Paulywood

The musky guys I know use the Salty holders due to not wanting any slack in the line. They will work for dipsey's but are a pain as far as I'm concerned. Personally I would get the diver holders (Big Jon's, Cannon's, Bert's) but I'm not a musky guy.

Very Nice!

Nice fish!

Got it Matt, sent you a reply. Good topics, too. I would definitely be interested in a spring brown trout talk.

Some of the ideas for topics so far are electronics, fishing meat, fishing lakers, fishing deep/deep water, and fishing after the lake rolls over. Any other suggestions?

Don't have all of the details yet but thought I would post it so you guys can put it on the calendar. We are planning on having around 4 speakers and it will be held in the afternoon. I don't have the speakers lined up yet so if you have any suggestions for topics I will take them into consideration. For those of you who don't know, Eagle is west of Lansing on I-96. The hall is visible from the freeway. Here is a link:

http://eagleparkmichigan.org/

I'm not sure why they even bother with the chinook stocking on Huron. If the Atlantics are successful it seems like a better way to go. Hopefully some of our Huron anglers will chime in.

I put the 19 strand torpedo wire on the same exact setups you're talking about except with twilli tips on the rods. After a couple of weeks I noticed a lot fraying buildup on the levelwind guide of the reel. I think the friction of the eyelets was chewing up the wire. I switched to rollers rods and have not seen the issue since. Don't know if it was the twilli tips or what, but just wanted to share my experience.

There is a lot of friction with Twilli Tips. The 19 strand wire is definitely softer and needs a roller tip. The Torpedo Tip is made for the 19 strand wire and works well.

The boat is 22' on a trailer and I am guessing about 8-9' tall. I'll give you a call on tuesday if you want.

I will donate a $25 gift card to a tackle/hunting shop for the winner Mike. I can make it for a store that's local to the winner if they want. I'll gladly support something for the kids.

Hey Frank, do you still have room for indoor storage in Michigan? Thanks, Nick.

I use the northland tackle tamers like Ryan posted. I keep different kinds of leaders tied up (free sliders, dipsey spoon leaders, dipsey flasher leaders) and have them each on a different one. Can't say they are the greatest but they are easy to store.

I have run the silver and smoke wire and didn't notice a difference. You might be able to get the wire from a local retailer and get the smoke now if you want it. I would also suggest placing a large bead on the wire before tying on the swivel so that when you reel them in you can reel all the way into the tip.I actually do this with my braid divers also. I'm not sure on the swivel sizes. I switched to the Dreamweaver swivels a few years ago and that's all I use now. I had issues with the Sampo swivels and I try to keep everything identical so I only use 1 brand.

I'm not on anybody's pro staff but I have received a lot of free lures over the years from things like the WMFL and I have always been sure to use anything I have received and give it a fair test. I don't fish as much as a lot of other guys but I still go out of my way to run and review anything that has been given to me. In talking with different lure manufacturers over the years it's easy to see that testing is very important to them. That's where I think amateur pro staffers are better than charter captains for lure makers. There is a lot more pressure for charters to put fish in the boat and they may not be comfortable running new lures that they aren't confident in. Either way, if you earn a reputation as a good fisherman who gives an honest review I think that manufacturers may seek you out or if you can consistently have good finishes in tournaments they may notice you. Contacting people and asking for free stuff probably isn't the best route to go, though. I have so many lures I have been thinking about going the other way and pairing them down to a smaller selection of lures in different sizes and just running them. I have way to much stuff!

Cork, how do we make micro-etchings in fiberglass with a cleaner and brush? Does "micro" involve not visible to the naked eye? Either way, the stress cracks involved in any boat over the years is unavoidable imho. So, if that theory was true, which I doubt, it could not be weighed as a significant contributor to the cockpit's cleanliness as a whole, no doubt. A wooden fish cleaning board does not equate to a fiberglass cockpit, in any shape, way, or form to me, doesn't compute to me anyhow, with all due respect.

