1mainiac

My point is simple if you limit the cost increase to 1% a year who pays for all the windmills? The Ontario wind farm has never been at 96% for more than a few hours and averages under 20% production. That means we actually have to build 5 times as much as they propose to actually produce the power. The wholesale cost of wind energy is over 3 times the cost of coal energy who is going to make up the difference? Who is going to clean up the mess thousands of rusted out towers will leave in 20 years? The real truth is if it was a profitable alternative companies would be all over it. The fact that the only ones all over it is liberal government officials and special interest groups should concern us all. Hope and Change don't feed the Bulldog the equipment will cost money and the power it produces won't pay for it without government subsidies ie more of your and my tax dollars wasted. Even with subsidies the Ontario wind project output cost is close 13 cents per KW wholesale compared to our cost of under 5 cents per KW who pays the difference? It is nice to write stuff on paper but the fact is it is not cost viable and just like Obama said prices will have to go up. He said you can still use coal you will just go bankrupt doing it with his plans because of penalties.

Plug Ace Hi Blue Mylar Spoon Silver Streak UV as was was close to a tie between Panty Ho and Sprint Car Fly BW Poofster UV Paddle Pro Troll Blue Crush no fish on meat all year but we don't even run it much.

Anyone know the reason wind farms are really not popular? It has nothing to do with the way they look it is because they cost more then they produce so it has to be government mandated. Voting in favor of this bill is voting to raise your electricity bills by 100 to 300% It also will not remove a single current plant because they can add or reduce power on demand unlike wind which has no no real control. The cost to power my 1500sq ft home with wind was est at 280,000 dollars with a annual maintenance of nearly 2 grand to get me free of a electric bill that averaged under a 100 a month. Around 30 grand would put a natural gas generator on my place which would run the house and let me sell power back however the gas bill would run as high as 500 or more per month and it would need a oil change every 2 weeks so the suggestion was that I put in 2 of them. I am all for new energy sources but wind energy is not new it has been used for thousands of years. What it is not is cheap or dependable we have however thousands of miles of rivers which can power much of the state and do it without dams. I have a design I came up with over 30 years ago which costs very little to build and actually works on any flowing stream with little to no change in stream flow.

Since this came back up here is a thought ask any Indian what happens when you don't control immigration. We as a nation are tolerant to our own demise and need to make some changes soon or we will be a former free nation.

Well they will have more on than just the riggers while trolling so total draw needs to be considered. Big Jon Captain packs draw about 7 amps when running none when sitting so if you used 2 min per use down and up on a rigger 30 cycles would be 7AHR 2 riggers would be 14AHR using that if the 2 riggers were wired to a cheap group 24 deep cycle battery rated for 70AHR and cycled 30 times per trip you would get 5 trips before the battery would need to be recharged. I would install a second battery for the riggers and charge it when needed.

Tony get the hull soda blasted first then have them redo it Since you like me trailer the boat I would have it returned to the Gelcoat and put on a hard bottom paint. If I can afford it mine will be done with either VC Offshore or VC Performance Epoxy If the Offshore came in white it would be my only choice but since I don't slip a lot I will likely go with the Performance Epoxy.

All of that is true as well most companies want people to use and promote their product and not just give product to guys because they are supposed to be good. When I talk to sponsors about our tournaments one thing I have heard is many of them are tired of giving a bunch of stuff to the event only to have it all go in a cooler to one guy who often sells it. There is however a difference between field testers and Pro Staff the Pro Staff guys have to do more than just use the product like Bill said you become part of the sales team working the local bait shops and winter shows.

I think it is more about who knows you. While it helps to know the right people when people know who you are the right people will find you. From a business viewpoint Pro Staff is either part of your R&D or advertising so you either want guys testing your stuff or you want people to know the really good guys are using your stuff. I don't Pro Staff for anyone Don and I have a number of sponsors for our Tournament series and I do work to help promote their products but I am still independent which helps me remain objective. Don and I made up our minds when we started that we would not have sponsors just to have sponsors it had to be products we believed in since neither of us are any good about telling people to use things we don't use and like ourselves. One thing you will also find on our boats is we not only tell people to fish with our sponsors stuff we also actually use it. I have not weighed a fish in the B4K charity tourney in 3 years because we either did not get to fish or did not fish the Dreamweaver lure pack. Last year we had boat problems at 5 am so we swapped boats but left the lure pack in my boat so no legal fish. This year the crew voted to not fish the lure pack so we DQ'd ourselves at the dock and went fishing and had a nice day but no legal fish to weigh. The point is our sponsors know we not only promote their products we actually fish them all the time.

Stick with 2 and learn to work them I ran 4 for years dropped down to 2 and like it even better and catch rate went up. If I had a bigger boat I would run a chute rigger just for the probe and control it from the helm. I have considered mounting a remote controlled rigger in the chute for the probe only since I run my corner rigger's at a 45 off the sides any how that way I could keep the probe rigger in the chute to look for water and bring it up when we need to net.

Thanks Josh I always use the smallest I can get away with and since every rod is using 20lb leader or line that is the planned weak point. I do have a pair of rods with 25lb Big Game that do FF on my riggers or get used with my slide divers. Over the years nearly all of my rods have been traded out for lighter gear with most being medium light or medium action it is just way more fun.

