sherman51

sherman. Sounds like a great time had by all. Everything always seems to work out with time and a little patience. Now there's an idea, get him to clean the fish. I like that one. Looking forward too the whole experience.

i did the cleaning for 30+ years. It,s about time i got som help.lol. I sure can use it. We went to electric knives about 20 yrs ago. That was a big help. For now just enjoy.

....sherman....

Lots of reasons. But mostly because I love the Great Lakes and want to share the experience with my 12 year old son. He loves to fish, and last year we invested in a bigger boat. Needs some work, so hopefully I'll have it ready shortly for a shake down. But since life tends to set you back three steps for every one forward, a series of recent layoffs has put that in question and I'm hoping to get out by the 4th of July now. Who knows.

hey

that sounds great with your kid. i had quit fishing the big water untill 2 years ago when my oldest son came to me and asked me and my wife to go on vacation up to lake erie. i told him we would go, then i tried everything to get out of going, even told him he could take my boat. but he just wouldnt hear of it. my wife wont go out on big water. but she loves to camp. so it worked out. and i just loved fishing with my son and his family. then last year my other son went with us. he even cleaned all the fish for us. so i decided when i got my back pay and both my sons wanting to go to geneva oh eye fishing that i was getting a bigger better boat. then i had bought the 2 electric riggers last year. i was on ebay watching an auction on a set of big jon pro tournament riggers with auto stop but no rod holders. they were like 480.00 so i made a bid of 550.00 just before it ended. so i got them for 510.00. then i got a set of double rod holders for 135.00. so im set. my wife goes with me and camps, my sons and there family goes with me and does most of the work im just not able to do much. then my brothers went with me last year and said they wanted to make a trip this year. i am truely blessed. i want to go fishing so bad.

....sherman....

I have looked at them a little bit but in the place of mag dipseys on wire I think torpedos would acheive greater depths more effectively when its necessary. Thanks for the reply it is a possibility.

im not familar with the torpedors. but i know you can get the weight kits and the rings. and use the 4 oz weight and the big ring. you can get deep pretty fast. and still have the advantage of setting the leads as long or as short as the fish want. and the light bites also have the trip arm for smaller fish. and at slidedivers.com in the left hand corner you can choose what you want to look at. and they have package deals that come with the extra weights and the rings and extra hardware and a diving chart, but the chart is just for the standard diver. but the best way to get your depth is to get in like 50 ft of water and your normal speed and let them out untill they bump bottom. then just devide your feet out by your depth. that will tell you how many feet deep you get for 10 ft out. i would guess you would need to do it on each setting out on the diver. i know the depth on my diver on 4 setting is 240 ft out runs 65 ft deep with the standard weight with the small ring with 65 lb braid. i just set the outside diver on a 4 setting and then run my 3 setting 20 ft shorter then my 2 setting 20 ft shorter than that one then my 1 setting 20 ft shorter then 0 setting 20 ft shorter. this works great for me. and i never change my speed more than .5 mph so my divers are going to be close. even with downriggers your off some on the counters because of blowback,right?? just something to think about. i just want to go fishing. if you decide to use the lite bite divers and there is anything i can help you with. just ask. i,ll help anybody catch more fish. unless they are just that 10% and i know it.LOL. have a great season.

....sherman....

dipseys are 10-12 ft leads which is about max without netting issues. Seems that later in the morning the lines off the boards account for about 75% of the fish caught. I figured this is related to their stealth compared to riggers and dipseys. Although riggers with long leads and swr's still produce.

have you checked into the lite bite slide divers?? you can run the lead as long as you want. then when its tripped it slides down your line to the swivel. there great, you can check them out at slidediver.com. there all i use for divers because of the lite bite feature. but they should be great for you. check them out.

....sherman....

2 dipsys, 1 10 color lead, 4 rigger rods. don't laugh either.

hey dont feel left out. i dont have any wire, copper, or lead core. i guess im just not that serous about fishing. i fish strictly for fun. dont laugh to hard those 15 lb braid with small divers get alot of steelhead and some nice eyes.

