Line Dancin

For temp mounting to your bimini. what i did was went to lowes and they sell the metal coduit clamps to hold the electrical conduit to the wall. Bolt your light to the clamp through the wall mount hole and replace the nut with a wing nut on the clamp side and you can remove them when ever you want. I wired in a switch and at tractor supply they sell a two wire plug like for trailer lights for 2 bucks. i put that in the wiring so i could remove the lights when ever i wanted to. AS for getting hot leds wont get hot. I used to use them every day when in the trucking industry. My lights that i got from harbor freight dont get hot either though i tested that before i installed them. at that time the leds were over a hundred a piece. To get decent led floods or spots i know we were getting like 75 a piece at the dealership. You can buy the cheaper ones but you will get what you pay for when it comes to led lights. dont buy the cheapest thing out there. this is the clamp:

I mounted yellow fog lights on my bimini. Got them from harbor freight for 10 bucks on sale. If you watch they run them on sale every couple weeks. I know their not led but for the short time i use them for set up they dont kill the batteries. For my board i buy light sticks in bulk and their like 35 cents each to see my boards in the dark so i can kill the light as soon as lines are set. I am mounting two more on the underside of my downrigger board for netting.

First i hate diawas new reels. i dont think they are like built like the old sealine great lakes reels. They seem cheaper made to me using them on a friends boat. Second i dont like any reel that uses bushings like the cheaper diawas. I would rather have bearings that i can replace if and when they fail. typically a bushing reel is a throw away reel. When the bushing wear and the rell gets sloppy tou pitch it. Would they hold up to a dipsy maybe a few years but you will be replacing them. If you are looking at the magda 45s they are also a cheaper made reel altough they do use bearings in them. if you go to the convector you are getting a pretty good reel in the 30 series and walmart has them on their site ship to store no shipping for 66 bucks a piece. They have 13 available right now i just checked. This is the best price i have seen on these including at the shows this year. These will last better then the diawas for you.

I'll agree with jim on this one. I personally hated the trolling plate on windy or choppy days. My dad thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. I do agree with bags helping to reduce roll on the boat also. They also help with fighting the steering wheel on rougher days. Try it though it may work just fine for you. I know a couple guys that love em and dont like messing with bags.

I just noticed you are going with your gf. The good thing about that is two grab bags. When i went, my dad and brother both went. every bag was a little different as far as what it contained.

If you have never gone through it, it is worth going through it once. They have some different ideas that work well. The goody bag is worth the price of admission. It usually has about 40 to 50 bucks worth of gear in it, and it is all good usuable stuff. One of my best large flashers last year was in that goody bag. Another seminar that is worth going to is Jerry Lee's seminars on salmon fishing.

Sounds good. if i am still layed off i'd have time to show you around, how to get to the show and where to park. If you want i can pm you my cell number

Thank God mine was covered by insurance. see this thread for the whole story: http://www.greatlakesfisherman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19759 I only had to pay the deductable.

Bowkers does very nice work but he was also the highest quote i got. I had mine done at Johnsons supreme in ludington. Usually after the last trip of the year i leave it in ludington and have it winterized. then pick it up during bow season when i go back up to hunt. This year its still there i pick it up in about 6 weeks. There was another place in town that vans sport center recommended but i can't remember the name now. Guy was pretty much a jerk and that made my mine up not to use them.

One of my favorite ways for browns is actually not in a boat. Up on platte bay frankfort surf casting with steelhead skein you can limit every morning just after ice out, and pick up lurking steelies. Also casting off the peir in frankfort with cleos or thunderstick jrs. Matt ludington there is a trick to catching browns. and it isn't in a boat. Now i haven't fished that spot in about 4 years but for 15 yrs plus i took fish there. Go to the city municipal just after ice out. stand on the rocks and cast towards the badger. Again right after ice out. Lil cleos in gold and orange work best. I have taken my fair share of fish right there. You'll also hook up with a steelhead or two through the spring fishing right there. Another spot i hooked a lot of brown is in pentwater on the pier. If you are going to the state park there is a little city park right along the pier on the right. park there and there is a grey house(mansion) stand in the middle of that house casting lil cleos gold and orange and you'll get fish there. i have fished up and down from there but have my best ratio right in the middle of that hous.

