BenLubbs

Looks like Kyle stole the words out of my mouth

Especially on a small boat like that a 10' rod can be nice (speaking from experience, I used to fish out of a 16'er). The longer poles let you get out past the downriggers, which you will probably be running off the sides so that they don't get tangled. Also, the 10' lets you have a longer leader between the dipsey and the spoon/flasher and still be able to get the fish in the net without needing to move to the very front of the boat. Too tell you the truth, there were so many other things that I had to deal with when fishing out of the small boat that I never even noticed that the poles were that long. If the boat in your avatar is the boat you are going to be fishing out of, I really don't see you having any issues.

I'm not sure if he still has them but when I talked to Tony at the ultimate sport show last weekend he still hadn't sold the takotas he had and he was offering them for $320 for the pair with copper and backing.

Was out with a friend tonight and he showed me a picture of a nice brown he caught off the pier this morning. He was using spawn off the bottom. He said the biggest problem was big waves and high winds. Man I want to go fishin'

Hi Guys, I'm looking for a dependable truck/suv that will tow my 24' boat with out any issues. I don't really care about looks, just want something that won't give me a bunch of issues too soon down the road. Also, extended cabs are preferable so I can bring buddies with me The price range I'm looking at is around $3000. If you know of a vehicle for sale or happen to come across one please let me know. Thanks, Ben

So Guys, As you know this will be my first season out in the new boat. Being that the boat has never had a name and I never had a name for my old boat I've been trying to come up with a fitting name for the boat, but it hasn't been going so well. My grandpa suggested Ben's Hooker which I like but it has been vetoed by my Mom because possible connotations of it could offend some family friends So, I have yet to find a name that I really like and I thought I'd see what you guys could come up with. (Extra consideration will be given to name that incorporate some part of my name) Thanks for your suggestions, Ben Lubbers

Hey guys, How do you normally match up your flasher/fly color combinations? I've never had really good luck on my flies and I'm trying to get them going more this year. Also what are your go-to colors for flashers and flies. The only combo I've ever caught fish on consistently is a 10" SD White Crush Glow on blue with a white pearl fly. Thanks, Ben

When you guys fillet your salmon/trout, how do you deal with the rib cage and the little bones that stick out from the spine of the fish? In the past I have just cut everything off alone the spine and then cut the rib cage out afterward. That part I'm alright with. What I don't like more is the other little bones that come off the spine. I've tried cutting a thin sliver of meat out to get the bones out but that hasn't worked to well so I normally just resort to leaving them in to get picked out while we're eating the fish. Does anyone know of a good way to get them out?

Man I wish I could make it but I don't get back from vacation until later in the day tomorrow. Have fun.

Count me in Ken

Well guys, the work on the boat has been going good although I haven't worked on it in the past week as i've been on vacation in Alabama. Needless to say the taste of warm weather has gotten me fired up to get the boat in the water as early as possible this spring. I got all of the re-wiring of the current electronics done plus adding some LED deck lights, spreader lights for night fishing, and a second battery to power all of the electronics and start the motor in emergencies. Right now the seats are out of the boat to get a couple issues fixed. I also have the top off because it was not correct to begin with so I am going to get a new one made. Also I have the rails and other wood accents off to be refinished because they were all starting to get pretty beat up looking. I'm going to be enlisting the help of my little brother to help give the whole boat a good polish and wax before we take it out too. Thanks to Ken (aka Nailer) I have a matching pair of Walker electric downriggers that I am going to be mounting on the corners of the boat along with some ball buddies. Also I have 4 Bert's ratcheting holders and 2 two rod Trees that that are going to get put on 4' Bert's tracks running up the gunwales in front of the down riggers. The downriggers and tracks are going to be mounted on custom made aluminum and wood pedestals that I'm working on. As far as the spread I've made a lot of changes for this spring. I got two new lead core setups for a total of four. All are Penn 209 Reels on 9' heartland rods. I have 10, 7, 5, and 3 color setups plus some Stinger Dive bombs and Walleye Boards to go with. For diver rods I have Daiwia Accudepth 47LCs spooled with 50# PowerPro on Okuma Classic rods for the high divers and Okuma Magda 30 DXs spooled with 1000' of 30# BR wire on Okuma Blue Diamond Roller Rods for the low divers. For Downrigger rods I have Okuma classic 30s spooled with 15# Ande on Classic Rods. Right now I'm hoping that I can get the boat on the water by the 2nd week of April. I'm sure the first trip will end up being strictly sea trials and making sure that every think works good there are no issues. I will get more pictures of the progress soon.

