sherman51

before i started using the easy troller i used the happy troller. i tried to take off with the plate down and bent mine pretty bad. i got it straught but it still had a tendency to want to bend. i went to a metal scrap yard and got a 4" strip of 1/4" aluminum plate about 6 or 8 inches long. i placed it over the weak spot on the plate and bolted it on with about 8 1/4" stainless screws. it didnt bend anymore. but i was afraid of what it might do to my cavitation plate if i forgot to raise it again. so when i seen the easy troll i bought one. they have them at boatersoutlet.com for 99.00 plus shipping. or you can get the ones with the hydro fins for alittle more. i bought the one with the hydro fins but i had went to a 5 blade prop and never needed the fins.

i have used the bags and they did do the job. i just didnt like getting up on the bow to put them out and bring them back in. i think they would work better if you did like somebody said and leave them tied off and just bring them in over the side of the boat and store then there. but i will probably just stick with my easy troll.

sherman

with my rods cranked way down i havent had any problems with hookups. and this last july on erie we were reeling in white perch one after the other that was triping the release. and maby a couple of false releases.

i also use the lite bite slide divers, and i think they work just as good as the chamberlain release if not better. its good and bad, its good to just see your diver has tripped, its bad to start reeling it in and it be another white perch. one day we was marking alot of eyes but was catching mostly white perch. the divers tripped on just about every fish. it was so bad we started moving around untill we found some eyes that wasnt covered up with white perch.

slidediver.com

sherman

i went to the chamberlain release last year and couldnt be more pleased. i use them on lake erie for eyes, but we get alot of small trash fish including white perch which can be very hard to detect with any other releases. it has 2 adjustments, 1 for the rod tension and 1 for the lure tension. i keep mine set tight on the rod tension so i can really crank it down, the i set the lure tension loose enough that in most cases even the white perch will trip the release. i still use them with a rubberband instead of twisting my line.

now that i have used the chamderlain release for 2 seasons i dont see me ever going to any other release. they still arent perfect but they are as close as i,ve found. i would recommend these to anybody that has a problem with small fish and uses downriggers. you can check them out at downriggerrelease.com they are alittle on the pricey side but they are worth every penny.

sherman

these sell for 75.00 to 102.00 on ebay and 95.00 at cabelas so 50.00 is a very good price. and they are a good antenna.

sherman

i guess im the odd ball on here, because i,ve always likeed the trolling plate better. i dont understand why your plate is bending. i used a happy troll plate untill i switched to the easy troller. the only time mine bent was when i took off with the plate still down. then i had a hard time getting it bent back in place. i had to lay it under my old motorhome and set a 10 ton bottle jack on it and jack the motorhome up. but that worked.

now if you really want to stay with a trolling plate, throw that happy troller away and get you an easy troller. they look and work alot like the happy troll. but the bottom half is hinged and spring loaded, if you give it alittle to much gas the bottom half will swing up and nothing bends. its the caddy of trolling plates. boatersoutlet.com has them for 99.00, or you can sometimes get them alittle cheaper used on ebay. but its hard to beat 99.00 for a brand new easy troller. give them a look and let me know what you think.

i have forgot about mine and took off with it down, i think it might have bent it just alittle but not enough that it hurts anything. im not even sure its bent. but the easy troller is so much better than the happy troller.

sherman

i havent went out with anyone yet. but i think the guys that offer up open seats needs a great big thank you from all the guys on here. i know alot of the time its to help offset the cost. but they,ve helped alot of guys learn how to go out and fish on there own. and some guys might never get to go if not for the open seats. THANKS GUYS. just my opinion.

sherman

i use one something like the chene anchor. but its more like the tie down engineering anchor that bass pro shops carry. its made to work the same way, but its alittle different than the one pictured. but when you get ready to pull the anchor you just drive to the upside and it pulls it out backwards. but i think i have about a 12 # anchor on my 21 ft boat and it has served me well. i have about 6 or 8 ft of chain, then i have 300 ft of rope. i have it spooled on one of those hand held electrical extension cord reels. i have always heard 3 ft out for every ft of water. in 60 ft of water you need atleast 180 ft of rope out.

sherman

i would start out by posting and asking for any open seats that fish with divers. that way you can learn more in one day than you can reading and asking questions for a year. the divers are really simple to use, but running more than one per side takes alittle knowledge of what your doing.

