Line Dancin

you could add 2 copper 300's to get to 80 ft. I typically run two 300's all the time when deeper than 80 ft. they are two of my most productive rods. Tou would need bigger reels for them the okuma 55 convectors work really well or the shimano tekota 800 work great. or you could go with two wire setups to get your divers deeper. Now a problem i have heard from a lot of reputable charter captains, Jerry lee on Sea Screw one of them, out of ludington will not run wire divers as they shut down his downriggers he was telling me. He typically runs mono or braid divers. and when knowones else riggers are producing his are. Kind of a tough decision.

do you have any lead core setups now? do you run divers at all now and if so what are you running them with mono braid ....?

Copper is used like lead core. it is a weighted line to get your lure to depth. Most guys use 45 lb test as it is thicker and gets deeper than the 35 lb test. This is a soft wire and you can use any rod with it. you do have to use a larger reel than lead core to achieve the same depth but half the line. 75 ft runs about 20 ft deep 150' is equivelant to a full core reaching about 40 ft and 300 ft reaches about 80 ft you cannot run a diver on copper as it is too soft. Wire you need a twilli tip or a roller rod. Torpedo diver is marketing a roller guide made very similar to the aftcos (maybe even made by afco for them i sure cant see much of a difference) used on the expensive shimano rods. I tested a couple this year and am very pleased with them and am putting two more on my other two wire rods. they about 20 bucks and better then a twilli tip. Wire is a very thin diameter and cuts the water better than mono or braid achieveing greater depth. also when running extremly long lines on divers the wire is easier to release the diver. Some claim that wire gives off a harmonic sound drawing fish to it. all that i know is sometime wire is on fire and other days it doesn't do that great. Wire used is typically 30 lb test.

Finally got a call from the insurance and they are going to waive the depreciation. so they are paying for the whole repair less the deductable of 500. talked to johnsons up in ludington and they should be done pulling boats and winterizing in the next week and they are going to get started media blasting my boat. He was saying that they already have it in the boot taped and plastic covered. Thank God i have good insurance and not any cut rate crap. I would have never thought to call the insurance since it happened just over a year ago. Thanks to those that suggested it.

Josey did you tie the bait hold knot? If so you can leave the end that you pass through the eye toward the bend in the hook longer to create a longer tag end ad toothpick the corky on the tag end to make the fly type f presentation

I am going to argue this just a little bit. i am not saying your way is wrong or trying to say you dont know what your doing. If you are using just yarn i would agree with you. But typically this rig is used in a presentaion with either skein spawn or spawn bags. the yarn really is there only to act as a way to get a hook set if you either get to much slack in the line or are fishing really fast water to tangle in the fishes mouth this gives an extra second or two to see the line stop lift up and set the hook. the actual atractor here is the spawn and the corky. the spawn puts the scent in the water and the corky give an added visual appearance to the spawn. Now if just fishing yarn balls again i completely agee with you. Then i like to have a bigger ball to be seen by the fish. also lower and clearer water i tend to try to hide my hook more with the yarn.

From talking with the biologist it "sounds like it is going to be juat lake erie" that is going to have these special regulations. But we all know how the state works. Nice thing is i get an ohio license and go into ohio water to fish and i can take their limit. He was also saying that if we are forced to reduce by one, canada and ohio have to also, which would still allow me 5 fish if i fish ohio waters and they reduce the creel to 4 fish for michigan. The problem with canada is the commercial netting, this does not in any way have aything to do with the netting going on in canada. As of now i am boycotting any fish that comes from the canadian industries. I may have to bring my boat up to linwood this year instead of lake erie. depending on what they do with the creel limits.

Over the weekend i heard a rumor of new limits on lake erie for michigan waters. Possibly as low as two fish per person per day. So i called and talked to a fisheries Biologist in lansing today. What i was told is michigan is going to a new quota system like ohio and canada and joining a council to protect the declining walleye population. The way it works is based on the amount of real estate involved with a table the council as come up with. Of course michigan has so little water in our area we are at the bottom of the numbers. So this equates to the limit being changd by all three involved in the council every year. Ohio will typically be able to take more fish due to owning more of lake erie. It is based on numbers caught the previos year and this table that will set the limit for the next season. He also said with the decline in walleye popultion that the 5 fish per day will be decreased just not sure what it will be till the numbers come in. I was told to watch for news briefs before season opens as the fish regulations are prited in feburary, and the numbers dont come in till the end of march and limits set the beginning in early april. My question then was how much of a reduction in the creel limit and was told he wasn't sure till the numbers come in, it could be 5 but probably 4 and no less than 2. the minimum creel will be two fish per day per person. I askd about stocking and he said that lake erie is an all reprodution fishery and no plans on doing any stocking. That the fishery runs in cycles and it could turn around agian hopefully in the next few years but we will see reduced creel limits till it does turn around.

