sherman51

im with all eyes. the biggest and only one i ever caught that was that big was a 35. i caught it in manistee lake about 20 some years ago. we,ve always got alot of 27,s and 28,s there in the fall. i,ve heard of big fish up there but that one is the only miss piggy i ever got that was weighed anyway. i would have loved to have made another trip to manistee this year. but i,ve just had so much going on and the gas gods are being so greedy i just dont think i,ll try this year sherman

i think alot of what you say makes sence. and you may be right about other woods working better. but then on the other hand the boards are not left to sit in the water long enough for them to swell very much. not enouh to hurt anything as a bunk board. and it wouldnt hurt anything if it did swell alittle. i could be wrong but i believe any wood boat works better if allowed to swell and seal all the small cracks. but just about any wood will swell if left exposed to water for along peroid of time. and this just gives you an idea how long these hardwoods will last with no coatings at all. and they do make building materials now that could be used for bunk boards that should outlast both of us,LOL. hey its been very interesting talking about this on here. but i think we,ve hyjacked his thread long enough. and like most trailers just plane wood with a good paint and carpet should last you for a few years anyway. or the plane treated wood with a good bunk grade carpet should last for years. and as far as being in contact with your aluminum boat if you got a hole in the carpet. you would have to load the boat to the very same spot every time you loaded it. or leave it sitting for a few years to do any real damage. sherman

i live in indiana, and dont fish either right now. but i fished both places when i did fish. there were times when st joe would have alittle better fishing, but on a day to day i always liked south haven much much better. it got to where we didnt even go to st joe, we did all our summer fishing in south haven. now spring time was anothe story. new buffalo was our spring spot, as soon as the ice was gone. as for the area itself, its south haven all over again. we all just love south haven. to me it just seemed much cleaner, and the people were always friendly. i dont mean to put st joe down either, its still a great place. but you asked us to compare it to south haven. either place would be a good place to live for a person who fishes. and the st joe river has some great walleye and cat fishing. but i,ll take south haven. hope this helps. sherman

i dont know where your getting your info on oak boards. now i could see where any green wood might react to metal. but a seasoned oak board is one of the most weather resistant woods there is. but there is alot of other hardwoods besides oak. redwood, ash, birch, walnut, cypress, and many many more. and any of them will outlast treated wood. and like you said yourself its going to have carpet on it. the biggest reason most people dont use hard wood is its just not readily available. and so many people believe the treated lumber is so much better, but it is just so much cheaper. than say oak or redwood. the oak on my trailer has been just great with no problems at all. but then i put the roller bunks on mine. but i havent got any mold or rot whatsoever, and its been on there atleast 10 yrs. but then your intitled to your opinion just like me. i,ll never use anything besides some kind of hard wood. and all marine grade plywood is made with some type of hardwood. birch, oak, ash, walnut, cherry, teak, just to name a few of the woods used in marine grade plywood. but its all seasoned and not green. sherman

if you ever go through this again try to find a lumber supply store that carries or can get you some hard wood ie oak, just make sure its hard wood. it will last for 20 yrs. i have oak beams on my trailer then cut them at the same angle as the bottom of the boat. then bought the little roller bunks from bass pro shops and mounted on top. its as good as having an easy load trailer. but ive had these hard wood boards on my trailer with no coating or paint for atleast 10 yrs and they are still just as good as the day i put them on there. you,ve heard of marine grade plywood, well all it is, is its made with hard wood. thats what makes it last so long. as for the wood you used, yes you want to use a good exterior paint and put a good coating of paint on them. it will just make them last for a few more years. or thats what i would do if it were me. good boating. sherman

the only other place i know of except big jon,s web site is fishingandhuntingusa.com, you might check them out. but he,s just another guy trying to make a living. his name is greg, you can call him at 251-943-5585, or you can call rick at big jon 231-275-1010. this is all the info i have, hope its enough. sherman

