sherman51

i,ve been using about 7 to 8 ft for walleyes. doesnt seem to hurt anything, but then i,ve never tried longer leads. i even switched to the lite bite slide divers, but i just use them like a standard diver, i wanted them for the lite bite feature. if i was going to run the length leaders you guys are talking about i wouldnt use anything but the lite bite slide divers. you can make the leader as long as you want. and then just have a swivel tied in about 5 or 6 ft from the diver to stop it from going all the way to the bait. then you still have the lite bite that you can set so a shaker will trip your diver. just my opinion.

sherman

im real happy you guys are catching fish. i just hope theres a few left when they get over to geneva,LOL.

i wrecked my atv a couple of weeks ago and hurt my back or i would be up there right now.

have you ever seen the fishing this good this early in the year??

sherman

you gotta love lake erie when shes giving up her gold,LOL.

sherman

i was just thinking the other day what its going to cost me to take my boat up to lake erie and spend 3 nights in the campground and fish for 2 1/2 days. i live 335 miles from where i like to fish on erie. so im looking at 800.00 to 900.00 just for the trip, camping and boat gas. then i already have all the gear and boat, but if something brakes then it comes out of my pocket.

sherman

if no one on this site has any then i would suggest watching ebay for used ones. if you want new ones then lordoftheriggers.com is the cheapest place i know of to get any big jon stuff.

sherman

i am also on a couple of other forums. but nothing like this one. here there is no such thing as a stupid question. and it seems if anybody thinks they can help there willing to try. a bunch of great guys. and easy to make friends with. i have never been slammed here for a stupid question or an answer that wasnt like everybodies.

welcome to a great site with some great guys.

sherman

all the reports i,ve been getting its hog heaven right now. they are getting then good with jigs in shallow water and also knocking them dead trolling between the cans. so be sure and post your results.

sherman

back in the day we fished from new buffalo up to manistee. we were fishing a 16 ft deep v glass boat. there were very few days we spent the day walking the beach, and watching the waves come in. we traveled about 200 miles to fish. so we watched the weather and picked our weekends. one time we were south and it was rough. we got reports the water was better 100 miles north. so we loaded up and in less than 2 hours we were fishing good water. just use alittle common sence. and you can fish any of them in that 17 ft,er. but my favorites are new buffalow in the spring and when the coho are gone from inshore we moved to south haven. south haven is a great place to launch a small boat, and dont usely get the pressure the others do. but its still a good place to fish.

sherman

great catching report. congrats on a great fishing trip.

sherman

yes you are right. fow means the water is 45 feet deep. it sounds like you have about all the gear your going to need. now what you need to do is get someone who knows alittle about fishing to go out with you a few times and get you started. you can fill a couple of empty seats when they are posted also. that is a good way to learn the ropes. most of the guys that post empty seats only expect alittle money for gas. some do expect alittle extra for towing gas. it costs to tow the boat to the water to you know.

i think its a good idea to talk with whoever your going out with, and make sure just whats expected of you. and it never hurts to do alittle extra. bring some extra sodas or food and maby offer to help clean the boat, and just help out. he may just ask you out again.

and i would say its a good idea to let them know your new to the game and your going to school.

and that post in the middle of your bow sounds like it might just be the post for your planer board reels. you could atleast ask if there is anyone that lives close to you that would be willing to come by and just go over what you have and how it is used. if i lived close to you i would love to come over and check out that new rig and all the gear. i,ve rambled on way to long, so i,ll watch for your questions, and if i think i can help i,ll chime in.

one more thing dont let all the gear intimadate you. i started with a 16 ft boat and 2 downriggers that belonged to a friend. then i got my own 16 ft boat and 2 home made riggers. but ended up braking the booms on them in some rough water. atleast your starting with the gear, you just have to learn how to use it now. right now i have a 28 ft sea ray with twin 4.3 6 cylender engines. i have 4 new big jon electric riggers, and have the double planer board mast and a custom set of planer boards that i hardley ever use any more. i am set up to run 4 divers on each side. i started with dipsy divers then switched to the walker divers, now i use the lite bite slide divers. and i also have a couple of outriggers. but i started big water fishing in 77, so i have spent many years and $$$$ getting where im at now. i always used manual riggers untill about 2 yrs ago. i just couldnt really justify the cost of electric. but 2 years ago i had alittle money and cranking those manual riggers was getting old, just like me,LOL. you can never have to much fishing gear,LOL. the best of luck to you.

sherman

hey

i am very sorry about this. but i cant remember who sent me there email so i could send some walleye pictures. and some how the message got deleted. if you read this please pm me your email address again.

im not sure what happened to the pm. i dont remember deleting anything. i went to my messages and it was not there. but i do have some pretty good brain farts. i could have just been not thinking and hit the delete button. i had the message in my emails, but i use my wifes email, and it got deleted also.

