black Forest will sharpen them for free, lifetime. Maybe you have a custom knife maker in your area? Lots of times they sharpen for free, hoping you'll buy a knife someday. I have a 4" fillet on order for those Simcoe perch.

Jay, I can get Traxstech, Big Jon, Berts, and a couple others right now. I really like the Traxstech stuff and they are located very close to the shop. I added a couple of throwtogether wire setups this year also and fell in love with them. Gotta love those rips, not to mention the sound of the wire ripping through the SN guides. Adam, I think Jay's wire rod has Silicon Nitride guides and a torpedo tip if memory serves me correct. Sometime this decade he gets another one:o.

Maybe I should go your route instead Jay:thumb:

Its a huge step. Lots of numbers to pull together, then a huge leap of faith I am guessing.

Absolutely not. Just makes for a more versitile setup. Plus the linecounter really only adds a few dollars to the combo. Perefectly acceptable and practical to not have a linecounter on a rigger rod.

Custom 7' one piece Forecast glass rigger rods with Convector LC combo at $160. Just a wait list thing right now to deal with though.

Ok, I just wanted to put some information out there before the rumor mill gets even more silly. I am considering/discussing leasing 1100 square feet of retail space and opening a storefront. A local business owner has approached me with a very good offer on the space. Despite the horrible timing, the deal is such that it has to be taken very seriously considering everything. While we are still in the very initial planning stages, I envision a Pro Shop type of store vs. more typical lots of everything stores. I would have a focused inventory of the hottest and highest quality equipment, tackle, and rigging. The store would cater to the serious walleye fishermen on Saginaw Bay, with a secondary focus on Lake Michigan/Huron Salmon equipment. Integrating my current rod shop with the new storefront would be a win/win for all. If you hear rumblings or rumors about this potential deal, you have the complete deal right here. I will use my website, and this thread to give updates as we move forward. I just wanted to get this out there after hearing a rumor about this topic with false information from a good friend. Its amazing how fast misinformation flys. Lots of numbers and issues to resolve before pulling the trigger.

Congrats Mark, that has to feel great!

Regardless, very nice fish, congrats.

Did you weigh that big fish? Using your dad as perspective (he is holding it tight to him, no arms out), it looks like a pig weighing more than that. Anyways, great fish, and photo!

Thanks for all the input.

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Should be stylin by Monday afternoon! Lets see how long it takes me to lose, crush, or have them stolen LOL.

Going to pick up a pair of Costas with the new 580 lenses. I have Cabelas gift cards and a 10% off card, so that takes the major sting out of them. Thanks for all the input.

Russ, that would be like the little boy crying wolf!!! Thanks guys.

Thanks guys, any ideas on how to get a very set in her ways wife to see the necessity of a larger boat? Anyone got anything for that:eek:?

My favorite is always the one that caught the last fish:lol: Having said that, I always seem to not be able to resist puting out the Silver Streak Mixed Veggies.

Yep, thanks, it is a 2470, I did end up getting a couple of different listings for it. Will be putting it in the "very interesting" column for now. Thanks

I took a brief look at a 26' Pursuit that was for sale right down the street from the Ludington City Launch. Would like contact information if anyone knows the owner, and any firsthand insight about this particular boat would be greatly appreciated.