SeaCatMich

Deleted

90% sure that I'll be there. Hopefully with some others from my pool of regulars on the boat. Likely 4 total.

Jamey, you might want to check out this 24' Welcraft WAC w/ a 225 Mercury Optimax. Has a hardtop with a rocket launcher and for fishing early & late seasons up on Superior the hardtop with the clear vinyl sides might be real nice. Price is a little higher than your listed range, but I wouldn't be surprised if they wouldn't take an offer rather than hold on to it over the winter.

http://kalamazoo.craigslist.org/bod/3461900674.html

Outboard 22' Islanders are not very common. A friend has one and the extra room in the fishing area without the dog house makes it a much more usable area. His has a 150 hp on a bracket but I don't know if they all have that configuration or not.

A walkaround on a 20-22' hull makes getting to the bow easier than a full beam cabin, but "walkaround" is not really an accurate description. Creeparound is probably better. Still beats having to go up through a hatch in the cabin though.

Personally I much prefer an outboard over an I/O for many reasons. Not having the dog house really helps for being able to maneuver in the rear of the boat. More room for people on board and also helps when out solo when you don't have anyone else to move things for you. A bracket mounted OB is even better since it gives you a full transom with no splash well or cutouts across the stern.

When fishing solo out of a cuddy cabin I am not convinced that the size of the boat is that big of an impediment. I have had a Bertram 20' I/O cuddy, a 22' Cruisers SeaDevil bracket OB WAC, and a 24' I/O Chaparral cuddy. Docking was about the same on each of them but was probably easiest on the SeaDevis due to the OB. By far my current boat (21' SeaCat center console w/ dual 90 OB) is much easier but mainly due to the twin outboards. In all of them, when docking solo it is more of a matter of being prepared with ropes positioned and getting the mid-ship line connected to the dock followed by the stern line.

For fishing sole the most important thing to me is an autopilot... any autopilot! Nice whether you have flat water or a 3' chop. The AP will steer better than anyone you put on the wheel and makes fishing a whole lot more pleasant. They are not cheap but nothing in this type of fishing is. I first got my AP when I was able to get on the big lake an average of 3+ times per week. Now, with the limited amount of time I get to be on the water, I appreciate it as much or more since I get to enjoy the fishing more. That said, I would look for a boat equipped with hydraulic steering since that gives you more options for an AP and makes it easier to install if you go with it in the future.

I'd go for the 21' Pursuit. The 20' Grady Whites always seemed a little cramped all around to me -- especially in the cabin but didn't seem to translate into more fishing area. Islanders are nice serviceable boats but sit too high on the water for me. Having had both aluminum and glass on the Great Lakes, I would highly recommend the fiberglass hull. Yes the lighter hull can be towed easier and doesn't need as big of an engine, the ride quality in almost any chop over 1' will mean you are either slowing down or beating yourself and hull on the water.

On the Islander you need to worry about leaking rivets. If the Grady and Wellcraft were ever slipped, make sure there hasn't been water intrusion - especially in the transom and stringers.

What brand/model engines are on each boat? One might be significantly better than the others or one could be more difficult to get parts for... either way might affect your decision.

LInwood Beach Marina and Campground is great for this on walleye trips to Saginaw Bay.

I just don't get any real joy out of trolling for walleye so I drift and cast spoons, weapon rigs, and jigs. Lots more fun to feel the hit and fight the fish on 8# spinning outfits. The three trips I have made to Saginaw Bay it seemed like I was the only boat out there not trolling though. I am sure that trolling is more productive but since I go fishing to have fun and if it takes a little longer to catch the fish... well that just means more fun.

I have not had much success before June with the casting on SB. This is about a month after it starts being a good technique on Erie. My usual strategy on either body of water is to search for marks on the graph and then set up a drift to go over them.

The Detroit River fishery is usually productive much earlier in the season (shortly after ice out in late March into April) and is for the most part a vertical fishery with plugs or heavy jigs with good chances for big fish. April is also a great time for fishing on Erie's reefs for eater 'eyes casting and vertical jigging feather jigs, jigs with minnows, and blade baits. This is usually great for eater size fish and can be fast and furious action.

After the fish move off the reefs and the big females are done spawning in mid to late April, lots of big walleye are caught trolling body baits in the 20-30' depths with the fish varying from 10' to the bottom depending on the water clarity and temps. The area north and west of Big Sister Island to the Mich/Ohio state line and the Toledo shipping channel is usually a productive area.

Dave,

Do they work on serrated blades as well or only on smooth edged knives? I've been looking for a good knife sharpening system.

