sherman51

+2 you never want to run your divers the same on one side of the boat. run your longest rod on a 3 setting and your shortest inside rod on 1 or 1.5 and about 20 or 30 ft shorter than your front rod. this will keep them apart. same thing with the wire diver, make sure to use it on the inside and you should be ok, as the wire diver should go deeper than the braid. or thats my opinion anyway. i have run 4 divers on one side of my boat for walleye. i start with my front rod set on 6 and my 2nd rod set on 4.5 and 20 ft shorter than my front rod then my 3rd rod set on 3 and 20 ft shorter than my 2nd rod then my last rod i set on 1.5 and 20 ft shorter than my 3rd rod. but i do use the lite bite slide divers and the dials are just alittle different than on the dipsy divers. but you get the idea. and i wouldnt want to run 4 divers fishing for kings. you could get a hugh mess. sherman

i was in tenn and just seen on the weather where a big storm was supposed to have came through dumping snow farther to the east. and i was just concerned about if the storm hit the reef area of lake erie. and if it was bad enough to hurt this years spawn, as we have had such a great spring compaired to last year. but it doesnt seem to have been much of a storm, with only getting a few replys. im sure if it had been bad there would have been more people giving there opinions. thanks to the guys who have took the time to comment. sherman

i know in indiana it is against the law to assist any person to catch a fish and driving the boat while trolling would be against the written law. now do they inforce the letter of the law, that i dont know. but it sounds like its ok there. but for no more than a license cost, why take the chance. and besides if he has his license he might just get caught up in the moment and reel one in and get hooked,LOL. sherman

im alittle late getting my 2 cents in here. but if you already have roller rods then it would be a waste to not try it. i,ve never used wire i dont have big enough reels or roller rods. but i fished on a charter over on erie and wire was the only thing he used off his boards. they worked great. like someone elce said, set the drag loose enough that the line creeps out a click every so often. because wire is like braid, it wont stretch, so you want the drag to give when a big fish hits. i just dont use my boards often enough to invest in new rigs to run wire or i would be using it. i just run my lite bite slide divers and my riggers to get down to the walleyes. sherman

hey everybody just wanted to get some of your opinions. im in tenn right now and watched the weather up around erie. from what it looked like there was a pretty good storm came through. whats your opinion on what it did to the spawn on the reefs?? do you think the spawn is far enough along that it didnt hurt anything?? im 62 come may and not in good health. so i,ve been really hoping for another spawn like we had in 03 or maby even better. i think im not going to be fishing many more yrs. i would love to go out with another great spawn to fish the last few yrs i get to fish. so this is very important to me. i know we wont know for sure untill they do there trawls later this year. so all i want is your opinions. alot of you have much more knowledge about how the weather effects the spawn. sherman

did you check out the cannon single axis?? i think they are a better holder due to the fact you turn the base to adjust them around. and can move then as little as you want to. the duel axis has a square base and has to adjust from one pin hole to the next pin hole. the single axis is my choice, you can put them down with one hand and just grab the rod and lift to raise them up. just loosen the 2 screws and you can twist then around either way or slide them left or right then just tighten them back down. i used them for my divers last year and i wouldnt trade them for any other holder. then to take them off just remove the end cap loosen the thumb screws and slide them off the track. now i believe i might like berts tracks alittle better, because you can buy pads to go in the tracks when your holders are out, making them much better if you happen to step on the tracks. but i liked the cannon holders better so i went with them. sherman

it seem we all just have your best interest in mind. everyone has semmed to give you dood solid advice. your boat will handle some big water if it has to. but if your not having fun then you shouldnt be out there anyway. back when we first started fishing the big water we used a 16 ft for along time. and i remember walking the beach a few times just because it was to bad to take that little 16 ft out there. we just enjoyed a day on the beach. but there was alot of other days we not only fished with that boat but caught alot of fish. if you get caught in rough water it sounds like you have already learned alot. just dont panic and slow down. there are more good days than bad days. so just pick the right ones. sherman

we were going out on lake erie 2 yrs ago, and the oil line for my remote oil filter came loose on the bottom and lost our oil. its not always somebody just not checking things that causes them problems. but anyway we were out about 6 miles when the motor started to make noise. we stopped and found the problem. i hung the distress flag and set and watched as several boats just passed us by and didnt even stop to see what was wrong. then i got my son on our cell phone back in the campground and he went to the marina and got oil, then went to the launch ramp, and started asking people to just drop the oil off. he said he asked about a dozen boats before he found one willing to bring us oil. he said some of them even mumbled things about people checking oil before going out on the lake. i had a brand new motor and checked the oil regularly. the line just vibrated loose. i tried my best to get the guy to take some pay for bringing the oil out. but he was a good guy and wouldnt take anything. about 10 yrs ago we had a fan belt brake and had to be towed in. but thats another story in itself,LOL. but now i carry a 5 qt jug of oil and a couple of extra belts. and last year i found out about boatus towing insuarence. so i get that now also. but for what it covers its great. they will bring you oil or gas and all you pay is for the oil or gas, or they will come out and give you a jump start, or if need be they will tow you in. i got this and i got the trailer assist and my membership dues was all less than 100.00 per year. one year i even blew the o rings in my power trim pump. so i have an extra pump and a spare prop on my boat. i guess i need an alternator and a starter on board. but i only have so much room,LOL. sherman

