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Dates are May 7th Blood Run Tackle Open May 21st Silverstreak Open Jun 11th Jul 2nd Great Lakes Angler Open Jul 30th Aug 13th Big Weenie Contest Battle of the Leagues Aug 27th Blow dates will be following day weather permitting. Each event is a separate event with points accumulating for the point’s championship. We are using each boats best five events for the points championship so missing a Event is not a problem. You will note that 3 of the dates remain unnamed this is because we don't have final confirmation on the sponsors for those events. We hope to have those filled in shortly.

RULES 1. These are amateur tournaments that are open to anyone who wishes to join the group and fish within the rules and spirit of the event. 2. The tournaments are open to any boat whose captain is a paid member of the Muskegon Summer Challenge Salmon Tournament (MSCST). 3. The captain of the boat must be 18 years of age or older to participate. 4. The MSCST Committee reserves the right to deny participation to anyone at any time. 5. Each tournament will have a $30 entry fee. $5 will be for the big fish, and $5 from each entry fee will be pooled for the port championship. Entry fee's will be collected at weigh in however if you check in at 6 am you are expected to pay, consideration will be given for emergency situations. 6. In the event of the cancellation of a tournament due to weather, all entry fees will be refunded. 7. There will be a 9-rod limit. 8. You are allowed to weigh in 6 legal fish (salmon and trout in any combination). 9. You may not have more than 15 fish in your possession. This is a 3-person DNR limit. 10. There will be no culling or releasing of fish at the side of the boat. 11. You must be checked in by the designated time or you will be disqualified. 12. Scoring will be the weight of your fish plus 5 points for Lake Trout, 10 points for Salmon, 15 points for Steelhead and 20 points for Brown Trout 13. In the event of a tie for total weight, big fish weighed will break tie. 14. In the event of a tie for big fish, total weight of fish weighed will break tie. 15.All boats will stage within the pier head prior to the 6am start 16.This event may be delayed or canceled due to weather this decision will be made prior to the start of fishing. A 3-hour fishing period will be considered a completed event. In the event the weather becomes too rough to fish the event will be canceled there will be no forced run in due to weather cancellation. Each captain is responsible for the safety of his or her crew and vessel. If the event is canceled and a complete fishing period has been reached weigh in will begin within 1 hour and 30 min of cancellation. We will make every effort to inform all involved of any intention to cancel if possible. 17. Check in will be at 01:00 with weigh in at 01:30 there will be a 2 point per min deduction for late check ins up to 15 min or 30 points. You must have a team member and you cooler at the weigh in location and inform a committee member to be checked in. If you use a slip you will need to make arraignments to be on time or drop off a crew member with your tournament cooler. All protests must be made prior to weigh in and given to Don Johnson or Jon Baker for their approval or decision as to whether a committee ruling is needed. Please keep in mind this is a fun event. 18. Every reasonable precaution will be taken by the MSCST to protect persons and property during the contest. However, neither the MSCST, tournament directors, officers, nor any sponsors are responsible for the safety of the persons or property of the participants as regards accident, theft, and damage by fire, vandalism, or any other cause. 19. All participants further understand and agree to hold harmless the aforementioned groups and individuals from damages incurred as a result of participation in the tournament in whatever form or manner said liabilities or damages might be incurred. 20. EACH CAPTAIN IS ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SAFETY OF HIS/HER CREW AND VESSEL.

The Octipus drive unit is the part that counts if you want to go that way Simrad created their own cable drive steering system so they stopped offering the AP12 and AP14 which were designed around the drive. The X5 used a motor control that mounted to the original steering box the Octipus replaces the steering box Raymarine also has a cable drive but it costs almost as much as converting to Hyd steering. The new Simrad system is the AP24 with a cable drive option however I can convert my boat to Hyd steering and buy the Garmin AP for less money. Keep in mind the Octipus drive mounts behind the helm and is not small it also requires you to have the correct steering cable for it. Sitex is offering a install kit that cuts down on the drive protrusion by up to 1.5 inches. Right now unless Raymarine brings the X5 back the Sitex is the only option under 2 grand plus install for a cable steered boat. There are a couple other options but again they cost a ton and in the end you still have a cable steered boat which once you drive a Hyd steered boat you will realize sucks. The other issue for me is when I do the math it makes better sense to just trade my boat in on one that is already setup the way I want simply because if I did all the stuff I want done I would have close to 40 grand into a boat that might sell for 12 if I was lucky. And I can buy a boat for 40 grand that is actually worth more then 40 grand.

