TheKingfisher

We just put new cable on the riggers yesterday, includeing one rigged with the SubTroll coated cable. All we did was put the spool of new cable on a heavy screw driver, and I wore 2 pairs of heavy leather gloves. I applied tension to the spool of wire as we let the electrics take on the new line. That's what I've done in the past with no problems, just kept tension on the line as it is going on.

Yeah I use the FlyTrap boxes as well. work nice in the tubes.

I've been told by several Honda people that our 15HP Honda kicker should be running approx .2 GPH at trolling speeds on our 23 foot Islander.

We picked up a SubTroll at the GR Sport Fishing show and I was in the boat yesterday trying to figure out just where I wanted to put it... So... Anyone have any tips on mouting a SubTroll? I know the basics and I can read the directions, what i'm looking for is things like 'oh I did this and then wished I hadn't' etc... Just practical advice. Also, thoes of you who have them are you useing the coated cable that is included? Thanks.

Frank- yes all good points you absolutley right. If we made any changes it would be with the direction of our local Honda dealership. Right now the prop on it is the stock one it came with, but the motor we have isn't the 'kicker' specific model so it has a more standard prop. From talking to the dealership last year I have should have some options that will work in higher pitch, I just need to get the boat and motor in for them to take a look at and see what options they actualley are.

Nope never fished Ontario, I've fished Michigan, Huron and Superior. As for motor placment, yes it can be troublesome. We kind of got lucky and our Scotty Down Riggers have a pretty long boom. So when we fish I extend out the boom all the way and then since we're on swivel bases I just kick them out to make sure nothing bad gets into the prop on the kicker. I also went to a braided line on that rigger, I don't know if it would make a big differnce but I figured if the braid line were to get into the kicker it'd be better than wire line of the rigger? I don't know, didn't want to actualley test me theory...

Has anyone taken the time to put together a list of the 'optimal' speed ranges that the manufacturers recomend their 'stuff' run at? Such as spoons, flys, spinnies and other attractors etc? I was going to start a list of this information for the stuff I have, but thought I'd ask and see if anyone else had yet?

Any autopilot is better than no autopilot! Our autopilot right now is my Dad, oh wait I guess that's no 'auto' is it... bummer...

We're adding Wire Dipsey to our aresenal this year for the first time... I'm excited to try it!!

That's a nice looking Islander!

The Hook-Ums are nice to, I have two that I keep my 'hot' lures on for easy access. They work well for glow stuff to b/c they are UV blocking etc...

I had the oppertunity to be an observer on a couple of the top pro boats this past season and they all just did green on one site, and a differnt color on the other. None of thoes captians were worried about the color of their dipseys. If thoes guys (couple of the top $$ winners) aren't worried with the Dipsey color I don't think I am anymore...

I'll second the 'special mate'. I think it's a great box. I'm to the point where I almot need 2 of them *gasp*...

Bad to the Bone- The lift is a Gerlick, we bought it where we had the whole system installed which was at Lakeshore Marine in Muskegon. They did all of the work on it, hooked it up to fuel, the remote throttle etc. Yes it is a long shaft and works well, we probabley could have gotten away with the 9.9 as opposed to the 15 however. Seems like if we punch it up much over 3/4 throttle we just don't get anymore speed we just spin the prop. But it will troll it down real slow. I'm considering changeing out the prop on it to something with a high pitch as well since we really aren't looking for the 'speed' so to speak on the little motor. It's been a great investment, and with gas prices just going up it'll pay for itself in no time. Prior to the kicker we use to run about a 1/4 tank of gas per trip (50 Gallon Tank). Now unless I do some crazy long run (which I have been known to do occasinally much to the dismay of my crews) I'm ueing between a 1/8 and a 1/4 tank per trip. So it's effectivley doubled, if not trippled my fuel effeciency! Plus, 2 motors is a nice feeling when your outside the sight of land (also something I've been known to do, sometimes to the continued dismay of my crews)...

