eastcoasttransplant

Nice looking attire. I was looking at getting some "In Too Deep" shirts. Any Ideas Jim?

Is there a set time to chat? Perhaps we can set aside some specific time.

I think I have about 21 reels strickly for trout and salmon trolling. It's all well and good until the wife starts counting them, knows how much they cost and knows you didn't have any before last June when we got the boat.

Because spring hasn't arrived here in Illinois. Grrrr......

I would not want to run the boat unless it was mechanically sound. As things always seem to happen, the engine will fail at the absolute worst point that it could and then you'll be at the mercy of others. I would say that if you are questioning it, you probably know your answer already. I would get it fixed up and back in good shape and prepare for next year. with the price of gas you won't be missing much this year.

This weather just plain sux. I got the boat last June and fished for 2 months. I looked forward to getting out and fishing this spring but every weekend it's rain, cold and wind. My 17fter does not respond well to those conditions so I'm still waiting to make the maiden voyage. At this rate.....it might be June until I get the boat back in again. Grrrr.

Snow today....SNOW!!! Grrrr.

STRONG AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP TODAY ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS AND SLOWLY MOVE NORTHEAST TO THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY BY FRIDAY MORNING. AS THIS LOW TRACKS NORTHEAST INTO THE REGION ON FRIDAY... EAST TO NORTHEAST WINDS WILL INCREASE UP TO 45 MPH ON FRIDAY WHICH COULD PRODUCE WAVES OF 10 TO 14 FEET ALONG THE ILLINOIS SHORE OF LAKE MICHIGAN. SHORELINE INTERESTS ALONG THE WESTERN SHORE OF LAKE MICHIGAN SHOULD PREPARE FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF STRONG WINDS AND HIGH WAVES. More Information ... STRONG EAST NORTHEAST WINDS WILL BRING HIGH WAVES TO THE ILLINOIS SHORES OF LAKE MICHIGAN FRIDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT... Pardon my French but.....This Sux!

I was / am looking to get out on the big lake this weekend but for the 3rd weekend in a row the weather forecasted is iffy. Saturday they are talking about wind and rain and Sunday a bit breezy with rain later in the day. Hope mother nature throws me a break soon.

Ok I voted but now if we could just get the boat in the water...... I looked to see if by some chance you guys had made it in yesterday but no dice. I was hoping to launch out of Racine this past weekend but the weather scared me away. It didn't look that bad on Saturday when i took a peak at North Point Marina around 4p.m. Yesterday we waitd for the storms that never seemed to materialize. It appears one 16fter capcized down near Pastrick but It really didn't look half as horrible as it did last weekend. we'll I'm saying a prayer that we have hospitable weather this weekend and I can get the boat out on her maiden trip for this year.

Bob's is out of business. amish outfitters had them

Found them. Thanks all.

Hey guys, just curious about something..... On a lot of charter boats and in the pages of GLA magazine I've seen this S shaped fish holder for when taking pictures and things like that. One side of the holder goes through the gills and the other has a hand grip to hold the fish. I can make something myself but was wondering if anyone knows where to get them? I've looked in a few local B&T sotres and haven't seen them. Any assistance would be appreciated. Thank you.

I remember the story and was SO glad to hear it worked out for you. Lots of times it doesn't but this story seems to have a happy ending. Best of luck in the future and good fishing. Let the only thing hitting your boat be large kings and trout.

I think either will work, whatever your fancy, but i like the locking feature of the trolling motor plugs as well and they will match your washdown pump. The only think I'll say witht the Marinco plugs is put some thread lock on the actual outlet threads before fully tightening down the lock nut. The dealer did not do so with mine and they started to spin. I re-did them with the thread lock and they are great. Good luck in whichever you choose.

The Marinco Plug would be fine and has a cap on it to prevent water in the plug when not in use. I don't find it all that big and being flush mounted it's certainly not obtrusive. If you wire them yourself, not too hard, they aren't that expensive either.

I use the Marinco 12 volt trolling motor plugs. They seem to work fine for me and are flush mounted into the walls on both the starboard and port sides. You can see the picture above and the downrigger plug is on the top right corner.

I'm with Daybreak.....I use 12lb mono downrigger rods for spoons and 20lb for flashers and flies. I have not had any issues with the 12lb line at all and really feel you get more action out of the spoons. To each his own I guess.

what's wrong with that? It's perfect for fishing Lake Michigan on calm days and easy to trailer to other smaller places the larger boats can't get to. Looks good in my opinion.

I did the top and sides in two steps. It was around $1000 total.

Here's a few updated pics of my "In Too Deep"

Beckman's are expensive but they were far superior to any other net on my boat. I started out with a few different BassPro nets and then a Frabil and they all had issues. I spent something like $80 on a Frabil that extended and the extension piece would not lock into place after one trip. Back the net went and then I bought a large Beckman net. The Beckman is very strong, extends to like 10ft or so and is a much, much better product than the other nets. I think it cost near $100 but really well worth the money. And yes....don't leave it lying around cause it could disappear.

Some guys will run the regular rods and just add a Twilli Tip and that is fine for most. I am a designated roller guide rod guy. I just feel the roller guides handle the wire much better than the regular guides. I don't think you need new rods but for what it's worth, Okuma offers their Blue Diamond series rods for about $60 I believe and I ALWAYS see cheap roller guide rods coming up for sale on the Great Lakes Angler Magazine website. My roller guide rods are a discontinued Luhr Jensen rod that cost $30 each. If you look around you can definitely find cheaper roller guide rods that will get the job done. Just make sure you have enough backbone but not too much....like a stand up tuna rod. Good luck.

Put it up! One of my best boats was a 12ft Coleman Crawdad plastic jon boat. I caught lots of fish out of that boat and loved every minute of it. as long as you catch fish and have fun that's all that's important.

When you go to the canvas shop they simply call them windshields. Basically. I have a 3/4 enclosure with clear vinyl going up to the bimini top from the windshield (what I call a windshield extension), clear vinyl sides that go back to around the stern cleats and my actual binimi top. As far as rails, I removed the metal rails and installed Berts Custom Tackle tracks for my rodholders and downriggers. I'll try to take a better pic this weekend if conditions allow.