Notice Jay has a pic of him with the big fish. Nice pic of Steve's Brown as well. We had a blast getting those pics. Still can't believe Jay did not try and catch my cannonball LOL. Need to get the Muskegon Shootout pics up with Steve and Jay lounging on the swim platform with a bucket of beer. Great times

How about letting it go for a bit and we can get together when the weather warms a bit and see if I can verify the problem. If it is the alternator it will likely be causing other issues but lots of electrical interference problems are easy to fix esp once you zero in on what they are. Rewiring you boat to not fix a bad alternator is not going to solve the problem.

Some of us would like to catch fish now and then, not that I am one of the best tournament fishermen but I did not realize I bought the boat for my friends to fish while I drive them around.

A little clarification on amp hour ratings and cycles first off most batteries are considered dead at around 10.5 volts taking a fully charged battery down to this point is considered a cycle. Deep cycle batteries are rated by amp hours and cycles as Ken stated a 105 amp hour battery will provide a 10 amp draw for 10.5 hours and be ready to recharge however many 12v loads will continue to work below 10.5 volts so you can actually continue to use the battery however it will damage the battery eventually. I brought my 18ft Starcraft in from several miles out on a Minn Kota trolling motor and it made it back but ruined 2 batteries doing it. To have a good idea of what you need you need the power requirement for everything you plan on running on it and try to give a 20% or more buffer because as the voltage begins to drop the amperage will go up. I guess I would like to know what the noise is and just filter it out solving what is likely more than one problem.

Hey Bill just sent Don a draft to look over if he is ok with it will have a vote soon and make it final for the rules "No slipping boats at the launch" has been removed only mention of slips is that if you use one you must make arrangements to be on time. So our official stance on boat parking is we are not in charge of it or responsible for it.

Find someone close to you that knows how to fish buy him beer and take him fishing a lot till you learn all he has to offer and get a new friend to replace him LOL. Kinda like a starter wife. But honestly best way to learn is with the stuff you have so find a friend who can fish and share info. The trick is to learn how to catch fish with what you have. Mono is cheap I would make a list of what rod and reel setups you have and decide how you want to fish then setup each rod with a purpose.

getting old ain't for sissies buck up and take it like a man LOL

Might consider them for wire never thought of that had a set years ago problems with mono and braid sent them to a yard sale fast. The Sea Fleas killed em for braid and had very poor luck with mono thru them. Don't remember if they were the same rod they were white and I hated them.

To those who don't think a AP is important I guess it depends on what boat you have as well. As for the S N T probe I still have mine just don't use it much anymore and also have electric riggers. But as to AP I want one I have fished on several identical boats with and without auto pilot and fishing with one is fishing everyone has a good time fishing without one is only fishing for some of the guys some of the time. Cause someone has to drive and get yelled at for tangling the gear cause for me and a few others I know there might be 2 people who can actually maintain a proper course if you are lucky. On those days it is flat you can use a bungee cord and be fine sadly I am always stuck at work on those days. Most of my time fishing the last couple of years has been at the wheel or setting the boat up to run down hill so pretty much anyone can drive it. Often I am stuck setting the boat up with the wind and waves so I can set the gear then I have to bring the boat around to a fishing track and keep it there. Prevailing wind and currents will have you quartering into waves all day to stay on the best troll and not that many people can do it without tearing up your gear. Show me a charter captain who does not use a AP and I'll show you a guy who almost never touch's a fishing rod cause he spends nearly all his time driving.

he does not list a lot of parts for a 49 but I am sure he can fix it.

