Hotdog71

I know some guys love these and others hate them. I bought a bunch of these at Cabelas bargain cave. The tips and ideas you guys give so willing have helped me a ton. I have these listed on some other sites but I thought you guys deserve a little discount. So here's my deal for members of the GLF site: $3.75 per tip + shipping until 12-30-09 From then on, if there are any left, $4.50 per tip + shipping (shipping is approx. $1.40 of one and $1.60 for two) Shoot me a P.M. if your interested. Thanks for all the help over the last few years! Bob

Your Awesome Mike! It's a great idea for the holiday!

I use the Walleye boards with the rubberbands on the line(Keating). The only modification I made was to drill a small hole throught the top to attach a small(1.5in) glowstick. Works great!

Hi Guys, I made some progress since I posted for some help on fitting Big Jon rod holder on Bert's or Pursuit tracks. I called Big Jon and the told me it wasn't possible, and they didn't have anything. So, I stopped in Marine General in Duluth, MN back in July and asked them if this could be done. After some discussion, we found that you can take base made for a driftmaster holder and screw it right on to the rod holder. You do need some spacers but it is very solid. I have two different types of Big Jon holders I used these adapter plates on, the spring loaded one and the one you would bolt to the ball cradle base for downriggers. The spring loaded holder had a bolt that I took out and replaced with a large set screw. The other was a stud and I needed to find the right size spacers for it. By the way, the adapter pieces are secured into the track with a set screw but you need an allen you cant use the knobbed ones it comes with or ones like Bert uses. I don't remember how much the adapter plates were, sorry. I'll try and get some pictures if anyone is interested. Bob

Thanks for all the thoughts and suggestions. I had multiples of many of my spoons and the ones I put down to replace the old ones were getting whacked too. I had one DW green dolphin SS that took fish all year off my downrigger but no where else. It now has paint, about the size of a dime, only at the top of the spoon. When I lost the paint, the plug went dead. Also had a Stinger green dolphin only has 3 dimples with paint and the same thing happened. I thought if I repainted them it might bring back the magic. Mike, I might be interested in the Stinger repaint for a few can you send me some info on that? Thanks Guys, keep the ideas coming. Bob

Let me start by saying thanks to everyone that posts on this website. You all have great ideas and are always willing to give a tip or two to us less experienced fisherman. Well, today, I'm in a need of some of those suggestions. I have had a great catch this year, but I have lost a bunch of spoons to fish cleaning off my spoons. Anyone else have this issue? I'm not complaining about the fish , just the paint . A lot of my spoons had to be decommissioned. I have lost 60-99% of the paint off some of my favorite spoons this year. It doesn't seem to matter which brand either. Do any of the spoon companies repaint their spoons if you send them back to them? Does anyone paint or repaint their spoons and what works the best? Is it cost effective to repaint or just re-buy? Is there anything that can be done to save the paint by applying it before running the spoon? i.e. sealer, lacquer, glue... Any ideas, thoughts, suggestions? Thanks Bob

Thanks for all the responses guys.

Thanks I'll give him a call today Bob

With all the choices out there for the color of the dipsys you run, which is/are your favorite/most productive? I have just started using them and found a pretty good deal on the clear last year. Just curious of which colors are most popular. Thanks in advance for the input. Bob

Thanks Randy. I understand what you're saying. I saw something like it today. I stopped at Marine General, in Duluth today on the way home and they had an adapter for the driftmasters holders. As you said though, they weren't nearly thick enough and were not recessed, but they were threaded. Oh well, I might have to see if i can find someone to fab some for me. Thanks Bob

I don't have any track with me right now. It's in Mi, I'm in IL. I will look into it when I get back up there in a couple of weeks. Unless someone else can give us a measurement, perhaps? Thanks Sean, for the other option too. Bob

No issues here

I was wondering if anyone knows if there are adapter plates for the "Multi-Set Rod Holder for the Ball Cradle" that will allow them to fit in a Berts or Traxtech tracks. I have some track I would like to use them on. Does such a thing exist? Thanks. Bob Here's what I have: http://bigjon.com/store/list.asp?SubTypeID=3&ProductID=148

I finally made it out on the lake for a fishing trip. We got out of Grand Haven about 9 and fished till noon. Went 1 for 1, a nice 10# king. Caught it 60 ft down in 80 FOW on a Orange Chips Shanster. I had lots of issues with the new weights, two tangles- one on each side, almost one in the motor . Ended up swaping my outside balls with the inside pancakes. Ran fine after a few tweeks. Anyone else have this issue? Solutions? (Tried bending the fins) It was good to get back on the water. Was worried I wasted a trip when the winds of change blew the lake into a frenzy on Saturday. Oh well, had a good weather this morning. Bob

Thats how I understand it Jim.

Phil can you explain that one for me. I'm lost. How do they relate- aren't those times? Thanks Bob

Don, According to my manual, the 50 khz is for a wide cone of the water and the 200khz is for deeper water fishing narrow cone with better bottom resolution. The 50khz will give approximately 20 ft of coverage at 30fow while the 200khz will give 6ft of coverage. This is all determined by your cone angle. My 50 is a 40degree cone and my 200 is a 10 degree cone. Personally, I use mine at 50khz under 50fow and either the 200khz or use the dual feature in the deeper water. Hope that helps. Bob

I'm finally going to get the boat wet. I was wondering if anyone has been out of Grand Haven lately and might be able to throw me a bone. Would appreciate any info you could give me. Don't want to go out too far(<150ft) being the first trip of the year. Any thoughts or ideas? Thanks Bob

Hey Mike, I use AOL and I haven't had any problems getting the site. I'm using broadband but I don't know if that matters or not. Bob

Hey Guys, I had to have my subtroll worked on this year too. I bought mine used and figured there was a problem when I couldn't get a speed reading. I called last summer and talked to Duane and had a nice conversation with him. When I sent it in this year(Feb) I called about two weeks after they received it to find out the progress. I was told that many units were sent in from the southern boys and that they were getting first priority since they had open water and we were, at the time, still iced in. Again, when I talked to Duane, nice conversation. Who knows, maybe you caught him on a bad day. I had those every once in a while in customer service. Just wanted to say my peace. Bob

Thanks guys. Lots of great thoughts on this one. Too bad I wont be able to get out till last week of April. But who knows, maybe some things will still work.

You decide you are going fishing the last week in April or first week in May out of Grand Haven. Ice has been out for 2-3 weeks. You have had an onshore wind from SW for 3 days. Waves are 2-3ft. It is partly cloudy and 60 F. You are fishing the top 20ft of water. Surface temperature as you enter the lake is 38-40 F. You have 6 lines you can run off any presentation. Do you stay shallow or go deeper? What does your spread consist of?

Hey Jim, I'm right there with you on this one. I'm just curious though, which coin are you referring to? The presidential coins? The reason I ask is the one's my mom just showed me has the inscription along the edge.

If you are in need of some Big Jon gear this year, check out the site's new sponsor, lordoftheriggers. Tony has some really good deals on Big Jon equipment. I pick up some rod holders at a super price, like $15 less than others are listing for. He also has an Ebay store. Tony was very accommodating and easy to work with. Bob

Hi Frank, If you still have some of those swivels, I'll take 25 of the 50# and 25 of the 25#. Let me know how to square things with you. Thanks Bob