you can use dipsy,s or the walker deeper diver, or you can use the one i think is the best of them all. the lite bite slide diver, then just use it like the other divers but use the lite bite arm. just tie to the diver like you would use the others. then use about an 8' floro leader and tie it to a split ring then lace it through the back, and over the lite bite arm. now you can set the tension on the front arm alittle tight so its not tripping all the time. then set the lite bite arm alittle loose so any bite will trip the diver. you can check them out at slidediver.com.

and starting out with any diver i would recommend using braid line in atleast 30#. and just a good medium sized reel should work for you. i recommend some of the cheaper reels to see if you want to keep doing this, but you dont want junk. the cheapest reel i would use would be the daiwa accudepth adp27lc. you dont want the old accudepth but the accudepth plus. then the okuma convector line counter in the 20 or 30 size then the one i really like but is alittle more money unless you get them off ebay, the daiwa sealion sg27lca. these are around 100.00 each, but you can find them on ebay anywhere from about 55.00 to 65.00. i just fish lake erie for walleyes so i use the smaller reels. i use the daiwa reels in the 17 size and the convectors in the 20 size. they make the convector in a 15 size but its frame is made alittle different and i just dont like it.

another tip i will give you is put a couple hundred feet of mono backing on your reels then fill the reels with braid. put the same amount of line on each reel. the mono will keep the braid from slipping on your spools. and the same amount of line on each reel will keep your counters close to the same.

if you have any questions you can pm me and i will try to help you any way i can.

sherman

i feel that way about the white perch. they worked us to death this summer. just glad i was using the lite bite slide divers, so they would trip when one of those little #$## fish would hit. if not we would have been draging them around most of the time. but from the pictures it looks mostly like sheep heads or big white bass.

sherman

it never really mattered to me what im wearing when it comes time to clean fish. i always just started grabbing fish and started cleaning. i never even expected to get out of there without some battle scars on my shirt.

when i can i make a trip to fl around feb, we catch alot of black drum and saltwater sheephead. now they are much tougher than eyes. you will burn up your knife or strip the gears just trying to make that first cut behind the head. so what we did was started using a good sawsall to make that first cut. it throws scales and meat and blood everywhere. but it saves our knives. i am careful not to make that cut with anyone close to me, but i dont even worry about what i look like.

sherman

i guess i just dont understand. why did it matter to him where you parked?? was you blocking some good parking spots or something?? just what was his problem with where you parked?? our local lake doesnt have near enough parking spots, so after it fills up people just park any place they can get parked. as long as some idiot dont park in a way to use up 2 or 3 parking spots and then i have to park 100 yards down the road, i dont care where you park,LOL.

i have parked in some pretty close quarters a few times. and my trailer would be over the line on the next parking spot. if it was a time when there wasnt much traffic i just never worried about it. if i thought somebody might need that spot i would get out and jerk and pull on the trailer untill it was back over the line.

some people just look for a reason to bitch about what somebody elce does. if it didnt effect him he should have just kept him mouth shut and went on about his business.

sherman

thats one good thing about db charters, they do nothing but troll as far as i know. i dont know of any charters that offer drift fishing in the central basin. but i dont know what there policy is on drinking. alot of them will allow beer but no hard stuff.

and i dont know how far east you are willing to go. but you can check out there web site just in case you think you might want to do this again. dbsportfishing.com

sherman

one thing you might try if you do this again. i cant remember the name of the charter, but it seems like its d&b charters out of geneva. but im sure you can just call the geneva state park marina and ask about the charter that has there sign up on the back side of the marina. but i have been there alot of times when there around back taking pictures. and i have always seen large catches of fish. these guys seem to know what they are doing when it comes to fishing. i dont know there policy on drinking, you would just have to contact them.

yep i just looked them up on line. you can find there web site by doing a search for db charters. or you can call them at 1-800-769-1750. they even have a no fish no pay policy. so everybody gets atleast 1 fish,LOL. but they are good. dbsportfishing.com i thought i would go ahead and get there wed site for you. gooood luck.

sherman

Brown Trout

seeforellen strain.

I had the exact same thing happen to me and i initially thought it was an atlantic aswell.