My best Steelhead was just under 17lbs on a 300 copper with a Ace Hi Yellow tail.

Mike return the Yellow Pink and bright material right a way everyone knows flies have to be green or blue to catch fish what were you thinking LOL

I did not get to run my fall steelhead program this year however I get a fair amount of them on flies. It is the one program I pretty much stick to Spin Doctors 8in or the little 5in ones. As mentioned pretty much a Coho pattern with lots of bright colors going fast. Also try the Big Weenie vibrator heads with no flasher behind a 2 or 3 color. I knew there was a reason I bought all that Pink, Orange and yellow material. If I make the Brown Blast again this year I will be rolling a few of these again. I also run the vibrator head flies as a free slider and get steelhead on them. Gold and silver as well as bright lime green if it looks like it fell off the circus truck put it in the top 30 ft or so and haul butt

I did not fish Port Sheldon much last season it is too shallow for my boat went a few times on friends boats and did ok. Steelhead out of PS is just that for me out of PS Terry is dead on last Steelhead I can remember out of Port Sheldon we were close to 17 miles out from port and south probably closer to Holland in 300 ft of water. There are some nice Browns now and then but Steelhead either are coming back from the river or getting ready to go up river other than that they are always out deep on the temp breaks. No river at Port Sheldon and no plans to dredge it either so eventually it will fill completely full of sand.

Center set of numbers in your GPS north coordinates roughly 6 miles north of the GH harbor. Is part of my shakedown cruise and have never been skunked yet in the big boat on a shakedown cruise that I actually had fishing gear on the boat. My game plan would be flat lines and 2 and 3 colors and drag the beach going north then move out to 40 to 60 ft or more and run deeper stuff headed south till you are done for the day. Odds are this will put several fish in the box and have you back at GH in under 6 hours you could cut it back and only run to the 07's which would shorten your trip. I also would pay attention to water temp as it should be pretty much the same top to bottom so look for changes in surface temp and if you find a good temp break fish both sides of it.

Personally the head south is not a bad plan except there is little structure to hold fish there so while it would be your better troll direction I would run NW a few miles and setup to run south from there. I would run up to the 9's setup in 60 to 80 ft and troll south with mostly large spoons and Plugs. Perhaps a big flasher fly right off the bottom. Other than that I would pound the beach for Browns but I like doing that and I would still start with a run north and troll south watch the water temps and look for some breaks. One of my best boxes came in early May fishing 60 to 80ft in the 9's on a south troll. If you troll there much you will see why.

Really the bigger issue is lack of turnout most of the award programs were setup in the days of huge turnouts when most of the field was Pro boats and you had a AM class to give the little guys a place to fish. Also keep in mind the Pro side usually only pay the top 3 places where AM pays down the field further. But the issue is they feel the need to have a big grand prize to attract boats ans as the field dwindles to less boats it means more of them have to be donor boats to have the big prizes for the winners. So if you don't have big sponsors paying to have the event named after them and smaller fields where you going to get the big prize from? If the people I know keep their word and skip Ludington this season it will be a very small field of boats involved. There is a very good chance that the Dreamweaver event could be bigger than Ludington this year. If gas prices go up much all tournaments will see a drop this year cause the cost of big events is tough to swallow now add much to it and lots of us are going to pass. Right now I have zero plans of doing any major events this year and if we do it likely will be 333 only to keep the cost down.

I have been looking at the Diawa Sealine 450H for long coppers as it holds more line than a 800 Tekota only drawback is slower gear ratio but can be found in the 130 dollar range and has been a tough reel to beat for many years. Kind of wish it was a level wind reel for the rookies I some times fish with. But on the other hand half the issues running copper come from the level wind catching the knot.

