1mainiac

My setup is differant I run a Blacks like Lins Dancin posted as to how to put it on the cable. This way it is above the probe and ball and is free to allow them to spin under them. Now I glue the Blacks shut and run a small tie wrap as well so it cannot open. So it is just a attachment point above the ball from this I run Off Shore Releases Light Medium or Heavy depending on what gear and how I am fishing. The length of cable in the release allows us to see shakers very easy. We can load the rods up and catch a lot of fish I have done this for over 4 seasons and if I am on the fish my catch rate is as good as anyone eles's plus it is much easier to grab the line with a pinch pad then to twist the line ans snap a release shut.

I have one and I like it, mine is the SPX-5 corepack with the P70R controller I can fish all day with it and run in and out with it as well. I have not tried docking with it but bet I could do it. With the P70R controller you can turn the heading knob just like a steering wheel so for a 5 deg change to port you turn it till it beeps 5 times. The other reason I got the P70R is it lets me use trolling patterns once I hook up the plottter. The one thing I have noticed is when it is rough you have to increase the response level to hold course which holds a tighter course but runs the unit more. So on calm days I will set the response to 2 or 3 which is fine and the unit hardly runs Fishing in 2 to 4 ft waves I run it on 5 or 6 trolling in the channel I set it on 9 so it does not drift at all. I have not even finished the install on mine I hooked it up got it to work and started using it so my setup still needs to be fine tuned but all I wanted was a roughly straight course which it does fine. Now the rest of the story this is the unit that was packaged into my boat purchase 5 years ago however Raymarine canceled release several times and I never got the unit. I ended up getting my money back for the AP and waited to see if the ever got it together while I looked at every other option. If I had the extra money it would not be on my boat for a couple of reasons one it is noisey and and as stated it makes the boat harder to steer when not using it. My first choice would be a Octipus R series drive mounted below decks with a Garmin GHP12. But if I had went with it this year the boat would sit at the dock as I would not have gas money to go fishing. Advantages 1. I could afford it this year 2. It does actually work 3. Now I can fish instead of drive or yell at the driver 4. I can fish by myself in a 26ft boat in any condition I am willing to fish in

15lb ball and everything attached to it 5 planer boards 450 copper 300 copper blew up my wire diver reel is fixed now went thru 3000 ft of Blood Run redoing and repairing rods this summer 5000ft of Power Pro 30lb 4 or 5 big paddles with flies broke a diver rod got the fish that broke it 16lb king spent 3grand fixing the boat and still has minor issues to fix By the time the boat is in storage the total for this year will be close to 8 grand for fishing the big lake

This year it has been the Moonshine RV series of spoons for us. Last year it was Silver Streak UV spoons which we still run but the new Moonshines have caught more fish so far.

Kevin I am only up to around 200 fish this year not one on lead core yet ( ok I hardly ever run it ) no fish on my mono divers no fish on my braid divers not one fish on a meat rig. My 100 to 450 coppers have been pounding fish since April no I am not gonna get rid of any of the non productive rods they will also catch fish. My hottest rods this year have been my 200 coppers with riggers 2nd and wire divers 3rd.

I honestly think they have already ran up the river. With the numbers we get all season their can't be all that many left the reduced stocking has it's affect. I have a friend with a small creek that connects to the White and he said they are laying on beds in his creek. 2 weeks ago the fish were stacked up in 80 to 100 now they are gone those fish were bronzed up pretty good. If I were still concerned with getting Kings I would hit the rivers. What I want is the water to setup so I can get to my Steelhead. They are flat out my fav fish to catch and eat in the big pond. Then we can start on the Walleye and perch till the water freezes and I hit the rivers for more steel. The fall harvest is coming bring it on.

Sorry Don last we talked you were at 3 and getting ready to pull in a bit so when I saw you heading in I thought you were done. It did lay down a bit and the run in was much nicer than the run out plus we had fish which improved our attitude.

It was a positive report I was positive I was not getting skunked 2 days in a row. Don was fishing south of me to start the day I went north. When he called and said he had a couple in the box we pulled gear and headed down by him. I was working the area with him when he said he was calling it a day with 3 in the box. That was when we changed gear and headed west. If Don was watching behind him on his way in he would have seen our first fish come in right after I pulled the divers and bags. The salmon hit the slider on the Starboard rigger set at 60 and the Steelhead hit a Ace Hi plug on the port rigger set at 53.

Dismal weekend for me 13.5 hours trolling over 2 days and only 2 small fish to show for it. Sat fished from 7am till 3 pm 0 fish first skunk on my boat since 09. Out today and from 7am till noon 0 fish, Gary and Steve said they had no plans so I pointed it west changed out to a Steelhead program and told them we were gonna catch fish or catch a Brewers Game in Milwaukee. Picked up a small King in 270ft and a nice Steelhead in 280. Turned back in trolled to 250 without a hit and pulled lines.

I made a pass thru the Sand Docks a couple passes in the channel and a few out front in 30 to 50ft. Pulled lines at 9 am and ran in to get fuel. After fueling ran south west to the 9's in 250 fow fished north south east and west from there all the way back to the Sub. 7 hours trolling time 0 fish not a single hit. First time since Sept of 09 I have been skunked. I did not work north which is what I will try in the morning. It was a cement mixer out deep with the wind direction change mad morning. My rookie crew was getting sick and frankly I was tired of changing gear out by myself. Only report I got was one person reported getting a fish in 80ft I was in 270 when I got that report. There were some fish inside of 100 from 45 to 60 down but no takers. Boats were fishing the basin the Sand Docks Jigging and fishing in front of the Mill I never saw one boat fight or land a fish.