I like the t shirt idea. There was a ladt at the GR Fishing Show last year that had decent prices and they were all on hanes t shirts. I have know idea who is was though. You could call Adam at show span and he would know who it was. I also like the hat idea.

Nice job but i would use about half the amount of yarn the length is good though

Good luck fishing. I am headed north to sit in my tree stand for the next four days. If you have any more qustions i can get back to you monday as the cabin doesn't have internet access.

here are some pics i quick tied up to help explain what i was talking about. this one is what is called a corky fly it can be used with a small spawn bag When you tie the bait loop leave a tag ned abit 2 onches long off the back of the hook and tooth pick your corky to it. then cut off the tooth pick and the tag end close to the corky this one is corky fly on top, spin n glo rig then a standard corky rig corky is left floating not toothpicked another image of above wobble glo. i am out of the small ones so i grabbed one i use for lakers on the big pond. if i was to rig one for the river it would be size 10 or 12. with a single hook The hooks i like to use is a mustad 37160 in a 14 or 16. they are actually a fly hook with a good tinsle strength and an upbent eye for tying the bait loop knot. THey have a nice wide gap and wrap right around the fishes jaw and they usually dont throw them. I used to use eagle claw 42r wide bends but have straightened a few out so i switched to the mustads. I also like to use spin n glos with the white wings in clear water, and the lazer reflective type wings in dirty water. You can kind of see through the lid of the box all the corkies and spin n glos in the last pic.

i didnt quite explain that right in my first post. I use one or the other not in succession. Typically i use a spin n glo more then any thing in the river if fish are not hitting on spawn. wobble glos or "peanuts" i typically like to use more for trolling for lake trout behind cow bells. The way i rig spin n glows is use the bait hold loop knot, it is a goosd snell for river fishing. then a small bead and lastly a spin n glow the bead acts as a bearing so the spin n glo doesn't get stuck on the knot or the hook eye. Also with the spin n glow you can use the egg yarn as mentioned before. It really gives that extra second or two to really tell if a fish is there and get a good hook set. Now if you want to use a peanut instead use the same rig just replace the spin n glo with a peanut. Usually i use a number 10 or 12 spin n glo in the rivers. To properly use a spin n glo you need to be able to put it right in the fishes face to tick it off to strike. this isnt a hunger strike at all but an aggrevation attack. One thing you can do to place it is use a Pink Lady or Hot Shot board. They are a small inline planer for use in the rivers. This way you can get it out in front of the hole and start letting it work through the tail of the hole and cover the whole area without using a boat if you don't have one. Offshore came out with a new inline planer for river fishing that i haven't tried yet and church also has one out now. The thing i dont like about the church opposes to the other two is they are a port or starboard board where the pink lady and the offshore are reversible. the other way is to use a slow drift though the hole. casting towards the head of the hole once the spin n glo starts moving down stream of your weight it will start to work.

on the wobble glows, there are three products that work great from yakima, worden in the rivers. typically i use corkies most. then small spin n glos and lastly wobble glos. with the spin n glos and wobble glows you dont have to use spawn as they are an agravater bait or lure like using a mepps spinner. you can tip it with a small spawn bag just make sure you add enough beads so the spawn bag and knot dont interfere with the action of either.

