sherman51

i will tell you the whole story, then ask your opinions. i spooled my diver reels with braid and didnt use any type backing. and last year i had a problem with the line slipping on the spools.

so i started to spool my 300 ft of 30 lb copper on my daiwa 47lc reels. the copper came with 300 ft of braid backing. so i was afraid it might slip on the spools. so i started out with 150 ft of 20 lb mono backing. then i stripped about 150 ft of the braid off, then tied to the mono. i got all the line on the reel but it is just about full, maby 1/8" of spool left.

im not worried about running out of line because i am using this for walleye in the central basin. so should i take the copper off and strip another 100 ft of braid off?? it would give me alittle more room at the top of the spool just in case the line built up alittle on one side while reeling it back in. or do you think 1/8" is enough space??

any comments or opinions are welcome. i have never used copper before. 300 ft is sopposed to get me down about 50 ft. then if i use a crank bait maby a rr that should give me about another 5 ft.

sherman

hey boltman

you could look at it like this. at least you have a biiiig boat.LOL.

all kidding aside. when are you going to get your valves for your boat?? how big of a job to install??

how fast are you running with one engine?? are you sure you dont want to try the bags with one engine. those cleats are pretty strong. but thinking about it im not sure i would chance it either. if they did fail it would really mess up a nice boat.

sherman

hey frank

i,ve been doing some thinking about filling some open seats. but just decided because i live so far from the water it just isnt worth it right now. i have a 200 mile trip just to get to the western basin. i would have the cost of the trip plus my share, plus i would have a 4 plus hour drive before and after the trip. maby someday i can plan a trip with you.

sherman

i have used them all at one time or another. i have had better luck just using a carving knife i bought at wall mart on sale for 9.00. they work just as good if not better than any of the fillet knives. and dont strip the gears out near as quick as the regular fillet knives.

sherman

as i think you have inboards the regular trolling plates wont work for you. but the trolling bags should slow you down just fine. they are just alittle trouble getting up on the bow and tieing them off on the cleats or bow rails. but i have used them, but i like the plates better for my mercruiser. but the bags works good, your boat will even handle better at slow speeds when trolling. just make sure to get bags big enough to slow you down to trolling speed. if you really want to troll then the bags are the way to go for you. i have read on here about some of the people that sells the bags can take your information and tell you what size bags you will need. just my opinion. but i would be trolling. if you tie the bags off up towards the front of the boat they dont even get in the way of your fishing.

sherman

i just upgraded my planer reels on my mast. so i have the old planer reels. they are in very good condition, they were only fished a few times. i have them spooled with 400 lb mono line which worked reel good with my boards.

they are set up to bolt together on a mast. but with the backing clamps they can be mounted to your bow rails or just about any rail. the new backing clamps are like 20.00 each at big jon. so i will take 100.00 for mine shipped to you.

sherman

this would have to be a one fish day, because by the time you reeled in 1000' of copper plus a fish you would be done for the day,LOL. i could think of much better ways to get that deep. i fish 60 to 65 ft with the lite bite slide diver with the stock weight and small ring. im sure if you used the 4 oz weight and the large ring you could get much deeper. then you have the magnum dipsies, im not sure how deep they will go. but you could add them to wire and get plenty deep. then there is always the old trusted downriggers for going deep.

i know there is no way im bringing in a 1000' of copper to check or change the bait,LOL. once its out it would stay there.

sherman

Hey John,

In my opinion, either the fish shaped or the tradition canon ball molds are the best option. Pancake and flat style cannon balls don't preform well while fishing deep, and in strong currents. Right now out of holland current is pushing up to 1.3mph in comparison to surface speed. That can cause havoc for a flat weight, especially fishing as deep as we have been fishing(taking bites as far down as 200). The sheer surface area of the pancake weights will cause the water to push them in more(possibly causing crossed cables) For a boat your sized, the fish shaped cannon ball may be the way to go, especially if you decide you want to bend that tail section to plane then SLIGHTLY away from the boat. They have much less surface area, and you can still bend them to track off to the side if you wish to.