We started in a 16.5 Tracker Deep V, and bought this 3 season's ago now. We just love it more and more as we use it. It's the perfect boat for us, big enought to be comfortable in any conditions we'd want to fish in, and small enought to be easily trailerable.

Here is the Kingfisher, she's an 86, Starcraft Islander V221. Powered by an 170 HP fuel effecient Mercruiser 4 Cylinder and Honda 15HP kicker. Pair of Scotty Downriggers, 2 Cannon Mag (old hard body style) and a decent collection of rod holders all on TraxxTech Rails. She came with a Raymarine L750 sonar and we added last year a Lawrance GlobalMap 5300c GPS. This year might see the addition of a temp probe, we'll see how things pan out. She's a great boat! I can't wait to get back out on the water!!

As far as I'm concerned the Islander is the perfec boat for fishing these great lakes. Rides down the road nice without anything real special to pull it, and is large enough to fish 4 comfortabley in just about any weather that you'd actually want to fish in. It's a great boat, we love it.

Ok So this is the first attempt at posting a pic here so we'll give it a shot. Here are some pics of the back of the Kingfisher with the Kicker Motor.

I've had succses running my cores for 2 years, I did have a core break off last year at the knot, but it was 'above' the core so I think it was actualley on the mono something broke, got a nick in it etc. My cores that are 2 years old are being replaced this year. I've had them in the water a lot in the past 2 years so I'm going to just get on a two year rotation on my cores. I don't use power pro, I use the Fireline, but I've had in the past good succses for several years. 2 season ago I respooled both of my Dipsey rods with 2000 feet of 30LB Fireline, I'm planning on takeing off the first 300 feet of line for this season and calling it good. I've hardley ever had more then 300 feet of the Fireline out, so this should be basically fresh line at that point. So that's what I'm doing... :-)

We added a Kicker Motor 2 years ago and we've been very happy with it. It deffinatley has saved money on gas, and our main motor is likley a little more fuel efficient than yours. At the moment I can't even think of the brand of lift we bought, it startes with a 'G', I'll think of it, or someone else will... But anyway we kind of positioned ours so we really don't lift the motor on the bracket much at all. If it gets real wavy we sometimes need to put it down because it comes out of the water but we pretty much don't mess with is. Our Honda Outboard has a power tilt and when we power up and are running we tilt it up so it's clear of the water. We also use the EZ-Steer bar like mentioned in on of the links above. It's worked great. Really hasn't interfered with the steering of the boat, at slow speed, like coming into the dock I do drop the kicker back into the water as the angles can get a little extreme, and the kicker does seem to help with the 'rudder' type action. I've got some pictures, I've not posted pics on this site before, but i'll try and figure that out here in a minute and put some up!

Sounds like a good time. I think we're in. Not to worried about the Big Fish, I have no issue with your rule that the captian needs to be there. I was only thinking, and who knows if we're a contender then we might make a change in plans anyway. Is it March yet?? I'm ready to get the hull wet again! -Patrick

I've got some additional questions, haveing not participated before. I don't see them answered in the original post. I'm gathering that this is a 'accumulated' points tournament, but is there also pay outs for the individual tournaments as well? Also, it looks like the 'Big Fish Game' is an additional peice of the tournament, but it says in thoes rules that the captian must be present at the last tournament for that contest, which is Sept. 7th. We're likley not going to be at the last tournament, the weekend after Labor Day we always head of north to Onekema for a weekend of fishing. But if we do miss that final tournament does taht mess us up for eligability for the 'main' West Michigan Tournament? Just curious how it's all setup. Sounds like something fun to do. And I'd likley be out fishing thoes days anyway!!

I think Team Kingfisher will make the tournament this year. We've just got to finalize some dates.

What a scary ordeal. I sure feel for the friends on the boat, I can't imagine what it must feel like knowing someone drowned on your boat, much less that you lost a friend.

The fish we caught in Onekema this past weekend were all pretty dark. Last time I was out down south we were taking a mix bag of silver and dark fish. But that was 2 weeks ago now...