Paulywood

Sounds like you got lucky in a lot of ways. All's well that ends well. Good luck with the new boat.

You want to make sure you do the edges. Even an oil based paint coating will help stop absorption. After that it is up to you. I know guys who have used Rhino Liner successfully. I think Cabela's sells a coating. You can even use vinyl.

I agree that with electronics there is always a chance that the unit could have issues. But people have been having problems with Lowrance customer service for years. Not just lately or during the buyout. If they have improved it then that is good. But you don't get a reputation for bad service in a short period of time nor do you repair it in a short period of time. I will believe it when they have a track record for providing good customer service. They don't have that right now so I couldn't in good conscience recommend them.

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

I run Garmin units on my boat and have been very happy with the units and with the customer service when I have had to contact them. Which hasn't been often. I have also heard good things about the Humminbird units. It seems like your problem is with Cabela's, not HB. Might want to look around for another HB unit. Sounds like Todd had good look with his Lowarance but I wouldn't put one on my boat. There is always the chance that you could get a bad unit, especially when dealing with marine electronics. What the company does afterward is very important and Lowrance is notorious for their horrible customer service.

Kevin (FBD) has probably been crying in his Fruit Loops the last couple of mornings. The K-Zoo is his second home.

I've stayed at the Betsie River Campground before if you want to camp. They might be full though.

I can tell you what not to do if you're interested. Don't have the brakes on the trailer overheat so it takes you 7 hours to get there. Then don't stay up until 4:30 am drinking beer. Then don't hit the water at 10:30 am so hung over you can barely stand in the 3-4' waves. Then don't leave the water at 12:30pm because the whole crew feels like crap. That's what you don't want to do.

I have a lot of rookies aboard too Dave and have never had a problem. They seem to struggle more with fish that are in close, like off riggers. Always try to horse them in. The only cut off I have ever had was on braid, actually. That will slice through mono just as fast as wire.

I'll have to call her next time I have issues. Sounds like she's a top notch wrencher!

Found out that the fish Tim (Hooked Up) weighed ended up being 28 lbs 10 oz on a certified scale. Heck of a fish!

Welcome! Let us know if you need any help.

Fished for about 1 1/2 hours friday night. 3/3, all kings. Wire diver back 175' on 1 w/ a white paddle and Glo-Nad fly took 1 and got hit again while it was going back. Rigger down 60' w/ Carmel Dolphin took 1. First fish hit and the guy grabbed it, immediately jerked back to set the hook. I hollered at him and then he told me he had never been salmon fishing before. He settled down and fought it like a pro. Good night, the lake was flat calm, unlike the next morning. We were straight out.

Good job Ken.

Good job guys. After making a few phone calls my crew and I decided to stay at camp, eat breakfast, and have a couple beers. Great morning. Went to the weigh-in and talked a bunch of trash, as usual. Good to see everybody again and it was extremely well done. First 30# king I have ever seen. I'll see everybody next year, maybe we'll even set a rod!

Nice job and thanks for the report. I love fishing out of Frankfort.

Islanders are good boats. There is a reason that you see a ton of these boats on the water. All riveted boats will leak eventually. I don't think the Islanders are any worse than others. The ob version with the transom bracket is a nice setup. I don't think they plow water as long as they have enough power. There are quite a few guys on this site who have one and I have never heard a lot of complaints. I think that there is one for sale in the classifieds, might want to take a look.

Thanks for the report Chris.

Same as above. I run them on core, riggers and divers. During daylight hours a chrome/redhead J on an SWR has been a killer for me over the years.

There was quite a bit of rust inside the cylinder since it had no fluid in it. Should I just replace the cylinder? Or redo the whole system, cylinder, lines and calipers?

I rarely, if ever, run a flasher and fly off core. Mostly spoons and plugs. I really like plugs off of core, they seem to take a lot of fish. Putting ball bearing swivels at each end of your leader is not only convenient, it is beneficiary. I actually have been putting bead chains on the front of my flashers, also. It eliminates any line twist. I can't tell you the last time I have run a flasher in front of a spoon. I normally run them clean. I usually run flasher/fly combos off low dispeys and spoons or plugs off high dipsey's, unless the flasher/fly bite is really smoking. Then I might add another flasher/fly to a high dispey. I switched to 40# mono leaders between my dipsey and flasher. I also run a clear snubber on the wire divers. On braid I run a snubber if I'm running a flasher, if not I run 8' of 20# flouro.

Great job! The rumor going around is that BC2 withdrew to avoid the stink. Hope you guys get what you earned. Sounds like you worked hard and had a lot of fun, and that's what's important.

I would stay away from the anti-fouling nets. The fish seem to stick to them and they won't slide in. I can't recommend a brand but biggger is better. Let us know what you get and if you are happy with it, I have been looking for a second net.

When there is a full moon the fishing can be fantastic during the night. The rest of the time it is similar to a daytime bite as the fish aren't as active. I have never tried the full moon bite but have heard it can be crazy.

Heard that there was a protest and a well known pro boat was DQ'd. You would think that it would be hard to cheat when there are observers on board.