Atomik makes an AWESOME cannon ball. The torpedo weight which not only cuts through the water better than any other weight, but has a much smaller surface area for current to push on them. The one down side of these weights is the price... about $75 ea.

i never really thought about cross current. i fish the central basin of lake erie. i only fish 50 to 65 ft down and have never tangled them, and havent seen them running to one side over the other except when we were trolling with a cross wind. but then they both want to run alittle to the windward side of the boat. but thats just where the wind is pushing the boat.

with the 13 lb weights running 1.8 to 2.0 mph theres hardley any blow back at all. and the 10 lb ball type weights i used was way back behind the boat. if i wasnt going to use the pancakes i would use the fish style weights. you can get them in about any weight you want as long as your rigger will lift them. i have seen them up to 25 lbs, but i dont know which rigger is rated for that weight.

the best of luck on making your own weights. let us know what you do and how it works out for you.

sherman

i guess alot of it is just personal preference. but i have used them all at one time or another over the last 35 yrs or so. i started using the pancake weights about 3 yrs ago. i started with the 10 lb weights and i just loved them. and you can bend the back fin alittle and get them to run out to the side of the boat if you want to spread them out alittle. myself i just run them like they are, and have never had any kind of problem. and didnt get near as much blowback with the pancake weights.

then a couple of years ago i upgraded to electric riggers after using manual riggers for 30+ yrs. so i decided to try the 13 lb pancake weights. i wouldnt ever go back to anything elce. they track true and very little blowback. this is just my opinion and im sure you will get more.

sherman

Mittens.......strings......

Sorry Dave, that's funny stuff. Oh, wait, crap like that happens to me too.

LOL, now thats funny,LOL.

sherman

you should be able to find one at just about any marina. they dont cost that much and there not that hard to find. i tried one of the locking caps, but it was hard to get it to work after a while if i let the boat sit alittle to long. so now i just leave it unlocked. i,ll bet you can find plenty of them on ebay,LOL.

sherman

i bought a no feedback system on ebay here a couple of years ago. it came with everything i needed and they are alot less money on ebay if your doing the work yourself. now i wouldnt even think about anything elce for my outboard. it works great when trolling our local lake. it is just alittle stiffer than the old kind but it doesnt turn unless you turn it. i bought the whole system, the cable, the helm and a new steering wheel. but i decided to get another wheel that i really liked. but i got the whole thing for like 169.00 plus the extra wheel. they may be alittle higher now but i would say not much higher. i thing mine was a teleflex with the quick connects. only took me about 1 hour to change it out. and i had to drill a bigger hole for the helm to fit my very old boat.

you might just want to check ebay out before you buy. they are brand new kits. they are just alot cheaper than a marina. now if the price you gave us is installed price its not that bad. goooood luck

sherman

great job. any time you can spend fishing with your better half is good. then the fish are a nice bonus. my wife use to fish alot with me on smaller lakes but she never would go out on the big water.

i had quit fishing erie after i got sick and most of my friends had passed or moved away. then about 3 yrs ago my oldest son who had fished erie with us came up to me and asked if i would take my boat and go up to erie with him and his family on vacation. so me and the wife went. i got back into fishing erie with my sons and there families. my wife loves camping, so she still goes with us and just camps.

there is nothing like watching that youngest grandson when he catches a big eye. the other grandson just doesnt like the big water, he gets sick and stays sick.

but i really wish my wife could handle the big water. so you have a blessing right there. there are alot of guys that not only does there wives not fish but gives them a hard time about going fishing. i have fished to some degree since we got married and we fished dale hollow alot. some of my best memeries are with her fishing with me. but the only time she has ever said one word about my fishing. i had a trip planned to go to manistee michigan with some other guys. she asked me not to go on that trip. it was my truck and camper and my boat so if i didnt go nobody went. so i didnt go, and have never regretted not going. she has never said anything again about my fishing or hunting. she even goes with us hunting sometimes but she dont hunt.

i know this is a long post but i just wanted you to know how lucky you are to have your wife as a fishing partner.

sherman

thats some nice fish you guys got there. i,ll be up there in july, sure hope you left a few.

