Mega Byte

Here's the MLive story which posted today: http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2015/10/chinook_salmon_lake_michigan.html#incart_river_home

Supertramp, I'd love to have your bad days.

Just wondering how your fish counts from this summer compared to last summer. Mine were way down. Now, a good day for me is probably a poor day for most of you. Last year, I brought home four fish per trip on average. The best trip I had last year was a 10 for 10 outing. I didn't get skunked at all last year. This year my average fish brought home per trip was 1 with the best day being a 4 for 6 outing. So this year's best was last year's average. I was skunked twice this year and on those days I didn't even get a release. (Both this summer and last summer I missed a big chunk of the prime August fishing days.) So I was way down and I'm wondering if others were the same or if it was just me. How did this season compare to last season for you?

Guys, how do these larger boats (say 38' - 42' range) handle the waves and chop compared to a mid-20' boat? I am hoping they set in the water a little heaver and aren't bounced around as much. I've never been in a boat larger than my Proline so I don't know if it's better or worse, or noticeably different or not. I'm assuming it makes for a less bouncy troll. George: I'll make sure to let you know if I decide to sell my Proline. Money_pit: glad to hear you've tested the kids and sleepover concept. Tiara makes beautiful boats. Above my price point unfortunately, but great boats. Kevin: I have to agree with you that freeboard height is important. My kids could trip and fall and they would stay inside my Proline. They would literally have to climb over the gunwales to fall out of it. I love that aspect of the boat.

I couple of years ago I purchased a 1997 Proline 250 (pictured below). The boat runs great and I love it. One of my favorite features of the boat is how high the sides are on it. If I remember right, they are between 30" and 32" high. It's super safe for kids. Well, between when I purchased the boat and now, we decided to become foster parents. We are currently fostering 4 children aged 5 - 14. Their mom and dad can't get their act together so it looks like we will be adopting them. Right now I will often take one of the foster boys and spend the night on our Proline. The cuddy cabin sleeps two. So he will sleep in and I can motor out early in the morning with my dad or whoever else is fishing with us. We set the lines and when the little guy wakes up he comes out of the cuddy cabin to join us for fishing. That works great and lets us leave the dock early without having to get him up early. Plus, he loves "camping" on the boat. While this is happening, my wife is playing single mom and has a couple of young girls wondering why they can't "camp" on the boat also. They are foster girls, not daughters so sleeping arrangement rules are different. So my wife has asked me to look into getting a bigger boat, something that will sleep 6 so all the kids can join us for fishing, but sleep in to do it. Or, we could take them fishing at night and put them to bed at their bedtime and stay out and fish until dark. It also gives the kids more room to play while we are fishing so they don't get bored. All of the boats I'm considering are used, twin engine boats in the 36' - 42' range. Most are inboards, one is a twin I/O. 1) Does anyone have an opinion on gas vs diesel engines? 2) Is there a "spook fish" factor with these bigger boats and bigger engines? This would be more that just a fishing boat. My wife would like to port hop and camp with the kids too. I've never owned a boat this big, so if you have experience with boats like this and are willing to share some advice I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

Thanks. I've just started my research. I purchased a 1997 Pro-Line 251 a couple of years ago and love it. However, since then we've gotten 4 foster children and my wife wants a bigger boat so all the kids can sleep on it. So we're looking for something that sleeps 6. Thanks for getting back with me.

How many does it sleep?

The main part the boat is 25'. With the bow pulpit and swim platform it's LOA is 30'. It's a Proline 251. I've attached a picture from when I bought it, before I put my fishing gear on it. My 7 year old went with me in the AM and PM and was fine both trips. The other kids didn't come Saturday night. I think it just affects some people more than others.

My Saturday morning was pretty poor. We ran a 12 rod spread of meat, spoons, plugs and flies. We did a N/S troll most of the morning and that was our mistake I think. I was afraid of getting the kids sick if we trolled E/W. They ended up getting sick anyway so we pulled lines before trying it. But in the morning, we did catch a 12 # king on a 200 Cu with a big blue paddle and meat right. So only meat hits for me Saturday morning. Saturday night meat took 4 of our 6 hits.

I rigged up a 30 Cu to run as my SWR and it was the hot pole for me on Saturday. I ran the ball at the top of the thermocline and tolled a green paddle with a meat rig. On Saturday morning that set up took 2 of our 3 hits. For the evening that setup took 2 of our 6 hits. Thanks for the tip guys. It put some fish in the box for me this weekend.