1mainiac

Looks like we got 15 to 18in last night however a quick note on gas prices first the oil companies do not set the price the price is set like any other commodity and is controlled by speculators. This price is set at several times a day and finalized at market close some gas stations will change their prices every time the new price comes out others do it at market close. All of the late night changes were based on local greed since the fuel they were selling was already in their tank and had been billed out. SO if you got gouged by your local station it was them or their district management that gouged you. I am sure many of them panicked at the thought they might run out of gas and be a day or 2 before the trucks could get them filled back up. Others are just greedy but in any event it was a local increase.

check out these guys lots of options I can't find the shear bolts in small enough sizes for what I think you want. http://www.brycefastener.com/?gclid=CIGavrDU6KYCFQTrKgodNX5h0A

More is better bumper stickers should be issued if I could get 90 rod holders on my boat I would try for 100. To much is never enough

I also use the worm binders but really like Jim Bobbers bazooka

Don maybe we can get tables close to each other and if I have any space you are welcome to it.

Come to the swap meet next Sat I will have a bunch for sale

Lots of tamper proof screws out there best ones break off when you tighten them but you have to drill them out to remove them.

The conference in Muskegon featured 2 speakers from this site Tyler and I gave a presentation on promoting the local fishery and tournaments as a way for ports to help build revenue.

I have considered them for my fall Steelhead program just not sure if they would work any better than 15lb balls as far as blowback when going fast. One setup I have heard guys doing is using a ball below them and using them to widen their outside riggers.

Can't say have not fished the Brad's yet however knowing if the fish are not biting I can use the bait to make a sandwich is cool with me LOL. Also there are tons of oils and stuff you can try in the Brad's as well as a variety of ways you can rig them and run them. I ran tons of meat 4 years ago very little since then I honestly catch more fish since I quit using the Herring but I do a lot of things different now then then. I have another trick I use now and then but will hold off on giving it away. I guess my issue with meat rigs is from finding some surprise bait rotting in my cabin because it had been tossed in the cabin instead of overboard or in the trash. I still run it now and then but not like I used to.

For me I start with reports phone a few friends and consider what water I am fishing. If I am fishing out front I tend to stick with loud and trashy lures due to water clarity and other variables. By out front I mean any where in the river plume. As you move to deeper water it becomes clearer and you have to consider how much light penetration you have ie is it a bright clear sky or cloudy yep even at night it matters maybe more than during the day. Sending down extremely bright lures on a dark cloudy morning does not work well for me dark lures with just a bit of glow do work. On nice clear mornings the brighter stuff works and as light approach's I start thinking of UV stuff as it will be the first light in the water. I have also found UV to work better than glow on bright moonlit nights. Most of my current flies are a mix of UV and glow one of my hottest setups last season was a Pro Troll UV flasher with E Chip and a UV glow fly it worked pretty much every trip under nearly every condition. Sometimes the biggest thing is having confidence in a setup many times I have waited out a lure change because I felt there was nothing wrong with the spread it was just a matter of putting it in front of fish.

All of the above and you can buy meat online or in several bait shops. most of it is packed in salt now so the storage and handling issues are less of a issue. You can also use fake meat or even a sponge soaked in various scented oils will work. I for one am going to be running the Brads cut plugs this season. Big Weenie sells the Slick Strips.

My pre sunup setup changes all the time but usually has at least a couple Moonshine spoons and a Ace Hi plug usually Yellow Tail. I am more likely to run meat or spoons behind divers rather than flies. Again it changes with the fishing pattern, what I fish out front will be different than what I fish out deep or mid depth. I have some friends that tend to do the same thing pretty much every trip and they are either hot or cold.

guys have been using the ball as a attractor for many years from running different color balls to putting attractors above the ball I think Mike was doing one a while back. the issue with putting a flasher behind the ball is lots of us use fast riggers now so it would be tough to avoid tangles putting it down. I even spent a bunch of time trying to come up with a way to slow my riggers down at least on the way down. Back when we were limited to 2 rods it was not uncommon for guys to put a lure and snubber on the cannon ball and use it to catch fish and have a rod above it.

When I was in the Coast Guard back in the 70's a group of us spent a weekend on a 54ft Hatteras we cruised chased girls and fished for 3 days it was a blast. Thank god we did not have to pay for the fuel because it took 1800 gals of diesel to fill it back up on Sun afternoon. Granted we had the Gen running the entire time with the A/C on and were in 24/7 party mode. To be honest I don't even remember if we caught a fish we did however catch several limits of college girls since we were there during spring break. I think my base pay back then was around 180 a month. But cigs were .25 a pack gas was around 35 cents and you could get a case of beer for 2 bucks on sale. I think our most productive troll was getting close to the beach and telling the girls to swim for it if they wanted to party LOL.