you can call tony as stated below, or you can just go to lordoftheriggers.com, he has his motors on sale right now. but he may even cut you a better deal if you call him. but his standard motors are on sale for 99.00 each or you can get the pro tournament motors for 115.00, and i believe the pro tournament motors will work on other units. they are just stronger faster motors. good luck. sherman

i had great luck with my 2 riggers last year over on erie. things did work out to where i have my 4 electric big jons with auto stops this year. im planning on trying to wear them all 4 out next month. just to much old school in my blood. if 2 worked good 4,s got to be better. i dont know if thats a question or a statement. but next month i,ll find out the answer. or will i?? so far i have enjoyied all the coments. keep em comin

looks like that one went on a crash diet!!!!ha ha ha!! sherman

have you ever tried the 13 lb pancake weights?? i use them and dont seem to get near as much blowback as with the balls. or do you just not like them?? some people say they have problems with them. i just bend the fins out just alittle on my out down, and mine spread out real good. sherman

i had to make a trip to tenn. and im just sitting here all alone and started thinking of old times. i remember when i first started fishing lake michigan. it was very important to get 4 riggers on the boat. and the bigger boats ran atleast 6 riggers and i seen some with 8 riggers. i dont fish lake mi. any more as im a diehard erie fisherman. but i hear about and see boats with 2 and maby 3 riggers, and some with none at all. then you still have just a few of the old diehards with 4 riggers. i was hoping some of you guys would enlighten me, as to when the big change took place, and your replacements that you use now instead of the riggers. i think this will be an interesting thread if you guy will share with me. and you dont have to worry about giving up any secrets about how and what catches fish. just your normal spread. i would just like to know how its done today, for my info only. thanks alot in advance guys. sherman

i think i would start out 1 of 2 ways, i would stack the riggers and 2 dipsy,s, or go 2 on riggers and 4 dipsy,s. unless i couldnt get the depth i wanted then i would use wire on 2 divers.

i havent seen the torpedo divers yet. i just use the lite bite slide divers. you can set your leads as long as you want. and they still work just like the dipsy,s except for the fact you can set the lite bite feature to trip on small fish. slidediver.com sherman

dont mean to steal your thread. i can feel just how good it is to be able to usr your boat. just what did you do to get her up and running?? did you do a rebuild of your old motor, or take the offer for the crate long block?? hey eyes i was going to pm you but i didnt want to jinx things. my boat seems to be running good. and i just got the court date for my title. its the 3rd of aug. im going to the court house mon. and see if i can find out how it works. if i will get my court order for the title then, of if they mail it to me, or just how long before i can get it. i already talked to the license branch, and they told me as soon as i bring it in i can start using the boat. we had to change our plans from the 31st of july to the 7th of aug. so i may just get to take my boat to erie after all. its about time something went my way for a change. im looking awful hard at that little bity light at the end of the tunnel,LOL. all you guys just keep me in your thoughts like we did for n II DEEP, and it will work out. sherman one more little thing. i hate that so many of you guys have had and are having troubles. but it seems i am in good company. and if you own a boat and if you cant just keep a new boat it seems there is always something ready to take a big bite out of your billfold. tune ups, oil changes, props, just something. i think most of us have just accepted that. but in these trying times its hard to accept. good luck to you all.

i,ve been sayin that all year. hope your luck dont last as long as mine has. but i think im starting to see a little light. a very little light but a light all the same,lol. i wish you the best of luck. i feel your pain. sherman

reel good to hear you got her going again. i just got mine out of the shop where i really took a poking. now i cant get her registered. the people i bought her from gave me a bill of sale and the title. but the title only had the re-assignment of title to them. but they didnt give me one for me. so i,ve got to go to court and get a court order to get a title. they have my court date for the 3rd of aug. i was going to lake erie the 31st of july for 2 weeks. so now were going the 7th, hopefully with my new old boat. wish me luck. sherman

hey there i take affense at that statment,lol. we might be mongrels but i,ve saved alot of money on ebay. you just cant beat saving money. and you can find things on there thats almost impossable to find. and i did buy 6 of the sealine sg17lca,s on ebay. i paid 45.00 to 60.00 for them and 3 of them was brand new. so i love ebay,lol. sherman by the way im not really offended. im not that thined skined. im a poet and didnt even know it,lol.

