SeaCatMich

I run 300' of 150# stainless wire by Scotty on my Vector and Big Jon riggers. I don't really think that there are significant differences between brands of rigger cable. In the old days (30 years ago) the stuff was very springy and it was relatively easy to get kink in the cable if you got any slack in the line but I have not had that problem in a long, long time. As for the termination of the wire I have used the Magna Dyne Klincher connector for 20 years without any problems. Much better than the old crimp sleeves and thimble... and a whole lot easier to put on the wire. Picture of the Klincher:

Thanks for the heads-up. One more thing to do before it gets cold. I wish I had known earlier though. My '07 Avalanche had a 12 month bumper to bumper warranty on it as a Certified GM vehicle when I bought it -- of course that ran out in June Back in '06 I had to use the spare on my '02 Avalanche. It was an adventure to get the spare off the truck. The guys at Discount Tire put it back in the mount after fixing my bad tire... I wasn't looking forward to doing that either. What I don't understand is with this being an ongoing problem, why hasn't GM fixed or replaced the system. With all of the regulators out there for the auto industry, why hasn't this been publicised as a major issue? Seems like a working spare tire storage system would be sort of important!

I have used Woody's Wax in the past and it does a good job of making the textured decks easy to clean. I actually need to do it again to my boat's decks as it has been three seasons since my last application. It is a very good product.

Here is the address listed on the auction: 6269 Riverside Dr Saugatuck, MI 49453 Map: http://mapq.st/Tfp1QO

It shows on google maps as being on the river between town and the Lake Michigan.

Can anyone tell me about Deep Harbor Marina on the river in Saugatuck? There are a couple of slips there that are for sale in an auction. Is it a good place for fishermen? Water depth? Well maintained? Affected by big lake wind/waves? Thanks for any insights!

I used the 10' white Cabela innerflows for many years as my braid diver rods. Also used the 8' versions for mono riggers. Didn't like that they yellowed over time and when the spiney water fleas got bad in mid to late July they would clog the end of the rods and were a real PITA. Other than that I really liked the rods. Also Had a set of 4 Daiwa 7' innerflows too that I picked up used a few years later. The next year I moved away from the lake and didn't get to use them much so i resold them. Not sure how the insides and tip would hold up to wire but if we didn't have the flea issue I would probably still be using them.

The Vectors and Brutes both have booms that can be lifted to allow the weights to be swung/swinged in to be set. But on the Vectors with the 5' booms I have Traxstech weight retrievers that I use when I run 12# or heavier weights -- the 5' booms with the heavier weights are a little difficult to lift (especially in 3' seas). Walker did offer an automatic weight retriever system on some models that would bring the weight back to the spool along the boom. Not sure if this can be added to ones that didn't come that way. Here is a picture: Here is a picture of the Traxstech weight retrievers:

See how the long arms do off the corners facing straight out the back. I would think on the kicker side the boom will extend beyond the kicker. If it does work then replace the short arms with long for use as outdowns. I understand what others are saying about only running two riggers with the fish being more distributed throughout the water column, but there have been quite a few times in the last few years where the fish are very deep (120'+) and to me, downriggers are the most effective tool for those deep presentations. Put them on a removable base or track mount and take them off when you don't need depth. I run four riggers on my boat. 4' arms out the back with Big Jon Brutes mounted on Traxstech bases that I angle out 30* to get them away from the outboards. The other two are outdown Vectors with 5' booms that are mounted 3' forward of the rear ones. All of them are on tracks and I can easily change the configuration out to fit the situation.

Maybe Berkley has improved it, but when I first tried fluorocarbon line it was the Vanish. It was terrible. Didn't knot well, poor durability, inferior breaking strength. It took me another 3 or 4 years to try fluoro again. Sorry Berkley, but I'm not planning on spending my money on it again to see if it has improved. Other brands... Cabelas, Seaguar, PLine, Rapala, Vicious... have all been much better quality.

I made some calls today and was really amazed at the variance in costs quoted. The local "marina" here in Lansing said a new skeg would be around $30-$40 but it would be $280 to $320 to install it. A place down near Gibraltar that was recommended via a PM was $30 for the skeg and $100 to install. I can afford to drive a couple hours at that cost difference

Where is First Marine located? Do they have a web site?

I use fluoro 20# line for my leadcore and copper leaders because of the transparency. For fly and meat rig leaders I use 40 & 50# leader material for the stiffness and durability. At this past spring's fishing shows I found what I thought was a pretty good price ($9) on the heavy fluoro leader in 50 yard spools by Rapala. I'm not sure I would spend the $40 for the 50 yard Seaguar leader material. I don't know that there is a significant difference between the line and leader material for what we use it for.

Here is a picture of the damage.

I have an opportunity to buy a Honda 30 HP outboard but its skeg is broken. I know that they can be replaced/repaired and have used something similar to the Skeggard product in the past, but Skeggard does not offer a model for the 30 HP Honda. Does anyone know of something that would work? How big of a deal is it to have a new skeg welded on? Any idea how much it should cost? Any suggestions of where to go in the mid-Michigan area (Lansing, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kzoo, Muskegon ???). Any other suggestions?