Another fine choice by Don I also like the nuked veggies

3 color with dbl orange crush 5 color with Silver Streak Yellow Tail and full core with Ace Hi Yellow tail. Pull the flashers and run a Orange Chilly Willie and a Screwball behind the divers if I am going slow enough to run them. Also Big Weenie Vibrator head flies for sliders on the rigger rods. Deepest rigger will have a big paddle and fly other rigger will have a Ace Hi Blue Mylar. Once you find them feed em whatever they want the most. If it did not cost so much to find them I would go after Steelhead every trip starting at about 8 am. Once the Salmon are all staging I am usually out west after them and love having the lake to my self while every one is running each other over in the channel.

I fish out of Muskegon as well mid day is different nearly every time I go out and can vary from moving back in to 80 to 100 and banging the bottom for Lakers. Or heading out deep to chase Steelhead and younger fish. It really depends on what we want to do based on conditions my preference is go deep and chase steel but that costs gas and as such often will just make some minor changes and continue fishing the pattern that got us fish to start with. Sometimes the only thing you have to change is the lures if you have a productive troll going due to light conditions changing as the sun comes up. Many times the fish will just go neutral and hang near the bottom so running more flies down deep and smaller spoons will get them going again.

6 rods for me is 2 riggers with sliders on them 2 wire divers and 2 boards with core or copper depending on the depth. Actual setups can vary a lot depending on conditions. I seldom run 9 rods I usually set 8 and use the 9th for change overs and and in case we see something we are not covering. 4 guys in the boat will have 12 rods out but again I only go to 14 for 5 guys I guess I prefer even numbers of rods. Every boat boat fishes different so you have to tune for what works for you.

Bringing around 70 J Plugs close to 100 spoons a bunch of Flies and meat rigs a couple of Rivera riggers and a few other odds and ends.

If I knew I could afford to bring the boat over I would be in. Right now I know the weekend is a possibility for me to do just can't break the monitory wall yet as to how to pay for it.

Don't forget you are welcome on my dingy anytime yours however is much more comfortable. By the way the swap meet is next weekend in Grandville should be a lot of good deals if you want some more gear. I know I am taking a bunch of stuff.

Robert there is a nice 48ft Viking in Grand Haven fantastic fishing platform for you excellent yacht for her and price is pretty good on used boats right now. Since you will be much closer to me this summer I will be happy to help you bloody the decks anytime you want. Heck you will be close enough to fish in our tourney's and you might consider a Marina in Muskegon.

Probably 70% of my fish came on either Silver Streak or Moonshine spoons Flounder pounder and Dbl trouble for the Moonshines and Super Screw was a great Silver Streak spoon along with a couple others I can't think of the names now.

Just point of clarification DSC and Rescue 21 are not the same thing. Rescue 21 is being built based on a DSC feature DSC has been around for many years once the Coast Guard determined that DSC was a viable communication option they adopted it and began the Rescue 21 program. And the FCC reclassified radios to include the distress call in anticipation of the program. DSC is one of the things that makes cell phones work and switches your phone from tower to tower as you travel. By incorporating GPS and DSC you have the basis for Rescue 21 the distress signal has a high priority level in the code that will trigger all DSC radios that are monitoring the DSC frequency. However not all radios monitor the DSC channel so you have different classifications of DSC capable radios. Simply put having the red button does not mean you have all the features. My current radio is a basic radio which I planned on replacing 3 years ago with a full featured radio but since it does work and no one seems interested in using the features I have not bothered to spend the money to upgrade. When you move up to a radio like the ICOM 504 or the Raymarine 55 or better radios you get NEMA in and out you also get a phone book so to speak where you can store friends MMSI numbers and group MMSI numbers that you can use for a number of things. The basic DSC radios like my West Marine radio do very little other than to transmit the distress call and you have to switch to ch 70 to do that. It will also recive basic DSC info it you are on ch 70 but if you are not monitoring ch 70 then you will not receive any DSC info. The next step up has tri watch and will monitor several ch at once and will always monitor ch 70 nearly all of these include a small phone book section and will send and receive DSC signals and info such as position request and private calls but they only send the info to the radio screen usually with a alert beep to let you know to check your screen for a message. Top end radios will have the ability to send and receive data to your plotter which means the distress call you get may even have you friends name if in you phone book and position marked on your plotter. Ok I am a radio nut I accept that but lots of this stuff is cool and once you learn to use it you will wonder how you fished without it.