Paulywood

I will guys. If we buy it I probably won't get it for a couple weeks as its in storage and blocked in by 6 other boats, at least. We had to crawl over and under them to get at it. And yes, I will post plenty of pics. Thanks guys!

It's an I/O. The big 4.3, 210 hp. I had the broker ask the owner about top speed with the boat but I'm not to worried about it. One thing that is nice about the boat is that everything for the engine is accessible. Oil filter is on top and the doghouse opens up with the engine exposed. My old boat only 1/3 of the engine was visible with the doghouse open. Made working on it a real pain. The engine and engine compartment were spotless. It was maintained professionally every year. The guy who showed me the boat did the service work. Also the seating setup is really nice for fishing and cruising. The 2 jump seats in the back fold down flat against the transom instead of having to remove them. And there are 2 seats on top of the livewell and baitwell that are larger than the other boats we have looked at. There is also storage under the passenger seat, plus the porta-potty slides back under the floor in the cuddy so it is out of the way. We'll see what the owner says tomorrow.

My wife and I went to Ludington yesterday to look at a 2001 22' Sportcraft WA. The boat was immaculate and only had 126 hours on it. We were dealing with the owner of the storage company who listed it for the owner. It has an aluminum tandem axle trailer. Since it was new it has only been trailered from the storage building to the boat launch and then back to the storage unit in the fall. Even though it was slipped the boat was well taken care of and very clean inside and out. The owner only used it twice last year. It comes with an Eagle fishfinder and Garmin fishfinder/GPS combo. I'm not sure if anything else comes with it or not. We decided to make an offer and expect to hear back from the owner on Monday.

The guys that I have talked to love the JR rods. I plan on trying one this summer.

I use a Daiwa Heartland w/ a Twilli tip for my wire rods and they work great. Don't get a cheap roller rod, they are nothing but trouble. I learned this the hard way. After 2 seasons none of my guides show any wear. I really like this setup. The only negative is the amount of resistance you get from the Twilli. But it's not too bad.

If this is a thru-hull and not a shoot-thru you might want to be careful if you trailer. The ducer can be damaged loading and launching.

I just use 1000' of wire on a Daiwa Sealine SG47. It fits perfect and you don't have to worry about knots failing. I have had over 600' of line out before. I like to keep it simple.

Good job Ken. Looks like fun. That is one heck of a rod on that slammer, mines about 2 ft. shorter. (No jokes guys!)

I was over in Wisconsin this weekend and heard that the brown trout fishing in Milwaukee Harbor was phenomenal. Guys were boating close to 100 fish per trip. Then we went up to Fond du Lac and guys still had vehicles out on Lake Winnebago. Big difference in an hours drive.

I second what the other's said. You can't go wrong with either unit. It really comes down to personal preference as far as display. If you have more room and like the big display so you can see small speed changes, go with the Moor. If you are limited in space, go with the Depth Raider. I would suggest going and checking out each unit in person. You can't go wwrong either way. Good luck.

I like the Church Walleye boards. Check Meijer, that's where I found them the cheapest for some reason. I haven't been real impressed with any release I have used from the stock Church release, to plunger releases, and Offshore pinch pads. Try the stock releases first. Church also came out with a new release that is just like the original, but reversed so the line pulls into the release instead of out of it. I will probably try them this year. I don't like my boards to release. If you do set them to release, place a speed bead or something similar in front of the lure so the board doesn't slide all the way down. As far as lures, I only use spoons, plugs or stick baits. Flashers pull too hard and the board won't pull out as far. I like the boards set far away from my boat to reduce the chance of tangles. Core lengths depend on what depths you would like to target. I think a full core (10 colors) and a half core (5 colors) are a good place to start. I have 7 core setups right now. 2 Full, 7 color, 2 half, 3 color and a 2 color that doubles as my SWR rod. Good luck, some days core is the only thing that will put fish in the boat.

I'm pretty sure I know the boat your talking about. It's in Chicago, right? I looked at it 2 weeks ago. Needs a complete overhaul, stringers, floor, transom are all shot. Save the gas money. Chicago was fun though.

When running big boards its easiest to run identical leads behind the release. Obviously not ideal if you are running multiple core rods and different lengths. It's nice to have both options though.

I used to have manual Big Jon's. One with the center clutch and one without. The one with the clutch was a LOT easier to raise, lower and set. I am sure you will love the change. Good luck with them.

A cheap way to get a lot of releases is to use shower curtain hooks and alligator clips. You can make a bunch of them for very little money. A small piece of rubber tubing over each clip will help protect your line. Or you can use rubber bands half hitched to the line and then pinched in the clip. Or rubber bands half-hitched and hooked on the curtain hook without the clip. All will work.

The reason a lot of guys only run inlines is because it is simpler. You don't have to deal with stowing the big boards, the hassle of setting out the boards and line, releases, things like that. With the inlines it is also easier to reset a line with a different leader length. Off the big boards it is easier to have them set the same distance behind the release. They are nice to have, especially in the spring for brown fishing. You can run them right up on the beach. They do pull out to the side farther than the inlines. It's a nice option to have.

I would buy the cartography if I were you. I went with 2 seperate units in case of failure by one, I would still have at least one unit. I also have to Garmin maps and love the detail and ease of use.

Sounds like you got lucky Mik. As they say, better lucky than good. Good luck on the recovery, I know broken ribs suck.

Is that a treatment plant? My brother works at one. Looks familar. We are down to a dusting in these parts. But, you never know what March will bring. I plan on one more ice fishing trip, then I'll pack it away.

Man, it looked pretty ugly when I was in Midland today. High and dirty. Lots of crap coming down also.

Thanks guys. I just picked up a couple of reels to use for walleye and they have 15# on them. I thought it was a little heavy. I'll respool with 10# for now. I've got a couple of dipsey rods set up with 30# braid, I'll try those too. I plan on getting over to the Bay a couple of times this year, at least.

What pound test line do you guys use when trolling for walleye? I just picked up a couple of reels that I plan on using for walleye this summer. I already have a couple spooled with 10# and 12#. Should I go lighter, heavier, or isn't it a very big deal? Thanks for the input guys. I'll probably have more questions as I plan on spending a few days on the Bay this summer trying to catch walleye.

My light-line rig is a Daiwa Sealine SG 27LC with 12# test on a 8' Berkeley M-L Power Rod. It seems to work well. I've caught a few 15#+ fish on it with no problems. The tip is real flexible but it has enough backbone to steer the fish at the back of the bone if need be. The drag is nice and smooth, also. I've got about $115 into the whole setup.

Where is it at Scott?

I run 15# for my spoons and 20# for my flashers off the riggers. I have a 12# setup and it is a blast to catch fish on. I use it after the sun comes up. I also like to use an SWR after the sun comes up. There are a lot of good ideas out there. The main thing is to develop a spread that you have confidence in. If you are confident that the spread you have out will catch fish then by all means leave it out. You can try tweaking things such as leads, spoon sizes and other details to trigger a bite. The main thing is to find fish. If you are on fish, chances are you will be able to get them to bite.