Thats the one i caught

i sure am glad im not a fish expert, as your fish looks just like a atlantic to me. the mouth extends to the back of the eye and it has the x,s on the upper part of the body. but like i said i dont know the difference from one fish to another. im just going by the picture of both fish. no offence given.

sherman

yea, bluecolleroutdoors has it just right. but i have mine set loose enough that the waves hitting me from the back will sometimes slip the line out just alittle. its much better to have them to loose than to tight. you have a big hole of water out there to fight the fish. its not like fishing around a bunch of structure you have to keep the fish out of.

sherman

i,ve used the dipsy,s first and i just picked the colors that looked good to me, just like most baits are designed to catch fisherman, and it works. and i to didnt like the rings on the dipsy,s so i went to the walker diver. and i did the same thing with the colors. then along came the lite bite slide diver. and they have rings. but the rings on them fit much better than on the dipsy,s. and i went all black. then i found them in metallic on this one site on line. so i bought some in metallic purple and green. now i use the purple with purple lures and green with green lures. then i just use black with anything elce i use. and i just use the slide divers like a standard diver, because i believe they act as attractors. and i do believe my catch rate picked up on the metallic divers.

if your getting small fish or fishing walleye the lite bite slide diver is the only way to go. i tie to the diver then use a 6 to 8 ft floro leader, then tie it to a split ring and lace it through the back of the diver. then i set my main trip alittle tight so i dont get alot of false releases. then i set my lite bite arm as loose as it will go and still hold the arm. then even a big perch or white perch will usely trip the diver. so i dont drag a little fish around half the day. but i dont use the slide part of the diver. but you can check them out at slidediver.com

sherman

same as frank. riggers and lite bite slide divers with tandem worm harnesses. let your depthfinder tell you where to start. you want to fish alittle above where your marking the fish. and like frank said i run my divers solid, i dont use the slide part of the slide diver. but the lite bite arm is fantastic.

i went up to geneva the 2nd week of july, we were marking most of our fish about 45 to 50 ft deep. i run my riggers at 45 ft. using 12 lb balls i wasnt getting much blowback at all. so i figured i was right above them, and my depthfinder confirmed this. then i run my divers about 42 ft down by my count. anyway we must have been close because we did catch a few fish,LOL.

sherman

i dont have a clue about running wire. but i do run alot of divers with braid. running 2 rods per side should be a breeze. just make sure to get line counter reels, and set your front outside diver on a 2.5 to 3.5 setting then put it out atleast 30 ft farther than your inside rod. then set your back inside diver on 1 or 1.5 then let it out atleast 30 ft less than your front rod. this just keeps them apart so your not tangled all the time.

i to like the convectors but i also like the daiwa sealine sg47lca reels. if they are big enough for wire.

sherman

it just seems natural for a boat to go off course alittle. i,ve never owned one that didnt do it alittle. then with alittle play in the steering you have a tendency to over steer. i really dont know how much play you have in your steering but you might look into getting that fixed. alot of the time its just how much driving youve done at slow speeds. and learning not to over steer.

the bags might be the answer for you. i,ve used them and they will slow your boat down. and i,ve heard they will help stabalize your boat. but we only used them to slow us down. then i went to a easy troller trolling plate. good luck

sherman

i guess there are different ways to use them. i just run the cord out through the eyes and put a big metal or plastic ring on the line then i tie a bandbuster release from big jon in the line. then i have the length of the cord where i can put the ring over something, a rod holder bolt or something like that. then i can slide the cord through the ring. then i use lures or divers that run shallower or that has to be let out farther than my other lines. i let it out down the middle of the boat and tie a rubberband to the line, hook it to the bandbuster release then pull it out to the end of the outrigger.

at erie a couple of weeks ago i run my outsibe diver out 150 ft on a 4.5 setting on the lite bite slide diver. would have been like 3.5 on a dipsy, this got me down alittle over 40 ft. then run my second diver on 3 out 120 ft like running a dipsy 2.5 got me down around 40 ft. then my last rod set on 1.5 out 90 ft got ,me down around 40 ft. so i had to run something on my outrigger that would go over them. i used a small dipsy set on 0 and let it out 200 ft to 250 ft with 15 lb braid dont know how deep it was running but they caught fish. the fish were holding just above 50 ft in 70 ft of water. hope this helps you alittle. i also use the red rubberbands thats made for releases in the light weight bands.

sherman

If it smooths out at higher rpm's then throw some trolling bags out so you can run the engine up and maintain the slower speed. If there is nothing mechanically wrong with the motor then this would be a simple fix.