The products you guys are talking about have a solid scouring agent in them that helps them clean. That does lead to very small scratches in the surface of the gel coat. A better analogy would be rubbing sand on a paint job. The small scratches will tend to catch and hold dirt and grime better than a smooth surface. Whether or not it makes a difference is beyond me. I use the deck cleaner and the Woody's Wax. I will caution that the Woody's Wax is probably better for boats that are slipped. My boat sits in my yard and we live on a dirt road surrounded by fields, so there is a lot of dust. Even with the cover on I tend to get a lot of dirt down in the cockpit because the walk around drains into the back of the boat. The Woody's Wax seems to trap the dirt and it actually comes off harder. I usually end up cleaning my deck before or after every trip with the cleaner and have gone away from the wax until we move and I can park the boat inside.

I think there are a lot of factors that affect the water levels. One of the biggest is the warmer winter we had last year. That means the lake doesn't freeze and we keep losing moisture in the form of rain or snow all winter long to other areas of the midwest. The second is the dredging on the St. Clair River channel. I remember a few years ago they said the dredging had caused water flow to increase. That led to erosion of the bottom. Which led to more water flowing through. Which led to more erosion. And on and on. This actually drains water from Lakes Michigan, Superior and Huron. I hope that it is only cyclical but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Welcome Charlie! I am sure all of our Wisconsin members will be glad to have you as a member. Let us know if you need anything.

If you want a close up view there are 3 of them within a mile of my house. And 185 more in Gratiot county (and counting). Personally I am ambivalent toward them. I think that farmers should be able to use their land how they want to make money, wind turbines or not. But I don't think we should have to have a certain percentage, let the market dictate how much renewable energy we need. And I agree Don, they are pretty cool to see up close. My son loves them, they're like a giant fan for him.

Plus, there is a lot less volume in marine electronics than TV's.

Me too. Too many guys who fish a lot more than I do (including Captain Don) have told me they have tested it and it makes a difference. Who am I to argue?

Ryan, anyone who can weld aluminum should be able to do it. There is a shop just west of St. Johns on M-21 that does a lot of aluminum and there is a machine shop in Westphalia that I have had do some welding for me before. Depending on how much is broken off they can just weld in some aluminum to fill in what is broken.

Welcome John. I used to fish the Lyons dam for steelies quite a bit when I lived and worked in St. Johns. By the time the kings get up there they are pretty dark and nasty. The coho can still be fresh and feisty if you are lucky enough to hit them as they go through. If you do fish Lyons there should still be a deep run on the west side of the river downstream of the bridge. It always held some kind of fish (walleye, pike or salmonid). There is a gravel bar across the river from it and a few runs and tailings downstream. The water between the dam and bridge is deeper but this year could be wadeable. I fished Webber Dam more as its much bigger and there is more fishable area. You can work the river up there on either side (west has a deeper run) and then downstream of the island there is a gravel bar and run. If you go far enough downstream where Goose Creek enters there is a hole on the east side where it comes in with a gravel bed behind it. Not to mention the area up by the dam and spillway but it tends to get a little more crowded up there. Good luck.

I run the 19 strand Torpedo wire on 7' Shimano Talora rods and with the Tekota 600 lc reels as low divers and 30# Power Pro on 9' Shimano TDr rods with Tekota's and have to say that I fish my wire rods more than my braid rods. I know that the fleas might not seem like a big deal, but sometimes they are almost unbearable. You have to pull rods constantly to clean them off or they can bind up the eyelets and cause you to lose fish. I also tried the Twilli Tips and Torpedo Tips and like the Torpedo's much better. There is a lot less resistance. I also tried a cheap Eagle Claw roller rod and almost threw it overboard on the first trip. If you are going to run wire go with the tungsten guides, a new tip, or a good roller rod. I have tried all of them except the tungsten rods and IMO you don't want to screw around with cheap roller rods.

As long as it takes! Most of the time that is 4-8 hours but have been known to fish dawn to dark. If I'm going to tow the boat for 2-4 hours to go fishing, then I'm going to spend as much time on the water as I can to catch as many fish as I can. Only thing that will bring me in early is rough seas with little action on the rods. 4' seas and no fish stops being fun.

I'm with Ryan. Gotta make my gas money count so we usually spend 6 hours or more.

You could also check with Captain Ron out of Saugatuck. He posts weekly reports on the site. I think it's CoHooker Charters.