sherman

i think you will be happy with the berts. any of the ratcheting rod holders and tracks are the only way to go for running divers. i ended up going with the cannon ratcheting rod holders for my divers. i liked them so well i put a couple of extras on each side to run my outriggers or if i ever run my boards. i really like the way you just squeze the holders to put them down, then just grab your rod and ratchet them up. i couldnt make up my mind between the berts and the cannons. then i found the 4 for sale on ebay. and i have never regreted getting the cannons.

i bought 4 of the duel axis ones off ebay. then i found the single axis at amazon for a great price, so i bought some of the single axis, and i liked them much better. you can adjust them as little as you want, where with the double axis you have to turn them to the next pin hole. but they are good solid good quaility holders. and i was thinking about getting the berts, but i got the 1st 4 cannons at a good price on ebay. then i got the rest of the single axis for alittle over 60.00 and free shipping. they are 69.00 at amazon now. but i wouldnt sell mine if i knew i couldnt replace them with ratcheting holders.

sherman

i might be the odd man out here. i fish mostly for walleye tho. but i believe the divers at like attractors just like anything elce you put in front of your bait. i like to spice it up alittle. i like chrome green with my green lures and chrome purple with my purple. then i like black with anything. i have no proof that this makes any difference at all, its just my opinion. if it raises my confidence then i would say its working for me,LOL. the question is what do you think??

sherman

just thought i might mention they have a easy troller which is the better one on ebay right now for 55.00 plus 20.00 for shipping. they also have a happy troller for 50.00 plus 15.77 for shipping. i,ve been using the easy troller for awhile now and have no complaints.

sherman

i am using the cannon ratcheting holders myself and think they are as good or better than any out there, and they do look very good. but i reccomend the single axis and here is why. the duel axis can be adjusted farther than the single but you have to align the pin with the hole. they have a square base and they adjust from one pin hole to the next hole. but the single axis has an oval base, you just loosen them up and you can turn them 1/16 of an in if you want to. or you can turn them 1/4 in or 1 in. just as much as you want. if one of the pin holes in the duel axis doesnt match up where you want your rod holder then you just have to live with it being off just alittle.

the 1st 4 i bought i got off ebay, they are the duel axis ones. well i disdnt really like the limited adjustment when turning them. so the next ones i got i bought at amazon.com, and they are much better and much cheaper. boaterbarn.com has them for 63.00, but i dont know what the shipping is. amazon.com has them for 69.00 and free shipping. and if you look around on line you might even find them cheaper. one guy told me he found them for 57.00 but he bought the last one they had.

these are sharp holders and they are solid and strong. i use them for running lite bite slide divers, and they are awesome. just grip the holder with one hand and put it down. then if you want to take your rod out just grab the rod and ratchet the holder to the upright position and just lift the rod up out of the holder. i would tell my own mother to get the cannon single axis rod holders. but then i dont like her much,LOL. just kidding.

sherman

im sure you made sure it was full of oil, the system i have if im not getting enough oil pressure the fuel pump wont pump gas. if its full of oil it could be something as simple as a bad oil sending unit. or even a fuse for the oil sending unit. causing the low oil alarm and now the fuel pump not to work. just a thought. have you tried priming the engine to get it to start, and then check your oil guage.

really sounds like you might need to take this one to the shop if something doesnt jump out at you pretty soon. i sure hate to pay there prices, but sometimes you just have to pay to get some things fixed. i wouldnt fight it to long, you,ll just worry yourself sick. this is all the advice i can give you. if its not somrthing to do with the oil pressure, i dont have any more ideas.

sherman

if all trips were that easy, where would be the fun in fishing??LOL. great day guys, you had there number. a big congrats on your first trip.

sherman

what do you want them for?? if your looking for diver rod holders and dont find anything on here, you might want to think about the cannon single axes ratcheting rod holders they have at amazon for 69.00 each. i know that is still alot of money. but if you ever use ratcheting holders for divers you,ll be hooked for life. they were down to 60.00 here a couple of weeks ago. but you can set them with one hand, and then if a fish hits you dont have to lean out and pull the rod out. just grab your rod and ratchet the holder to the upright position and than lift the rod straught up out of the holder. and you do need to buy a track for them. but if your just needing something for board rods or something like that, then about anything will work. after i switched to the ratcheting holders for my divers last year i reccomend then for anyone using divers.

i had a couple of old holders i think they were tite lock but im not sure. but to adjust them you had to unscrew this little screw and then put the holder where you wanted it and screw the little screw back in, and the end of the screw went into a little hole. if i can find them when i get back home, and can find all the parts, i,ll just give them to you if you,ll pay the shipping. but now i havent seen them for awhile. they were out in the pole barn, but somebody went through the pole barn awhile back and took batteries and anythingh they could find made of copper or aluminum. so they could be gone. i think they were made of aluminum. i,ll let you know in a few days. im going home sat or sun. if you want me to look for them just send me a pm.