And welcome to the site.

Chris

i have to agree. you need something to slow the boat and raise your rpms just alittle. or if you know anything about working on motors you might try adjusting you air mixture screws alittle. but remember where they were when you started. just turn both screws the same. and only turn them about 1/8 th turn at a time. try turning them in first. go 1/8 turn and see what it does. then if that doesnt help turn then another 1/8th turn. and do this untill it smothes out or you go about 1 turn. if it gets worse or doesnt help, go back to the starting point. then start going out with them and do the same thing. if this doesnt help then put it back where you started.

then get you some bags or a trolling plate. some people like the bags and some of us like a trolling plate. i use the easy troller trolling plate myself. you can do a search for easy troller and you can find then for 99.00 plus shipping. or sometimes you can find them on ebay used for around 75.00 plus shipping. now im not telling you to get the plate over bags, the bags do work. i just like the plate better. and i think the easy troller is the best.

sherman

i think most of the trees out there would be strong enough as long as you get the base solid. i use the track system on my boat and run cannon reacheting rod holders. i have 2 24" tracks on both sides of my boat and run 3 holders in each track. when i use 4 divers which isnt often but i have done it without to much trouble. i use the 3 back holders in the first track. then use the 1st holder in the second track. then i use the other 2 holder to run a 16 ft outrigger in one and the rod in the other one. they just come with 2 little finger knobs to tighten them down, and we havent had any come loose while fishing. and im sure the trees are as solid as my holders are.

sherman

i had a 351 one time and the oil pump locked up and broke the little gears that turns the distibutor. none of my friends had a 351 cam, so i put a 302 cam in it. and it worked fine untill i changed the plugs. i had forgot about changing the cam which changed the firing order. but my friend that got me the cam happened to remember, and i rewired it for a 302 and everything was good. didnt mean to hyjack your thread just thought this would give you a good laugh,LOL.

sherman

im having my mercruiser done right now. my boats in the shop. the coupling is like 350.00 and the labor est is 500.00 more, for a total of 850.00. and i thought that was alittle hige. she said it might not be that hige but she allowed 8 hrs labor. so i think 1200.00 or 1600.00 is way high, and 400.00 is a steal.

sherman

i run 3 divers all the time on lake erie for walleye and have even run 4. we do get a tangle once in a while but not very often. but you really have to know alittle about what your doing. and i dont know how they would work for salmon. but we do get a few steelhead and manage to get them in.

when i used dipsy,s this is how i run them. my front outside diver i set on 3 and let it out whatever length i wanted. lets say 200 ft. i used a 9 ft rod. then my middle diver i set on 2 and run it out 170 ft with an 8 ft rod. then my back diver i set on 1 and put it out to 140 ft on a 7 ft rod. this keeps the lines apart and lets you get your lines back out. if you pull the outside front rod, to get it back out you start on the other side of the boat, just far enough that you dont tangle the lines on that side of the boat. you use your clicker on your reel to slow it down while letting it out. you let it out 15 ft past your middle rod then take it up and over your other 2 rods and put it in the holder. then check to make sure your out where you want to be and kick the reel in gear. the diver will go up and over the back 2 lines. you do the same thing to let your middle rod out. let it out 15 ft past your back diver then take it up and over the back rod and place it in the holder and kick it in gear. check to make sure its out where you want it. sure hope this helps and doesnt just confuse you.

say im out 220 ft and 190 ft and 160 ft. im letting out my front rod, i let it out to 205 then take it up and over the 2 back rods and put it in the holder and lock it down. its going to be real close to 220 at this point. just fine tune it to 220. on the middle rod you would let it out to 175 and take it up and over your back rod and put it in the holder and lock it down. it should be real close to 190, now just set it to 190. the back rod isnt that big of a deal, but it just makes it easier to get in the holder if you do the same thing. let it out to 145 then bring it over and put it in the holder and lock it down. then set it on 160. good luck and have fun.

one other thing i suggest with divers is to use braid and not mono. use atleast 30# but 50# is much better. then use a floro leader.

sherman