I dont know where i put the invoice but they unloaded and loaded back to the trailer. Media blasted all the old paint off. Repaired an impact ring of 8 inches from a hit over a year. opened up two big blisters and repaired them. filled all the spots they opened up. acid washed it a couple different times. put on 4 coats of epoxy coat and four coats of vc 17. I dont really think that was to bad for all they did. Most of the cost was paint epoxy coat acid wash and all the thinners and everything else they used. I think actual labor was like 700 bucks including unloading and reloading to the tralier. I called a couple other places for quotes and it was closer to 4500 to have everything done.

Bass pro has the glow bottoms on clearance at the rossford ohio store and they will ship from that store. I think they were like 3 bucks each when i was there a couple weeks ago.

Thats what was used on my boat when they redid it this winter. It had to have epoxy coat then the bottom paint. THe VC 17 is better for towing and last longer according to the shop that did my work. Can't wait 6 weeks till i get up there and see how it came out. total job was 3300.00 to have it done. I will post pics.

Nope. i find i have to relearn my dive curvs better as i have had the walkers banging the bottom where the dipsies wouldn't. I also have a few of the old ones that i wont get rid of.Mainly keeping them as backups. I like your idea josh on the larger diameter and smaller weight.

not gonna make that one but i am going to the flint steelheaders show in birch run.

Luhr Jensen sold out a few years ago. THe new company decided to cheapen the dipsies by going from a metal nut to threaded plastic. THe plastic strips out easier the the metal nut did. I switched to walkers because of this and will not buy another dipsy.

Ive been doing the squid deal with glow squids as they glow longer but i like the cotton idea for scent.

Jim provided some very good info. but call these guys: http://westmichiganpropeller.net/index.htm Tell them what kind of boat, engine and locate the part number stamped into the prop and they can tell you exactly what to use to achieve your means. This is also the best place to shop for props.

Uni to uni also but with tying two super lines i would use a dab of fishermans glue.

Name: Aaron Holoway Age: 38 Residence Location: Jenison Area(s) Most Often Fished: holland, monroe, benton harbor, ludington Years of Experience: 30 Boat Size and Info: 22 bayliner sierra sunbridge Boat Name: Line Dancin I have grown up around the salmon industry. I started custom building rods at 11 for angler tackle in port huron. I worked the shows for angler tackle. michigan fisherman magazine and the detroit area steelheaders starting at age 6 with my dad. At 16 i was asked by Herter Shuller and Spy to start field testing for Penn Yakima Helin Worden and Silstar(penn product). I love rooster tails for browns in the spring still. Most of the field testing was on river fishing equipment for trout and steelhead, including fly equipment. While working for them till 23 when i moved to east jordan. we did a trip a year to washington state to tour plants and fish(and get free equipment). Wish i would have never moved north and got out of that gig. Shortly after i moved Mr Herter was diagnosed with a inoperable spine tumor and passed a couple years after moving north. The company changed direction without Jim there and i lost contact with the other guys there. I worked under Karen eppinger at Eppinger tackle in dearborn while in high school and under Chuck Cartwright at eppinger tackle before he created Wolverine tackle. As a teen i worked on a few different boats in the ludington area during the summers. I for years did all the tournaments with my dad around the state. Now i am just an everyday fisherman out for the fun of it. I got tired of fishing being a job and got away from fishing all together for a couple years. i just needed a break. Now it is just for the fun. I still dont do much river fishing anymore. I always had an interest in diving as our steelheaders booth was always next to a dive shop at the shows. When i was old enough to do it without my parents say i was registered in dive classes and have never looked back. Now my two and a half year old walks around the house with an old regulator saying he is diving to catch fish.

Yep had the last year when the tornado took out cabelas.

One thing a lot of people forget in the gear to check is the fire extinguisher. Usually i start it at home first before proceeding to the launch and let it run and look everything on the engine making sure no fuel or water is leaking from anywhere. I didn't do it one year and ran into some problems after getting out of the harbor a ways. Hose clamp came loose on my exhaust risers. I noticed that the bilge pumps started kicking on every few minutes and when i lifted the hatch found the house spewing water into the engine compartment. I will NEVER skip that step again. although being an outboard not quite so much of a problem for flooding the boat. Also put some water in your bilge and make sure your pumps are working good and not squealing. Its good to pull them out of the bracket and make sure no fishing line is in the impellors of your bilge pumps.

Do you usually launch all the time or put your boat in a marina? Brest bay is redoing a lot of their docks i heard and a month slip is 250. I am keeping mine there in a slip for june again. its really nice to avoid the lines at the launches in the morning. and the boat is ready to go when i get up in the morning.

thanks mike.

If they are going to ban hunting than they shouldn't be allowed to ride horse or bikes either in these areas as they are more damaging than hunting. I put that into my letter also.