BenLubbs

Those are some beautiful smallies. Thanks for sharing.

I used to run only dispeys and leadcore when I first started salmon fishing out of my 16 fter. The first time I used downriggers on the boat, I got twice as many hits as I had ever gotten before and half of them were on the riggers. After that I decided riggers were a must.

I would definitely keep leadcore/copper in the mix. Down here in Holland I have always taken fish off my cores right at day break and twilight. I've never had a problem running boards right away in the morning or late at night and I ran them out of a 16ft. boat with very small lights (assuming you are worried about not being able to see the boards). I always have my drags set just tight enough so that they don't creep a alot on me. That way, if a fish hits the line, the drag starts going and I know I have a fish on. Good luck.

It's getting tight for me to get the boat finished up for Saturday and I don't think I'll be able get it done. I would be interested in riding/driving if someone needs another crew member.

I've got to fish Superior some time. Looks awsome, thanks for sharing.

I got mine on Tuesday. I love the colors, looking forward to what they will produce.

Ken just a heads up on my status, I'm still planning on fishing but I probably won't get out for my shake down till next Friday so if I run into any problems I won't be able to make it.

By the time I finally get out on the lake I think the Dog will have caught all of the fish:lol: Thanks for the report Terry.

Hey guys I have a bunch of extra stuff that I would like to sell 1. Pair of older style Long Arm Riviera Manual Downriggers (wire is above the arm) - $25 w/o Bases ---- Both have counters that work, single rod holders, and wire 2. Pair of newer style Long Arm Riviera Manual Downriggers (wire is below the arm) - $70 w/ Bases ---- Both have working counters, single rod holders, and wire As far as the bases go, you can buy bases from Riviera or you could also make your own. I don't really care which downriggers they are sold with. Also, Dual Rod holders to mount on Cannon Arms mount on the upright posts of Rivieras if you want better/more rod holders 3. One Proos Manual Downrigger - $25 ----Has wire and counter ----No Rod Holders, Spool Release Knob is broken (could easily be replaced), Counter is missing face and pulley (have a new pully from Proos), Powdercoat on base is chipped 4. One Electric Proos Downrigger - $60 ----Has Wire, Counter, Single Rod Holder, Switch and Motor work ----Does not come with extra electrical connector 5. One Wooden Paddle - Make Me and offer 6. Three Tite Lock Rod Holders - $5 ----I don't believe any of them have the small round toothed piece, the previous owner drilled holes thru the bases and put screws in to keep them from turning, also, he drilled the adjustment screw hole so that he could just slide a pin in and out, I would consider them for parts, not for use. 7. One Big Jon Rachet Rod Holder - $15 ----Comes with mounting base 8. Antenna Racheting Base - Make Me an Offer ---- Looks like it had a wire antenna in it at some point, was not being used when I bought the boat so I took it off 9. Cabin Light - Make Me and Offer ---- Was in the boat when I bought it but does not go anywhere I will consider offers any this stuff so let me know if you are interested or want more details. Also, If anyone is looking for or knows of someone who is looking for 2000-2005 4cyl. Eclipse, Galant, Stratus, or Sebring parts let me know because I have a lotttt of parts.

So I'll give and update on the progress. As it always seems to, it's going slower than I had hoped. The main thing is that I have 95% of the wiring complete and the little I have to do still won't take long. I also have the seats back in the boat with all of the tears fixed. My goal is to have the boat ready to hit the water by Saturday, although that will be tough. The main thing is that I would like take her out for a shakedown trip before the WMFL event next Saturday Some pictures of the progress: Two of the seats had major tears in the corners with foam spilling out and just looked plain ugly. I tore the seats out to take the carped out and took the covers off to get them fixed. Came back and I couldn't be happier with the results. Seats mounted and no Carpet Helm w/o extra fan/electronics but missing hand held GPS w/ mount New Wire Route (wires were running under the wooden hatch cover before, keeping it from closing and pinching the wires) LED deck lights mounted under the gunwales (5 per side) LEDs in action Fluxgate compass for autopilot relocated (cudos to Nailer for the suggestion) 2nd Battery wired in New LED trailer Lights going on Old trailerlights that apparently held water well Tackle storage on each side of the boat Shot while standing on the Bow Now for a few of the toys: All of the rods Walker Electric Downriggers w/ Chrome Dual Rod holders and swivel bases Fish Hawk TD (If you fish out of Holland and would be interested in borrowing it let me know ) Yogurt Flies to field test A few other things I remembered while I was typing. First, as far as trolling bags go, what size should I be looking at if I want to run one per side. I am probably going to have a lot of novices driving the boat and want it to be as easy as possible so I'd like to run a bag on both sides when I run them. Second, as far as naming the boat. I found out the boat did have a name before "Pete's Treat". Since it doesn't fit at all for me I'm not even considering using it. The two names that I have sort of narrowed it down to are "Rod Ben 'der" because it describes what I do for work and what I do for fun. The other is "Right Angler", which my Mom suggested and I like because it goes with engineering that I am studying. What do you guys think?

