A-Fishy-Anado

I talked to John W at Big Jon and they do stock all of their rod holders with a track plate that will fit trax-tech and berts track. Just give John a call and tell him what you need (231) 275-1010

HOT fishing sure is fun Frank. Unfortunately I haven't seen it the last couple times out. Way to go!!

Josh I can't tell you much about Ford river as i have never fished there. Fairport is a different story as i pretty much feel like a local, because i am there so often in july-september. I have found more luck on spoons down there than flies. The flies that have worked for us down there are the rapture green glow hypnotist, Rapture hypnotist, rapture last supper and rapture blue bubble. My top two spoons are a tough call down there being that it is such a great spoon bite, but since i have to pick two i am going to go with the Stinger stingray size Natural born Killer.....hell I can't keep it to just two.....sat here for 5 min trying to figure it out...here goes stinger killer tangerine, stinger tangerine super glow, stinger killer dolphin, stinger craigs x-mas, stinger nitro hell fire and stinger nitro twister. Best of luck and keep us updated!!

I'll be looking forward to days like this one once they move to the north end of the lake....that is if you and dirty dog didn't catch them all. That is one hell of a day on the water....nice work Jay!!

Welcome aboard capt Dave. We will be looking forward to your reports:grin:

Welcome aboard Josh, and again congrats on winning the contest:grin: You will find this is by far the most informative site out there...you ask and you shall receive!!!

I want to fish ontario:mad: Nice fish guys!!!!

Nice work Frank! Have you ever had the chance to hit Lake Erie near peele island for any eyes? That place will kick your A$$.....my memories of that trip were riggin boards and riggin harnesses ALL DAY LONG!!! No exaggeration when i say we never went 5 minutes without a fish on

Here is our winning entry into the Big Jon Sports "roughest rigger" contest! Congratulations to Josh Carlson of Houghton MI on your new pair of Big Jon riggers. A Big thank you from Big Jon Sports to all who took the time to enter the contest!! Here is our winning entry history and photos: (Bought the Rig, Financed the Ring) My Rig History My Rig is a 16 foot Lund with a 25 horse Johnson. I grew up in Escanaba and was raised a walleye fisherman on Little Bay De Noc by my father. After high school, I moved to Michigan Tech and began fishing Lake Superior frequently, mostly shore casting and river fishing for salmon/steelhead because I didn’t have the money to buy a boat. After I graduated, I decided to stay at Tech for grad school and immediately started saving up some money to buy my soon-to-be wife an engagement ring. After quite sometime I had scraped up $2,000 and was planning to buy a ring in Marquette that next weekend. As luck would have it, I was taking a friend to get his car fixed up in Calumet when all the sudden we passed this red Lund with a for sale sign parked along side of an old garage. Immediately I hit the brakes and got out to take a look. There was no price on the boat, but the rig looked to be well out of hand with my current financial status as a student. Just for kicks I phoned the number on the sign. I was expecting the old man who picked up to say he wanted something in the range of $3,500, so I was completely shocked when he replied $2,000. It almost seemed like a sign from God or something. Knowing my wife to be would probably kill me if she found out I spent the ring money on a boat, I toyed with the idea for a long time. Five minutes later I bought it. Later that week on my way through Marquette I financed the ring and paid it off throughout the coarse of the next year. Rigger History I wiped out my saving to buy the boat and was paying off a ring, so new riggers were definitely out of the picture. I remember seeing some pictures in a photo album of salmon my dad and his buddy caught well before I was born in 1982. As long as I’d been old enough to hold a fishing pole I could only remember my dad as a walleye fisherman, but little did I know he actually fished salmon back in the 1980s. I asked him if I could have his down riggers since he hadn’t used them in 20 years. After having little luck getting him to pull them out of the attic, I did the next logical thing. I ask my mother. Within a few hours not only did he have them out of the attic, he also had them mounted on the boat and ready to go. They were manual cannons with maybe 24†booms. One of them has a broken handle, so I use a wrench to crank it up. That is a real pain in the butt when I have to bring up the ball from 80 feet down a half a crank at a time. The other rigger has a handle, but I’d hit two unmarked nets the first year I fished, so instead of respooling new cable for a third time I just tied the ball off to the broken end and have been using it that way ever since. Fishing History I started salmon fishing back in the fall of 2005 and have been hooked on it ever since. I’ve attached a few pictures to the end with some of the catches we’ve had while out in my boat. All of these salmon were taken from Keweenaw Bay, near Baraga. I try to fish at least twice a week, and usually more around a new moon phase. I’d say right now, my catch rate as a whole is about 5 fish a trip, but many times it is hard to reset lines fast when the fish are biting well, due to the fact that it takes me along time to crank up my down rigger with a wrench. Thanks for considering my rig, I could REALLY use some better riggers! Josh

Looks like a fish catching machine to me!!!

