SeaCatMich

Just went out and measured the extra set of standard bases I have for my Big Jon trees. The bases are 3 7/8" wide by 5 7/8" long. The holes are 3" on center wide and 5" on center long. When I got mine about 6 years ago I got a set of track mount bases for use in the standard Bert's/Traxstech/Cannon tracks from Big Jon. I was later told that I could have sent the standard bases to BJ and they would have exchanged them for the track bases for free. So if you want to use them with a track you can -- I like it because depending on how many guys are on the boat or how we are fishing, it is easy to move the trees to the right spot.

About a year ago I purchased 4 brand new Traxstech downriggers. After using them this past season (16 days on the water) I found that I really only need 2. Most of the time I don't have enough people on the boat to run them all, so although I may regret this when the fish are 120' deep next summer ... i'm going to sell 2. Wow, did that hurt to type. This is a rare opportunity to buy "used" Traxstech riggers. If you are looking at upgrading your downriggers, you should seriously consider these. They are very well built and I think they are the best downriggers available. The downriggers are in like new condition. They work great -- VERY fast and lots of cool features that are actually useful. Here is the full list: Aluminum 3†swivel base with 12 position positive lock, - optional deck mount downrigger bases available All aluminum frame components Dual 360 degree rotational rod holders with 5 positions up and down Lift & lock solid aluminum 3’ boom with optional lengths available Dual roller pulley assembly on boom All aluminum reel spool with 400’ of 316 stainless-steel cable Liquid smooth drag system with aluminum tension knob and retainer clip on drive shaft to ensure drag system components remain intact. Lighted LCD display screen with large characters for easy viewing Electronic counter system for superior accuracy Soft stop included in the electronic auto stop up and down feature Exact depth control using the lighted military grade 16 character key pad Customer programmable jig function Depth memory feature Tested with : 12# weight retrieved 280 Feet per minute, 14# weight retrieved 260 Feet per minute, 20# weight retrieved 200 Feet per minute Full LIFETIME Warranty Here is a video showing the features of the Traxstechs: Here is a great video by the owner of Traxstech showing the features of the downriggers: Additionally, the following options/upgrades are on the ones I'm selling: CANRH2 rod holders -- these allow the rod holders to be mounted either in front (normal Traxstech position) or behind the spool/motor. I wanted the rods behind the spool/motor to work better in my boat. LINK 4.5" high track mount swivel bases (normal is 3") 4' booms (normal is 3') Scotty 30amp twist lock plugs (Scotty #2127 -- LINK) Heavy duty Traxstech motor/spool covers With the options, shipping and sales tax the downriggers are $1,522 each brand new. So I know you're thinking... HOW MUCH? $2,500 for the pair. This is the price for pickup at my house near Lansing Michigan. Will also consider meeting in Michigan -- half way each. Will ship at actual cost to elsewhere, but these are pretty heavy and when Traxstech builds them with Loctite on the boom threads and are difficult (not impossible) to disassemble. They have the very nice Traxstech swivel bases so you would need at least a 6" track to mount them (Traxstech, Bert's, or Cannon track will all work). Traxstech does offer a deck mount option (not included), so if you don't want the track mount swiel bases I would sell the pair for $2,400 without them. If you are interested please email or PM me.

The original FlatFish was made by Hellin Lures of Detroit. They are still made but now owned by Wordens/Yakima (http://www.yakimabait.com/products/flatfish/). The original ones were made of wood and are now plastic. Most of the original models had two pairs of small trebles that work great for fish like stream trout, bass, walleye and pike but for big water salmon/trout there were models with two heavier trebles. For the big water trolling I prefer the blue scale, pearl, chartreuse, and chromed colors. Here is a picture of one with the 4 trebles. Color is great for Steelhead! Here is one with the 2 trebles:

Some/all of the port's Chambers of Commerce or Charter Boat Associations should coordinate with the cruise line to have some charter fishing trips available as part of the itinerary. I'm sure they want to put miles on during the night between stops but getting there early enough to let passengers go on a half day morning trip would really be a treat for the passengers. Catching a decent salmon or trout would have to be a thrill for many of them from Europe. Sight seeing and shopping is great but getting to fish for world class salmon is a once in a life time chance for many/most.

Nice report on the Hamburg's stop in Traverse City. http://youtu.be/r7Y1twLZsv0

Don't let the boat's forward motion stop completely -- just long enough in neutral for the blowback on the rigger weights to be reduced significantly and take the tension off the rods. When I do this, someone is positioned right by the rods because the forward motion of the boat isn't gong to set the hook as well and getting right on the fish is important. I really like using this with buoyant lures like FlatFish trolled right near bottom for Lake Trout. U20 and X5 work very well. Great for staging salmon off the bottom too.

Another technique that has worked very well for me with bigger lakers on Lake Michigan is what I call "dead fishy". Basically I throw the boat in neutral long enough for the downrigger rods to nearly straighten up and then put it back in gear to resume trolling speed. This causes the heavy lures (spoons, dodners, flashers) to flutter down and the buoyant lures to rise (plugs, stick baits, Flatfish). Most hits happen when the boat goes back in gear.

I would think bigger might be better but also look at your speed. Bigger lake trout are somewhat lazy and I would think in the even colder water of Lake Superior they would be wanting to expend even less energy in feeding. I'd go slowwww at sub 1.5 mph. I doubt that alewife are their primary food, especially in Superior. I would go with larger lures imitating sculpin, chubs, and smaller whitefish that run at slower speeds with a side to side wobble. Larger size Evil Eye, Williams Wobbler and the super mag Yek spoons should all be good. Northport Nailer used to make a super mag size too but have not seen them in a few years. Another lure I'd try that runs great at slow speeds and has a real side to side action is the Flatfish.