Thanks,

Tim

Yes works on serrated blades -- I use on my electric knife's blades. Here's a video from the Edgemaker site on doing serrated blades.

https://secure.edgemaker.com/sections/tutorials/Video.aspx?flv=serrated

I too have the Edgemaker in my fish cleaning kit along with a nice steel to keep the edge clean and tuned up. I'm sure that with more effort and a different hone I could get a better edge, but after 6 years of using the Edgemaker I'm still happy. Very easy to get a knife sharpened up right at the cleaning station.

Just noticed that the auction is at the Repocast Flint location.

I have had my 21' SeaCat (the CATtitude Adjustment) since August of 1999. In the rough stuff (3'+ seas) it is the equivalent of a good 24' V hull. Worst stuff I have had it out in was 6-7' head seas coming in from West Sister Island to Sterling State Park on Erie. No we didn't go 30 mph but did run at 10 mph and never took water over the bow and really didn't get too wet from spray either in the ~18 mile run. Another time the waves built from a nice 2' chop to 8' seas out of the north off Manistee. Had 3 other BIG guys (all 6' 4"+ and 300#+ each) plus me at 200# on board. After catching our limit of Kings we made the long run back in. The guys were simply amazed at how the cat hull handled the seas.

In more reasonable waters that I normally fish (1-3') it will run at 20-25 mph and slice through the seas nicely with only wind spray getting us wet. My hull is rated at twin 90 hp and it isn't going to be the fastest boat in 0-1.5' seas -- needs about a 1' chop for best speed to help lift the hull a little. From 2-3' though it does great. I am often amazed at how nice and smooth we are running in the slop while other V hulls are getting beat launching off the tops of the waves and crashing into the trough.

The twin hulls also make for a very stable boat when fishing. The day with the 3 BIG guys on board they were delighted that all three could be on one side of the boat and not risk capsizing the boat. The hull dipped about 2".

There are a couple of downsides to the cat. First it takes a little deeper ramp to be able to launch since the hull sits higher on the trailer. Second, you need two decent size outboards on the rear. The twin outboards was actually the reason that I ended up deciding to go cat. I had decided since I did a lot of solo fishing, I wanted to have twins for safety. Once I made that decision, the cat hull was a viable option.

I have owned 5 different boats that I would consider "Great Lakes" boats over the years. 1) 18' MirroCraft center console twin 80 hp OB, 2) 20' Bertram cuddy I/O, 3)24' Chaparral cuddy I/O, 4) 22' Cruisers SeaDevil WAC 230 hp OMC SeaDrive, and the 22' SeaCat w/ twin Honda 90 hp OB. The SeaCat handles seas better than any of the other boats. The 24' Chaparral was not a good hull (too much front to back flex) and the cat easily handles 3' seas much better. The 22' SeaDevil was a very heavy hull that handled heavy seas well but the cat does better and is a much dryer and smoother ride at the same speeds.

When I bought the CATtitude Adjustment I was living in St. Joe with a condo on the river with a boat slip out the back door. Pretty much left the tackle on the boat or in the garage 300' away. I did 3-5 days per week on the lake -- Sat & Sun plus 2-3 days after work if the weather was good. The center console is great for solo fishing and is very versatile for both trolling for salmon or drifting for walleye -- real nice to put 2 anglers in the bow and two in the stern. Now that I have it on the trailer and tow 2+ hours to get to the lakes, I sometimes wish it had a cabin to store tackle so I could leave it at the lake or in an unattended slip. There are compartments but since it is an open hull, most of the tackle is in boxes on the deck. The center console has my batteries, tool box, and a small porta-potty.

The 21' cat hull is big enough to handle any conditions I want to be in on the lake but is small enough to easily handle launching and docking on my own. If I had to do it again, I think I would have gone with the 23' model. The extra 2' is in the rear of the boat and for more than 2 on board that extra space would be nice. The SeaCat hull has been owned by 3 different companies since 2000 (SeaCat, SportCraft - SportCat, and now SeaCat again) and the same hull is now rated for 115 hp outboards. While my twin 90s do a good job with a top speed of 28 mph, I would think a pair of 115 would push it to over 40. I might be able to do better with different props too.

There are also two different types of cat hulls -- displacement and planing. The Glacier Bay boats are displacement hulls while World Cat and SeaCat are planing designs. With the displacement hull it does not lift the boat on top of the water but rather pushes the twin hulls through the water. In slow speed conditions the planing cat also pushes the hull through the waves but when power is given it lifts similar to a V hull. Boat handling is somewhat different between the two styles but I don't see a significant difference between mine and the V hulls I have had in the past. The big difference I do see is when maneuvering the boat during docking. With the twin OBs on the corners I use the throttle to steer most of the time when putting the boat on the trailer. By putting one engine in reverse and the other in reverse the boat will spin in a circle about the length of the hull.

