Divemaster

I'll try to dig up some pics of mine, not sure if I have any good ones now though. I am starting the season in a little Burbot over a month though, so if nothing else I'll have some pictures then.

Westwind, you've got the same model and year I have, but that thing is decked out! I wouldn't believe it if you told me the swim platform could support a kicker until I saw that picture. How'd you attach the cooler on the back, is it a nuisance when you're netting fish?

Four. Two for the main engine and other electronics (Fishfinder, etc) and two for the trolling motor.

It takes two 12v batteries. The saltwater one which we use has two props but overall it's not that bulky. The freshwater one only has one prop but not enough thrust to push anything over 18' or so up to Trout/Salmon and Musky speeds. It handles pretty well in chop, not as good as say, an inboard, but just as well as any outboard kicker.

Yes, it mounts right on the outdrive.

Works very well for us, just got it last season. We can get about 12 hours out of the batteries without charging them but we like to fire up the main engine every 4-8 hours or so to charge them up. It'll push us from 0.5-10.0mph so great for everything from controlled drifting for Catfish to high-speed Musky trolling.

Welcome to the forums! We fish out of a 22' Sea Ray Express Cruiser and it works great for all purposes. The main engine (250 HP) is a bit overpowered for trolling to we put on a Minn Kota saltwater Riptide trolling motor and it works great. Mounted a pair of cannon Downriggers on the back and put in some tracks on the sides for dipsies and inline planers. Like you said, the nice thing about this kind of boat is that you can haul it around easily to different places and it's technically a pleasure boat when you buy it, so you can get them going pretty fast (our's loaded up cruises at about 25-30mph and will get up to 42mph).

Okay, I'll look in to wire line (any different from copper or are they the same thing?). I was just thinking braid because Erie is shallow and we only occasionally fish water deeper than 100 feet (normally in the 30-100 FOW range depending on species) and never fish deeper than 140 FOW. If I was going to go with wire, would this be an option: http://www.fishusa.com/product/Shimano-Tekota-Line-Counter-Reel-Prespooled-Wire-Line I'm thinking I might order all the new reels prespooled so I don't have to take 2 hours to spool them all up with backing, mainline, and a leader and I know the people at cabela's would hate me if I asked them to haha. Also, has anyone here used uglysticks as inline planer rods? I was looking at the Tiger Lite heavy action 7' or 7'6" models and they look pretty durable.

Okay, upon further looking in to rods and reels I think these combos should work, correct me if I'm wrong though. Braid Dipsies- Okuma Classic Pro GLT diver rods with Shimano Tekotas. Inline Planers- Undecided rods but I'm thinking a pair of the heavier St. Croix Triumphs or Premiers that can take the beating of inlines on the Great Lakes without snapping like a twig with Okuma Convector CV-45D reels. Just a few more questions about the setups. 1) Is it necessary to put mono backing on braid dipsy reels or will straight 50-65 pound power pro work? 2) Has anybody here used Tekotas and if so are they quality enough to handle dipsies before I go spending $400 on a pair of them? Also, any recommended size for them? 3) Any suggestions for specifically inline planer board rods? Most places I find that sell planer board rods design them for external ones that are on the masts or reels and aren't constantly tearing and beating on the rod like inlines do at Salmonid speeds.

Good to know with the magdas. The convectors are just pretty expensive to buy four of them which is why I was looking at different reels. I'm located around Pittsburgh but fish out of Erie, PA.

I've been doing research the past week or two on some of the setups you guys have recommended and so far this is what I'm thinking. For inline planer boards: 8'6" medium power Okuma Classic Pro GLT rods with Convector CV-45D reels spooled with 100 yards of 27 pound leadcore 150 yards backing of 30 pound power pro and a 50 feet leader of 20 pound fluoro (the rod seems like it's pretty low power for inclines but I'm not sure, have any of you guys used them with inlines?). As for the dipsy setups, I'm thinking I'll probably go with Okuma Magda Pro reels with 200 yards of 30 pound braid main line and 200 yards of 20 pound mono backing. However, I'm still looking at what rod to use for the dipsies, whether I should use another model of the GLTs or something else. Any thoughts?

Yeah, those fleas can be annoying. I was picking them off Downrigger cable all summer last year and had no idea what they were until a couple months ago. My head started to spin a while ago haha, I'll downsize to 20 pound test this season I'm thinking, mono stretches enough (40% I think) if I would happen to get a fish that would exert over 20 pounds of pressure (I hope!).

