1mainiac

I got a Baofeng UV-82 handheld radio for Christmas OK I bought it for myself but hey guys we know we buy us the best gifts LOL. It is a dual band HT which is a nice survival radio since it can transmit on any UHF or VHF freg it can hear on. So first rule do not transmit it on illegal frequencies unless it is a actual emergency. I have mine currently Programed for all the local ham repeaters where I live as well as those in areas where I hunt and fish. It is also programed for all the Marine VHF channels for use on the boat. And the MURS channels the FRS channels the NOAA weather channels and the GMRS channels. I don't currently have a GMRS license but will likely get one but again in a emergency any channel can be used. This is a 50 dollar radio so don't expect high end results or features but it works pretty good so far and you can buy better antennas for it which will increase it's range. I am looking at a roll up J Pole that will fit in my shirt pocket. You will want to get a programing cable for it because it is much easier to program with a computer and you can clone several of them to have the same channels.

It also has a FM radio and a flashlight so like I said it is a pretty good choice as a survival radio and I may get a couple more for the wife and family to use. I downloaded the CHIRP software daily build to program it( free download ) and bought a 6.99 cable to hook it to the computer.

Very few use Outriggers on the great Lakes. Mostly because they pretty much replace your diver program. With a 11ft beam I would want a center rigger and 2 corner riggers. I would not be against running long coppers off the outriggers but remember you will not be able to run divers and the out riggers without issues.

Ok Don liked the new forms so here we go the new rules and entry form are on the MSCST website. The dates are set we moved for the Dream weaver and the Muskegon Tourney so we only have 1 July event on the 19th. Because Don and I got sick of booting spammers if you don't have a log in you need to get Don or me to give you one. You do not need to log in to access the forms or read the front page only to post. The site is alos available on Tapatalk so you can use your phone as well. If you would like access to the site PM Don or me and we will send you a temp log in that you can change once your on. If you want a specific name let us know but we do need a email address.

I did the math on a couple other scoring ideas and the results did not change from last year. Just the points separating each place changed and a couple of boats moved up and down but the first 4 did not move. Drift won 4 of the 6 events we fished last year and took a 2nd in another that is nearly a perfect score hard to beat that.

Here is what last years Port Championship would look like under the new system.

1st Drift $340.00

2nd Double D $204.00

3rd Fishsniffer $136.00

4th 7Mary3

5th Kingfish

6th Hook Em Deep

6th Five O

8th High Seas

9th Sink or Swim

10th Double J

11th Reel Broke

12th Fine Line

13th Fortunate Son

14th Dominator

15th 1 Mainiac

We also had several boats that only fished one or 2 events so I did not score them. My score is based on last place in the events I entered even though I did not weigh a fish last year due to boat problems.

We got together this evening and roughed in most of the details. Still have to get it all written down and the wording finalized but the rough outline is this.

We will not make any changes on the boundary issue leave on time and be at weigh in on time how much gas you use to fish does not matter to us.

We will be going back to our old point system which is 10 points per fish plus weight. It will still be 3 man DNR limit and weigh 6 fish.

We have a sponsor for big fish for each event plus the pooled cash there is also a sponsor for biggest fish of the year but no cash prize to go with it.

We are sticking with 7 events and best 5 for the Port championship. The port championship has it's own points system which is similar to the 333 series. 100 points per event for 1st place and minus 2 for each place below that. Here is a example 10 boats and 3 catch nothing.

1st 100 points

2nd 98 points

3rd 96 points

4th 94 points

5th 92 points

6th 90 points

7th 88 points

8th 86 points

9th 86 points

10th 86 points

I don't see us every getting 50 boats but if we do Don and I will come up with a cutoff so every one gets points. No one will be skunked out of a chance at the championship. It will pay the first 3 places and ties will split the money.

We are raising the per event entry fee to 40 dollars 10 will go to the Port Championship 5 will go to big fish and the 25 left will go to event payout same as last year.

With the Dream weaver and the Muskegon Tri Port we were left with only the 19th of July so we will have 2 in May 2 in June 1 in July and 2 in August.

Don may correct me but I have this schedule.

May 3rd Blood Run Open

May 25th Silver Streak Open

June 14th Big Papa Open

June 28th Fish Hawk Open

July 19th Big Weenie Contest

August 9th Silver Horde Open

August 23rd ? I forgot LOL sry I think Pro Troll but Don can correct me.

I will be there again have not missed one yet lots of great deals.

