Billy V Report - 4/24 Wilson KINGS w/pics

[Billy V]

We fished West of port in 50-180 FOW and put a beating on the Lakers and took a few Kings today as well. We got a late start after having the boat trailered to Wilson from Krenzer's in Sodus, but once we got out to 50 FOW the rods started popping with some chunky Lakers. Mostly a spoon bite (DW Green Alewife, Glow Corn were good), but we also took a few whacks on a Chartreuse Splatter Spinny/Sigg's Ghost fly combo fished off a wire diver out 140' on a #2 setting. 2.0-2.5 mph down speed on the new Cannon IntelliTroll (VERY nice by the way) was our best speed. We worked the inside water and played with the Lakers for a while, then decided to try out deeper for Kings. We found the Kings in 120-180 FOW and they came on riggers down 45 and 55, and also on a 10 color core. The DW Super Slim Glow Frog, Glow Corn, and SuperGlow Green Machine were all good. We didn't have a King bite on a Fly combo today. Once the East winds picked up it got pretty snotty and the bite shut down. We called it a day earlier than we had wanted to but we still accomplished our mission - Kings on the deck of the boat and lots of rods firing! Another week or so and it'll be on like Donkey Kong in Wilson!

Since there's been an awful lot of talk about them here I should also mention that we ran our new Daiwa Saltist reels today and were universally impressed. We got to play with a few really big Lakers on our wire diver reels and what few concerns I had over the reel being too fast were quickly put to rest. The reels are just awesome. That high gear ratio is going to be the new standard in trolling reels if I had to guess.

Here's a couple of pics from today:

[A-Fishy-Anado]

Great report and nice fish!!

[Nailer]

Thanks for the update Billy. The Saltist sure do look nice. What is the retrieve ratio on them?

[Billy V]

We have the 30 size and it's a 6.1:1 ratio. VERY nice reels!!

[anthonyyost]

what brand rod holders are you using, are those Cannon?

[Adam Bomb]

Great report Billy V

[Priority1]

Capt Bill, Great report. I like your setup.

[A-Fishy-Anado]

Billy....I have all tekotas for my rigger and diver program. How do the saltist and tekotas compare in your HONEST opinion?

[DIRTY DOG]

Great job and awsome detail to your report.

[Yankee Troller]

A-FISHY-ANODO,

We switched all of our 47LC's over to the Saltist 30's too this off-season. We had our first REAL test with them this weekend. I have had limited expereince with a Tekota, but i can tell you the Saltist are a winner. The major thing you will notice is the drag on them compared to a Sealine. The Sealine has stopped a lot of Kings over the years, but this drag in the Saltist is BETTER. The nice big handle is another noticeable improvement over the Sealine 47LC. If your looking for a premium reel this definitely deserves some consideration.

[Billy V]

I'll mirror what Yankee Troller said about the Saltist. I've used the Tekota in the past on other boats and always thought it was THE reel for this type of fishing. But the Saltist has really impressed me so far. We had enough of a test with them this past weekend that I'd feel comfortable saying that it's neck and neck with the Tekota and may prove to be even better with the higher gear ratio. We were able to bring lines in a lot faster than we ever could before, and that's going to prove valuable come tournament time.

Definitely worth a look-see!

As far as rod holders go, yes those are the new Cannon Dual-Axis rod holders and they are SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

[Yankee Troller]

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that all weekend long I had spoons flying out of the water at me. I would go to change a lure. Pop it from the rigger and start reeling. next thing I know a spoon is flying out of the water at me. That's how fast they are.

[GLF]

Great job Bill. Nice report!

[A-Fishy-Anado]

Did either of you guys pick up a 50 for cores or copper? I would be very interested to get your take on that program. Sounds like a nice set up so far though!

[Billy V]

YT did...I'm sure he'll chime in on them but I know that he loved them last year.

[Yankee Troller]

Yes, we ran them on our 10 color rigs last year and we put two more on the boat this year for 300 coppers. Makes clearing lines NICE. Drags are very nice also. We did many 20-28lb Kings on the 10 colors last season, and everyone who has handled that reel has commented on how nice it is.

[A-Fishy-Anado]

I love the tekotas, but a little faster retrieve could only help with the heavy metal!!

I am running Penn 330's for my heavy artillery , but i sure don't like the feel of them and what you pay for them.