SeaCatMich

Riviera has parts for them on their web site. Look on the order form for part RHL-900. http://www.rivieratrolling.com/orderform.html

Hewscraft is another similar style boat. Great Lakes dealers include Calumet Marine (south shore of Lake Michigan and a site sponsor) and a place in International Falls. Everyone that I know of that has bought one from Frank at Calumet is extremely happy. Alumaweld and Woodrigde boats are also the heavy duty welded aluminum hull designs from the Pacific Northwest.

Check with your local fire department. Here in DeWitt the local Pennzoil quick change will take it and burns it in a furnace they have. I found out by asking at the township office.

I have 4 and sometimes remove 2 or just use one with just the FishHawkl probe and no rod. When fish are deep it is the most effective presentation to me. I refuse to put out a line more than 300' behind the boat as it just isn't fun to reel in heavy lines that are longer (actually 300' of copper or leadcore isn't too much fun either). If you only have 2 when the fish are deep (90'+) I think you are really are limiting your presentation options.

I slipped my cuddy for a few years in Ludington and drove up from Lansing. Moved it to St. Joe and slipped it for two years there before buying the SeaCat. Biggest things I didn't like about slipping was the bottom growth (even with anti fouling paint), the commitment to a single port, and the extra cost of fuel. When I got the SeaCat I also got a boat lift to keep the hull clean -- didn't want to put bottom paint on it. Now that I am back near Lansing the boat went on the trailer. I like the mobility of trailering but it costs more in fuel to tow it to/from the lake than it does to go fishing all weekend. I'm considering trying to find a place to do in/out off the trailer and move it seasonally to cut down on the tow vehicle costs. The biggest problem with that is then transporting the tackle rather than leaving it on the boat since it is a center console with little locked storage. I would be tempted to do use an in/out service but have not found one that can handle a catamaran hull. So my answer is 3 as sometimes I do put it in a slip for a few days.

I have some Tica SeaSpirit line counters that are specifically designed to easily swap spools. You just unscrew the "palm" side-plate cover and swap spools. In addition to the other features and price of the reels, it was a major reason that I bought them originally. My idea was to have a spool with 12# for the early season and then use the same reels with a second spool with 17 or 20# for summer/fall. Problem was finding the spools. Eventually did but they were $40 each -- yes cheaper than a whole reel but only a little under half the cost of the Tica or a SL47LCa. I still use the reels (and they are great) but never did go with the extra spools. As for doing spare spools on the Convectors it is a good option if making the swap isn't a big PITA. You already have the spools so give it a try.

This headline sounds like something that belongs on the Tonight Show's "Headlines" segment. I know that there is more to the article than the headline but my initial reaction was that this had to be government funded research and I was right. I can see their next revelation -- "It only snows when it is cold outside". Do they also know that the ice on the lake melts in the summer?

The ash dumping in the lake is not the only issue. When I kept my boat in the Cross Winds marina across Pere Marquette Lake from the Badger. My parents had a retirement home a couple of miles north of town. The coal dust coming out of the Badger's stacks put a coating on the boat and house any day the wind was blowing from offshore. Sorry, but I and many others with boats there and at other marinas and home owners in the area really detest this pollution. Not only does the black/gray dust make a boat/house/car look terrible, it is very fine and consequently very difficult to get clean -- especially in no skid decks and small crevices. If you want to experience it yourself, go find a burned out campfire or fireplace and sprinkle the ashes on your boat or car. Wait a few hours and then try to get it clean. It is a nice novelty for Ludington to have the quaint old time ferry and it is a giant tourist attraction for the town. I'm sure it is the same thing on the Wisconsin side. I too have had many a friend oooh and aaah at it when it is coming in. The new technology high speed ferry that now runs out of Muskegon gets a similar reaction but mainly for its speed. Because of the economic impact of the Badger (employment, tourist interest, taxes...) you will not find many of the locals willing to speak out against it in public... but they are not a fan of the coal dust and I think would welcome a modernization of the vessel's power plant. Cleaning up the dust is the main issue for people. I have to imagine it isn't doing a lot of good for the plant and animal wildlife in the area either.