If it were my choice I would pick the Garmin system because of the shadow drive feature. It allows you to make course corrections from the wheel without shutting off the AP which would be handy when you fish with a rookie. Many of the newer systems from other companies allow you to steer without shutting them down however nearly all of them return you to the original course when you let go of the wheel. This is called a dodge feature the Shadow Drive re plots the course if you make changes with the wheel similar to a Tom Tom when you miss your turn. It also includes multiple fishing patterns which can be handy esp if you like to chase Steelhead on temp breaks.

Since you have Hyd steering there are almost no limits on choices. Everyone makes a system for Hyd steering. So what you need to do is make a list of all the boat electronics and how they network together if they do. If they don't currently then consider how they will with the new AP. Best results will come when all the stuff works together. My GPS Fishfinder combo has a network actually 2 different networks but the one I want to use won't work with my AP. That is why I mention this every company has networks built into all their new stuff the problem is getting them to talk to each other. So make sure all your gear is fully compatible which in most cases means all the same brand. Yes you are going to hear any of them can talk to any of them and that is partly true but the fact is just like hooking 2 computers together you can use a serial cable and sort of make it work or you can network them and get great results.

Mike I can't speak for Don we will be getting together soon to hash out some ideas. For me I would think I like the points I proposed because we have had some lower turnout events. While we avg 12 we have had 17 once and 8 a couple of times. I would not want to see a person winning one event for 17 points out doing a person who won a couple of smaller fields. The 333 has a compensator in their scoring that adds points based on size of field I honestly don't see the need to do all the extra math. The one thing that these polls have shown is most are OK with a fee increase of 10 dollars if we agree on that and get 10 boats per event for 7 events that would put 700 in the pot for port championship which would be 350 for 1st 210 for 2nd and 140 for 3rd. Last year we lost a event and still had 68 entries according to my charts so we likely would of had 80 if we had fished the missed event. Plus the 5 I would of fished if my boat had not broke down. I think if we can get a few more boats going the port championship could come close to paying 500 for 1st, 300 for 2nd and 200 for 3rd that would get more people in it as well. We have a lot to consider and this is only my ideas and opinions Don has many of his own so next we sit down and compare notes find where we agree and sort out anything we have to compromise on get it all written down and get everyone to vote on it.

After reading Mikes comments I considered rather than adding a variable to our points system why not use a different system for the port championship only. What I kinda like best is the 333 championship format where placement in the event sets points not size or quantity of fish a win on a bad weekend is the same as a win on a great weekend. I don't see us going past 50 boats soon so we could do it like this.

Place Points

1st 100

2nd 98

3rd 96

4th 94

5th 92

6th 90

7th 88

8th 86

9th 84

ect ect

This would mean every boat entered gets points based on finish position including last place. Also unless someone wins 4 or 5 events and runs away with it nearly every boat would be in the running all the way to the end. It would also mean you can't just get a couple of huge boxes and take the lead. You have to do well in every event to stay on top. Again just a idea don't shoot LOL

We will consider all of that I made a date list without talking to Don because one of our sponsors wanted a tentative list so I made one on the fly and let them know it was still subject to change. After that I decide to post it and get input not one date on the list is a decided thing it was just a idea list. Clearly we will not fish on the 12th we have to figure out what will work I also do not have a clue if we will got to 8 events The only reason was having 8 primary sponsors this year I ran out of named events for them so i tossed another one in the mix My Bad. Again just me tossing out ideas. The port championship will remain at 5 extra event or not.

Ryan is correct and you may also need to consider some of the triple bank charger setups are isolated internally to allow you to charge 2 batteries in series at at 12v ea. Any load bank will be based off the weakest battery so hooking a new battery to a old tired battery will only give you the power of two old tired batteries.

Thanks Mike Don and I have to sit down and digest all the input over a beer or 2 likely after the first of the year. I must say I really like the idea of adding position points for each event. As that would go a long way to balance out the bad fishing with the good fishing. I at one time considered just doing total weight of fish for 1st and down the line with 100 points going to 1st and then reducing the points per position. That however was a idea for my Steelhead tournament which is a idea that has never happened yet. Prior to the limit changes on Salmon lots of tournaments used to limit trout as bonus fish or salmon as you could only catch 3 per species and most used a 2 man limit for weigh in. Others used variations of that format. I could check the sheets from last year but you may be right I don't remember anyone weighing a brown last year. We have a lot of ideas to discuss but I know we don't want to stray to far from what we started.