Congratulations to Michigan Stinger Pro Staffer Russell Gahagan and the crew of Team thompson for their win in sheboygan!! Russell and his team put together 2 solid days in a tough bite and ran away with the cup uncontested. We blew our big motor on friday prefishing and toughed it out with the little kicker motor for the weekend and ended up in the prizes for the 333 which we couldn't complain about with a boat that had a top speed of 5 mph:( Also pulled off the 1st and 4th raffle prize which totaled $2500 in tackle and gear from Michigan Stinger, Protroll, Silver Horde and Church Tackle....should have played the lottery that day as well!!

Best of luck Mike! Fortunately for me my child will come near the closing of the season:grin:

We have decided to extend the date until the 15th as we are heading for the Tournament trail in Sheboygan WI this weekend. Best of luck to all!!

Flyman It was more towards the old coast guard station at sand point. Did your wife grow up in munising?

Jason This is another reason that reinforces the fact that my new autopilot is priceless!! It probably would have been a little tough without it:grin:

Finally got a calm day and an opening to get the 6 month pregnant lady out:grin: She has been dying to get out but normally has to take dramamine even on a semi-rough day and that is a no-no while pregnant, anyway we had about an hour and a half window and had time for one pass. Set the lady up with her fighting belt in hopes for a fish for her and wasn't 30 seconds after we outfitted her the 5 color down the chute started pulling and she WANTED IT...she still has the touch with the big belly in the way:grin: The king came on a bomber long A clean off the leader. As soon as she unbuttoned the fish and i got i pic of her and her catch the wire diver starts rippin so being the gentleman that i am i offered it up to her as i loosened the drag but she was a little wore out from the core. Landed that one on the wire diver running the new stinger size nitro shockwave (this has been a good one on superior so far). Not a bad night for 1 hour on the water in the "Dead Sea"

Everything has come in by e mail so far. I will post them when i get a chance, but i am scrambling to get ready for the tournament trail in sheboygan WI this weekend and am probably going to extend the date for eligibility to the 15th when i get back....they have been pouring in the last few days though. Keep em coming guys....some one gets a free pair of BIG JONS and saves 600 big ones!!

I have 2 of the same rod holders that i used in a Big Jon track system. Can you tell me what the inside dimension and thickness of the plate for the burts/traxtech system is? They look to be similar. If they are not similar dimensions the guys at Big Jon could easily fab a plate to that size.

Does lake Ontario ever get waves on it???

George Did you mount your compass on your dash? I mounted mine as low as possible to limit the range of movement in rough water. I have 4 live wells on the boat and sacrificed one for an x-tra battery bank and the compass which put it at about the water level. The more that compass moves....the harder the ap is going to work! I just assumed, when installing, that if you are fishing in the troft and the boat is really rocking, your ap is REALLY going to get some O.T. the higher it is mounted.

Sorry Jim They should be currently in use. Nothing really rough yet so it is anybody game at this point.

Just to clarify I have had a couple of guys ask if you needed to have Big Jons to be eligible and the answer is NO. The guys at Big Jon say it doesn't matter if it is a walker, cannon, vector, scotty etc....if they are the "roughest riggers" they will be replaced with a brand new pair of Big Jons. Lets keep them coming guys!!

Support from the guys at Big Jon is unparalleled! To have a product as solid as Big Jon and then to provide service and support as solid as their product is something that is not found in many companies these days! Keep the pics of those "rough riggers coming guys"

I don't mind at all Mike! Get em coming boys...this is one hell of an opportunity the guys at Big Jon are giving everyone here!!!

I have 2 "new in the box" Big Jon captains pack(Model number MD00500) one hand crank downriggers with swivel bases, that I am giving away on behalf of Big Jon Sports as part of a promotional contest. Please send photos of your rig along with a little history on your rig and fishing experiences to [email protected] and we will judge the most worn out, old, beat up "Roughest riggers" and present the winner with a pair of the "Toughest riggers" on the earth! With the economic times we currently are in please consider Big Jon sports, when purchasing, as they are the only riggers still built 100% in the USA. Please submit your photos by 6/12/09 for eligibility.