For fishing alone or with up to 4 onboard a 21-23' center console is a good answer -- I do the sole thing about half the time. Since you're near the lake (Holland) not having a cabin is usually not an issue. Only downside (or upside depending on your perspective ) is my boat does not have an enclosed head and most women don't like that. There are a lot of center consoles that have added a head in the console though.

Here's a link to an older CC that has been repowered with a new eTec outboard which is being auctioned in Grand Rapids. Pics show it on a trailer but the description says the trailer isn't included. http://auction.repocast.com/details.cfm?ID=1065471

So that everyone will easily know that my 1999 Honda 90s are not 2013 models.

I am glad to see that at least Ontario is being aggressive in the pursuit, prevention, and prosecution of those that traffic in invasive species. I wish that Michigan and other Great Lakes states and the states where the fish farms are based (Arkansas) were half as effective. If I were the Canadian authorities, I think that the lack of action from the US based enforcement would be very disappointing and frustrating.

I really like the concept of the Down-East rod holder. What I don't like about them is the rod butt sticking into the boat. Might work on some boats or situations where the rod is near the transom, but not for me.

Used to use a mini ball bat to whack them but that was back when all of the fish were 20#+. The bat is still on the boat but haven't used it in years. I have one of the "S" hook fish holders that Bob's Outdoors sold... somewhere

I started out with Tite Loks but took too long to adjust them to fit different situations. Then went to Pursuit (now Traxstech) and they were good but without ratcheting made getting a diver rod out a little difficult. Went to some Vector horizontal triples that could be laid nearly flat for divers and lift for removal -- very good but I replaced them with some vertical rod trees for boards and tried some Bert's ratcheting for divers. The Bert's worked well but I didn't like the need for two hands to adjust them down. So I changed to the new Cannon dual axis rod holders 3 seasons ago. The Cannons are great -- ratchet for removal, hand grip adjustment with one hand, both up/down & left/right adjustment.

I have not had them, but I have heard good things about Big Jon's ratcheting rod holders. i'm very happy with the Cannons though, so not going to change anytime soon.

Keep 'em high! This helps keep the line from the rod to the board out of the water and the board will run cleaner through the water. A couple years ago I went from horizontal rod holders to a rod tree. The boards run better when up in the tree which puts them a 1-3' higher than the horizontal setup.

Got the following in an email from the Michigan DNR

*********************************************************

Press Release

________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nov. 2, 2012

Contact: Heather Hettinger, 231-922-5280 or Ed Golder, 517-335-3014

To protect steelhead, fishing on Platte River prohibited Jan. 1 to March 31

The Department of Natural Resources has announced the Platte River spawning closure will return to its historic timeframe of January 1 through March 31, in 2013. In 2012 the closure was extended through April 28 to assist in the DNR’s efforts in protecting returning steelhead. This closure affects the Platte River from the Platte River State Fish Hatchery down to Platte Lake.

In addition, no fishing will be allowed within 300 feet of the upper hatchery weir whenever the weir is in place (which was August 15 through September 30 in 2012). This closure provides enhanced protection of migrating coho salmon, many of which are used as broodstock for hatchery operations.

A spawning closure is put into place to protect key stretches of river where high-levels of natural reproduction are known to occur or where broodstock fish can potentially be collected. All fishing is prohibited during a closure.

These spawning closures will go into effect on January 1, 2013 and will read as follows in next year’s fishing guide: “The Platte River is closed to fishing from the US-31 bridge at Veteran’s Park downstream to Platte Lake, January 1 – March 31†and “The Platte River is closed to fishing within 300 feet of the Upper (hatchery) weir infrastructure, whenever the weir is in place.â€

Since 2010, DNR’s Fisheries Division has been annually stocking the Platte River with 20,000 yearling steelhead. This stocking program is anticipated to increase the steelhead population to a level that could support a back-up egg take facility at the Platte River State Fish Hatchery and thus enhance angling opportunities on the Platte River.

“Moving the date of spawning closure last spring offered a good level of protection for the first group of steelhead that returned to the river following our stocking efforts,†said Heather Hettinger, DNR fisheries biologist for the Platte River. “Now that we have had a chance to see our efforts are beginning to work, we feel confident we can restore angling opportunities and protect these fish at the same time.â€

For more information, please review Fisheries Order 204 at www.michigan.gov/fishing.

I upload to PhotoBucket.com with their Android app. Can then link to the hosted picture from GLF or other web sites. Additionally it provides me a backup of my pictures. Recently a friend's hard drive physically crashed and could no longer be accessed. Her biggest loss was the pictures she had stored on it without backups.