sherman

i would reccomend if you have a bass pro or cabelas or even a gander mountain or a dicks, go in and have one of the tech,s go through the simulater mode on them. that will give you a good idea what they are going to show. as for installing i dont think any of them are that hard to install. just follow the instructions. you want the bottom of your transducer about 1/4" below the bottom of your boat. and try to mount it where there nothing in front of it to stir up the water before it gets to your transducer. then its just a matter of running the wires and finding the right location for your unit. and its better if you can keep your transducer wires away from the ignition wires. that way you dont get interfearence from them. and i like to have a fuse box with a wire coming from the battery and hook my unit to it, or run a seperate wire from the battery for your unit, but be sure to use the inline fuse if you do that. hope some of this helps.

sherman

i dont understand how you could run anything that much during the spring coho thing without catching some fish. i,ve fished new buffalo in april and caught fish on anything i put out. its got to just be one of those wierd fishing things,LOL. try anything in the early spring, you just never know whats going to be hot. and i always tike to use a big broken back rainbow trout pattern about 8 or 10 ft behind the ball about 15 to 18 ft down on my riggers for kings when coho fishing. if im in deep enough water.

sherman

i also forgot to tell you if your interested in getting an easy troller, which i still think is the best trolling plate, you can get them brand new at boatersoutlet.com for 99.99 plus shipping. just make sure and dont get the small one. they are the same price as the full size plate.

sherman

i guess im the odd man out. i,ve used the bags and they do slow you down, but i just didnt like putting them out. i,ve used the happy troller myself and liked it. didnt have any problems putting it down or back up. just kick the boat into neutral and pull the cord, then put the boat in reverse to lock the plate down. then troll. then just do it the other way when your done. put the boat in neutral pull the cord and hold it then put it in forward gear, then give it alittle gas and let go of the cord, then give it more gas to raise it up and lock.

but now i did forget to raise it and took off, it bent the crap out of it. so i found a better mouse trap. the easy troller is about the same thing, but the bottom half is hinged and spring loaded, so if you forget and take off with the plate down it will swing up and not bend the whole plate up. the easy troller is a much better plate. if you decide to go with the easy troller there is one on ebay right now for 65.00 plus 20.00 shipping.

i dont really know just how slow my easy troller will go, but i have trolled many times at 1.5 which is slow enough to cover most trolling. but it goes even alittle slower than the 1.5. i had to idle the motor up just alittle to run the 1.5.

dont get me wrong, im not telling you not to try the trolling bags. they do slow you down and help with boat control in rough water. but myself i liked the easy troller much better than the happy troller or the bags. now its up to you.

sherman

nice start to the season. new buffalo should really get hot soon. stay on them.

sherman

i think we have all got a lemon on something at one time or another. just make sure you have all the wires hooked up. sometimes they have 2 wires that goes to power. if thats not the problem, which it probably isnt. did you get it someplace where you can take it back. i had bought a brand new color unit once at bass pro shops. i installed it and went to brookville lake. the unit was just bad. the screen was full of clutter. nothing i did made any difference. so i loaded it up drove over to cincy to bass pro and they gave me a new unit. sometimes its better to go back to where you bought the unit than to have to ship it to the company. good luck. and let us know how this works out for you.

sherman

man, you have some great supporters on here. even if you never really use the capt license after you finish school. you will always know in your heart that you got the license. then you can live your life doing what you went to school for. and still fish for fun. fun fishing isnt free, guys like me have to really streatch a dollar to be able to fish. most of my fishing gear came from overtime money, because i didnt get a great education, so i worked my whole life in a factory, or most of it anyway. so the better job you get the better toys you can buy. and even if you want to charter full time your going to need money to get started.

i,ll put it bluntly you,ll never regret getting the license, but you may always regret not getting it. then you can use the license as you want to. then after school you can do whatever you want. work at what you just went to school for. and still charter part time or just fish for fun. if you have your license, the choice is yours. and the more years you have as a capt the better.

and someone said get your license then when someone asks down the road how long have you been a charter capt, you can tell them. would you rather go out with a capt that got his license this year or 5 or 10 years ago. most people are going with the guy thats been a capt for awhile.

you are a young man and have your whole life ahead of you. you might as well get everything you can on your way through this life. just dont try to do to much at one time and burn yourself out. just put school first, then fish when you can. as a charter capt, as a first mate or just for fun. but get your license. and you,ll never look back and say i sure wish i had done that when i was young.

i know this post is way to long. but i have missed so many things in life because i didnt have enough education, and had a wife and 2 kids to support. but i still have no regrets, because i made choices that was right for me at the time. you have the chance to get so much right now and have no regrets in the future. get the license and get the education. then live life to the fullest.

sherman