wingnut

Allen, Is there any way you could post the chart or direct me to where I could find one. My X4, did not come with a chart and I have been curious what are the best temps for walleye, steelhead and salmon would be.

The reel fill calculator at the top of the page ( sticky ) is a handy tool. Takes the guess work out when spooling something new on your reel.

Has anyone ever tried a Kahl hook? Looks like a semi circle hook. To me it looks like once the fish is hooked up It would have a hard time spitting it out. I'm not sure if they make them with a big enough ring to swing freely on the split ring though.

Thanks for the replys, No way can i figure out how a steelhead could smack a treble and still get off. I'll have to look for some premium sharp hooks.

Thinking about swapping out the treble hooks to single hooks on some spoons. I'm trying to get a better hook up rate especially for steelhead. What style and size do you guys use.

I have a textured floor on my wellcraft and when It starts to look bad I get out the 3500 PSI power washer. Blasts about 95% of the crud off. For the stained spots I spray it down with black streak remover (meant for RV use). My first thought about putting a wax on is It's going to be slippery.

I think the second is an improved Albright

Sounds like I'm on the right track adding the probe. Thanks for all the replies.

Considering adding a Fish Hawk X4, temperature speed probe for next year. How Important to your set up do you rate the probe.

I get Spring fall and winter out of my Arctic Armor suit, plus it has some flotation built In. Cabelas MTO 50 works well in the summer.

Went out of Erieau Tuesday the seventh on a 220 heading for 18 miles, 70 FOW. Went 12 for 15 on the bows and picked up as many walleye as well.

Thanks for the replies. Like many have said I'll just have to work at It, till I get the hang of It. I should have Known It's not a one size fits all set up when your pulling different baits, Obvious now. Everyone that posts about the Chamberlain releases sounds positive about them, I'll keep them In mind If I have too much trouble with the Blacks. Thanks again and good fishing.

How do you guys set the amount of tension on your releases and divers. I'm sure most of you fish enough to tell when you have the right tension by feel, but I don't fish for salmon enough to be able to do that. I've thought of using an electronic fish scale and set them to pop at a certain weight but I'm not sure how much is the right amount. Any guidelines that you use?

Heading up this week to ludington, Anyone have a fishing report. Thanks

On a SWR can you still plan on the spoon dropping 4 to 5' below the ball with 1 color at any depth?

Planning to try lead core this year for long lines and also on SWR's. Does anyone have a good depth chart for leadcore. I have the Big water edition precision trolling guide but was hoping to find a chart with a wider range of speeds and colors out. Thanks

Thanks for the link Fishsniffer, I printed it to order the clutch disks from. Swaping the disks is a good Idea just to make sure it is the clutch disks that are slipping. Good advice, thanks for the help. Won't be long and It'll be time to be on the water.

I picked up a pair of used Big Jon manual captain pack downriggers over the winter. While setting them up I noticed the clutch engages quicker on one than the other. One releases cable with a 1/4 turn backwards and retrieves with about a 1/2 turn forward. The second rigger releases fine but needs several cranks forward to retrieve. Even after several cranks It doesn't seem to lock up solid, seems like It's on the edge of slipping. Has anyone else had a similar problem with their manual captain pack or have an Idea how to fix this. Thanks for your replys

I like the blacks releases and would like to use them but if you hook the rigger cable to the front ring on the weight and the release to the rear ring would they still work in a horizontal position. Thanks for the weight recommendations also.

Are the finned or fish style weights the way to go for rigger weights If your just getting set up. Should I use a Blacks release off the front ring of the weight or find a different release to use, hooked to the rear ring.

Thanks for all the replys. You guys are a great resource to get a question answered. I ended up going with the Big Jon 12" gimbals. When they arrive I plan to cut down to size and mill a new slot at the bottom. I've got 9" to the pin in the rod holder so I'm looking at cutting them at 10" and milling a one inch long slot.

The rod holders are strong enough, I bought the boat from a guy I fish with, he used cannon riggers with gimbal mounts. I'll take a look at Berts.

Getting set up with down riggers and plan to mount the Big Jon captain pac manuals on gimbal mounts to slip into my flush mount rod holders. The attwood rod holders have a depth of 9" to the pin. So I'm assuming I'll need 9" gimbal mounts. I have not seen any 9" big jon gimbal mounts but there are a ton of 9" cannon gimbal mounts. Does anyone know if the bolt pattern is the same for Big Jon and Cannon. Thanks for your reply's.

Simcoe usually has Ice by now but not this year. I did see on their site where they have been fishing in Manitoba for two weeks already. Now that's an Extreme road trip to fish.