Thanks for all the replies, everyone! jdh, good to know you don't need snubber, but would they spook the fish at all if I use them? I'd be more comfortable using them just in case but if the color scares fish I'll skip them (although from last season's experience it seems like if an 8 pound lead ball two feet from the bait doesn't scare a laker then nothing will!). Also, any problem with using 25 vs 20 lb mono for the riggers? For flashers and flies, I'd be fishing lake trout from early April through mid June in 50-130 FOW, and then again in October in 15-60 FOW, normally always within 2-10' of the bottom at 2.2-2.8 mph and running the flashers off of either the downrigger rods or the dipsy rods. After lakers the next target will be Browns from mid June through October again close to the bottom at 1.8-2.2 mph off the same rods. And finally, for steelhead from early or mid July through October at 2.5-3.0 mph about in the middle of the water column.

Sorry to hear about your brother. How much for the lot?

Hey guys, long story short this year will only be our my second year of trolling and I've still got tons of questions regarding various styles of trolling, equipment, line, lures, etc. Feel free to only answer some if you'd prefer not to take an hour in order to respond to all of them haha. Anyway, as last year was my first year of trolling we didn't want to spend a fortune so we only trolled with two Downrigger rods all season and I'd like to start using other trolling methods this year, specifically dipsy divers and inline planer boards. I have been doing a lot of research on both but I figured it would be wise to get some personal opinions too. For all of the questions below, also keep in mind that the primary species I fish for are Lake Trout, Steelhead, and Brown Trout on Lake Erie, with the occasional Walleye troll but not that often (sadly, no salmon in Erie in any half decent numbers, although somehow I managed to luck in to a random/lost 5 pound Chinook back in July). Anyway, these are my questions. 1) What are some of the better rods and reels for fishing with Dipsy Divers? As far as reels go, I've been looking at Okuma Convectors and Magda Pros but I'm sure there's ton out there. I've been pretty stumped looking at rods, though. The Daiwa Heartlands looks good, but the low price concerns me regarding quality. 2) Is there any certain color of dipsy diver that works particularly well for the above mentioned fish (again: Lakers, Steelies, and Browns)? From what I've been reading, diver color isn't that important with Salmonids but I just want to make sure not to spook any away with flashy colors and if possible it'd be nice to attract some in. 3) With Dipsy Divers, is there a certain brand of snubber that works better than others? I looked at the Luhr Jensen regular green/yellow ones and they seem fine but they look so stretchy that it seems like a big Laker would snap them like a rubber band. Also, after the snubber is there a certain pound test line that works best? I assume it'd be Fluorocarbon too, right? 4) Moving on to Planers, what are some of the better rods and reels for fishing with inline planer boards? For this application, it seems like you want pretty heavy duty rods and reels to handle the pull of the board without taking away a lot of the fight from the fish. 5) When it comes to line for inline planer rods, would leadcore or copper be better for getting lures deep enough for Salmonids? I've never used either and it seems like leadcore is more forgiving and cheaper but doesn't get quite as deep while copper kinks a lot and is more expensive while sinking the lures pretty deep. 6) Last season, I was running 25 pound test monofilament going directly to a snap swivel attached to my lure on my Downrigger rods. I've been reading a lot on 'rigger rods and it seems some people prefer monofilament while others like braid. Which do you guys prefer and how heavy? 7) Whether I run mono or braid, would you recommend a leader of any sort on Downrigger rods from the main line to the lure? If so, what type of line, how heavy, and how long? 8) When you guys are trolling for lakers and steelhead, is there a certain leader length from the cannonball to the lure that works well for you? From what I've seen, lakers like short leaders (we were hammering them with 2-8' leaders from the ball) and steelhead like longer ones (20-60'). I can't seem to find that much info on Browns, sadly. 9) As far as trolling spoons are concerned, any particular brands you guys like? I was running all Michigan stingers last year either in regular or stingray size and did pretty well. 10) For lures in general, are there any colors that work very well for lakers, steelhead, and Browns? I caught the majority of mine last year on combos of silver, green, blue, pink, and orange with the most successful colors being in that order. 11) Are there any good online guides you guys could link me to regarding flies, flashers, and Dodgers. I've only read a bit about them and would like to use them this year but I'm ready very confused about shape, size, color, line, leader, etc. Also, any brands that are better than others? 12) Last but not least, what is the best trolling speed you've had luck with for the above species? Steelhead seem to like faster for us (2.2-3.0), I've been reading that Browns like it slow (1.8-2.2), and I've seen everything from 1.5-5.0 for lakers but we caught all of our's between 2.2-2.8. Thanks for taking the time to help out a new troller, everyone. Sorry for the large amount of questions but this seemed like one of the most knowledgeable forums to be asking these things on. If any of the questions are prying in to your "secret tactics" or whatnot then feel free to skip over them. Thanks again, Sean