i dont know what your planning on spending on an antenna. but that one sounds pretty good for what it is. if your looking for something in alittle better unit. the 5226-xt for 117.00 and free shipping then the 399-1 9' 6" 136.99 free shipping then the one im looking to get 5399 9' 6" 165.99 free shipping. all on ebay. i just figure the extra 1' 6" cant hurt anything. sherman

thanks for the info, but he is just alittle higher than i wanted to go. thats part of the reason i wanted the single axis, they are alot cheaper than the double axis. amazon.com has the double axis for 94.61 with free shipping and the single axis for 68.62 and free shipping. i just thought if somebody on here had some extra that i could take them off there hands. not really looking to save much money, because im going to buy them either way. but i do really thank you for thinking of me. keep on catchin. sherman

still need the cannons if anybody has any extra single axis. sherman

yep this one is 182.99 at west marine. it is 152.61 on ebay with free shipping. and this is a good antenna. sherman

the best prices i,ve found was on ebay. i think you might be able to do a search on line and find something alittle cheaper, but i doubt it. the same antenna at bass pro and cabelas was cheaper on ebay. good luck. sherman

i havent been on lake erie yet, but it wont be long now. i have had trouble getting my boat back from the marina. i put it in the shop as soon as i got it home from new hampshire last fall. i knew it needed some checking out. well the marina jerked me around until last week. so i got my boat and started rigging her. i hadnt bothered to register her yet, as i just didnt have any reason to, and the close to 1000.00 that its going to cost didnt help any. but i was really fired up my new boat running good and ready for lake erie. the biggest nicest boat i have ever owned. and i,ve been fishing the big water since 1977. shes a 86 sea ray amberjack 28 ft twin mercruiser v-6,s with 02 4.3 mpi engines. shes 10 ft wide. she doesnt look bad either. i only had to pay 5000.00 for her so i cant complane. i had to pay 4000.00 for a brand new trailer. which was almost as much as i paid for the boat. i could have gotten a used trailer for alot less money. but i wanted the new one. then the marina charged me 2900.00. but she is water ready, except for all the rigging, which i already have. well i went to register her and the people i bought her from had gave me the title all filled out and a bill of sale. so i thought i had everything i needed. but they had failed to give me a re-assignment of title. the re-assignment on the title was to them. so i tried to contact them, with no luck. it seems they have closed. so i have to go to court to get a title. which i really dont mind except for one thing. it takes 30 to 60 days for this process. then i have to wait on the license branch to mail me the registration and my season will be over by then. but all in all im doing good. i almost sold my 21 ft boat this spring but decided to hang on to her for awhile. i didnt take her to erie because i just kept hoping to get my new boat back and use her. well i,ve talked alittle on here about my problems and on another site im on. well one of the nice guys on the other forum was nice enough to offer me a ride on his boat. at first i didnt take him up on his offer. i just knew i was going to be able to get my boat up there. well i gave in and contacted him. so as soon as he gets it set up im going to lake erie. and then i,ve had the 1st 2 weeks of aug planned since last year with my sons and there families and my wife who wont even go out in the boat on big water. so im pulling my 21 fter out of the fishing pole barn and getting her ready to go. so my season is finelly going to start here in a few days. and im just alittle fired up and ready to fish. and just wanted to hear how your season is going. i read where a couple of other guys were having boat problems earlier in the year and just wandering how things went. have a great season to all you guys. you,ve helped me make it through this time. so thanks. sherman

hey thats really a great link. thanks a bunch. these look like they will be great for shallow and mid depths off my big boards. i plan on having some of these for next year. maby i,ll see you on the water sometime. sherman