Rascal Trophy Fishing

Nice report Ed, whackfest indeed, great pics. too, thanks. Looks like that lady angler has the biggest smile too, good for her. Always did like those Mag Dolphin spoons too.

Congrats. to Hunter for a real nice finish and race. Looks like great fun.

I'd check the fuel line, coil, and fuel pump. Although, I thought the alarms were for overheating too. Strange indeed.

I think too many factors play into the equation to pinpoint that: time of year, conditions at sea, temp. of water, currents below, sea fleas, bait fish, and others. Biggest fish usually come late summer/early fall, based on that alone, first light like 5-8am for me. Nite bite has been pretty good too over the years.

Thanks Noah, it's called American ingenuity, glad to see you know about that secret, that which many others don't apply to daily problems these days. Good luck.

Good job and reporting.

Nice report and video, good job.

God's speed for your swift recovery pal, keep up the fight.

Well Matt, I guess I just read your post and really feel the guys here gave some great input for your future. The first thing I said to myself was similar, do both. By getting the capts. license you could substitute for other capts. on their boats when they are sick or not working at it much anymore. You might also be able to upcharge another $10-20 for each charter you run as a mate. Last question is what do you intend to study at college? If you have no thoughts on it, do as someone else said to start and get a business degree or business classes, like finance and accounting. These will stand you in good stead in any profession later to know how to handle your money correctly for a lifetime. Budgeting, spending wisely, making fair loans, is all a part of getting your adult life on track someday. While your fresh with hours and experience on the water, and have a lot of time to study the rules of the road, (pick up a copy or borrow a copy of Chapman's to start), get that capts. license this summer or asap thereafter while it's fresh in your mind and then renew every five years as the rest of us for life. It will be a lot harder to pass that test in say 10-15 years from now, cause the testing and requirements keep getting stricter. Good luck my friend. Oh yea, P.S. if you do go test for the USCG make sure you enroll and pass a quicky study course for capts' licenses, it's worth the $500, it's about a 4 day class, and it bones you down on all the current questions they are going to ask on the tests, some even have the actual USCG tests for classes. The book I mentioned is the bible of the boating industry, it's referred to a lot in tests and elsewhere, so make sure to get that, and keep it for life. But don't try to pass the tests alone w/o that course, it's vital to most whom pass the first time around.

Fishy, with all due respect, you only have to look at the last 150 years of carferries operating with coal fired engines/discharges to answer the obvious questions of pollution and toxins to the Great Lakes and get the same answer now, AINT SO PAL! IT actually purifies the waters, just like cigarettes charcoal filtering did in the day. Actually this stuff sinks to the bottom, and becomes fertilizer for the forage of species, and expands into the environment for the good, not the bad, as some pretentious liberals would have you believe. READ THE SCIENCE FIRST! Not the PROPAGANDA! Just consider this, if it was so BAD then why haven't the Great Lakes already collapsed as a result of this age long tradition? Think first, act and speak after the fact. Thanks.

Please pm me at Rascal Trophy Fishing or log on to thompsonmarina.com for the best and most economical slips to rent for the 2012 season, you won't be disappointed either. Thanks.

So, who is that masked marauder in Ludville, some locals would like to know, is it Tuna? Thanks.

Looks like you guys made the very best of a bad weather day, and still put the Fish Gods on notice. Great pics too.

Looks like you put in a lot of attention to detail and quality, I like. Thanks for the pics..

There are two RainX products last I knew. One is for general all-purpose usage, when it rains, the water simply flies off as if a coating of wax was on the glass, I also used on my boat the Fog RainX product and can recommend it highly. It also keeps the glass clearer than anything else on the market and I apply it inside and outside of the cockpit glass. I've always thought it would be a viable option for mfrs. to install window defoggers, same as cars, why they haven't up to this date, is beyond me.

There was, don't know now, a 33' Chris Craft in Ludington for $28-30K at Johnson's Supreme Marine, 231-843-2044 ask Todd for sure. Look at my page for like ship, his had low hours with new canvas and electronics, no trailer, big wide boat, beautiful cockpit and interior. Thanks & good luck.

Swell, oh well, I've heard of avid and desperate fisherman, but trolling in any harbor in February, even Milwaukee, well, that kinda speaks for itself. Must be a warmer winter there than usual this time.

Yeah, same way for Ludington, we post all "Net Alerts" on the LACA website, I would hope the local charterboat association also has such a place for locals/non-locals to achieve the same result. Trouble is, sometimes these alerts come late, like weeks late, and the best way to avoid them is be on the lookout, very intensively, cause it can make all the dif. between big money lost, and not, in the tackle dept.. Keep a sharp lookout for all obstacles in water, some may be broken off their anchors, and also be unknown to all, till after some poor fisherman has a bad experience.

I've heard good things about that area in the shallows/Tampa Bay area. Looks like Steve/Alleyes has the ticket for that area better than I, and with a boat too. Thanks.

Good idea Matt, keep up the good work. Thanks.

Tiara's are nice boats, no question. As for fishability, stability, durability, resale value, and safety, there are plenty of other makes just as good for the size/year, and not as expensive and over-rated. Such as Chris Craft, Wellcraft, Stamas, Rampage, Pursuit, and others. I know a guy that just had to have a 31' Tiara about 3 years ago, (he had a 24' Sea Ray at the time), he paid $65K for a 1988 model in 2008, a 20 year old boat that sold for about the same new. He didn't get any deal imho, and didn't even get a trailer with it for that overcharge. Dollar for Dollar, not the best buy, but still very worthy, if you want to chuck out an overage in Dollars for the name.

To me, being a West Michigan dweller, I like the idea of a new store in our area, and another Biggy Sports store too, like East Michigan. Cabela's is a great sporting goods outlet, and I for one, wish them well. Esp. in this day and age of closures and downsizing that is rampant all over the place.

Just went for the new appl. and approval today, the fingerprint machine, digital, wasn't picking up my prints, or at least only up to 43% instead of 80%+ to pass. Just wondered if you guys were experiencing the same snafus? Kept saying the fingers too wet, when they were bone dry. Thanks.

Sounds like VMC isn't just making great hooks anymore, but now a lure? Got a pic.? Update: I already googled that, spinner bait, and pretty pricey, Gander sells for $20, so looks like you got a great deal. Thanks.

Thanks for the pics and congrats TJ.