If this is just for fishing lay down some well supported thin plywood that is epoxy coated and then glass over it and finish with Gelcoat. Use a roller on the Gelcoat to create a non skid finish. Done correctly you have a lifetime floor job the will rinse clean after every trip. The extra weight will improve the ride and handling of the Starcraft since it is low weight. Remember to foam every space not used for storage. When I did my 18ft Holiday I used 1/2 plywood that I coated both sides of then I did a second layer of 1/2 plywood also coated both sides but with all the seams reversed. I carpeted that one but had a friend who weighs close to 500lbs tell me it was the most solid boat floor he ever stood on in a small boat. That was 7 years ago my nephew has the boat now and the floor is still solid as a rock.

I will be out Sat and Sun morning

Wingnut is correct

Personally I run a lot of Silver Streak and Moonshine spoons standards and mags I like the heavier spoons they handle going fast better and don't self destruct when a fish hits them hard. Ace Hi yellow Tail plugs on a 300 copper always get big Steelhead had one that was almost 16 lbs at the fish cleaning station and we bleed it out a couple of years ago. We had one rip a 300 and then follow the boat Steve reeled the board in was holding it say the fish was gone and should he just reset it when the fish yanked it out of his hands and took about 200 ft of line before he could get it stopped. Glad he caught the rod before it went with the fish that was a 10 lber. When you see bait fish jumping out of the water you'll know why going fast works.

Here's my fall program Only got 180 Stealhead last fall. So it could use some improvement. I run a spring program only faster with no divers. Lots of boards repeat lots of boards if I have enough people on board I will run 8 boards a side. 300 coppers will have plugs usually a Ace Hi Yellow Tail on one Blue Mylar on the other. 200 coppers will have a Blue Dolphin on one a Carmel Dolphin on the other the outside boards will be 150 copper 125 copper 115 copper and 100 copper theses will have bright spoons lots of Orange. That is 4 boards per side If I have rods left I will run a 5 color and a 3 color or even 2 of each 3 color will have red Thin fins. Did I mention I mean run fast 3.8 is dead slow 4.5 is nice but will run well over 5 even up to 7 mph. I start in 225 to 250 depending on what I see running out. I am guessing the 300 coppers will run about 40 down at these speeds. Once on the fish it is not hard to box out a 4 man limit in a hour or so. From now till the end of the year when I pull the boat I can run the same lures on the same rods every trip.

I use both they have their places the first I use when tieing mono backer to wireline. the second I use for braid I feel it does not cut itself off as much with the doubled wraps it is also supposed to be stronger.

Get bags you will love them they slow you down and stabilize the boat. By letting you run a higher rpm you get much better boat control. I ran a plate for years and thought I liked it till I started running bags I was wrong trolling plates suck LOL. Throw a set of 20in bags of the midship cleat and you will think your on a bigger boat they will flatten out small waves as they keep the boat from rocking. The best setup is birds but they are not all that practical for our way of fishing. I also have a design for what I call mini birds. My design is like a huge Dipsey Diver and while they provide drag which will slow you a bit are really about boat stabilization and getting rid of roll.

CV30D and CV 45D on my 10 Blue Diamond rods 5 years only 2 issues both operator error including mine last week when I reached over to lossen the drag and let one out a bit deeper and tripped the release that one now has 470ft of wire left which should be plenty for the small ammount of harbor patrol it will get this fall. I also have a pair of CV30D reels on 8ft Blue Diamond rods Thes are harbor patrol rods only. My braid divers and Mono Slide diver rods have not been wet in 2 years.

Nick I have a 13lb with 200 ft of rode and 15ft of chain it holds my 26 in up to 30ft of water pretty good. The trick is getting the scope correct not counting the chain you need roughly 5ft of line out for every ft of depth a storm anchor will start at 7ft of line per ft of water. If the scope is wrong the anchor will not hold. For storm conditions I normally just put the boat back on the trailer LOL.

I would say sue Progressive and Bayliner 1 800 call Sam LOL. Most insurance companies know a lawsuit will cost them a ton win or lose.

Ryan in my 26 I have 2 choices if I want to keep the prop out of the dirt Fishermans Landing long run to the lake or Grand Trunk. Fishermans landing is the nicer and has a cleaning station however it is also a steeper ramp and I have smoked the tires on my F250 Deisel more than once when the ramp is busy and wet. Opps I almost forgot one Harbortown has a pay ramp and a fish cleaning station and you cannot get any closer to the lake.

Dave chickens may be more fun if you don't eat them growing up on a farm we had chicken all the time that meant killing them which we turned into a sport which got our butts whupped several times. Apparently hanging them on the clothesline next to grandmas laundry was frowned apon LOL. Then you had to pluck them and clean them by the time I was 20 you could not make me eat chicken at gunpoint LOL. I will however never forget the look on my baby brothers face at Christmas dinner when he realized dinner was his pet goose. We used to name the pigs Ham Pork Chops Bacon.

Actually there are less nets this year than normal since Paul is not fishing this year as his brother has health problems. Since it was Paul who put up all the net positions there have been no updates this year. Paul not only put up the info on his nets he put up the info on all the other nets in the area. They are after Whitefish so the nets only extend up about 20 to 30 ft off the bottom I have fished in and around them for years and have not caught one in close to 7 years. Yes they are a PITA but they also give structure to the bottom and I have caught a lot of Kings around the nets.

wish we had tried that last night Keith LOL.

Hey buddy nice to see you posting over here. If you fished the Croton to Newaygo area in the 70's we probably fished next to each other back then. My friends and I made our living off the DNR when they were buying eggs. I pulled a lot of 30 to 40lb kings out of that stretch esp the Thronapple launch area and right below the dam. I still fish that area for Steelhead all winter when I can get up there.