Well the biggest thing for sure is the new boat a 24' Slickcraft which will make fishing so much more enjoyable in soooo many ways. Along with that is GPS, Speed n' Temp, Better fish finder, Marine radio, Autopilot, and bigger cooler. As far a rigging, 2 Electric Walker downriggers, Two 2 Rod Trees, Bert's Track, 4 Bert's Ratcheting Rod holders, Blacks releases, and better tackle storage. For the spread I added 2 lead core setups (3 and 5 collors on Penn 209's with Heartland Rods), 2 wire diver setups (Okuma Magda 30DX Reels, 1000' 30# Bloodrun Wire, 8'6" Okuma Blue Diamond Roller Rods, and Walker 124mm Deeper Divers), 2 new 10' Braid Diver Rods (Okuma Classics), 2 new light line downrigger setups, 4 new Church Walleye planner boards, 20+ new spoons (Sliver Streaks, Fuzzy Bears, JP Slammers, Moonshines), around 7 new attractors, 3 meat riggs, and 2 Sliver Horde Plugs. Overall Basically going to be re-learning how to fish out of a bigger boat with better setups.

My Mom says I'm a hoarder. I guess she could be right since this is what the corner of my room looks like right now.

Personally I like Walleye boards. The way I've always set them up is to set the drag so that when there is a hit the fish will start pulling drag out. I haven't lost a fish yet doing it like this and I haven't had any shakers either.

I'm working on setting the boat up right now. I hope to have it ready to fish by the first week of April.

Name: Ben Lubbers Age: 21 Residence Location: Zeeland, MI Area(s) Most Often Fished: Holland, MI Years of Experience: Been fishing as long as I can remember, Salmon fishing for 5 years Boat Size and Info: 1974 Slickcraft SS-235 (23.5') Boat Name: Undecided right now I'm the oldest in a family of 6 kids. I picked up fishing from my uncles and cousins because my dad never really fished much. For as long as I can remember i've been asking my parents to take me fishing and they have obliged for the most part for which I am thankful. There have been more time than I can count that they have gone out of their way to make me happy, even to the point of spoiling me. I've been fishing out of a 16' tin boat for 10 years mostly on inland lakes. I love to fish for anything from bluegills to catfish using anything from stick and line to a fly pole. In the past five years I was introduced to big lake fishing by some friends at church and have been hooked ever since. After being kept off the water a lot this year by conditions and having trouble trying to take friends out in such a little boat I decided to upgrade and bought the Slickcraft. I haven't had the boat on the water yet but can't wait to get out this spring. I'm hoping that I get the chance to take a lot of family and friends out with me.

Thanks for posting that picture up Ken, I was actually going to ask for one after our talk saturday:thumb:

Tim, thanks for setting this up, I had a great time and got a lot of nice stuff to set up the boat with. Thanks Jimmy for the slammers and rod holder and thanks Arron for the diseys.

Well that's too bad, I was looking forward to this. Thanks for trying Mike.

I'd be interested in testing some, I plan on being on the water a lot this spring summer and fall

What colors do you guys recomend for meat rigs? I've only every owned one and it was one that I pulled up off the bottom of Holland channel. I'm looking at expanding my lure selection this year but don't want to get a bunch of stuff that won't produce.

Never ice fished it but usually end up there once a summer. It has some pretty nice specs too if you can find 'em. Good job on the gills.

I fish out of Holland and I've always managed to pull in a couple steelhead a year. Most of them come on a double orange crush on a full core. I've never been out past 150 fow so I can't attest to how productive it is out further.

the 19th works for me for the salmon clinic. As of right now I don't plan on being at the walleye one.

Wish I could have been there. Merry Christmas.