I use the 30lb Spro and Haywire twist and shrink tube. Spend a little more and get the 3M shrink tube it is way better do not get the glue tube shrink wrap you won't like it. The pics I put up took about 3 min start to finish it is 45lb Blood Run and 3M shrink tube. I have done dozens of them and they do not fail.

I am not gonna say how many years I have been welding but it has been close to 18 years since I did it for a living. But I still weld a bit now and then and one thing I learned back in the 70's was doing large welds like that are very time consuming because you have to wait between welds or you take a chance on warping the parts so bad the weld won't matter anymore. There actually is a advantage to welding it full assembled as you take less chance of warping it however you will have to rebuild it after it it is welded. If it were mine I would remove the guts toss all the soft parts and put it together clean before welding it. Do not sand blast the weld area clean it with a stainless wire brush.

Ryan the difference could be the cost of taking the lower apart and putting it back together. You have to remove the guts from the unit so they are welding on a empty housing, Trying to weld that much metal will require a lot of heat which will ruin the drive seals so they have to be removed and replaced. So it makes better sense to tear the drive down completely and then weld it and reassemble it after everything cools back down.

I use the leader material for my flies but I use P Line Flouro Clear for the leaders on most of my core and copper setups. My riggers are 20lb Maxima on one set and 25lb Big Game on the other set which I also use with my slide divers.

hope that helps

And the winner was Team Keegan. Results of weigh in as follows yep we weighed zero Steelhead so all the money went to Team Keegan. Keegan and his dad were there at weigh in very nice kid and doing some cool stuff to help other kids. We will try and do this again next year and are open to suggestions. One thought I am thinking is a early May Steelhaed Event open to anyone and DNR rules only weigh in at 1pm. This is a Charity event and it would be nice to get some support to help them. http://www.team-keegan.com/

I would be raising heck with them would be nice to see some pics but if the paint is sheeting off it was not prepped right.

As for the Eagle Claw roller rods ran mine a couple of times and sold them at the swap meet. As for tangles how about 3 guys running 8 rods and getting a triple all of us fighting fish when I realize no one is driving and we ran our own gear over. Worst of all it was only 1 fish that tangled in 2 other rods. Had to put the boat in neutral and get the cutters out but we did land the 1 fish somehow. I had a 10 color tied in my anchor which was a bow mount anchor.

My Big Jons are well over 20 years old they began life as Senior models 4 or 5 years ago I upgraded the motors and gear boxes to Speed Rigger motors. They are scarry fast John Williams told me 265ft a min with a 15lb ball I wish they had auto stops but they draw over 30 amps and no one makes a auto stop that will handle that in a price I am willing to pay. They are old and well worn but still fish every day.

I have 2 8ft roller rods with wire 2 10ft roller rods with wire 2 10ft braid rods and 2 9ft mono divers that I primarily run slide divers on. Hands down the 10ft roller rods are the most fun to catch fish on. We call them Angry Dogs because I explained to one of the guys who had never fished wire before it is like having a big angry dog on a chain when fighting a fish. After he caught a 19lb king on one he calls the rods Angry Dogs. There really is not much difference in depth with wire vs braid maybe a few ft deeper with wire because wire itself is heavier. However there is a big difference in rods as long as the wire stays in the roller the guides will not add drag like eyelets will. So ever tug goes right to the reel and rod seat and you will feel the difference.

Now if the weather will just settle down so the lake can setup we will have a great day on the water. I may have room on my boat for a rider if anyone would like to come along.

I know this is late notice but we have discussed doing this for a few weeks. Next Sat will be a Charity Steelhead event weigh in will be at 1 pm at the Grand trunk boat launch. DNR rules will apply biggest Steelhead will win the side bet. Entry will be 50 dollars per team 40 for the charity and 10 for the side bet. The money will go to Team Keegan http://www.team-keegan.com/ Pay at weigh in fish by any legal means and weigh your best Steelhead. This is a charity event we want to have some fun and raise some money to help this kid out. Hopefully we can make it a annual event that is up to you guys. I know Don will also be posting about this as well so don't be supprised if it is doubled.

Ryan the fact he does not need a title is true in MI however without a title someone with a out of state title could come back and claim the boat. For instance someone could sell you their neighbors boat with just a bill of sale and meet you at a truck stop to save you a long drive. You bring the boat home and register it then a few weeks later the owner reports it stolen and comes and takes it back.

When I got my 14ft from my brother in KY it had not been registered in years he gave me a bill of sale. Went to SOS office no problem 10 bucks for title paid for registration as well for the trailer however you will need a certified scale weight so you have to take it and get it weighed. Most truck stops have scales you just pull on hit the button and they weigh you go in pay and you have a weight slip. The boat and gear does not need to be on the trailer. A weigh slip and bill of sale will get you all the paper work however you also need to pay taxes and they can use assumed values they have on file for the boat if they don't like the number on the bill of sale.

I don't run J plugs much but my setup is simple A bead chain with a split ring to the hook then 20in of 40lb flouro leader to a second bead chain now you can use that hook setup on every plug. That is my single hook setup for double hooks I snell to Owner hooks on 20 in of 40lb flouro leader and run a bead chain at the end. WHen a fish hits the plug body slide up and nothing but hooks in the fish.