CaptLevi

Way too Kewl!

Gotta Love It! C'mon Spring! Sporty's lonely!

They all work decent dude. As long as you aren't shoppin at a flea market. Just purchase a reputable name brand, a GOOD ATTENNA, and make sure that it's waterproof. I've got good radios and attennas, and can reach all over the place. But why? Like I'm gonna run 200 miles to find a fish. Mayyybeeee. On my small rig I WILL run across the bay at 55 mph if I hear that Walleye Express is hammerin 'em on an Eastern reef or sumpin.

For $700. Buy both. You don't need a lot of money in order to purchase a sonar (fish finder) that will show you bottom, bait, and thermocline. But first try to tune the one you have. Chances are it will work fine. Older is not always a bad thing. Definately purchase a speed/temp unit if your current sonar is functional. I would recommend the sub-troll. It works fine, is easy on the eyes after hours of watching it, and costs less than other units. You can get a pretty good deal from the rep at the shows going on this spring. And then you will have enough dough left to purchase a GPS. Utilize all three and you will be a force to be reckoned with. And IMHO it will put more fish in the box than a sonar upgrade will. (unless of course you buy a sonar that not only shows depth, bait, fish, and thermocline; but also what species and what lure it will bite on.

Fisher Tackle Company makes the Squinchee(glow fly) and Twin Slam(tandem spinner) as well as many other usefull products. I can tell you from experience that the beads on their flys will glow about an hour(normal glow beads) to several hours(super glow beads). I can tell you that when the fish are on a hot glow bite, these products really catch the fish. John pioneered the use of a several components not found on other flies until the competion saw the need to compete for the ultra glow fly market. I am biased because they are one of my sponsors, but then again I refuse to endorse products that won't produce. Give em a try! You won't be disappointed! check them out at: www.fishertackle.com

Capt. Ray, Lots of good folks here to visit with and share stories and strategies. WELCOME ABOARD!!

On a charter two seasons ago in 3rd week of April we were really stuggling. The browns and coho had a serious case of lockjaw and it seemed that most boats, including us, would go back with from 0 - 2 fish. We had worked our way out to about 80 feet and trolled South and away from any other boats. I usually like to fish alone and we sure weren't leaving any biters behind so we trolled about 2 miles South from the nearest boat and then turned a "due East" troll, "headin for the barn". I was noticing a few nice marks about 15 - 30 feet down but nothing would go. So I changed up two rigger rods to fishcatchers and flies. I know, crazy me, after all, who runs rotators in April? Well we caught a 5 man limit of Kings from 12 - 18 lbs. in the next hour or so. These fish were on a collision course with the brown water and we just happened to intercept them. Go figure!

A sad thing to be sure. Everyone be careful out there. There isn't a fillet or trophy fish out there that will console your loved ones for a loss so great.

Thin fin's in red/black squiggles, thin fin in orange/gold, Rapala J13 in orange gold, orange BJ's spoon, double orange crush.

Last year I eliminated my mono diver rods completely. They work well and land fish under most situations, but my ripcord and wire setups were what my first mate, Shades, wanted to run and it paid off for us huge. Granted some fish would pull free, (even break off!) sometimes in shallow water with short lines, but WOW! what blast it is hooking a big skam or king on wire or braid on a 30 foot lead! My clients love it!

Gonna ketch me a mess'o'gills tommorrow:D

Welcome Aboard! You may have different fishin, but it is still fishin. (Not to mention a great view and some awesome huntin opportunities).

Welcome Aboard! Hope you enjoy your visits to the site!

Wow. Sounds alot like the advice I give my customers. I constantly advise them to take the Bonine a day or two in advance but they seem to always wait till 1 hour before like the instructions say. Then it's....rrrrRRRRAAAALLPPHH...pptooii!!! Here's another: Have a paper bag made for clothes, etc.(like Penny's bag). It should crinkin easily. Have the ill sailor place the bag on their bare skin of the chest, then cover back up with shirt. It works quite well. Must be a subconsious thing.

Usually the shortest leader I will use on lead core is roughly 10'. The longest is 50' or so. I don't run shorter leaders on my copper rigs. I start them at 75' or so and when they get down to 30' or so it's time for a new leader. You'd be surprized how adept at tying leaders to either you'll become with enough practice.

Right on. The longer leader is only for the ease of retying without replacing leaders. I use a variety of set-ups with a variety of leader lengths on my lead core rods. ME TOO! We always run as many rods as we legally can depending on the targeted species, location, and fishability of the water. Just remember, sometimes less is more! If you can defend it, set up a full core(10 color), a half core(5 color), and an SWR. It won't be long before you have an entire arsenal of lead core rods.

For Sale: Two Cannon Mag 10 electric downriggers with positive ion control, auto stop, cable, and mounted on Berts custom Tackle adjustable bases. These are like new and have seen very little use. I will deliver within 50 miles of Stanton. Asking $750 for the pair

Frank, If your not running some lead core, your missing out on a lot of action. On my charters there are days when lead core will catch 75% of the box or more. Copper can be really smokin hot too, but is not nessessary if you are limited by money or boat space. The lead core does have it's own way of tracking through the water which rings the dinner bell at times. The SWR isn't really anything new. Many charter operators and savvy fisherman as well have used a 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, etc. color rig for years. They can be used in other ways too! When running baits shallow try using a 2 or 3 color on a board. Just not when in close proximity to other boats if you value your gear. And heres one for ya: when fishing extremely deep fish in mid summer (daytime kings), try a full core set-up fished the same way as the SWR on the rigger. You will get much deeper with the stealth and snakelike movement of the core. sometimes it smokes those big Kings!

You know I never thought of the Daiwa's. I used to own some and thought they were great reels too! They musta been cuz some dumba** decided they were worth a prison cell when he stole em from me. (and yeah, he got caught:D )

Welcome Aboard Captain Chris! I hope you enjoy your yourself on the site.

Happy Happy Joy Joy!!!

I voted Monday. Easier for me to remember. And since most of us fish more on weekends, posting reports should be easier too.

The Great Lakes rarely freeze over completely anymore. I think it's only happened a couple times in the past 15 - 20 years or so. (with the exception of Superior of course). As long as this El Nino keeps affecting us, the inland lakes may be hard pressed to freeze either. The weather man says mid 40's again all this week.

Capt Levi cuz it's my name. Sportboat was the name given to the vessel and the business by the original owner Capt. Chuck Knipschild. I could never change either name as not only is Sportboat Charters arguably the oldest running charter operation out of the port of St. Joe, but also Sportboat used to be (and in my opinion still is) the Queen of the fleet. Being that she may be the only vessel that was turned into a full time charter boat when newly afloat in Lake Michigan and possibly the Great Lakes, it is believed by many that she probably has run more sportfishing trips and caught more salmon and trout while Sportfishing than any other vessel sharing these waters as well.

I'll just be Happy if we are all still around in a year! I'm suprized and thankfull every morning that I open these eyes to another day!