Paulywood

Welcome Josh! (I fixed Mike's typo)

Welcome Kyle!

I can't help you on Superior but welcome to the site. There are a few Superior guys on here, plus a lot of experienced fishermen (and a few fisherwomen) who can help you with more general questions so don't hesitate to ask. Good luck to you.

Welcome aboard! Let us know if you have any questions or need any help.

Stock the retrieve ratio of a Convector is around 4.2:1 (I think). But they can be upgraded to the same ratio as a Daiwa Saltist, which is 6.2:1 (I think). I plan on getting a couple of copper setups this winter and was planning on using a 55 Convector with the upgraded gears. But I will have to look at the Clarion now:)

I actually prefer the Okuma Convector's for core over other reels. They have a large, comfortable handle and good retrieve ratio. You can also have Tuna Tom upgrade the gears to a better retrieve ratio, I think 6.2:1. Not sure on the cost. All of my core reels are Convector's.

The WMFL is run like Jim suggested. 6 rods, keep a 3 man limit. Weigh 5 fish. $15 entry fee, with $5 going toward big fish. You don't have to pay anything to join. If you are interested I'll send you a copy of the rules.

Went over to fish the WMFL event. Got started a little later than I wanted friday night so we headed straight out. The ride was bothering my back so we didn't end up getting out as far as I wanted, I was planning on trolling back east. Anyway, we set up in 90' on a west troll and hooked up with 2 small kings (6-8 lbs) both on Ace High plugs. One was 225' back on a braid diver and the other was off an SWR 80' down. Went all the way out to 160' but there wasn't much out there. Nailer was doing good inside of 100' and we both noticed that the south troll was better so we had a plan for saturday. In the morning we ran north to Duck Lake and set up in 85' on a south troll. I had a high and low diver on the inside of the boat (shore side) along with an SWR on that rigger on that side. The current was RIPPING from the shore. When the SWR fired with an Ace High Canadian the fish got into both divers on that side. I thought that I set the divers on the wrong side in the dark but it was just the current pushing them so far over to the side. We ended up landing that fish (12#'s or so) and reset the high diver to the outside. I was in the process of moving a fullcore with an Ace High Green Scaly plug over the the inside of the boat when it started pulling back. Landed a 6-8# king. With the current so strong we angled southeast a little so we were headed into the current. As soon as we did a wire diver 125' back w/ a Mountain Dew spinny and Mirage fly fired. It was back to 200' by the time I got it out of the holder and still smoking so I took a seat and let him run out to 375' before he got tired. I was slowly working him in when the SWR rod fired again. Netted mine (15#'s) and dumped him on the floor before netting the second. All of these rods were running 60' down where there was a solid line of bait across the screen. As the sun came up that all disappeared so we tried to drag bottom with no luck. The current and wind made it tough to change direction without tangling. Had some bad news when we topped a 4' wave and had the wind blow the boat sideways. The combination of the wind and current took all the pressure off my wire diver and it plopped into the lake. So if anyone catches a Daiwa Heartland rod with a Shimano Tekota on it in 85' of water north of Muskegon I would like it back. I can identify the lure that is on it:) Either way had a good time with my brother and brother in law, even though there was a lot of back talk when the captain issued orders. We ended up pulling a little early because the weather was really hard on my back. 4'+ waves with a strong wind. We ended up finishing 3rd behind Team Nailer's 58# 5 fish box. Ours was 47#'s (I think) so not bad for 4 fish.

Welcome back! Lots of Ludington guys here who should be able to point you in the right direction. Let us know if you need anything.

I have the Raymarine X-5. I have been happy with it so far. It was easy to install. However, before you buy it you might want to contact Raymarine. I have heard that they will not be making anymore units. Simrad also discontinued their rotary AP's. But I guess one of the main Simrad AP guys went to Sitex and they just came out with a new rotary autopilot based off the Simrad design. They are brand new and a lot of dealers don't have them yet. After this weekend I would recommend getting a rudder reference with the X-5. When the wind would blow us off course it would have trouble figuring out which way to turn the outdrive in order to make a correction.

Just keep feeding it Wheaties!

Looks great Josh. You are way ahead of me, I've had mine for 1 1/2 years and still don't have the name on it.

Good luck guys. Especially in Frankfort Eric, I love fishing up there. Was glad to get back up there this year.

Nice looking boat Grant. I'm sure keeping all that blue paint looking nice takes a lot of work.

You can only have 3 rods in the water. However, you could run a flasher/attractor off your other downrigger with no hooks on it. Just attach it to your downrigger ball.

Is that an Atlantic in the pic? Nice job and thanks for sharing.

Yeah, 5 color is about it. Just to warn you, the retrieve ratio on the 209's is real low. It takes a lot of cranking to get a fish in off them.

I'm fishing the wmfl on the 14th and am planning on fishing the 28th somewhere, so I'll be on the water both weekends.

For big lake gear Captain Chucks and Pere Marquette Sports are both good places.

That's a monster! Good job Captain John.

Holland also has good perch fishing. I have seen the boats just outside the pier and to the south. Out of Pt. Sheldon they fish around the bubbler alot.

Mark, It is my understanding that B4K just does projects for kids with life limiting or threatening conditions. Don't think this falls into their scope of work.

Welcome aboard! Let us know if you have any questions or need any help. I think Mike fishes out of the same boat in South Haven.

I try to run them as long as possible without making it impossible to net the fish. Usually have the dipsey touching the rod tip and the hook on the lure at the butt of the rod.

My low diver tips are in the water over half the time. Never had a problem.