Play Dough

Low light periods, I favor Moonshine. Daylight, my preference is Dreamweaver but I'm not shy about using Wolverine or Stinger spoons either.

Probably most will use somewhere around the 30# test depending on the brand...some are 27#, some 36#. These "weights" refer to pound test of the nylon sheath and not lead weight so use what you're comfortable with. A few years ago, I would have been comfortable with 18# but there seems to be enough sizable fish now that I'd likely not go there. There are some "micro" lead cores on the market that claim to allow your lure to run deeper than standard lead core. I did a little testing with that a few years ago and didn't see any difference between the two products using a clip on fish hawk depth meter. The micro lead does take up less space on a reel so does have a advantage in that sense.

I have a length of 30# mono between braid backing and the lead core to attach to the in line board. Let out the lead (all that you have on that set up, ie, full core, half core, three color, etc.) clip to the board and deploy the board to the desired distance from the boat. Typically, no weight is attached but a snap weight or something like a Michigan Stinger Dive Bomb could be used to increase depth.

Very few run boards off a mast system for salmon. Most use Church Walleye or Off Shore in line boards pulling various lengths of lead core and copper line.

Last weekend of April for me. I was never slipped near my residence so never wanted to risk freezing of the motor or cabin fresh water systems. I can't imagine having to trace a leak somewhere between the cabin and bilge in a split water line. A couple extra weeks of boating isn't worth the risk to me...and I've seen plenty of snow on boats around the middle of April in the past.

Is that a piece of red yarn on the hook? Is that done to all the spoons you were using or just the one that got hit 7 times?

So how close were they? The graphics on my boat could be read from a couple hundred feet and there are conditions that may cause me to be at about that distance although my target minimum would be about 100 yards and prefer to pass much farther. I'm just guessing you probably think that 100 yard number is too close. I've been on both sides of this fence as a cruiser and a troller. I can site you an example where it is difficult to pass everyone with a distance that everyone would find acceptable. At Big Sable Point north of Ludington, it is not uncommon to find boats trolling in all directions for a couple miles distance in anywhere from 30' to 300' feet of water. Because that is a point, it is normal to expect a cruiser to run near shore at that location. The same holds true for Little Point Sable as well as Point Betsie. In those locations, I try to pick the best course and do some weaving through the "fleet" because I understand that there are all kinds of lines away from a boat and it's uncomfortable to be rocked, but I've seen a few guys that I suspect weren't the most pleased at my route choice. I was asked one time, why don't I go 5 miles offshore and cruise there? It's a valid question but in essence I don't like the visit to the fuel dock any more than anyone else so I chart straight line legs to a cruise and adjust as necessary to conditions encountered along the route. Unless I fully come down to a no wake speed, my cruise wake is probably my best condition when passing others. If a port entrance is crowded, I will wait to power up until I am well clear of the harbor and come off plane well before entering a congested area. That's not the case with a lot of guys big boats and small. They don't come off plane until they enter the harbor and some a little later than that. I think that is a bit of a "show off" thing for the audience on the piers. So that's my thoughts in reply to your rant. There's a line between sharing the water with lots of different kinds and sizes of boats and operating in a hazardous manner. I'd have to be there to know which it was. No question every skipper on the lake isn't an angel. There are a few devils in the group.

I thought about that after I posted. The article was several years ago and the electronics advance year by year so that advice may be outdated. It would be good to get another take on the subject by someone in the industry as opposed to a bunch of opinions.

I read an article several years ago that the proper gain setting was to just get the third echo to register. Set depth at least 3X the actual depth then increase/decrease gain to get that result. Surface clutter/noise reduction settings should be as minimal as possible.