CITM

Dry Dock Canvas in Caledonia. Very reasonable prices and they do nice work. Liz Skinner 616-891-7515 http://www.drydockcanvas.com/

Not sure why it wouldnt be recommended. I've been running 3 riggers for 5 years with the chute rigger over the outdrive with no issues, I run Big Jons with a standard 4' boom on the chute rigger. I have swivel bases on mine & turn the chute rigger to the side when I'm bringing the ball up if the waves are more than a couple feet. To reset the line, if it isnt already turned to the side, I turn it to the side to clip the line to the release, lower the rigger 15' or so and while its on the way down I turn it straight. Certainly not as foolproof as an inboard but it's not too difficult.

It's often incorrect if the area you are looking at is grey (usually cloud cover).

Ditto. Never had one fail.

I use Scotty "stopper beads" above and below the Big John bead. No problems yet but who knows. I've heard that Dreamweaver makes something similar to the Scotty's but I haven't seen them.

Water on the beach was COLD last night. Coastwatch doesn't have up to date maps, curious what the temp really is.

Consider sticking with 2 riggers then add double dipsy holders each side & a set of tripple rod trees. Very versatile and the cash you would have spent on 2 riggers will buy the dipsy holders, trees, and a few rods.

DW mag kevorkian is one of my best low light spoons.

I had about 150 trips on (2) Tekota 500 LC's with 25lb mono backing and 500' of 30 lb wire before I went to bigger reels (which are also backed by mono). Tie a loose overhand knot in the wire, pass the mono through it, tighten the knot in the wire until it is just snug, tie a uni knot in the mono, wet and carefully tighten both knots. Use a short section of heavy braid to attach to the wire if the mono to wire knot bothers you. The same knot will work to attach braid to wire. I wouldn't use it on the business end but for backing on a reel it works fine.

Seems like Cannon has a larger pulley that the beads will pass through.

I've been thinking about adding a tether too, mainly for rough seas. I went to a much larger reel last year and they are heavy, which adds to the issue but I've seen mine go slack. I think a 4' long or so nylon chord with a clip on it would be nice so you could still get the rod out of the holder when a fish hits, then have someone else unhook it. I'm all for keeping things simple but don't want to lose a rod either.

I use gander mountain roller rods without the swivel tip. Very nice rod for the money if they still sell them. I think mine were about $80. Just saw some this week with the swivel tip but they were $150.

I have a 20# Ridgeback and I like it. It tracks well and blowback is certainly less than a 15# round or pancake but I can't compare it of anything of similar weight. I read somewhere that the Torpedo Diver guys have a 20# weight now, which sounds intersting.

Now is a good time to replace weak or broken clickers, you can get them from Tuna's or Okuma. Get metal clickers. If your Convectors have an annodized star drag, they are newer reels and should have 2 carbon fiber drag washers already so you only need 2 more. If the star drag is chrome, you'll need a full set. Be careful with carb cleaner, I wouldn't use it on the frame. I stripped the paint off one of my Tekota's with carb cleaner so I wouldn't be surprised if it would discolor graphite (or worse). I use isopropyl alcohol for all but the most stubborn grease.

I've never worked on a magda but I did upgrade my cabelas reels and I think they're the same real with a different frame. If I remember correctly they're almost the same as a convector on the inside. I switched the handles to convector handles and upgraded the drags to carbon fiber and it made a huge difference. Note how highly he speaks of convectors at the end of his tutorial.

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=774.0 This guy does awesome tutorials for a lot of different reels, just oil and grease as he recommends. I use Reel-X oil and Cal's drag grease. If you haven't replaced the drags in your Magda's and Cabela's reels, call Tuna Tom and get Carbonex drags for them, they are well worth the money.

I've never had trouble parking under Devos, pretty sure its $7/day. Don't park in the post office lot. $7 is cheap compared to the ticket I got.

I've used wool pads on orbital buffers with finishing compound but haven't tried them on random orbital, just foam. Your choice of foam pads can make a big difference, don't be afraid to try 2 or 3 different ones for each compound. Random orbitals work great for applying and removing wax & polish too.

Check out autogeek.net, lots of good info & products. I bought a Porter Cable 7424 random orbital polisher. Regular buffers probably work better for large, open areas but are tough to handle in tight spots and can do damage if you aren't careful. I'll eventually have both.

Raymarine told me they did a complete redesign on the problem bearings & something else. I hope they have it right this time. Service has been great to deal with though.

Raymarine is doing warranty replacements on the X-5's, I just talked to them last week and was told they are in full production. Seems likely that they'll be available again soon.

Same here - swap the drags and it makes a world of difference. You can also upgrade the handles with convector handles very reasonably direct from Okuma.

They're certainly not a gimmick. They work better behind a 10" spin doctor than they do behind a paddle. I'm sure any large rotating flasher would work.

I have LEDs from Coastal Night Lights and I couldn't be happier with them. Well worth the cost.

I like it. Its extremely sensitive to speed, which is good and bad. And of course the probe is quite a bit smaller. Battery life isn't as good as I expected it to be, I probably get 4-5 trips per set. Yes I live in Ada.