just make sure you have a good radio and monitor the weather chanel. and sometimes they get it wrong to. so trust your eyes. if its already rough or you see storms common sence will tell you not to go out. but if everything looks good and the weather chanle is giving good weather then its nothing to go out that far in an 18 ft boat. i had an old 18 ft cherokee aluminum boat that i restored. i fished lake erie for years with that old boat. we were out over 10 miles most of the time we fished. and lake erie can get rough in a hurry. i never once was scared in that boat. but we went out with good weather. but now we did fish some 3 to 4 ft waves. that was called a good walleye chop,LOL. and have idled back in 5 to 6 ft waves. and i dont mean rollers, i mean waves. just never try going to fast for the conditions. if it gets rough slow down, your boat will ride over some pretty big waves. and fishing that deep i would want about 300' of anchor rope. if you ever brake down you may need to anchor to keep from getting swept out farther. and always anchor off the bow. so the bow hits the waves. so good fishing. now go get some. sherman

you just never know. they have got to be somewhere. i bet alot more guys find out next year,LOL. sherman

the best release i have seen for flatlining and small fish is curtain hooks and the light fishing rubberbands. not the 16,s or 32,s that you get at wall mart but the red ones thats made for fishing. you can order them from fishusa.com but there is alot of bait shops that carry them. if you get a fish that dont brake the rubberband it will atleast stretch it out so you know something is on it. then when you brake the rubberband with the rod reel it up snug and jerk the rod towards the back of the boat. this will brake the band better than jerking it from the band. does this make sence?? another one i liked was home made, we got a bunch of alligator clips and paper clips and vacume hose from the auto parts store. clamp the back of the alligator clips down on the end of the paper clip that you straughten out. then just slide the hose over the teeth on the alligaror clip and cut it at the end of the clip. then you can just put either one of these on your board line. and as you use them they will just stack up at the board. hope one of these will work for you. sherman

i usely just buy the cheapest water impeller that i can find as long as it has the metal sleeve and not plastic. i usely change them every 3 yrs and have never lost a waterpump unless it was my fault. i had to put a solenoid on my old 115 hp inline 6 merc. as it was electrical i decided to go with name brand. i could have gotten a aftermarket for about 14.00 and free shipping. the name brand was alittle over 30.00 with shipping. when i got it installed, i just got to thinking, and went back out and checked it. and sure enough it was made in mexico. so i would just like to get some of your opinions on using aftermarket. sherman

you might want to compair prices on ebay. they have the satin finish 2 for 133.50 and free shipping or 1 for 66.99 and free shipping. i did check these out when i was buying but decided to go with the cannon ratcheting single axis. i bought them at amazon for i think 64.00 each. but i think they are around 69.00 now with free shipping. didnt know what the price is where your thinking about buying. but sometimes you can save a few bucks on ebay. and dont forget the free shipping. sherman

i like red or black. i have 2 red ones and 2 black ones. it doesnt seem to bother the fish one way or the other. the 13 lb pancake weights at 50 to 65 ft whitch is where i do most of my fishing for eyes, i dont get hardley any blow back at all. i used the round finned 8 lb balls and the fished shaped ones for many years and just lived with the blow back. then when i got my first electric about 3 yrs ago i bought some 10 lb pancake weights. they did pretty good, so i decided to try the 13 lb weights. and they are even better. i would never go back to a lighter weight unless all my fishing was in the top 30 ft. and then it wouldnt be by choice. i love my heavy weights and i love my pancake weights. if you make both you have the option to try them both. and find out for yourself which ones you like. just please let us know what happens. i have heard some guys really put the pancake weights down. but i,ve had nothing but good things to say about them. sherman

got to say i like the pancake weights. i have used the finned round balls and the fish shaped ones, but i have 13 lb pancake weights now on all 4 riggers. and never had a problem. sherman