Oil speculation is cool cause those guys lose as often as win but like the government never let a crisis go to waste. And if you look it up GM played around with a variable venturi carb in late 68 and 69 much like their escapades with the 468 which were either disasters or worked great mine was pretty cool. I had a line lock on it and used to have a blast burning off tires. And lets not forget the Chrysler Lean Burn engines which got great mileage but sadly seldom survived. Another thing to consider is that speculators make or lose the money and much of it is from your retirement plans trying to make you money. The big picture is still the same until we as a country learn to live within our means and repair our economy the numbers won't matter. This country has been on a drunken spending binge for decades and it seems to get worse every year. I swear some days it is like who can come up with the dumbest idea. Current US debt per taxpayer is $ 125,954.00 unfunded liability per tax payer is $ 1,012,306.00 so if you pay taxes that is what has been spent or budgeted for you to pay so far, any guess's as to what the new heath care plans will add to that number. There are 311 million people in this country and only 138 million with jobs so that means 56% of the population lives off the remaining 44%. 26 million people are unemployed but the government only counts 15 million as officially unemployed so 11 million people without jobs don't count for various reasons. The cool thing is of the 138 million with jobs only 110 million pay taxes. I really want one of the 28 million non tax paying jobs some days. Now for the optimist we have been in worse shape and survived but we have to suck it up and accept the fact you can't spend your way out of a spending problem anymore than a alcoholic can drink their way sober.

The price of oil has less to do with it than the taxes and government requirements. Secondly this is all the result of printing money to fix a spending problem. Kinda like having a wife who charges way to much and getting her more credit cards. The more the Fed prints the less each piece is worth you can't just print a trillion dollars and not have it affect the current value of other currency in circulation. Step back in time and you will see the only major change is the numbers in 1970 30 cent would buy a gallon of gas 3000 would get a nice new car and 12000 would get you a nice house minimum wage was about 1.65 move up 40 years and the only thing you don't multiply by 10 is minimum wage. And the reason minimum wage did not go up is we stopped buying stuff made here and people are much lazier everyone wants a nice sit on their butt job making 70k a year. If you remove the Federal State and Local taxes from gas it would be cheaper now then it was 40 years ago. One other issue is our refineries are old and seriously outdated cause no one will allow new ones to be built the NIMBY's win every time on that one. So we can't add capacity and for all the BS about going green cars get worse mileage than they did 10 years ago my truck gets close to 5 mpg less than it did when I bought it because the garbage we are forced to buy has less power per gallon. Now before I get hit with how we have cars getting 30 mpg now that has never been a high number my 1969 Cadillac Sedan DeVille weighed darn near 5000 lbs and had a 472 cu in motor which would melt the tires on command and I averaged close to 21mpg. I had a early 80's Escort GT that I don't think ever dropped below 34 mpg. My younger brothers Civic got around 50 mpg in daily driving these were all except the Escort, carburetor engines. With the new technology we have there should be dozens of cars pushing 50 or better mpg the problem is that requires quality fuel and the EPA will never allow it they would prefer to see us using alternative fuels that take as much energy to make as they produce and can't be made profitably without subsidies.

The new Cannons are very nice I might even buy a set. However I have had my Big Jon electrics for years I got them used at a yard sale and they were missing some parts a call to Big Jon solved that they even sent a few of the pieces at no charge. Since then I have upgraded the motors and the clutch's. They have been pretty much bullet proof since the upgrades but are now pushing 20 years old and need some of the bushings replaced. I run 15lb balls all day with them no problems and they are wicked fast. I guess my point is I am going into my 6th or 7th season with them and have well under 300 bucks in the pair total. It is also nice to deal with a local company that will answer the phone and talk to you and even remember you a year or 2 later when you call back. So don't be afraid to look at some good used riggers lots of guys will be changing out their gear so there should be some good deals to be had.

one aspect no one has mentioned and that is most judge blowback and current by the rigger cable angle which is not always true as to what the ball is doing. There are often several layers of currents between you and the ball ach of those affects the angle of the cable or line as it pass's thru. Remember your line does not go to the bait or the ball in a straight line when moving if it did look at the angle of your diver line and simple geometery will tell you it can't get very deep yet it still does. If it were a straight line as fast as I troll some days I would need 90 or more ft out to reach 60 down but yet I still start bouncing in 75 to 80 ft with 90 down every time even though the cables are running back at a 45 or more angle.