Billy V

Here's the only pic I have of the set-up. This is an older-style Clincher without the Black's style release. We have the newer one with the release built into it and it's a good set-up for us. You need to drill out the rivet that holds the big snap in place and replace it with a stainless bolt and two nuts. While you've got it apart, take the snap that comes with the Clincher and throw it in the trash. It's way too soft and opens up far too easily. We had ours open up three times the first time we used it and we were surprised that we didn't lose our probe and our Shark. We replaced it with a Cannon snap and we're much happier with it. Strip a half inch or so of coating off the cable and crimp a wire fastener to it. Put that over the bolt and pinch it in between the two nuts you have on the bolt. A little hint that we've found is to make sure that the loop on that connection comes into the release from the rear. If it comes in from the front, near the release, it'll tangle your line and might cause you to lose a fish. We check ours every day to be sure that it hasn't slid around to the front. If you're in Fair Haven again, stop by the boat and we'll show you our set-up. After we get through the next two pro-am weekends we'll be around Anchor a lot for the rest of the season.

We started using the Humminbird VHF255s last year and we really like it a lot. It was a major upgrade from our old ICOM. The reality of VHF radios is that they all transmit at either 25 watts or 1 watt (high vs. low power). No VHF will have more power than another. Your antenna will make the biggest difference in being able to talk to guys further away. Most of the differences in radios are in features like scan, memory, DSC, submersibility, ability to interface with your GPS, etc. Some even have FM radios built into them now. Unless you want all the extra features, you can probably get away with about as basic a radio as you can find and you'll still have the same power as any other VHF out there. Here's the link to the Humminbird that we have: http://store.humminbird.com/humminbird- ... 600-1.html I've seen them for about $130.

The quick and easy way to rig the release is to clip a Black's release to the top of the probe and then just run a short line below the probe to the Shark. We run flashers/flys off of our Sharks all the time and have had good success with them that way. Adding the 15# Shark should eliminate a LOT of the blowback you've been experiencing. We used to use the Black's release above the probe and it worked just fine for us, but last year we started using the Walker Clincher with the Black's style release on it and really like it a lot. It requires some drilling on the Clincher and a new snap, bolt, two nuts, and a wire fastener. But there are no more crimps holding my probe on, which I like a lot!

Dang Jax! NICE DAY!!!

You can probably get away with 800'. Just keep an eye on it when a big King takes off.

Nice job Eric! Rumor has it that you found a camper???

WOW!!!!!!!

I'm glad we all made it in safely on Saturday. It was pretty scary. Man, that storm sure lit the fish up for a while for us though!

Most "exciting" part of landing that fish were the dozen or so BIG lightning bolts that hit the water just to the West of us during Yankee's battle with the fish. I had both engines fired up and the second that fish hit the deck I had both of 'em pinned as we headed in. It was pretty gnarly out there, and YT's fish bit just as we were getting ready to pull the lines and head in. Maniac and Jay did a great job clearing the deck and landing a second smaller fish while "Popeye" worked the copper.

Thanks guys. Yeah, that's three LOC fish the past two weekends. It's been a fun couple of weekends for us.

Today Yankee Troller, Maniac, Jay and I teamed up for the Mustad Challenge. One of the fish we managed to boat is the new Summer LOC Salmon division leader at 25.12lbs. The fish came on a Green Double Crush Glow Smartfish/Siggs Rigs Green Hypnotist fly fished off of our 600' copper rig out over 130 FOW. The fish was also the largest fish of the tournament. Yankee's arms were just killing him a the end of the battle with the fish...it took close to 300' of backing out on top of the copper & leader. Way to go Yankee, it was a real thrill to boat that fish with some of my best fishing buddies on board! Here's the pics: Sorry for the short report, I'm headed out of town on vacation as soon as I get home and won't have time for a report till Monday or so and wanted to congratulate Yankee Troller right away!