i sometimes run as many as 4 rods on each side. but usely only run 3 rods. but we do get a tangle every once in a great while. but this is fishing walleye, and sometimes the fish will be out over another rod when we reel them in. this is not much of a problem with eyes, but i could see this being major with a big green king. i use the light bite slide divers, so the dial is alittle different than with the dipsy or the walker. but its all about the same thing. i run my 1st or outside diver set on 6, then let it out to get the depth i want. say 230 ft gets me down approxamantly 55 ft. so on my 2nd diver i will set it on 4.5 and 210 ft out. then my 3rd diver i set at 3 and 190 ft back and my 4th and final diver i set on 1.5 at 170 ft back. sometimes i will put 30 ft between the divers. this runs all my divers about the same depth. if i adjust the depth i adjust the whole side. if i want to go alittle deeper i will start with the outside diver and let it out another 20 ft. then just work my way back in from the front. if i want to go alittle shallower i start with the back rod and bring it in 20 ft, then just work my way forward, moving all of them 20 ft. im not saying this is the right way to do it, or the best way to do it. but its the way i do it. i dont know just how close the depths and line really are that i listed. i would have to check my charts to be real close. the way i got my dive curves, i went out to 50 ft of water using 65 lb braid as my main line. then fishing for walleyes i run just under 2 mph. then i took my diver set on 1.5 and let out line untill i started bumping bottom. it took 125 ft out to bump bottom so i devided 50 ft by 12.5, that gave me my dive down for each 10 ft of line out. that was like 3.7 ft down for each 10 ft of line out. then i did it on the 3 setting then the 4.5 setting and then the 6 setting. and they all came out about 20 ft difference between each diver. so i just set my outside diver where i want to fish then just use 20 ft less line on each rod and lower setting. and thats the reason i sometimes use more line between my divers, so they all wont be so close to the same depth. i have even run them 40 ft between divers. then if im catching fish on a certain diver i will tighten them back up close to the one thats catching fish. to do this its best to use the same type and size reel with the same amount of line spooled on them. because a half spooled reel wont count the same as a fully spooled reel. and some reels dont count the same. but if they count the same then you can get them real close to the sweet spot. it doesnt matter so much how much line you have out as it does to get back to the same spot. if your out 200 ft and your catching fish, then you want to get back to that 200 ft. if one reel is letting out 170 ft when the counter says 200, and another reel is letting out 210 ft when the counter says 200. you,ve just changed your depth by about 10 ft. and thats not what you want. if you dont think im right just take 2 reels one full the other half full. then pull them both out about 100 ft on the counter then check where the end of your line is. thats why they need to be the same. the counters are just a guide so you can get back to the same spot that you caught fish. not how many feet you are actualy out. because the reels count different if they dont have the same amount of line on them. hope this all makes sence to you guys. the best of luck with all your fishing. and i am sorry for such a long post. but if it helps just one person catch more fish then it was worth it. sherman one other thing i didnt mention. i use a 10' rod in front then a 9' rod then an 8' rod then a 7' rod. it just helps keep them apart.

dont really mean to correct your math but a meter is approxamantly 1.3 yrds. so 91 meters would be somewhere around 100 yrds. that means they have found them down to somewhere around 300 ft. im not real good when it comes to math, much less meters. so if i am wrong please feel free to correct me. but my point is that they are just about everywhere. i know they dont seem to have hurt our fishery any. and it seems everything down there wants to eat them. from the lowly white perch in lake erie to the lake trout in lake michigan. sherman

i,ve been using about 7 to 8 ft for walleyes. doesnt seem to hurt anything, but then i,ve never tried longer leads. i even switched to the lite bite slide divers, but i just use them like a standard diver, i wanted them for the lite bite feature. if i was going to run the length leaders you guys are talking about i wouldnt use anything but the lite bite slide divers. you can make the leader as long as you want. and then just have a swivel tied in about 5 or 6 ft from the diver to stop it from going all the way to the bait. then you still have the lite bite that you can set so a shaker will trip your diver. just my opinion. sherman

im real happy you guys are catching fish. i just hope theres a few left when they get over to geneva,LOL. i wrecked my atv a couple of weeks ago and hurt my back or i would be up there right now. have you ever seen the fishing this good this early in the year?? sherman

you gotta love lake erie when shes giving up her gold,LOL. sherman

i was just thinking the other day what its going to cost me to take my boat up to lake erie and spend 3 nights in the campground and fish for 2 1/2 days. i live 335 miles from where i like to fish on erie. so im looking at 800.00 to 900.00 just for the trip, camping and boat gas. then i already have all the gear and boat, but if something brakes then it comes out of my pocket. sherman

if no one on this site has any then i would suggest watching ebay for used ones. if you want new ones then lordoftheriggers.com is the cheapest place i know of to get any big jon stuff. sherman

i am also on a couple of other forums. but nothing like this one. here there is no such thing as a stupid question. and it seems if anybody thinks they can help there willing to try. a bunch of great guys. and easy to make friends with. i have never been slammed here for a stupid question or an answer that wasnt like everybodies. welcome to a great site with some great guys. sherman

all the reports i,ve been getting its hog heaven right now. they are getting then good with jigs in shallow water and also knocking them dead trolling between the cans. so be sure and post your results. sherman

back in the day we fished from new buffalo up to manistee. we were fishing a 16 ft deep v glass boat. there were very few days we spent the day walking the beach, and watching the waves come in. we traveled about 200 miles to fish. so we watched the weather and picked our weekends. one time we were south and it was rough. we got reports the water was better 100 miles north. so we loaded up and in less than 2 hours we were fishing good water. just use alittle common sence. and you can fish any of them in that 17 ft,er. but my favorites are new buffalow in the spring and when the coho are gone from inshore we moved to south haven. south haven is a great place to launch a small boat, and dont usely get the pressure the others do. but its still a good place to fish. sherman