I think to put 1000 ft of wire on a reel is not nessary.Load the first reel backwards.put on 500 ft of 40# wire 300yards of 50#fireline or the like,fill the reel up with 50#mono.wind.now you know how much mono to put under the wire and backing.wind onto the 2nd reel. and load the first again correctly using the same amounts.

I agree that 1,000' of wire is more than enough, but I have not figured out a good knot to allow connection to a backing material directly or with a small Spro swivel to be able to use less and still fill the reel. The overhand knot works well for connection to the terminal tackle but leaves a protruding end to get caught. What do you do to connect the wire to the backing?

This may sound cold and callused but I really don't have a ton of sympathy for those on the eastern seaboard when they build structures so close to the ocean and don't protect their infrastructure, then are "surprised" when a big storm causes major destruction. If they are going to insist on living on Long Island, Manhattan, the Jersey Shore -- all of which are technically barrier islands -- they need to implement the levies and improve the building codes.

If mass transit systems in this part of the country are the prototypes that the current federal government thinks are the solution for the rest of the country... they are crazier than I ever thought. It's broke now and there isn't any alternative to get people around. The news was reporting 4 hour one-way commutes for many people instead of 1 to 1.5 hour "regular" commutes. Heck the regular commute seems outlandish to me.

I don't see a whole lot of difference between the situation there and the below sea level situation of New Orleans or the people that continue to build in the flood plane of the Mississippi. I can appreciate how nice it must be to live on the ocean in good weather but to now be so surprised that this has happened is ridiculous. Florida gets hit by storms with much higher wind speeds and more rain much more often and you don't see nearly the same devistation. This is the 2nd big storm in 2 years to hit this area of the country and while this one was bigger than others, it isn't like this is something new... it happens every few years (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_New_York_hurricanes).

There is a reason that insurance companies will not write policies for flood insurance on much of the area affected and the insurance is through the federal program.

Unfortunately it isn't limited to just hurricanes and tropical storms. How many winter snow or freezing rain storms have happened that completely paralyze New York or Boston? It happens almost every winter but do they make improvements? No! If the Great Lakes states did it the same way no one would live here, but our states have the necessary equipment to deal with moving the snow and putting out salt. We have coats, boots, gloves, snow blowers and vehicles to deal with the cold and snow. I think New York and New Jersey could learn a few things.

Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie (and maybe Superior and Ontario too) all had record or near record wave heights and sustained winds. Sure there were news reports about minor beach damage, but no one builds houses or boardwalks or amusement parks right on the beach where 20' waves are going to wipe it out. We also don't build subway systems that would get flooded.

It is pretty much the text book definition of insanity -- repeat the same process over and over... and expect different results. I really hope (as the article indicates has been recommended for years) that improvements are made and the "same old" stuff is not just put back in.

I'm sure that federal funding will rebuild it and given the economic impact that NYC has on the whole country, I sort of understand... but I am tired of good money being put forth to repair things. I really hope that they don't follow the standard model of repeating the past -- what's the definition of insanity... repeating the same process over and over, and expect different results. Spend the money to fix it right in the first place!

Officials set to stock Atlantic Salmon in Lake Huron

After three-years of experimentation to determine whether Atlantic salmon can be successfully reared in state hatcheries, Michigan fisheries officials say it’s time to shift gears. The 2013 fishing season will be a bellwether of what is possible.

“We’ll have 60,000 to 80,000 Atlantic salmon yearlings available for planting in 2013,†said Todd Grischke, the Lake Huron basin coordinator for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. “We are going into the stocking phase and will be evaluating the plants: where they go, where to best stock them and what to expect once we do.â€

http://howardmeyerson.com/2012/10/25/officials-set-to-stock-atlantic-salmon-in-lake-huron/#more-3806

Always fun! I'm glad they don't have those canines when out in the lake.

For sliders I have been using a Northland Tackle Tamer (pic 1 below). It has a place to clip one end's snap and then small velcro patches to secure the other end. Works pretty well but the small diameter of the tube does mean lots of wraps around it.

I was thinking about this a few weeks back and am considering trying a saltwater style leader wheel (pic 2 below) instead. All of the sliders are pretty much the same so I think I could string them end to end connected by the snaps and wind them on top of each other on the wheel. One wheel should hold a whole bunch of sliders. If you have different lengths of sliders could get one wheel for each length.

I'm also thinking the leader wheels would be a good solution for storing cut bait rigs instead of small ziplock bags.

As for diver leaders, I just wrap them on the diver. Most of the time I'm running attractors off my divers so the leader is 30-40# mono and I usually replace it after a few trips. A while back there was a product called a Dive-R-Dock (sp?) that looked like a good solution but I didn't get any and I haven't seen them in a couple of years. They were not real expensive but not the cheapest things either.

Tackle Tamer pic:

Leader Wheel pic: