FreeTime

I will take quality anyday. I think that comes with time and numbers of fish caught over time. I do like to stay busy but I would rather catch 5 good fish in a day versus 15 little ones. Dave

I am worried enough already that we are having Wayne with us. Just the banana color of his boat may travel with him. If anyone brings any sort of banana anything from fruit, to bread, to muffins, to gum or candy will result in an immediate removal from Team Fish Dog for the weekend! Dave

I am paying huge for inside storage...I bought a new house with an extra garage. I would never tell my wife but the extra 1/2 car garage on top the normal 2 car..thats why we really moved! Its my little getaway with my boat and toys. I have since installed cable and mounted speakers into the ceiling out there. In February I was able to go out there sit in my boat with a basketball game on.....aaaaahhhhh!

The color is nice, that said I dont think it helps you see any more than b/w. The advantage of color is additional definition in what you are already seeing. The technology is such that even the lower priced units have such great pixel counts that they blow away the older units. Dual frequency is a must for Great Lakes fishing. The 50 is great for depths of less than 40ft and then I switch to the dual. I still like to see the 50 because it shows me my downrigger balls, the 200 shows me alot more fish. If you have not looked at the new electronics and made a serious consideration to upgrade, you should. The most reasonable units on the market today are 5 and 10 times better than what they wil be replacing. Dave

Many of you have seen my dog around a boat launch or riding on the front of my boat at some point. She is an 8 year old Chocolate Lab named Fisher. The actual name for our company came from her. My friend Pete always called her Fish Dog, people started to call me by the name and now its the name for our company. She is the real dog you see in our logo. Dave She even takes care of answering alot of the e-mail we get! Here she is at work in our old office.

4.29 Acres on Private Lake in Holt. Close to Schools: 1 Mile to Holt High School, Easy Highway Access: 2 Miles to I-96 or US127. Can be spilt one time. Lot Features Private Lake Access: Only 4 people have access 4.29 Acres: 535’ wide X 330’ deep Well: New in 2003 Partial owner financing available Can be split one time $86,900 This is For Sale By Owner and there is a possibility I would be willing to finance part of the purchase for the right buyer. PM, E-Mail or Call me with any questions or to schedule to see. Dave [email protected] 517-282-8989

12# round balls on the inside riggers. 10# fish shaped weights on the outdowns. I have bent the tail on each side so they pull to the outside a little to keep a cleaner spread. Dave

Big baits for body baits. My favorite is the 5" Bomber Long A's, the new ones are worthless though. The old ones are totally different. Spoons are standards with Stingers being my favorite Spring spoon. Never really fish flies in the Spring. I have never used the small "popcorn" flies as I try and not target the Coho's. They will come anyway no matter what you run. Those things are so agressive in the Spring you can flip a rubber worm and catch them. Dave

I carry 6 core rods: Full Core(10 colors), Half Core(5 colors), and 2 Core(2 colors) I run the Full Cores with Okuma Convector CV45's and the others on Okuma Convector CV 30's. These reels have served me very well and I would recommend them to anyone. Dave

Steve & I run meat very similar and have successfully fished it together many times. I think that just like with a fly, leader length has alot to do with the action your looking for. The longer the leader, the slower the action with a fly or cut head. This also has alot to do with flasher size. The 11" flashers on a long lead can turn in a 5-6' circle! Thats alot of whipping around! A short leader will have that bait really spinning! I start my 3 fly teaser rigs at about 66" and than trim back as needed. There is no exact leader length that is best. Its the action your looking for and then adjust the leader to make the bait do what you want. Dave

I have a black light and have played with it in the garage but never on the boat. I have not been impressed with the glow or duration or it versus the the spotlight. I did just get a 10 million candle power spot light and that sucker can glow anything in about 30 seconds! Dave

I use a 3 - 4 oz weight on my half cores when I want to get them down. Dave

Tom, The Moonshine spoons have a glow that will last up to 8 hours. Ofcourse, they do become more dim with time. The glow will last plenty long enough to not have to pull them up and recharge. Different colors glow with different intensity. The Green and yellow glows the brightest. The blue, purple, and orange are not as bright. Different colors seem to produce on different days, just as with everything. These are my goto for early pre-light fishing. I will have them on every rod until 7am or so. After that I will begin to start switching out the higher lines as light begins to pentration the water. I have a Cannon speed and temp with a light intensity monitor. You would be amazed at how bright it can be yet still have very low light levels at depth of only 30 ft down. I have seem days with a bright sun at 10am and there is only 20% light intensity at 40ft! I got this unit last season and it taught me alot about light and keeping my glows out a little longer than I used to. These glows are just one more tool in the arsenal. Dave

Levi, I do not have a 1/2 pound mold but I will buy one and mold for you if you hook me up with lead! I can never find enough lead. I have 1#, 2#, and all the snapweight molds. Dave

My friend Wayne....Welcome. I have been expecting you. Check out this thread on downriggers which has turned toward dropweights. Was talking about a rig we were running together last Summer. http://www.greatlakesfisherman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89 Hope to see you soon. Dave

Early Morning(5a-7a): Moonshine Mid Morning(7a-10a): Cut Bait on riggers OR Drop Rig with Blue Fishcatcher/Any Blue Fly Full Hot Sun: Leadcore with a LemonLover

Dan, I use the Luhr Jensen drop weight release shown below. It's basically a metal cylindar with a hole in the side and a rod through the middle on a spring. You tie a short piece of mono on the lead ball, pull the spring pin back, slide in the mono around the pin. When a fish pulls out the rear, it pulls the pin, and releases the ball. If you dont get a hit, you just reel in the ball. I have tried others and this is the one I like best. Wayne(Midway) has fished with me a few times last summer using these and can attest some of the damage this rig did last year for me. It takes a little getting used to how much line to have out but once you get it down, its very easy to run and catchs alot of fish. Dave

Levi, I am dropping. I mold my own which keep costs down. Dave

For me this is not an either or...BOTH. I prefer the big boards in the spring for Browns and in lines later for pulling high lines and cores. I think I have more turning control with the big boards. I like to really pound the beach and I can work them in and around the cuts in the shore with a little practice. I think you have a little more stelth with them as well since the line does not actually run right behind the board. The InLines cant be beat for pulling anything out deep and in bigger waves where they can actually be jumping waves and still pulling beutifully. Dave

wire with drop weights was my #1 setup last year. I had 2 in the water anytime I was 50 FOW or more. I run 100 ft of wire on Okuma Convector 30's on 9'6 Diawa Heartlands with Twilli Tip. I have used roller ros but really like a regular rod alot better. I have come to the conclusion that it is worth replacing a rod once in awhile due to wire eating guides. Dave

I run a Lund 18.5 Tyee and have 4 electrics on a Berts track system. I remove the two out downs during the Spring as it's mostly a planer board fishery. I like the 4 riggers just because everything has it's time. I find I use all 4 during the AM dawn bite. During this time riggers are able to be set fast, set to exact depths, and seem to be hot during this time. By 8am I am usually down to 3 riggers and by 9am I am down to 2. This is when I tend to have more Dipsy's, leadcore, drop rigg, etc in the water. I tend to have this need to be prepared for every situation. I could get by with 2 riggers all the time but I like to have them when needed. Everything has it's day, I want to catch fish everyday! Dave

Lead core is a braided line which has an inner core of lead. This lead provides weight to get it down to the depth you want to fish. The braider ouer core has a diiferent color every 10 yards, thus guy referring to a number of colors. A full core is 10 colors or 100 yards, a half core is 5 colors or 50 yards. You fill your reel with backing, add the lead core, and then a 50 - 100 ft leader which goes to the lure of choice. You can run any lure you want off the end of the line. These lines tend to get very long and can be tricky to handle in heavy boat traffic. You can also use leadcore lines to spread you horizontal presentation by using planer boards. You let out the leader, let out the core, let out some backer and then attach the board sending it out to the side awat from the boat. The best board is a Church Walleye Board. Never attach the board to the core line, only the backer. Just like everything else, leadcore has its days. Due to the fact that is is far away from the boat and a bunch of cannonballs, some spooky fish will take leadcore lines when nothing else is working. It can be difficult to target an exactr depth with core however. The length of the core, type of lure, currents, and speed of the boat all affect the depth of where your core is running. Its a greta searching tool to get you going and them dial it in from there. Dave

This is a great start to a meeting place for Great lakles anglers for all around the region. It will be great to have a forum for fisherman for the entire region all together. There are surely many things we can share and teach each other. Great Job Mike! Dave Fish Dog Company www.fishdogco.com