On Saturday and Sunday lots of boats were in the channel and saw a couple fish on. Had a lot of marks on the graph on Sunday but just wasn't in the mood for combat fishing plus all of the blow boats, go-fast boats, and jet ski traffic. It was quite the parade at about 5 pm.

I always have two nets onboard so we were fine with landing the fish. The other net was my really big one though that hadn't been on the boat in quite a few years. Brought it along just in case we ran into any of the big Kings others have been catching. Unfortunately we didn't need the big net but better to have a landing net that's too big than the other way around.

Saturday, 8/31 Finally hit the water at about 7 am. Headed out west and took a look where the pack was at in 80 to 100 FOW but didn't see much on the graph (actually real close to nothing) so headed further out. Started seeing marks down 65-90' in 130 FOW and setup the spread. Ended up 10 for 11 with a mix of Kings (2), Lakers (2), Coho (2), and Steelhead (4). All nice fish but nothing real big. Had: 3 off a 300 copper with a Green Dolphin spoon, 2 on rigger down 92' with a white glow crush Spin Doctor with a green seaweed KRW fly, 2 on wire diver out 240 with BW purple UV flasher/bait head & cut bait, 2 on rigger down 70' w/ Mixed Veggie UV Stinger Stingray 1 on rigger down 85 w/ Wonder Bread double glow Ace High plug Sunday, 9/1 Got out a little earlier at about 6 am. Got an early warning about how the day was going to go when while lowering on of the outboards a rod/reel got caught on it and went in the water off the back of the boat. Ramp only about 4' deep though so managed to get it back with the boat hook.Checked the shallow water again but still nothing on the graph so headed out to the same area as Saturday. Didn't mark a whole lot out there either but did manage to get 4 fish before running into problems and going in (later on that in a minute).. One steelhead (11# on a 300 copper w/ green dolphin), one 9# Coho (PP diver out 200 on 2 w/ BW Black Mamba flasher/cut bait rig, 1 6# on the copper, and one little Coho on rigger down 70 w/ blue dolphin (released). Cut the day short after finding one of the nets the hard way. We had done a pretty good job of seeing them and avoiding getting into them for a day and a half. The crew (and captain) didn't get much sleep for two nights and while i was rigging lines someone says hey there's a net buoy. Ends up it is directly out the port stern quarter of the boat and unfortunately is the outside flag. We quickly see the other four flags and realize we are right over the top of the net. Managed to quickly raise 2 of the riggers up quickly and keep them out of the net but did loose one Ace High plug.One other rigger gets hung but apparently I got there to raise it just in time and didn't loose the cannon ball (lure gone though). The other rigger got hung solid though and lost the ball and unfortunately that was the FishHawk probe rigger so it is gone too (X4 probe). The wire diver got hung so lost a full BW meat rig setup and a Deeper Diver on it -- plus lots of wire so it will need to be re-spooled. That happened at about noon. After trying to get reorganized and doing calculations of the cost of the losses at about $350-400, and seeing very little on the graph my enthusiasm for more trolling was pretty much gone. We decided to call it a day at about 1:30. When we got in found that the fish cleaning facility at Fisherman's Landing closed at 3 pm....grrrr. Decided to drive a few miles north an used the facility at Whitehall -- didn't feel like having to clean them at home. The drive back to DeWitt was uneventful (yeah!!). Almost forgot, on Satyurday also lost a nice Frabil net too when the rubber hand grip slides off while rinsing the net after landing a fish. Went right down the chute between the riggers. Since I have been out of commission all summer with my foot surgery and unable to fish, I guess the boat was ticked off that it sat on the trailer all summer and managed to rack up a season's worth of lost gear in a single trip.

After some computer/website glitches the Michigan Salmon Spectacular standings page is now updated (http://www.michigansalmonspectacular.com/#!standings/c1ir9) Direct link to PDF of full standings: http://media.wix.com/ugd/d71988_cc30910b8ae21273327d49d010a8992d.pdf The new derby leader was weighed in at Capt Chuck's in Ludington Sunday morning with a King weighing in at 34# 12 oz.