8 braid divers

6 15 lb braid small diver for boards or outrigger

4 17 lb floro downrigger

6 spares for divers or downriggers

total 24 thats it guys

now you can laugh.LOL. ha ha ha

i read as much as i could find on dr releases. i had tried alot of different ones over the years including some home made ones. and was useing rubberbands. the blacks sounded pretty good for larger fish. but everything i read about the chamberlain was good. i never read anything bad from anybody that had actualy used them. i only fish lake erie and we get a bunch of small fish. with the 2 adjustments on the chamberlain,s they really sounded good for anyone who has a problem with small fish. so i bought them, and played with them in the pole barn. i adjusted them where i could crank the rod tip down to the water line and still just tug on the lure and it would trip. they are alot like the blacks except they have the extra adjustment. i could see where they might be a problem fishing real deep with big flashers. but with all the positive,s i,ve heard about them there worth the investment. the last time i checked you could get them for 12.99 at midwesthuntersoutlet.com. or you can watch a video of the release and see the great looking stacker he,s sopposed to have ready in may, and contact the inventor and get 6 for 17.00 each at downriggerrelease.com. thats where i got mine. the guys name is keith and i just liked him. so thats why i paid alittle more. good luck and have a great season to all of you.

....sherman....

Lived in Muncie for 15 years before I had a chance to move back to Michigan. It's quite a distance to get to any big water fishing that's for sure. When I lived there I fished Port Clinton and then in June I would leave my boat in Bay City so I could fish the bay. Good luck on rigging the boat.

Tom

muncie is a great place to live, but its a long way to anywhere. i fish the central basin now. its 335 miles to where i fish in geneva ohio. so we try to stay for a few days when we go. im going to check this one place on my first trip about storing my old motorhome and my boat. at who knows what for gas and about 8 mpg i need to do something. thats for sure. we plan on trying a couple of trips in july, then my oldest son takes the first 2 weeks of aug vacation. so we,ll be there the whole 2 weeks. if i get my boat all rigged and everything by june we may make a trip to the western basin. ofcourse i,ll call up to geneva and ask on here and if there getting fish good at geneva we,ll go there. i just like the kind of fishing we do over there in the deep water. downriggers and lite bite slide divers. we usely fish 72 to 74 ft of water 55 to 65 ft down. we also get some nice steelhead. they are really fun. and i love to watch the others catch them. i just watch on the steelhead. have a great season.

....sherman....

i have learned there is nothing like sharing something you really love with the people you really love.

....shermam....

Great post. You will be glad you spent the extra.

i,ll just be glad when he gets the stackers ready in may.

....sherman....

Sherman, are you doing the Steelhead/Walleye fishing in the deep water, or just Walleye fishing?

2 divers per side are fairly easy to run, and do help to spread the lines out. I would think if your fishing Lake Erie, the planer lines would produce better than riggers?

youre probably right about the boards, but i just dont like useing them that much. i dont really know why. i have a great set of custom boards that works great. i dont like wire or copper for eyes. but i have always liked useing riggers. just something about that FISH ON!. i do run one long line on each side. i use a 16 ft surf rod i use as a outrigger, then i use 15 lb ripcord and the small dipsy, put it back 3 to 400 ft. i catch some nice fish on it, alot of steelhead. when i get set up like i want i can run 6 lite bites and 4 riggers and 2 longlines. thats 12 rods. and i,ll try running 4 divers on each side when i need the extra lines. that will take care of 7 people without putting the boards out. with this boat and my kids and grandkids i could end up with 8 to 10 people but not very often. most of the time i,ll have 6 or less. my old boat i would only take 6 max. then i would run the boards with the 15 lb braid and small divers, 2 on each side 2 riggers and 6 divers. do you fish erie?? or even better what is your port?? i do have a 335 mile drive to mine. but to me its worth it. gods been very good to me on all the trips i,ve made, manistee is 460. i fished manistee lake for years. i did the jig fishing the snagging untill it stopped trolling. started snagging in 76 my first year home fron the marine corps. 77 started trolling with borrowed riggers. then went homemade. so for yrs i fished new buffalo at ice out in mar. or apr. the may to south haven, then aug and sept manistee. i could go on all night i hadnt even started walleye. then we fished both for awhile. i promise if you ask another question. i will not i will not do this monster mail on you. if i knew how to put dome on paper how to catch a fish. i would be rich.great fishing to you all.

