Paulywood

Good job Terry. Got good news on the boat, mechanic thinks that the seal around the fill plug was just bad. He is going to pull it and pressure test it just in case. Also changing the impellor while he's at it.

I've never heard of it but it sounds bad. Good luck on the tests.

After a technical issue on Good Friday we finally got Marty's new boat out on the water for a shakedown. It ran great and fished excellent. The fish weren't so cooperative as we ended the day 2/3 with a king and laker. Both fish came in 60' just north of Palisades. King and a miss on a fullcore w/ a white/green/blue Moonshine and laker on a braid dipsey on 2 w/ a mag Green Dolphin. Great day on the water. Marty's new boat, a 1998 21' Seaswirl Striper w/ a 150 hp Johnson We were nice and let Marty catch the first fish on his new boat. Waiting patiently for the next fish.

Now that I am back to work I'm not able to chat anymore, I have to leave at 8pm. But normally it is wednesday at 8pm.

I used Sampo before but have been using the Dreamweaver ones lately. No issues.

What time is weigh in Ken? Didn't see it in the rules, just pull rods at noon.

Good job Terry! Might be heading over there tomorrow.

I use the Trilene knot just because it's the only one that I can remember how to tie. I have knot dyslexia. The other knot I can tie is the Willis. That one is made for people like me who can't tie knots. I've never had either one fail. If it matters I use 15# and 20# Ande on my riggers. I also use the Trilene knot on braid. Just wrap it around a few more times and you're good to go.

Sweet! Congrats on the boat and good luck this season!

Looks good Jon. You are already ahead of the game this year as you are in the state!

1 Okuma Classic Pro 8'6" leadcore rod. CPDR-86M Line Weight 10-25 lb. 1 Okuma Classic Pro 9' mooching rod. CPM-90M Line Weight 10-25 lb. I used this for leadcore. $15 Rods are in excellent condition, I am selling due to trying to consolidate rod lengths. Feel free to PM me with any questions. I prefer not to ship but will if you pay shipping. I drive through a large part of the state so I would be willing to meet up. Nick

Congrats on the new boat Bob. Post some pics when you get it ready.

When I run bags I always run 2 as it makes the boat more stable and the autopilot has to work a lot less. Mine are from Big Papa Sports. I have 28" bags and my boat is 22' long. You can probably get away with smaller bags as you don't need to slow the boat down. I would get 2 smaller bags, like 18". But the people who make them can help you out with size.

Sorry to hear that Steve.

I installed an X-5 in my boat last year and I put the fluxgate in the cabin below the floor of the main deck right in the center of the boat. My port-a-potty sits there and I was able to mount it pretty much even with the water line and 1/3 of the way from the front of the boat. I didn't have any issues with it. I wouldn't put it near any electronics or metal as there could be interference.

"I currently considering running both bags off the bow chock each with their own line and tie the backs of each to the side rails near the console. Anyone have any suggestions? " This is how I run mine. I have a set of cleats on each side on the front of the boat. I run a line from the cleat to the front of the bag. Then I have a short line that runs from the back of the bag up to the rail. I tried a smaller set of bags, I think around 20", and they didn't slow the boat down enough for walleye. I upgraded to a set of 28" bags and they work great. My boat is 22'.

You might want to look into an inflatable unit. They should fit you better. West Marine usually has a pretty decent selection, but they aren't the cheapest. Cabela's and Bass Pro have them also. I'm not sure about the marine places on the west side, you might have to call.

Welcome to the site Alexa! Congrats on the new boat. Rigging a new boat is always fun, although it can be a little nerve racking when you think about drilling holes in a brand new boat. I have to agree with the other guys who suggested a track system. Installing the longest piece of track that you can along each side will reduce the number of holes you have to drill and will make the boat more practical and versatile. As far as riiggers go, electrics are great but they are quite a bit more money. If you only plan on a few trips a year I would think about manuals or even going without them at first. You can catch a lot of fish on dipsey's, leadcore and copper. I would only trust the clamp on holders for planer board rods, a dipsey could easily spin the holder and cause the rod to fall overboard. One of the nice things about the track system is you can add as many or few rod holders as you like. For dipsey's I like the Bert's ratcheting holders. You can get them for under $50 from Northwoods in Pinconning. For planer boards I prefer the rods trees. Any company makes them so they are able to slide into the tracks. You could put 2 dipsey rod holders and a 3 rod tree on each side and be able to run 10 rods off your boat, all for less than a pair of electric riggers would cost. I am sure other people will have more suggestions to help out. Good luck!

Welcome aboard Mike! I think we're all ready to get out and go fishing. This wind is killing me!

We are going out Good Friday. It's a paid holiday at work so we have a group of 2-3 boats that will be heading out if the weather is good. I'm not sure where we are going though. Depends on where the fish are biting. Last year we went to Linwood and fished walleye.

Personally I would go with the 19' and 90 hp. In the grand scheme of things the difference between 2 and 4 gallons of gas is less than $10 per trip. The added comfort, safety and room would be well worth it IMO. If you do go smaller I would get the larger motor. I know that you are close to shore up ther but it is always nice to be able to get off the water in a hurry if you need to. Good luck, it's a good problem to have.

I used the label maker at work and put labels on the handles of the rods. If I take the reel off the rod I write on the bottom of the reel seat what it is. Mike's color code is fine but it still gets confusing for us non-electricians, I always had to ask him what was what when I fished with him. I like to keep it simple because I get confused easily!

They are made in Grand Rapids. Not the most popular brand but from everything I have heard they are solidly built. The company my friend works for does some work for them (they are not a downrigger company for the most part, the owner just fishes and started building them) and he says they are very strong. I don't know a lot of guys who run them but I haven't heard anything bad about them from the ones who do. I think some of the charters out of Grand Haven run them like Thunderduck.

We headed down to the Joe for the shakedown, and I mean literally. I started the Sugar Mama up in the driveway about 7 pm the night before. We broke the pierheads and saw the pack of boats so we went south to the cement wall where it was nice and empty and set up around 8:45 am. Had 4 rods out when the outside rod with a Live Target Rainbow smelt 100' back on a board tore back and then popped up. Line broke. We could see the board so we pulled a couple of rods and spun a tight circle. Got close to the board and saw a large fish splashing and our board ran away from us, the fish was still hooked. Spun another tight circle and the only rod out fired. Also a rainbow pattern. Netted that coho, netted the board, and then Mike (redeagle) handlined in a nice 10#+ king. Headed back south and set out a spread of 6 boards with stick baits, a Yeck Wartfrog on a rigger, an orange flasher and blue/green fly on a rigger, and a firetiger Rattle Trap on a spinning rod in the prop wash. Had mostly bright colors on the boards with a red/black squiggle Thinfish out among the group of stick baits. Went 13/16 in the next hour working down to the Chalets, all coho. Lost something big that hit the Rainbow smelt and came to the top rolling, cutting the line and taking the bait. Lost the other Live Target smelt color on a cutoff to a rolling coho. Lost one when Marty (ratchet) couldn't pop it in the boat like a bass fisherman. Turned around and headed north working the deeper water out around 40-45'. Took 5 more just south of the cement wall and then we couldn't find anymore. Ended up 18/22, bright colored stickbaits on boards and the flasker/fly combo doing most of the damage. Boat and crew all performed well, even though they were all senior citizens. Kerby turned out to be a master captain, with the help of the autopilot. Great first trip, won't be out again until Good Friday most likely.

Are these the plugs you are talking about Justin? http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=100454&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=10109&subdeptNum=10611&classNum=10615 I originally bought these but they are only rated for 3 amps.