Okay, since it is the SportPilot Do you have a rudder reference transducer connected? It is not required since you don't have hydraulic steering, but I have found on the 3 boats I installed SportPilots on that even on mechanical steering systems it makes a big difference. Especially when trolling. You can find them quite often on eBay. It plugs into the rear of the SP helm unit. Have you verified that the location of the Fluxgate compass is magnetically neutral? Could you have installed something new or put a piece of metal near it recently that might be affecting its readings? Even a screw driver is enough to do it. Using a regular magnetic compass you can put it near the Fluxgate and see if it is giving bad readings. If it is, then determine if there is a metal source nearby that is causing the problem and can be moved. You might need to move the Fluxgate. The Fluxgate needs to be mounted mid ship (both left/right & front/back) and near water level within the boat. It also should be mounted so the rounded dome is facing the bow of the boat. I have seen them mounted with the dome pointing up and to the left or right -- causes lots of problems. I would also do a linearisation of the AP. You will need somewhat calm seas and an area big enough to do 2 minute circles with the boat. This will program the AP in relation to how your boat operates and the magnetic properties of the Fluxgate. I had to do this at least every couple years when I had the SP+. Here is a link to a scanned copy of the manual for the SportPilot: https://flir.app.box.com/s/nwf2s5ha9xrltggghogu/1/720705051/3273039721/1 Instruction on doing the calibration/linearisation procedure starts on page 19 of the PDF.

If your going west of GR toward Grand Haven/Muskegon, Fish On Bait & Tackle is just west of the highway on M102. Has a good selection of meat rigs.

Never used the SiTex T150 but it can't be all that old since it is an LCD (ie: not a CRT screen). If it works then I'd keep it and use it -- any working radar is better than no radar. Here is a link to a manual for it: http://www.si-tex.com/product_manuals/T-150Manual.pdf

The SmartPilot should work just fine, they are good units... or did you mean SportPilot? But even SportPilots will work well if setup/tuned correctly. What have you tried to get the current AP to work?

Check out this report from Big Weenie: http://bigweeniecharters.com/8-24-am-salmon-fishing-still-strong-in-grand-haven/

I hope you're in the derby. That fish would likely be in the money and could be a daily port winner. www.michigansalmonspectacular

The current derby leader is 29# 4.7 oz weighed in at MC Sports in Traverse city. Big fish in Ludington (Capt Chuck's) on day 1 was 26.6#. This morning a 26# 15.2 oz King was weighed in at Shoreline Service & Tackle in Muskegon. So far have some pretty good fish entered -- especially considering the lake was a little rougher than forcasted by NOAA. Getting the www.michigansalmonspectacular.com site updated as the weigh stations send in the information.

You guys fishing out of Whitehall/Montague need to stop in at Johnson's and let them know about the good salmon fishing. There is a perception that the salmon fishing isn't doing very well out there. Based on Jim's report (and some others I have heard about) that's not quite true. Jim, very nice report and wow what fish! Great picture!

Check out Captain Chuck's online fishing report: http://www.fish-ludington.com/fishingreport/index.htm

Yes, hook it up! Being able to know and then duplicate the downspeed after a hit is the number one thing for me to have success catching these slimey critters. As Grant said, with the wind changes we are having it is really affecting the current speeds which then affects how well a lure is running.

Glad to hear you got good service from Big Jon. That's the type of service I had become accustomed to with them, but had heard some not so good reports this year. Pretty darn good service for prime fishing season.

Pyle's Port Hole posted on Facebook that off South Haven there are good numbers (limits) of Kings, Coho, and Steelhead being caught in the top 50' over 100 FOW.

Calling the place you bought it from is probably going to get you action faster than an email to the manufacturer. If you don't get anywhere with them, I'd then call (not email) the manufacturer. You might want to tell us the brand & model of rigger you got too -- maybe someone on the board will have some insights on what might be wrong. Off the top of my head, what size wire are you using to go from the battery to the rigger and how far away is the battery? It needs to be at least the same or bigger gauge as the wire coming off the downrigger. Smaller wire or wire of the same size going over a longer distance will not be able to carry the current (amps) necessary to run the downrigger motor and will pop the breaker as you describe.