Paulywood

Fished the Dreamweaver again this year. Got over to Fisherman's Landing Friday night and finished getting the boat rigged for salmon since this was the first trip. The crew doesn't really like fishing in the dark so we set up in 50' just north of the pier at 6am on a ssw troll. Or, wherever we had to go to dodge boats. Worked the same water everyone else was and watched them all fight fish with nothing going. Even had a hot tip from one of the crew's co-workers but even though we marked bait and cold water there we didn't catch any fish. Around 9am in 135' of water off Mona Lake I decided that we should go not catch fish somewhere else. After a slightly bumpy a mostly wet ride we set up in 350' of water off Duck Lake on a 100 heading back toward Muskegon. Now nobody could laugh at us while we didn't catch fish. In 140' of water a half core with the Michigan Dolphin went and my nephew reeled in a small steelie. We had a fish to weigh and the crew was happy. I went to change out the 300' copper with the Glow Easter Egg as my brother reset the half core when all of a sudden it started peeling line! Fish on! After a very protracted battle my nephew boated a nice 13' king. By then it was after 11am so we couldn't go back through the area we took the fish in and still make weigh-in. We tried dragging some kings off the bottom in 90' but had no takers so we headed in. Planned to fish Sunday morning but 2 of the crew were dealing with stomach issues and weren't up to it. So we hit the road around 10am and headed home. It was a lot of fun (as always) and very well run (as always). Saw a lot of old friends and met a couple of new ones. Already reserved our site for next year and the crew signed back up again!

This isn't much of a report and is really late but thought I would throw it out here anyway. 2nd year in a row I haven't gotten the boat in the water until July. That's getting to be a bad habit. Left the house at the crack of 9am and got to LBM about 9:30. Hopped out of the truck to set up and when I went to grab something realized the truck was locked with the keys in it. Not a good start. Finally launched after the tow truck unlocked us and ran straight out to 25' of water outside the pack of boats. Had my father in law who doesn't fish and my 4 year old son Parker on board. It was Parker's first real fishing trip so the expectations were very low. Parker helped me set every rod as we trolled north. Then he insisted that we check all of them, twice. An hour after setting up he decided it was time to go home. So we pulled lines and I let him drive the boat in. We ran 3 oz. bottom bouncers on the boards and 4 oz. on the down rods. I'm going to have to buy bigger bags or a trolling plate because I couldn't get below 2 mph. With the move to Midland and Parker's short attention span I plan to spend more time chasing walleye and less time on the west side the next few years. Oh yeah, we were 0/0:D. But the boat ran fine and Parker thought fishing was fun so it was a good trip.

I put one on last year and really like it. I would recommend it.

Hey guys! Just saw this. Things have been a little busy for me. Started building our new house in Midland in October that will hopefully be done by the end of the month. My daughter Hadley was born in November and Parker will be 4 in a couple weeks. I planned on fishing these events last year and ended up making none. I will try to make a few this year no matter what the rules are. But I did learn a few things while I ran it so I'll throw out my $.02. First, I agree with what Tom says. The big thing is to try and keep it fun. No matter what you do people won't be happy. I say set it up how you want Terry. Don't try to please everyone. I like the different points per species and weighing a 1 man DNR limit. As far as start time and place, I don't think it matters. With something like this that relies so much on the honor system people who want to cheat will find a way. Everyone else will play by whatever rules you set up. I like the different ports and throwing South Haven in is a great idea. I can drink beer on a boat anywhere and it's good to have an excuse to go different places. People who are going to fish different ports will do it. Those who don't want to will find an excuse not to. When I moved it from Pt. Sheldon to Holland I had multiple people tell me they wouldn't fish it because it was too far. And I was the one trailering 100 miles in each direction! There are advantages and disadvantages for each kind of boat when it comes to things like this. I might be more comfortable in 3' rollers but the guy in the 16' aluminum boat can jump up on the beach between the 2nd and 3rd sandbars and fly to where they want to go. I've been the benefactor in each case and it all evens out. So my advice would be to do whatever you think will be the most fun. People who value the same things as you will show up and have a good time. Those who don't won't be there. Either way I know you'll do a good job. And I hope you feel better soon!

I run 7' Talora roller rods with Tekota 600's for my low divers and 9' TDR diver rods with Tekota 600's for my high divers with braid. I run the big Deeper Divers (124mm?) on the lows and the small ones (107mm?) on the highs. I've tried almost every setup out there and really like the way I have it now. If you want to save money TDR's with a roller tip is a good setup. I ran Twilli tips for a while but they add a lot of resistance.

+1 for Bowkers

I will be out of Whitehall friday afternoon and saturday morning. Feel free to give me a shout on 68. "Sugar Mama" Nick

I won't be able to make the first one. Good luck guys.

I tried everything listed above one year. Ended up just buying a new receiver and figured it was a cheap lesson learned. Now I grease up the hitch every spring when I put it in and coat the receiver with grease in the fall when I take it out. No more issues now.

For $1000-$2000 you will get a very good sonar and transducer combo. In reality a lot of if comes down to personal preference and what people are used to when you get up into this price range. I have had very good luck with Garmin units so last year I upgrade to a 740s. It is a 7" display which is nice, can be used as a split screen with any combination of sonar, GPS and radar. I have a dual frequency Airmar P66 transducer and have very good performance although I think it could be better with better transducer positioning, something I hope to address this year. My old units were both Garmin and I could plug either one in to use as a GPS or sonar. I plan on buying another 740s and having the capability to do the same thing. That way if something happened while I was out fishing or with short notice I could still fish and wouldn't really lose anything. But that's just my preference. Anyway, with the amount of money you are willing to spend any of the manufacturers will deliver a good product. I would go to a large show and play with them all to see which one fits your needs best.

Ryan, I had the same issues with Slide Divers. I only have one setup and don't run it often but started using a large snap on the end of the rod to hold the diver while I let out line. Mine is on a 7' rod so I just snap the diver to the rod then let out how much leader I want before snapping it in place and unsnapping it from the rod. Much easier to set this way IMO. I can't take credit for the idea, I read it somewhere else.

Welcome Kevin!

Welcome Randy!

Like Josh said the Dragonfly's look like very nice units. Out of the 2 you asked about I would say that the Humminbird is easier to use. I have friends who have each unit and I thought the HB was more intuitive. I would think that for use out of a kayak both down imaging and side scan would be helpful, even on the great lakes. Both units should be able to distinguish between bait and fish. On battery life, you would have to ask another kayak fisher. Most people on here fish out of boats that have engines and alternators. Or if anyone has used either of them ice fishing. But I think that using them as both a sonar and GPS will draw more power. Good luck.

I think there is a place in Baldwin that rents sleds. I think there are quite a few places that rent them if you look.