....sherman....i just almost canceled this post. its just to much

I would just put the 2 short arms out the back corners add a track for 4 diver holders, and a three rod tree. Keep the back open for netting fish, and the fish cooler.

Muncie is a long way from a port. What port do you fish?

geneva state park marina in geneva ohio. when i fished the western basin i used a little place called coolie canal i think was the name. i usely dont start fishing geneva untill july. so i may end up fishing the western basin in june.

i,ve never tried fishing 4 divers before. but i do have a cannon track with 3 holders tho. i know the boards are a great way to catch fish. but i just dont like to run them unless i just need to put more lines in the water. but i may give the 4 divers a try with this bigger boat. i do like useing the lite bite slide divers very much. untill last year i hadnt ever used electric riggers. caught some nice fish. so i really look forward to useing 4. we had some problems with small fish. i bought all new chamberlain releases. i hope they help with the small fish. have a great season.

....sherman....

Sherman, take a moment and finish filling out you profile. It helps to have your location on there. Go to "UserCP" on the top left of this page to fill it out.

thank you. this is the first time i,ve been on a forum. and im just alittle of a computor illiterate. just bare with me im really enjoying all your help. im not sure i got it right but i gave it a shot. i couldnt have done it without your help. later on when i get my boat back from the marina im going to ask for some help posting pictures. have a great season.

....sherman....

Hey, how bout some pictures of the new boat?

its at the marina right now getting new belts and just getting everything checked out. i plan on getting some pictures on here as soon as i get her back home. thanks and have a great season.

....sherman....

i have alittle rigging problem. i just bought a 28 ft boat last fall. and i have to rig it. i have 2 sportsman big jon riggers 2 ft booms. i have 2 big jon pro tournament with 3 or 4 ft booms. heres my problems. if i use the long arm out the side, im afraid the 4 ft will get into my diver lines if i use the short ones off the back i worry about the outdrives and swim platform. it will go past it but barely. but the platform would keep the cable from my outdrives. if i go with the longer booms off the back they will clear ok. but then my short booms wouldnt be very far out to the side. i do have a 10 ft beam and could move the riggers in a couple of ft from each side. but that would limit the back of the boat for putting out divers and landing fish. this is my first big boat with twin outdrives and 4 riggers. i caught alot of nice eyes off the 2 riggers i had last year. and look forward to useing 4 this year. my thinking is to go ahead and try the 4 fters out the side then go to 3 ft if i need to. put the short booms out the back. do i really have to worry about the cable getting in the outdrives?? should i just remove the swim platform alltogether?? i,ve kinda thought about trying to put my fish box on it. any and all suggestions or ideas very welcome. im sure that some of you have dealt with this problem or knows somebody who has. thanks in advance.

....sherman....

hey alexa

there is a thread on here. lets see your rig. thought you might want to check it out. a few good pictures, maby you can get some ideas from them. have a great season.

....sherman....

i would just like to thank each of you for your stories. and as i set here with tears welling up in my eyes as i realize that other people have some very personal reasons for looking forward to a new season. thank you for sharing them with this old fisherman.

all the years i fished the big water my wife never went with me. she wont get out on the big water. i always just took friends. 2 years ago when i started fishing again with my son and his family. well my wife does like to just camp. so she started going with me. this has added a whole new world to my fishing trips. i do love spending time with her. i really missed her back in the old days. she is my best friend. this dec will be 40 yrs. i do plan on making a couple of trips without her, but she,ll still be in my thoughts.

and some of these days when you post extra seat. it may just be me that pm,s you to take that seat. i say alittle prawer that all your new seasons turn out the very best for you.

come on guys lets hear your story. there has to be some reason your looking forward to this season. if its nothing but the worst case of cabin fever you,ve ever had.(i do have that to)

....sherman....

i say go with electric. i used manuals for years just because i didnt want to spend the money. sure you can get by with manuals. but if you want to enjoy fishing and you can spend the money. you,ll be alot happier with electric. i suggest you get the rod holders that ratchet and have the tracks. you mount the tracks to your boat. then you can put the rod holders in to troll and take them out the rest of the time. berts custom tackle makes them and cannon makes them. the cannons run alittle more money. i dont know if they are any better tho. the cannons make 2 models that ratchet. a single axis and a double axis. im fine with the single and there cheaper. if your useing divers the ratchet ones are great. you set them out the side to fish, then when a fish hits you can just grab the rod and ratchet them to the straight up position and then just lift the rod out. just to get an idea go to amazon.com and ebay.com and just type in what you want to look at. and see what everything looks like. you can also get some great buys on used riggers on ebay.com.

