Honey Pit

Not sure where I picked this up, but it has worked good - I tie a rubber band to my backer in the area just back from the board clip. I put the line and half of the rubber band loop inside the board pin. When the board releases, the rubber band keeps the board from sliding down. Occasionally it slips down a little but always stops at the connection of the backer to the leadcore/copper. When you get the board off the line at the boat, you can just reel the rubber band in. When you let it back out you can either re-use the rubber band or pull it off & replace it. Not sure if this is common but it's worked good for me for a few years now. Think I only had 1 time that the rubber band broke and the board slid all the way down to the lure.

On walleye boards, follow their instructions on how to clip the backer line in to allow it to release when fighting the fish. I used to just clip them straight in, but they release harder that way which I think could lead to higher risk of breaking your line especially if your drag is tighter.

Usually if you break the line you will lose the board unless you spin around fast enough to pick it up. Key is not to break the line. Some tips for that learned the hard way: 1)Keep drags light until you get the board in the boat 2) Inspect clip pads for worn "grooves" from the line. These grooves will prevent the line from releasing smoothly - tendency then is to jerk on the line to get it to release causing it to break. Replace if worn. Agree with others - shallow boards to the outside. Weight behind each board and amount of line out to the board will result in spacing. You can adjust that so you have comfortable spacing between the boards. When comparing lead core to copper my opinion is getting your lures to the desired depth with the least effort is more important than which one you use. Since it takes less copper to achieve depth, I prefer copper and have replaced my leadcore with copper.

Guys, Very helpful responses. I gotta give it a shot! Thank you all! I love the willingness to share info among big lake fisherman!

Guys, I've been salmon fishing nearly 15 years but have never tried fishing with meat. My perception was it wasn't worth the hassle. I finally feel like that may not be the correct perception and I should bite the bullet and give it a try. But, I don't know anything about it. I wondered if anyone could recommend a video or other material that could help educate me on how to fish with meat? Also, if any of you have any tips for me I'd appreciate it also. Better to learn from your mistakes than my own... Bob

Slow morning. Fished 80-140FOW. 3 hits in first hour - missed 2 and brought in 1 small King. After the sun got bright it just died for us - picked up 1 smaller laker mid morning. Below are details: 1st miss - 90 FOW, Downrigger 55 down, Blue Bubble Flasher/Fly 2nd miss - 110 FOW, Downrigger 45 down, NBK spoon 3rd catch - 110 FOW, 300 copper, Mixed veggie spoon 4th catch - 120 FOW, full core, Green flasher/fly Going out tomorrow am. If it's this slow thinking about trying to head out and target steelhead. If anyone has any reports or info on the steelhead bite I'd love to hear.

Went 4 for 7 this morning. Fished 45-80 FOW. All the hits but 1 came in 45-55 FOW. 5 hits on south troll and 2 on north troll. All about 2.4 mph on GPS. Here's the rundown: 14# King - Moonshine Mangolian Beef spoon on 7 color 12# Laker - DnRigger 35' down, Antifreeze flasher/fly 6# Laker - Same DnRigger as above 12# King - Holographic Blue Dolphin std size spoon on 200' copper Miss 1 - Same Blue Dolphin/200' copper Miss 2 - Same Blue Dolphin/200' copper Miss 3 - Same Blue Dolphin/200' copper The 200' copper came in with scales on one of the misses so it seems like they were slapping at it and not hooking up good. All in all a decent morning.

Fished 120-150 FOW. Had some action but sounds like it was better in closer. Both catches came at dusk. 1 miss - Dbl orange crush spoon on 4 color lead. Saw the steely jump and then off. 2nd miss - DR 70 down. Moonshine wonderbread. Released but nothing there. 8 lb King at dusk - Lemon Ice spoon on DR 70 down. 13 lb King at dusk - Green jplug on DR 45 down.

Dipsey's were both were set on 3.

Went 5/7 this morning out of Port Sheldon. 1st fish was a decent Laker on the way out in 90FOW on a DR 75 down. Green/white (name?) moonshine spoon. Remaining 4 were Kings all in 115 to 125 FOW & 2.4 to 2.8 GPS speed & mostly east troll: 10# & 12# Kings - Braided magnum dipsey 180 ft back. Green Antifreeze ProTroll 10" Flasher w/ green mirage fly. 20# King - Braided standard dipsey 250 ft back. Pearl ProTroll 10" flasher with mirage fly. Shaker King when pulled lines - 4 color on planer with double orange crush. Fish came through the whole morning. Beautiful morning on the water.