Jay, Nice tribute you guys did the other day for your friend that passed. Very classy. Sorry to hear about your loss.

I've always run snubbers on my dipsys, but after reading this thread I might give it a try without. My only concern is that we use 30# PLine Fluorocarbon leader material and it doesn't have nearly the stretch that the mono you guys are using does. I suppose I could always just run the 30# Big Game that we spool our rigger reels up with as leader material. Food for thought!

Awesome fish, congrats!!

I haven't tried them in a silver or gold cup Paul, but if you have any extras floating around I'd like to!!

Today we found the browns that have been missing all season long and also played with a few nice Kings. We worked 30-45 FOW first thing in the morning and played with 6 or 7 browns, the highlight of which was this brown that currently sits in 4th place at 12.09lbs: Every one of the browns took a Dreamweaver Super Slim Area 51 spoon fished off of our riggers behind a chrome Shark. We ran riggers and short cores for the browns, and we couldn't buy a bite on the cores, but they sure did seem to like that Area 51 behind a Shark. Best down speed was 2.4mph, and the best riggers were set at 15 and 16ft. After the brown action dried up, we headed out to deeper water and started targeting Kings. We hooked up with several nice kings, and wouldn't you know it, the Kings also took an Area 51 spoon fished off of the riggers. 110'ft down over 120-135FOW seemed to be the best rigger for us, but we also hooked up off of our 95' and 50' riggers. We tried like mad to get a flasher/fly to fire, but we couldn't make one go today. The Area 51 was the only thing to get bit on our boat today. One of the other charter boats was at the gas dock right after we came in and had several Kings that he took off of a flasher/fly combo. He didn't have a single spoon fire. Go figure! 2.5 - 2.7 mph down speed was our best speed for the silvers and we found 56 degree water down 110' out over 130FOW with a surface temp of 60 degrees. The highlight of the King action was this 20.09 lb King that was sitting in 15th place after we weighed in at Screwy Louies. The screen was a LOT better looking than last weekend. What a fun morning!!

It was $4.68/gal at Anchor in Fair Haven last weekend. I bet it's even higher this weekend.

I've owned three Penn Yans and currently run a Penn Yan 295 Prowler. All three of them have been FANTASTIC fishing boats. For what we do on Lake Ontario they're really great!

There are a few Penn Yan's here: http://www.boattrader.com/search-result ... ngth:DESC/ or here: http://www.yachtworld.com Also, there's a 25' Penn Yan for sale at Screwy Louies in Fair Haven...the Big Fin boat.

I've been running 30# Big Game for years and have had no unexplained break-offs whatsoever. I've been very happy with it. With that being said, I also use P-Line for my leaders and 50# Ande clear for my fly harnesses.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with that unit Steve. My research continues...

Pretty much anyplace on the East end of the lake will hold lots of Kings at that time of the year. Some of our best catches of the year in Fair Haven come in early-mid Sept.

Just a quick notice that the Fair Haven Fishing Association will have it's first organizational meeting to discuss the pen rearing project that's planned for next season. The meeting will be on Saturday June 21st at 4:00 pm under the big shade tree at Anchor Resort. All are invited to attend. Hope to see you there!!

I also have a 585 and it's a fantastic unit. Best fish finder I've ever owned. And Rich D is 100% right...get a color unit. They really do show a LOT more detail and are a lot easier to see, even in bright sunlight.

Steve, In looking at the Raymarine website, it says that the S1000 is for boats up to 25' long. I know that you run a bigger boat than that and I'm wondering if you've had any issues with that unit on a heavier boat. In talking to Hank (L&M) after he diagnosed my old AP as being dead he indicated that if I went with a Raymarine that I could use some of the old Raytheon parts that are already on the boat and that it should be a relatively simple installation given that the parts are interchangeable. I'm already running hydraulic steering so that's not a concern. Also, will the S1000 interface with my new Humminbird GPS or is it designed to work only with another Raymarine product? Thanks again.