Had a friend that was very interested in an IntelliTroll early this summer. Based on poor performance and limited success in getting them fixed with Cannon, I suggested he go to the Depth Raider, SubTroll or X4 but he really likes his Cannon riggers and wanted one. Could not find one and none of the shops knew when they would be getting them. I called Cannon for him and was told that the product was discontinued and no more would be made. He ended up with an X4 and like me, is very happy. With addition of the actual probe depth added to the X4 with the X4D model it is the uncoated cable equivalent (feature wise). The later models of the IntelliTroll were much better, but the first models had lots of problems and apparently could not be overcome.

One more! http://sandusky.craigslist.org/boa/3288541644.html

Aluminum http://saginaw.craigslist.org/boa/3299047358.html http://monroemi.craigslist.org/boa/3290110494.html http://sandusky.craigslist.org/boa/3245802214.html http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/boa/3228479086.html http://www.walleye.com/BoatsforSale/tabid/65/uc/info/ItemID/141/Default.aspx http://www.walleye.com/BoatsforSale/tabid/65/uc/info/ItemID/195/Default.aspx http://www.walleye.com/BoatsforSale/tabid/65/uc/info/ItemID/200/Default.aspx http://www.walleye.com/Default.aspx?TabID=65&ItemID=197&uc=info&mode=dir Fiberglass http://www.walleye.com/DesktopModules/PA_AutoDealer/Files_Posted/f_408_201/0/boileaupdf.pdf http://swmi.craigslist.org/boa/3240172075.html http://sandusky.craigslist.org/boa/3306459410.html

The break-away cable just needs to be of a lessor breaking strength than your main rigger cable. Personally I have never had a problem with loosing a weight due to hitting bottom and it getting snagged... and I have hit bottom with the weight on the probe rigger and others relatively often. I do use the break-away cable furnished with my X4 but the cost of a replacement from FH seems pretty high to me. Should be able to remove a single strand from a 1' segment of regular rigger cable to weaken it to make a break-away cable.

The FH probe has a gravity switch in it. If you turn it upside down the probe will turn off. Plan on about 1 9V battery for every weekend or two depending on how much it is in the water. One of the nice features of the X4 is that it does not turn on until it is submerged in the water. You can usually test the probe by putting it about 1" below the transducer.

I had one for 8 years and it worked very well. When its head unit got damaged in moving, I changed to the Depth Raider because of the great reviews it was getting. The DR worked very well too but I went back to the FishHawk when the X4 came out -- mainly because I didn't like the coated cable. As you mention, you can always buy the X4 probe and have the performance and battery life of the new unit, minus the new style display. With a probe upgrade, you would have less in the used 840 + probe than a new X4 but about the same as a new Depth Raider. Really depends on your preference of coated cable (DR) vs transducer (FH) and the initial buy in cost.

If we have caught a bunch of fish, then the flies might cause us to quit sooner. It has to be a combination of negative stuff... waves, heat, flies, bad fishing, etc to get my boat to come in "early". Started using a new to me repellent called BuggSpray (http://www.buggspray.com/) that I heard about and it works very well to stop the flies. Menard's is the only place I have found it in Michigan. The spiney water fleas have never caused me to shorten a trip. They can be a pain but just something to deal with. About the only thing that really causes me to come in early is when the waves get over 4'. The whole idea is to have fun and when it isn't anymore then it is time to head in.

You triggered a memory which I haven't had in a very long time. Way back in the early '70s was actually the first time that I tried wire. If I remember correctly the reel was a Penn 309 and I know the rod was an Eagle Claw 8' with rollers and a wooden handle. It was so bulky and heavy The line was not forgiving at all and kinked a few times. Ran it down the chute with a lead ball on a sinker release. Never got a hit on it and pretty sure we only tried it on one or two trips and went and got some manual downriggers. If I remember right we bought it at Armstrong's in Whitehall and he took it back in as credit toward the pair of Riviera 300 downriggers and a pair of rigger rods/reels.

The 47lc reels will be fine for wire. I'm guessing these are the older Great Lakes 47LC reels (all black, no chrome/silver trim). They or the newer SeaLine SG47LC or LCA will be fine for 1,000' of 30# stainless wire -- with a mono/flouro leader the 1,000' will fill the spool almost completely without any backing. You will want to coat the spool with either electrical tape or some mono to prevent the wire from slipping on the spool though. I started out with SG47LC reels for my wire with Heartland rods with Twillie Tips. After hearing rave reviews on the Shimano Tekota 600LC reels, I bought a pair of them along with 7' Talora roller rods. The 600LCs are nice and smooth, but for nearly twice the cost of the Daiwas, I can't say that I would do it again. Both the SG47LC and the 600LC are 4.2:1 retrieve ratios and both have good drags. The roller rod did make it a lot easier to use the wire though. I didn't damage the Heartland rods with the wire at all, but like Jim/1Maniac I can sure tell there is a lot less resistance with the rollers. I later upgraded to the 9' Talora rollers with the swivel tip -- very nice wire rods (pricey too, but I got a bargain on CraigsList). The Great Lakes 47LC are actually faster than the newer SG models with a 5.1:1 retrieve ratio. I used them as my half core reels for years mainly because of the better speed for clearing lines.