1 - 3 color lead core 1 - 5 color lead core 1 - 7 color lead core 1 - 10 color lead core 2 light line rigger 2 heavy line rigger 2 Superline Dipsey 2 Wire Dipsey Total: 12 and counting

Awesome pictures!!

I assume that is a 235? Looks good, A lot like mine is going to look when I finally get done working on it

looks like fun out of holland today on the web cam. The weather must be waiting on me as well

There is also a product out there by Fish Hawk called the Fish Hawk TD ($150) that you can clip on your line and it will tell you the max depth that a rig runs and the water temperature in 5ft intervals. I bought one this spring and plan on using it to determine the depths that all the rigs on my boat run.

I know Mike (GLF) uses color codes for different length coppers/cores. I think he puts colored electrical tape around the rod right above the handle. I met some one else who does something similar but they put the tape around one side of the reel. I have written on my reel handles what each has on it but I also have slightly different reels (type and year) that I can tell the difference with. Personally, if I upgrade all of my reels to the same model I will probably go Mike route because it is cleaner.

It's funny that you post this bcause I had the same exact thing when I got my boat last fall. I found out that one of the horns (there were three on) had been added. When I took it off, the original 2 worked fine. I would check and see if it looks like one/both were added latter and maybe take one off. The only reason that I can come up with that they wouldn't run is that they are not able to draw enough current to start the motors in them. This could be caused by a low charge in the battery or too much resistance in the circuit. If your battery is fully charged I would try to trace the wires and see if there is any sort of resistor or anything that would be lowering the current.

I see boats out on the spyglass web cam right now. Should make it out there next week end hopefully:thumb:

Hi guys, I'm wondering what you run for DR setups. I currently have two sets. One set is Okuma CL300's on Medium Action 8'6" Okuma Classic rods spooled with 20 lb mono. In the past I have only run these poles off my downriggers. This winter I got another set of Penn 209's spooled with 12lb mono on Medium Light 8'6" Travers Bay rods. I plan on dedicating the light line set to spoon duty and the heavy line set to running F/F's. The question comes up after talking today with one of my suppliers at work who fishes out of Grand Haven. He runs lighter rigs than what I do with 6"6' rods and small reels (didn't catch the model but they looked like bass reels almost) spooled with mono or super line. Thanks, Ben

I would but I got plans to work on the boat already

Ok guys looking for some help. I'm mounting the downriggers on the rear corners of the boat on some custom made platforms. I'd like to have a ball cradle right next to them that I can put the balls in when rigging or whatever. When ever I search for anything the only things I can come up with are Big Jon mounting bases that have the cradles on them or traxtech cradles but I don't plan on putting any track on the platform. Does anyone know where I can get just a cradle that could be screwed right to the platform?

Here's my rig I'll post new pictures soon of it all cleaned and rigged up. Can't wait for it to be ready. BTW, does anyone from west michigan know of a boat by the name of Char n' Time. The guy lives right by a friend of mine and it's a really nice looking boat but I've never gone over to talk to him or look at it.

Looks good Josh. I can feel your pain as I am working on polishing my entire boat with rubbing compound before I wax it good. I don't have bottom paint cause it has been trailered its entire life. Keep up the good work.

I'm going to have to request that you stop posting videos. Reason, it reminds me that my boat won't be ready for the water for at least another 3 weeks. Good job

I looked at all of these at the Ultimate sport show this past weekend and couldn't see any difference between them other than the finish. I know traxtec and Bert's can be interchanged, i don't know about cannon. I personally have Bert's.