IRon

Same here, I took a swim noodle cut it lengthwise with a utility knife to the proper size to slide into my net handle and now it floats. I really like the boat hook. Might have to modify mine like that. Ps good job on the fish but sorry about your misfortunes with the nets.

Update #25. Big Jon refunded $20 or what it would have cost them for shipping. I guess the UPS store over charged (screwed) me. Now I either have to file an overcharge complaint with UPS or eat the $30+. All could/should have been avoided if I would have known they had made arrangements for pick up. Not too happy.

Well, they said they'd contact me about giving me a shipping refund and haven't. The whole controversy could have been avoided if the person I talked to second time would have told me they were picking up the defective rigger. Either he just plain dropped the ball or he didn't know himself. The original rep wasn't in the day I called so..... who knows. I guess I'll eat the $50? Tired of the hassle.

You caught some fish, on a beautiful day. Count your blessings my friend

Hooked up the new rigger and it works great. Big Jon sure has great service. Thanks to all.......

OK. Update.... Big Jon called yesterday and said to send it to them and they would send me a new one. Pretty good same day response and determination. So I sent it to them today and we'll see..... And I tried it again with a direct connection and it still kicked the circuit breaker out after a few seconds. Motor didn't even try to turn so something internal. Wow as I'm typing this UPS shows up with a new rigger!!! OMG. Only problem being I already sent other rigger out ($50) and ups guy said he would have returned the old one for nothing. Now I'll have to get a reimbursement. Sheesh.

Good idea. I'll try that first.

Ok now you've got me thinking Ryan. MaYbe its the bAttery terminal connectors I used. Even though I szoldered them they might not be heavy enough. IIll try to find some heavier ones and re do/solder them.

Thanks Ryan. It can't be wiring. I used the wire supplied by Big Jon. There's only 2 wires to hook up and they're directly to the battery. Color coded so can't go wrong there. I always heard Big Jon had good service so I tried them first but I'll call Fishingand huntingusa.com tomorrow. I bought from them because ttheyre a sponsor on here and I bought from Big Jon because they're a Michigan company. I guess no good deed goes unpunished. I hope they'll work with me so ill give them the benefit of the doubt for now. I'm just disappointed that its bad straight out of the box.

Wow... I've had manual riggers for years on my smaller boat and after getting a bigger boat decided it was time to start upgrading to some electrics. Ordered one just to get me started. Waited a week and it shows up monday. Yay! Can't wait to hook it up. Get it all mounted and do it up right and solder the terminal ends and hook up to the battery. Go through the checklist to make double sure all is hooked up correctly (pretty basic stuff). Wiring is OK, Clutch is loosened up, have a 8# ball on flip the switch....... Nothing. Then a few seconds later the circuit breaker pops. Stunned I re-set in an absolutely nothing. The motor doesn't even try to turn, then pop goes the circuit breaker again. So I go back through everything again, all OK. Hook it up to a different battery, re-set and try again. Pop, cb trips again. Now I'm ticked off. brand new out of the box rigger, my first electric ever and it doesn't work. Still waiting to hear from the mfg. that I sent an e-mail to. I'll try to be patient and let them fix it, but I'm very disappointed.

Yep, that North wind has been tough this year. Haven't been out much this year but, every time we have its been after several days of North blow and fish have been scattered and water cold.

Slow was right for Sun. We only marked 4 fish in 6 hours of trolling and came in with the first skunk of the year.

I've caught a ton of fish over the years on braid dipseys. This year I've only been out 4 times. First week of May (unseasonably cold and really tough fishing). First week of July (again unseasonably cold and super tough). Everything we caught was on riggers and planer boards. Not a single hit in divers. There's days when divers aren't going and I wouldn't blame the braid. I'm sure there's days for various reasons mono divers are going, but same for wire and braid.

There are 3 nets out from Whitehall also.

Same here. Fluoro.,treble hook, beads of various colors(3 or 4), single hook, fly then sometimes small bead for the head/eye (glow, pearl, black etc...).

Same here. I don't use long leads. 10 to 30 feet max. I use pancakes with bent fins and get a lot of action from them and want my spoons fairly close. FF combos 20 feet or so. In the. Spring we always have a high rigger w short lead right in the prop wash for coho and catch a surprising amount of browns too.

A recent thread about poor hook ups got me thinking about the subject. Now that the water is finally setting up into normal July depths, the hook ups get tougher at times. Deeper riggers, longer coppers/lead core, longer setbacks on divers etc..., seem to lead to more fish coming unbuttoned. Any tips you guys want to share to help improve hook ups. Thanks ....

Currently we live in Battle Creek which isn't close to anything but isn't far from nowhere . So I've trailered in the past from St.Joe to Arcadia and hope to in the future. Used to go out of Holland and Port Sheldon a lot. So far this year we've been out of South Haven and Whitehall. Problem is I never know what radio channels to monitor out of the different ports for info. I know it can be an individual thing, but what are some channels out of different ports do members on here follow? Thanks

I've got a 21' Crestliner with a Shoreland'r Roller bed trailer. It's very difficult (near impossible) to center consistently. Definitely impossible alone. It's really embarrassing to have to keep backing down 2 or more times to readjust. I've tried backing in at different depths but every ramp is different and it shouldn't be that difficult. Question is: I want to get some side boat guides, so should I get the post type or the roller type? Or any other suggestions? roller: http://www.veveinc.com/shop/Boat-Trailer-Roller-Guide-Ons/ post: http://www.veveinc.com/shop/Boat-Trailer-Post-Guide-Ons-For-Boats-and-Pontoons/

Kind of an overlooked lure for Lakers is a Flatfish. Pearl , green and white etc..

7' Ugly Sticks on my riggers. Only downside is they're 1 piece but have a good parabolic action to them.

A big sand dune about 1 1/2 miles north of the Saugatuck piers.

Here's an article about Dave's recent death: http://record-eagle.com/local/x1912992397/Writer-dedicated-life-to-outdoors/print His wife Kay is an accomplished author, also. She used to write for the old Michigan Fisherman magazine. I still have some old copies laying around from the mid 80's. And yes, a lot of the lures/techniques from that era still work today.

Sorry about late report but just got home from vacation week in Whitehall. Offshore winds and rain delayed getting out on big lake until 7/3 when wind changed to the South and layed down nicely. Unfortunately the warmer air on cold water caused thick fog to move in so only got a couple hours in on the 3rd. Went 1 for 1 with a coho at 50 down on a UV Dolphin in 80 feet of water. Went out thur's. afternoon for a few hours and went 2 for 3, both Chinooks. Lost first fish on old purple/black spoon on rigger 50 down when we were setting up in 80 feet. I was just starting to let out a 150 copper/planer board when the rigger went off and the fish crashed the copper and was gone. Second hit came on a half core with a homemade green/glow ladder back in 100 fow. About a 10#er. Next hit came on same purple black spoon in 100 fow on rigger 55 down. 13#er there. Marked very few fish but most were in the top 50 feet, best depth for us was 80 to 100.

I've had 2 of the pancake weights with the bendable fins for years. Have them set at 5 degrees and you about have to in order to keep them apart. Yes they have a lot of action and aren't really for deep fishing. I only run 2 riggers so that helps. No they're not for all conditions and not for everybody. I like the action they impart to my lures. If I'm fishing deep I break out the round balls. I'd really like to get a set of Jim Bobs and they're on my want list.