Nailer

If you buy a mew reel get the Convectors over the Magna's, Okuma changed the design recently, and made the handles much nicer.

Kevin, Welcome. A great 6 rod spread consist of; 2 riggers with sliders, 2 divers laid down out the side with a spinner/fly setup, and 2 core poles out on Inline Planer boards. Unless the fish are deep (70'+) this will get you fish most times out. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Ken.

Frank, you make me want to cry. Nice catch.

Kevin, Welcome! For divers use the Okuma Convectors CV30D (great reel for the money) Like Tom said 40 pound Power Pro, or any Braid will do. I've had troubles with Fire Line breaking in the past, so use Braid. Gander sells the them for as cheep as any one. You may find the cheaper on line. FishDog.com may have a combo for you. I've herd good things about them.http://www.fishdogcompany.com/servlet/StoreFront Buy the way, Lead core is not used for divers. Ken.

They are owned by Rits Camera, who is having a hard time. I like there store better than the others. It's a shame.

Chris welcome. Ask all you want, and we will help as much as we can. You should have some good fishing starting soon. It looks like you live by the South end of lake Michigan. That's the area that heats up first. Many great guys here that fish that area. Good luck, Ken.

Nice looking units.

Nice to have you back Tim.

Sounds like fun.

I'm envious, Nice looking Brown.

I have two Tekota's, but there are two expensive to use on all. The rest are Convectors. The new style 30d is a great reel. The boys and I love the big handle on them.

Tony, the tangles will go away with time as you learn better what all the equipment is doing. Your best setup for a diver will be: 8.5-9.5' rod, Line counter real, loaded with 40-50 pound braid (mono is just way to hard to release the diver). Lay your diver poles horizontal out the side of your boat. A setting of 1 or 1.5 will get them far enough away from the boat to not get tangled in your rigger poles. If your going to run lead core (or copper), put it on a church walleye board http://www.churchtackle.com/walleye.html Most every one will agree that these work the best for core. Hook the board on just past the core, and let it out to the side 100-200'. If you run your core too close to the boat, the diver rod will tangle in it when a fish hits. A really nice 6 rod spread will include 2 riggers (with optional sliders) 2 divers with spinners/fly and 2 lead core/copper out on boards. A full core will run about 40'. Ken.

Welcome Jay. Thanks for the report.

Nick, SportCraft makes a great boat. Is it a Inboard or IO? A friend of mine has a 26' hard top with the Inboard that tracks straight as an arrow, without anyone at the helm.

Tony, Welcome Aboard! Are you new to Divers? What do you have for line and rods? Yes, the higher the setting, the higher the diver will run. When we only run one diver per side , we will use the #1 setting to gain the most depth for line out. If the fish are high in the water column (ie cold water times) then set your divers to a higher setting to gain distance from the boat. If you use the search tool, there quit a few discussions on divers in the archives. here's a few. http://www.greatlakesfisherman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10565&highlight=divers http://www.greatlakesfisherman.com/forums/search.php?searchid=245407 I'm sure you will get more reply's also. Keep asking, and we will help.

Mike what's worked for my boy in the past is, take the jig and swim it into the current. You have to keep it moving.

In the past I've always looked at "Humming Bird" as a entry level unit. Last year I got a Humming Bird 580 combo unit, and have been very happy with it. Does he want the 597 just for color? The 580 has a bigger screen, with a better price.

Gene, you'll be aright with what you want to do.

I'm with Don on this one. How often do you retie your flies?

Hay Joe.

Very nice Captain.

It's been 15+ years since we went to the bay, so a few friends and I decided to try the end of season bite. We hit the bay first thing Friday morning. Air temp of 1 deg. with no wind. Set up 2 miles out, nothing, moved, nothing, moved again, nothing, moved yet again, nothing. Fished the afternoon bite (NOT) in deeper water 4 miles out with wind gust at 30+ mph, again NOTHING. Repeated the same process Saturday, this time added some beer to the mix (that really made the nothing better). Talked ourselves into fishing the shallow/dirty water Sunday morning. This worked a bit better for us. We where fishing in 50" of water with 27" of ice on it. Dale ended with 2, both in the 19" range. Young Robby got a nice one in the 20" range. I got one in the 20" range. The slammer got one that was around 10" (when this thing triped, it pullet the fish right out of the hole). This shot from where we fished Saturday shows the Ice breaker going up the Saint Marys River. It was great to get back up there an see some old friends, and gig a few Eyes through the ice. Ken.

I for one have nothing but bad luck with sliders, fixed or free. Even using ball bearing swivels, they will always be tangled at end of the day. When the fish are on a good bite, theirs no need to run them. When the fishing is slow, it does add another choice. Good luck.

Very Nice Don.

YIKES! Here's the news report. http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2009/03/strong_winds_push_ice_into_bea.html