Hoosier_Steelheader

:lol:Jim you might have picked up sombody's pet kings....

Sweet... I cant wait to hit the water..

A second boat not entered in the tourney, an invisible helper. According to my buddy there were other boats in the vicinity fishing before the start of the tournament, and they met up somewhere deep to exchange their fish. I didn't see this happen personally, but i have heard this from more than one guy.

I have a question for you guys. I am not a big tournament fisherman, I usually get in a couple a year just for fun. But the last couple of years, I have noticed that even the low prize tournaments have had some questionable calls ethics-wise. For example last May (tournament name withheld) a buddy of mine was on another boat in this tourney we were fishing. Low prize, more for bragging rights type of thing. they placed 2nd, and we were tied at 8th. A month later we were out on my boat and he says, you could have placed up with us if you had a "ghost boat"... So I fish for fun, but this just erked me. If these small "fishing club" tourneys have this going on where's the sport in that? I have also fished the Coho Classic, and a couple of other Pro-am tourneys where 'spotters' were required which seemed to level out the playing field, but hearing this type of stuff can take the fun out of tourney's, at least for me. My question is, was this an isloated incident, or have you guys heard similar stories?

Mike is right, A GPS is a necessity. It will keep you on the fish once you find them, and help with your speed. Then if a fog or darkness sets in you can navigate back to port by your GPS. Word of caution about navigating on GPS in fog or darkness; slow down. (Seems like every year there are more and more reports of boaters hitting piers at speed because they set a waypoint inside the pier heads.)

I had an epirb on my big boat when I had it, but I often neglected to check it's batteries. (example of how not to do it..) Fortunately we never had to use it!

I am hoping to be out April 2nd, but haven't decided on Michigan City, or St. Joe yet..

Good Job! Catching fish takes the chill out of the air though....

I have a 88 Crestliner G/L 24.5 with a 4.3 V6 Mercruiser and we can troll down to 1.9mph (your speed will depend on the boats engine) I usually run 9 rods, but have room and holders for 3-4 more, but I usually stay pretty busy with 9. This is my first aluminum big water boat and I have liked it so far. Mine has plenty of room to get up & move around, or to play and land fish. Hope that helps. JC

I use Green Glow, and Black and green glow, and pink and green glow squids with decent success. Just restocked on the pink &green glow bodies a couple weeks ago.

I bet those Squirrells dont taste good even with gravy... Looks like you had a good time..

Best to Live to fish another day....

Welcome Aboard!

Nice Indeed!

That looks good. And you will like the starboard plate, no more holes in the transom! Can't wait to see the final pics. JC

The Starboard was 1/2" thick you can get it up to 1" thick if you need it. (If you need a source for starboard shoot me a PM and I'll give you their info.) They can tell you the whole range of sizes they carry. I used 12 X 1/2" stainless screws to mount the transducers. The thickness of the transducers kept the points from penetrating the starboard all the way thru. The pitot was the thinnest, and only the points pierce thru just enough to notice they were there. (Hint drill your pilot hole for the screws just smaller than the minor diameter of your screw, it makes for a tighter fit and a better hold. add a drop of lock-tite to the hole before running the screw in.) JC

Way to go Jay...

Now that's what I'm Talking about right there..... Way to Go !

Alright Kevin..

Same here Mike, myhome account has a static address so my desktop and my laptop shoul be within one number. but when I travel I may login from a number of locations, or even on my phone. Be assured I will not divulge or share my login but my IP changes depending on where I am. JC

Thanks, actually I used the two top holes which were already there, and 3 of the five hole holes along the bottom were there, so I only needed to make two additional holes, then I covered the entire board with Marine grade silicone and tightened her down (you can see a couple of silicone stringers hanging in the pic.) cleaned her up and mounted the transducers, and speed impeller, and pitot tube.

Very Nice! To be sure! Thanks for sharing!

Hi Todd, Yes I do. I usually begin fishing in Michigan City, then move on around to St. Joe in late spring / summer. We will drop in at New Buffalo and head north when the water warms up. (and when the perch start up..) JC

Ok so I know it's not a new thing, but this being my first aluminum big water boat, I hate the thought of drilling into the transome. So I had a couple of new additions in my electronics this year, a New Humminbird 586c fishfinder, and a used Fish hawk 840. Which meant a transducer swap out, and three new holes in my transome. So I remember when my buddy got his new Lund, and the guy at the marina where he bought it suggested he use a piece of 'Star board' instead of drilling holes in his transome. So yesterday mad a run to the marina, picked up a piece of brown 1/2" Star board(wanted grey but he gave me a deal on an end piece he had that fit my dimensions), brought it home cut it to size and bada boom bada bing.... Here she is. No more drilling into aluminum for me... JC

Sweet! Nice report... Can't wait to get out myself.