I agree with everything said so far. but i do use a number 12 or 14 corky toothpicked in front of the spawn, not a floating spawn bag. clown is my favorite color in a #12. The corky will add your float to the spawn bag. i use a bait hold knot, under the loop that the bait hold knot forms i take a piece of contrasting egg yarn about 3/4 inch long split in half length wise and you have what is called a corky fly. these are used a lot out west. What happens for a river fisherman is two things it gives a double presentation of a fly and also a spawn sack, the yarn when the fish does take it tangles in it teeth and gives you a better chance of setting the hook and feeling the strike, espically for a newer river fisherman. link to knot: http://www.sandysteelheaders.org/eggloop.html We used to teach this when i was field testing for worden lures and yakima and helin at all the fishing shows here in michigan. Now a warning about this fly. The michigan DNR does not class a corky fly as a traditional fly so do not use this in a flies only stretch of water. Also another way is to use a three way swivel with a dropper line about 3- 6 inches in length that you crimp just enough split onto to get it to depth. One eyelet you'll have your main line. on another 12- 36 inches leader and on the third your dropper line.

Its a depressing day when the boat comes out of the water for the season. It means winter is actually coming. Thanks for the reports.

if it is just a saftey type of job cause it is supposed to get real cold for few days you can leave it in. if it is for lay up then you would want to open the petcoks after running it through just to make sure. By the way when we are saying anti freeze we are talking about non glycol, for example rv antifreeze so as to not harm the environment when you do start the engine in a lake.

West marine has a kit for winterizing that i use to get some coolant through the block in the early spring. It is a container with a hose set up to screw into a set of muffs. now depending on what model volvo outdrive you have is the type of muffs you need usually the recgangular ones. I dump 2 gallons of coolant into it sratr the flow down to the outdrive(set it on the back of the boat or swim platform start it up and have somone watch as soon as it runs out shut it down. ususally 2 to 3 gallons is enough just watch for the water to turn to coolant coming out of your exhaust ports. Then you dont take a chance that way. it is quick costs a couple bucks but you also dont have to worry about a lightbulb going out. then when you want to use it you can and be able to put it away esy enough during cold weather times. In the winter for lay up i have mine done professionally to store through the winter including oil change outdrive lube etc etc.

Well i got the word from the insurance company today. They are paying to fix the bottom including barrier coat and paint. All i have to pay basically is the 500 deductable and they did a depreciation on the damage cause it wasn't found in 12 months form the actual first claim. But she is going to talk to her boss on monday (he is on vacation this week and the only one that can authorize that over ride) and explain the situation and see if they can waive that and send me out a check for the depreciation value.

that sucks hope you get it taken care of. frank i agree than god i wasn't running real hard when it happened or someone could have been hurt. Adam about painting i was planning on doing it some time. It was done before. At least they way it will be done they are going to put two coats of barrier coat epoxy. then three coats of bottom paint. And they have the facilities to make working on it esay compareed to me tring to do it in the drive way. Also it will be done right and i wont have to worry about it

i thought about it but i want to see where the insurance company ends up and see how they are willing to fix it

Now it is the hands of the insurance company. WE'll see what they decide. Todd sent them a quote and now they are going to send out an adjuster to take a look and get some pics. So now it is a waiting game till State Farm makes a decision. I hope i chose a good company to deal with. guess i will find out shortly.

Thats what Todd told me to do so i spent my lunch on the phone trying to get them involved with it.

Well after being laid off all summer and not fishing much due to funds being low after paying the bills, I took the boat up to ludington to get it winterized. Earlier in the spring i noticed a chip in the gel coat on the starboard side halfway down to the keel right next to one of my bunks on the trailer. I talked to the shop about it at that time and was told that it shouldn't be a problem with it being just a chip. Now last year my last trip out i hit something coming in in the dark and at that time we thought i just got the outdrive, spun hub in the prop was all. Back to current time. The mechanic jacked the boat up yesterday to fix my nickle sized chip and found a 6 inch impact ring. Guess what i did hit that thing last year with the hull. They also found a couple blisters and a couple other stress cracks in the gel coat. So i got the phone call about it late yesterday. To fix it properly they are saying they need to media blast the bottom, open up the blisters that are there, fill ,and epoxy barrier coat the bottom, and then bottom paint. 2 grand was the estimate:(. Now i have to try and find that money to get it done. and i have only been back to work for 3 weeks on a part time basis. Of all th things that could happen this has to hapen now of all time. Not when i was working overtime and had the extra funds to fix it. I know th shop does great work as my family has use dthem for a long time. I guess the boat is staying in ludington this winter to get it fixed so i can have it for spring. there goes my lure and reel budget for the next couple years. Good thing is is that it isn't structural damage.

that laker was just chok full of eggs when i cut into her.