I understand that Steve however a battery is technically dead at 10.6 volts run it down to 10.6 and recharge it that is considered a cycle. Going below 10.6 causes the battery to heat up and shortens it's life. The second issue is your using a group 27 deep cycle battery most batteries in that size avg 125ah his is 7ah which is nearly 18 times smaller so if you got 36 he would get roughly 2 hours. Ask anyone who ice fishes with a high power sonar it is tough to carry a big enough battery which is why my ice fishing sonar is a hand held unit that mostly gives me depth and once in a while shows a fish on it. Lots of times I just use my GMT 40 as I can drop it down and it tells me depth and temp all the way to the bottom so I can fish based on water temp and depth and it uses nearly no battery power and fits in my shirt pocket. If the unit were to only draw 1 amp it would only last 7 hours on a fully charged battery for him unless he gets a bigger battery. I am not sure a 70lb group 27 battery is going to work in a Kayak.

I think a lot is going to come down to how happy you are with the display and ease of use. The issue i see is power consumption with the GPS on and sonar cranked up most of these units will kill your little battery in a few hours. Because your nearly stationary I would look into a good handheld GPS and a low power fishfinder or plan on a much bigger battery pack to power the system.

Thanks Terry we started with catch 15 weigh 10 the problem was we only had a couple boats left in the Port Championship after the 2nd event. Also we have 2 man teams so they would never get a chance to win. With the 3 man DNR limit and weigh 6 everyone has a chance at winning. When the WMFL changed it's point system we changed as well with the idea of having a dual event to fish against them this has not happened yet. I honestly don't think there is a perfect points system but from my personal perspective my goal was to fish major tournament style rules on a beer budget so guys could learn to fish them without going broke. Many of the guys who fish with us have become much better anglers and for that I think we have been successful. We have some great sponsors and have been able to pass out a lot of fishing gear over the years which has been cool. I don't personally have a number perhaps Don does but my bet is we have given out over 5 grand in fishing gear in the last 3 years. So not to shabby for a small low entry fee tournament. The one great part is we all have fun and there is no arguments. We have not been without issues or problems but we have been able to sit down and solve them. I made some mistakes the first year and we sat down and decided how we would avoid them. Thankfully Don and I are good friends and he has been a great partner we don't have to think the same to find a idea we can agree on. As of right now both of us have some ideas and we want to get input from everyone else on what they like or don't like to help us decide on changes or no changes. From the current input I have received from the poll's and suggestions made to me. My guess is there will likely be few changes for next year. I suspect we will return to 10 points a fish plus weight for a points system. I don't see us adding boundaries as I am not sure there really is a need for them other than to force guys to use less gas and not run for better fishing. I do think we will change the Port Championship next year and raise the entry fee to pool money for it however this just my opinion Don and I have to get together after the holiday's and sort this out then we need to have a board meeting and vote on any changes.

Merry Christmas to all and happy new lures.

Still plenty of time to vote and or offer suggestions.

Still plenty of time to vote and or offer suggestions.

Still plenty of time to vote and or offer suggestions.

I agree with Ryan you could not pay me to put one of them on my boat. Bags are cheap and provide many options buckets are even cheaper and can do the same thing without giving up engine thrust which helps you maintain boat control.

The only upside to the sliding J plug harness is if you rig it so it can slide up away from the hooks. Most people use a snap swivel to attach them so they can't really slide up. I only use Silver Horde plugs and have a bunch of J Plugs to get rid of since they have not been wet in years.

I started fishing Lake Michigan in the late 60's with my uncle in a 14ft Starcraft with mostly home made gear. We used to carry 3 tanks of fuel one to get out one to fish and one to get back in most days we only used two but had to use the third a few times. You have to pick your days but people run 20 to 30 miles out on the Gulf in 20ft boats all the time. My BIL still fishes lake Michigan in a 14ft FBD uses his 14 a lot as well. Size of boat does not always make you safer knowing your abilities and boat and watching the weather is what makes you safe. Other than a few SAR runs in the Coast Guard the worst weather I have ever fished in was in my uncles 14ft. I am not going to tell you to make a long run in your boat because we do it you have to decide what you and your boat can do. I will say if I wanted a trophy Laker I would head to Superior and fish Stannard rock. Add in the fact the lakers in Lake Superior are much better fish than we have down here.

These are what I went to after lightning took out one of my LED spreaders a year ago. They are cheap and 2 of them in flood pattern make it daytime in the boat any time I hit the switch. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-27W-12V-24V-LED-Work-Light-FLOOD-Lamp-Tractor-Truck-SUV-UTV-ATV-Offroad-/350940371131?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item51b5ad18bb&vxp=mtr

I paid nearly 5 times as much for the old ones and only one still works side by side you cannot tell the old ones are on when these are on and the old ones were pretty bad a$$. I am getting another set for my truck for driving lights.