the best advice i can give you is to get a couple of friends and invest in a charter trip or two. that will be the best money you ever spent. its cheap school for trolling. they will just about all teach you as much as time allows. you,ll see first hand how to use downriggers and divers. you,ll also want to invest in atleast a couple of line counter reels. for your money i suggest okuma convector line counters. i have a set of the 20,s but i knew when i bought them they were big enough for what i do. you might want to go with the 30,s there more versetal in case later on you want to run copper or wire. you can also check these out on ebay another great reel is the daiwa sg47lca but are alittle higher priced. one more piece of advice if your going to use divers go with lite bite slide divers and braided line. slidediver.com check them out. good luck. have a great season. sorry about the long post. i just get carried away. another suggestion, watch for guys looking for someone to go out with them. you,ll learn alot by going out with others. just be ready to chip in alittle for gas.

....sherman....

hey guys

may i suggest you get the flag. we had an oil leak last year from our remote oil filter line. lost all our oil. it was nice to be able to just hang up the flag. it didnt take long before we got help. its worth it to just have it for piece of mind, and not because you have to have it. have a great season.

....sherman....

I got mine late last year and like them so much better then rubber bands. For those of you using them, I have had some problems with shakers when pulling lines, (small Cohos). Can I back off the horizontal tension some more and still get hook ups? Have it really lite now.

For those of you curious about the releases the owner has a really good You Tube video that can be found at:

http://www.downriggerrelease.com/index.html

Also, talked to the owner at the GR show, he almost has the stacker version completed, looks pretty slick.

Any thoughts on backing off the horizontal tension some more appreciated.

Thanks

Paul C.

Mattawan, MI

i havent used them yet but thats what i got them for. i have a real problem fishing lake erie. we get alot of small fish. white perch, yellow perch, white bass, sheephead, and even small eyes. these releases just have to work. i,ll be useing worm harnesses and spoons, so i plan on starting with the litest setting. last year we was pulling lines every 1/2 hour. just to keep the small fish off. if i was you i,d try the lite setting and see what happens. you can still crank your rod way down, should be enough to get the hookset started. atleast you,ll find out real quick if its going to work. please let me know what happens. good luck and have a great season.

....sherman....

hey. this is if you plan on fishing the big water at all.

great job on the bonus. my first boat was a 14 ft with 15 hp. the guy kept it while i made payments.LOL. but i got it, i was 23 and working a low paying job. but that boat was for a small local lake and small rivers.

if you,ve got the money go for the 19 or even bigger if you can. once you start boating you,ll have one goal to get a bigger boat and or a bigger motor. if you have plans to fish the big water you,ll never regret going bigger. but i can just about guarauntee you,ll always regret going smaller. i went through alot of boats from 15 to 18 ft over the last 30+ yrs. the 18 i had for yrs. i gave 250.00 for it. had to put tires on trailer before i could even move it. i had a great motor on my old 16 footer. i worked like a dog new floor new paint new steering and seats. but she was awesome. she was small enough to go anywhere i wanted to go. and big enough that i fished the big water. i picked my weekends to go. but we fished 90% of the time. i did get a 21 ft when i started fishing the central basin. last year i got some back pay. i now own a 28 ft sea ray. my little brother said i went overboard.LOL.

get the 19 and never look back you may even end up with some new friends now that you have a boat. then your going to need the extra room. once you put rods drink cooler, fish cooler, bait cooler, tackle box and even 2 people that little boat is going to fill up fast. and after you,ve been on the water for awhile your going to want to venture alittle farther out. trust a guy thats fished smaller boats most of his life. but i just bought what i could afford and what was there for the money i had. when your out on the water and it gets rough your not going to be worrying about a couple of gallons of gas. your going to say thank you god for the bigger boat. please let me know what you decide. for me there is only one choice. good luck and great fishing.

....sherman....

I have always ran the blacks but after firhing coho on a boat with the chamberlains next year will switch. Dont like paying almost twice as much as the blacks but I've spent more on worse unfortunately

hey right now you can get the chanberlain at midwesthuntersoutlet for 12.99 plus a flat 4.99 for shipping. also at downriggerrelease.com if you contact keith he will let you have 6 for 102.00 including shipping. the time you spend dragging a few small fish around. is just wasted time.

....sherman....

You are on the right track. I am 37 and I STILL have friends that are out patying all night. They all say that I am lucky or stupid to fish for a living. Truth is I am addicted:thumb: I am blessed for sure. I also work a ton of hours. I gave up partying,smoking and doing other thing I best not say so that I could save up and become a captain. I will never regret it ! But the 15-20 people that I graduated with that have died from partying (yes really) will! Keep on the right track !

i do know what you mean. thats part of the reason i quit for awhile. most of my fishing friends had died or moved away. but thank god my son asked me to go back. so now i have my sons.

For me, it is my brother. We have hung out and he and I both love the outdoors greatly. We camp, hike, moutain bike, climb and enjoy just being outside. But my brother never picked up the passion for fishing as I have. Just last week, he called me and surprised the heck out of me by telling me he bought an all species fishing license and wants to catch salmon on Lake Michigan. Now, we fished when we were kids, but he hasn't been fishing since he was 12. So that is my motivation for this year. I love my brother with my heart and soul, and to have one more thing to share with him would mean one of the greatest things to me. We are scheduled to go out the weekend of May 6th. So please pray for some nice wave forecasts!

i can and will do that. good luck

hey everybody

i know why im so anxious but would like to hear from you. heres my story

i started fishing the big water 30+ yrs ago. i started with 16 ft bt and homemade riggers. over the yrs ive used small boats and manual riggers and the cheapest tackle i could get by with. my health went bad about 8 yrs ago and i gave up big water fishing. 2 yrs ago my oldest son asked if he would do most of the work would i go with him and his family on vacation. so i went,and loved it. we went again last year. the biggest boat i,ve used was 21 ft. most of those yrs i used 16 to 18 ft boats. last fall i got some back pay on my disibility. i bought a new 1986 28 ft 10 ft wide sea ray amberjack boat with twin 4.3 mpi engines. i,ll have it rigged with 4 new big jon electric riggers with the new chamberlain releases. ratchet rod holders for my lite bite slide divers. which increased my catch 50% on my divers that i,ll be useing slidediver.com. got my metallic colors at allseasonssports.com. i,ve got a planer mast with custom duel boards. all line counter reels. and a box full of custom worm harnesses and spoons i got at galeforcetackle.com. and to top that off i,ll be fishing with my 2 sons and there famllies, and my brothers. some of you may think im just bragging. but im really not. i,ve paid my dues over the years. going down the chanel in my 16 to 18 ft boat and dreaming about those big boats passing me. all the beatings i,ve took out on the water to get to fish. well im just so anxious i feel like i,ve got worms in my butt. my dreams are finelly coming true. and i get to share that with my family. and that just makes it so much sweeter. i just look so forward to getting out their this year. i,ll be 60 yrs old in may, my boats name is last chance. because i figure it is my last chance. and if i dont die soon, my dream is coming true this year. now you know why. your story might not be as long as mine. but im sure we would all like to know why your looking forward to this season. wish me luck. and i wish all of you a great and safe season.

....sherman....

hey

just curious, but how did you manage to get the stackers. at a boat show or something?? or do you just know keith?? he does seem like a great guy. i,ve swapped a few emails with him. i know selling the chamberlain release is a buisness. but im just glad people like him and randy over at slidediver.com are willing to share their products with us other fishermen. the lite bite diver made a major improvement to my catch rate on divers. i really look forward to getting the chamberlains on the water. with all the small fish on erie now even with the rubberbands we pulled our riggers about every 1/2 hour. you wouldnt believe how many times there was something on the line. from perch to white perch and white bass and sheep head. and even some decent eyes that we didnt know we had. its just going to be a pleasure to use 4 riggers this year. even with the 2 electric,s it was a hassle last year. and i will still check my riggers pretty often untill i get use to the new releases. have a great season.

....sherman....