Careful in going to a lower HP 4 stroke. They have improved in recent years, but the weight of a 4 stroke is going to be higher than the equivalent 2 stroke. The power output is generally a little less on the 4 stroke too. If your boat does well with the 90, I'd look at staying with a 90 on the 4 stroke too. If the hull is rated for more, then I'd look at going to a higher HP. They are quieter, no smoke and much better on gas though. I love my two Honda 90s but wish they were 100 or 115 hp to get some more speed out of my boat. I'm not planning on changing though.

Not really sure I'm answering your question but here goes :-) I rarely have my downrigger line set with less than 20' of line from the release to the lure. As the downrigger is set deeper the distance to the lure can be set shorter -- further from the boat fish are less spooked by the boat. The rule I use is to subtract the depth of the downrigger ball from 100 and that is my "stretch" to the lure but a minimum of 20'. So, if the downrigger is at 40' then my lure is 60' back (100-40=60). If the rigger is at 89 or deeper the lure would be 20' back (100-80=20). Rules are made to be broken though and this one is a very loose rule. Prime example is with sliders. I usually have 8' fixed sliders on my riggers set 10 to 20' above the ball. If the rigger is set at 40' then the main lure would be back 60' but then the slider at 30' would only be 8' back... and will get plenty of hits. It is up in the air as to how deep on the main line that free sliders will run. General thought is 1/2 to 2/3 of the way down to the rigger ball/release on the bellow in the line. When I'm using a free slider I NEVER put the main lure with more than 20' of stretch off the ball. When a fish hits a free slider and pops the release there is very little pressure on the fish until the slider "slides" all of the way to the main lure. The further the main lure is off the ball, the longer it takes to make up this slack line and get a good solid connection to the fish. If my rigger is set shallower than 80', the 20' stretch "breaks" the 100 "rule". I also try to listen to what the fish are telling me by watching the graph and by what presentations are working. If fish on the graph are showing up as nice even, long arches that tells me they are probably not extremely active compared to when you see half arches or arches that are more like streaks covering 10-30' vertically on the graph. If I see active fish I will shorten up the stretch as this will give more action to the lures. More neutral long arch fish will make me lengthen the leads. If I'm getting fish on aggressive presentations such as divers then I also shorten the leads on the riggers. Conversely if it is only the long line leadcore and/or coppers getting hits, then I lengthen the stretch off the ball. Flasher to lure/bait (end of loop to nose of lure) is generally 3x the length of the attractor -- Herring Dodgers, Bechold Fish Catchers, Hot Spots, Spin Doctors. With meat rigs though, I go longer with 44 to 60" behind an 11" flasher being typical.

http://fox6now.com/2014/10/02/400-passenger-cruise-ship-to-dock-in-the-port-of-milwaukee-for-the-first-time-in-seven-years/ Good stuff about a cruse ship based in Montreal on a Great Lakes tour with mainly German tourists stopping in Milwaukeee.

They look like west coast Halibut/Ling Cod rigs to me. Maybe the lot is from the pacific coast. I'd put them on eBay -- they go for $10 and more each depending on hook size and leader strength. Or plan a trip to Alaska

Since I'm no longer right by the lake it is the forecast of high temps below 50 for a week or more. Since it is usually gong to be a day trip since most of my fishing buddies won't go and the combination of an available day and good weather (especially winds) are few and far between fall trips have been rare the past few years. The boat gets put in the pole barn before the first snow - sometimes just a day ahead of time. When I lived in St. Joe I managed to go fishing on Christmas day twice in the early 2000's. Have not made it out in January or February but seriously thought about it in 2013 when we really didn't have winter... but due to an early snow the boat was already in the barn.

Here is a picture of the one we saw fishing off Ludington the week after Labor Day. Looked empty but we were a mile or so away.

Very nice video! Actually found it via a YouTube suggestion yesterday when looking at a video from another GLF member who was fishing the Betsie a couple weeks ago. Great job getting jack on the King. Your other video of Jack catching a salmon and a brown on his own is also very good. Welcome to GLF. Looking forward to your reports.

Seems like I ran into a whole lot more stuff out on the lake this summer -- lots of those mylar party balloons and three or four of the plastic six pack holders (caught on the rigger and diver lines). Should be plenty to clean up. Did this a couple of times when I lived in St. Joe and it is very satisfying to help.

As long as the snakes stay away from me this sounds like a neat thing to do and it saved money over hauling off the cement from the dam.

Managed to get out on Christmas day two times down in St. Joe in the 2000's. Steelhead and Kings in 200 FOW, top 30'. Action was non-stop with triples very common with 6 rods out. 2 riggers with sliders, high divers, and leadcore off inline boards.

I agree with the posts above, fall offshore fishing for steelhead and "2 year old" kings is great if you can get out. Have had success off St. Joe, Holland, and Ludington from late September through Mid November. For me it has generally been a spoon (regular and mag size) and small (#3 & #4) plug bite but in 2012 meat also worked well. Mostly a top 50' fishery. When I lived in St. Joe my boat was always the last one out of the marina. I really liked heading out for a few hours in the late afternoon/evening and would leave work a couple hours early if the weather was good. My coworkers liked it too because it often resulted in sharing bags of "extra" fresh or smoked salmon.

Yes I now have the Edit button at the bottom of my two posts in this thread. Glad I could help. Have fun in the great white north!

Yes. Both Edit and Delete disapear after around 15 minutes. I mainly use Chrome but it also does it with FireFox and IE 11. Just sent you a PM with something to check.

Hmmm... The edit button is not there after about 15 minutes on all of my posts. Maybe I'm special... or on double secret probation?

After ~15 minutes the edit option is no longer available to "regular" users.