sherman

dont mean to hijack your thread, but i am reading this to. and i plan to start running 2 300 32# coppers this year and just want to ask a question. what type and length leader do you use, and why?? thanks for any answers.

sherman

just wanted to let everybody know the downriggers and weights are SOLD.

sherman

hey rick

im not very good with computers, and dont know how to post pictures. if you,ll pm me your email address i can send you pictures as soon as i get back home.

sherman

i have 2 brand new big jon pro tournaments with auto atop swivel bases slide mounts and a nice set of used double rod holders for sale. with the slide mounts i have over 1200.00 invested. they have been mounted but never used. i,ll take 750.00 shipped to your door. another 50.00 and i,ll ship a nice used set of 13 lb pancake weights.

i bought these to go on an 86 28 ft sea ray amberjack. i mounted 4 riggers and used 2. i lost my little brother my fishing partner. and its just to big of a job to trailer the boat 700 miles round trip to erie. so im going to sell the boat. and the new set of riggers. theres just not enough room on my 21 ft boat for 4 riggers running 6 or 8 lite bite slide divers.

so if you,ve ever wanted a set of nice riggers loaded, then heres your chance to save some money. these riggers have the new high torque high speed motors. they will lift a 12 lb weight at 110 ft per minute.

sherman

hey everybody

i am looking for some advice. i have 2 brand new big jon pro tournaments, mounted but never used. has swivel bases auto stop and slide mounts, and a set of used double rod holders. i have over 1200.00 plus shipping invested. what do you think would be a fair asking price?? i was thinking about 800.00 including shipping. please give me your thoughts.

sherman

i love my pro tournaments i got from lord of the riggers. no more than i use them i shouldnt ever have to get anything fixed. i have 4 but so far i have only used 2 of them. im thinking about selling the 2 i havent used.

sherman

i just leave mine on both when im running. then if im anchored or drifting i switch to my house battery for my electronics and lights. then i know my starting battery wont get run down. i,ve been doing it this way for many years. then i took the batteries out of my boat for my motorhome back in dec for deer hunting, and my mh batteries were bad. so im going to put the new batteries in my boat. i would be much better off if the old batteries go bad in the mh instead of in the boat,LOL.

sherman

the okuma glt classic pro,s i bought has titaniam guides not carbide as i put in my other post. but the titaniam guides should last for years. but i have been told that any rod will work with copper. but i do feel better with the ones i bought. the 2 i,m going to run, im going to run on outriggers. but if they work good then i,ll get more and run them off my big boards. i dont use my big boards since i started using the lite bite slide divers.

but it would be nice if the copper works good for eyes on the central basin. right now i run 15 lb braid with the small dipsy diver out 300 to 400 ft on my outriggers. there are days when they are hot and there are days when they dont fire at all. so when there cold im going to put the copper out and get down to the deep fish. i run my lite bite slide divers down about 55 to 65 ft, depending on what it takes to get fish. the 300 copper is sopposed to get down 50 to 55 feet. if there not getting anything i can let them out alittle farther.

sherman

the only drinking done on my boat was my little brother. he would have 2 or 3 in a all day fishing trip. he did do our driving while we were fishing, but never enough to effect his driving. he passed away a couple of weeks ago, so nobody elce i fish with drinks on the boat.

i did my drinking back in my younger days. and i did drive my boat for us to go riding and tubing. but i only drunk beer, then i would drank maby a 6 pack all day while we were boating. then i would drank alittle more in the evening back at the camp grounds.

i dont see anything wrong with having a couple of beers on the water. but nobody should drink enough to be impaired and drive anything. just my opinion.

sherman

its not going to hurt anything. alot of people use a starting battery for starting the boat, then use a deep cycle as the house battery.

sherman

i think i still have one out in the pole barn. i just loaned it to another guy and he was good enough to ship it back. i will loan you mine if you will pay 5.00 shipping and ship it back to me, i,ll be glad to loan you mine. but you can buy them for around 25.00 on ebay. if nobody elce has one.

sherman

or i would sell you mine for 20.00 shipped to you. im never going to use it again.