SUPERTRAMP

Try the GAmakaatsu 3/0 Octopus red with the straight shank. I tie flies on the 3/0 02313 model. But like the strait eye for spoons. The red works better than the chrome, goes for trebles too.

You might want to take a look at the Bass fishing Spinner Bait Skirts, the pulsation that you want is created by putting the tie toward the hooks and letting the skirt go back over itself. When the flasher swings or causes forward motion the skirt pusles like a squid. I think Nailer ties em right. I do however use longer leads with my 11" flashers. The rule of thumb I use is from the sternum tothe deck.

90 FOW St Joe Michigan

They all work! The depth you run them, speed and whether u run flies or meat can make a difference. The Spin Doctor is a little more forgiving at high speed than the big Pro Troll and DW 11" paddles but I run all of them at one time or another. I still run the old reliable Dodger in the Spring and early summer for Coho. Experiment with the set up and learn what works on your boat. A good selection of red 000 dodgers with coho candy flies in April for Coho is Killer. The white glow Pro Troll with flies or with a Spin n glo is good for Lakers in May and June. Just keep trying and like the rest of us you will soon have 50 or 60 that you never use and maybe 10 that work for you. Color, size, and what you run behind them all factor in. But I repeat they all work.

12# round ball with fin! Thats the ticket. I run them on all 4 riggers, and they never give me any problems. I bought 2 15# pancake weights and they can be troublesome in a high current situation, you also have to be very careful of the fin on the pancakes. If it gets bent wrong it can ruin your day.

This is the knot that works best with wire and it has never come loose on me.

If u use a cast net dont go get the biggest one u can find find the smallest and practice, Practice, Practice. Some good instructionals on the Spanish Fly website. Here is a great instructional link castnets.com/how- to- throw- a- castnet

Dave said it I love to use alewives cast net after dark or we have gone out perching and found big schools in shallow water,(under 20 FOW) and thrown the cast net with a lot of success. The sabiki rigs will also work on alewives. Biggest problem is they dont work well with some of the tooth pick bait holders.

I still use some of the stuff I used in 1975, But the new glow and UV stuff works too. Most important is find what works and get a lot of it down there. My friend Ken Neidlinger of Silver King charters will run every thing on the boat the same to get a spread that looks like a school of bait. Most important thing is find what works for you. Every boat fishes a little differently. Thats why I hate changing boats, Its a learning experience first season on a new platform.

I us the Convector CV55L for my 300 coppers, I have never found a line counter necessary on Cores or coppers u r running all of the line out to the backing and then attaching the board, which makes the Line counter unnecessary. I Have gone to the Cablelas Depth master II for all of my riggers, less than $40 bucks and they seem to hold up great, I currently have 15 of them. My dipsey rods are The Okuma CV 45LC they work great with wire and Power pro, they are really durable. .

I just spent 3 days with Captain Keith Kloet staying at my home, he runs Lie a lot charters out of Ludington, he was here to have simple knee surgery, but I learned a lot about meat rigs that might help all here. 1 if u run meat run all meat. He has a 33 ft 121/2 ft wide Chris Craft Commander and they run 13 to 15 rods and he puts meat on all of them after the morning bite lets up. He runs it on cores, coppers riggers and dipseys. I guess my plan will change next summer when the fishing slows. He says that the idea is to get the whole water column behind your boat stunk up with the Herring smell and it triggers them. Check out some of his catches at lie a lot charters.com

Hello Bill and welcome to the site hope to see a lot of your posts in the future. The guys here will really come thru for you if u just ask.

The Convector CV55 is a great reel for copper and long lead core setups, I use Penn line counters and have found the Cabelas line counters very effective for short cores and downriggers. The Tekotas are out of my price range.

The Shakespeare Uglyl Stick BWD 1100 86 is the one I use it is an 8'6" downrigger rod the BWD 1100 series come in 8'6" 9' and 10' models. I use the 10 footers for my dipseys and the 8' 6" for all the other stuff, coppers i use eagle claw 8' casting rods because the knots go thru the eyes really well. The yellow looks like heck but works like a dream.

Try LIE A LOT CHARTERS IN LUDINGTON for an august trip. If you are looking for early season try Silver King Charters in St Joseph. Ken has been fishing that port since 1967 as a charter captain and he will give you a great trip. You can Google Ken Neidlinger and see some of the instructional videos he has put out.

I am with terry on the Dive Bombs, just 1 more thing to mess with when u are trying to get a fish into the boat, after i take the board off I really hate to have anyone touch the line befor we net the fish.

Now thats whackin and stackin. WTG Terry gonna be pullin the MC2 later this week.

Been doin it for years, Walker used to make a stacker release that slid on the cable u had to crimp a stop about 10 ft up the cable and u had a stacker. Now I use the Big Jon stacker clips. Big advantage is u can space anywhere u want on the stacker. I usually run about 10 to 20 ft above the ball depending on how deep I am fishing. I like it better than using sliders, but there are days when sliders catch a lot of fish.

Go get em Kevin. By the way how is the boat working out?

Never said I release em just said a lot of the guys have a prejudice against them, I smoke them the can the smoked fish for winter use. Makes a great cream cheese dip at the holidays and I like to just eat it grilled with a topping of Kraft ceasar dressing YUM.

Take a look at the Satellite link and u will see why the fishing is slow. The water is turbid all the way up past point Sable. From Pentwater South it is really bad. Down in St Joe u would have to get to mid lake to find clean water.

40# Power Pro is a really good place to start with braid, but no less than 30#. I prefer Power Pro to other brands it is more supple and comes in the dark green color. I also second the going with 2 +2 +2. The boards give u a lot of flexibility. It is usually only at the end of the season that the riggers and dipseys really shine. In the spring up until June or when the cotton wood flies the boards really outshine all other presentations. I have a bigger boat but we always run 6 boards 2 to 4 dipsey and 2 to 4 riggers depending on the dipsey bite.

Check out the St Joe Web Cam at 3:30 it was really gettin it earlier today we were seeing breakers in the channel by the CG station.

Gotta agree with Matt I use my mono rigs when the fish are in shallow water and start using the wire when we get out over 75 FOW. Just be sure u are consistant with your presentations when you have success.