Billy V

Just talking about the Bar has me wishin' I was bringing my boat down there for the month! Maybe in 2009...

That's interesting Ray....remind me to stay up wind of you!

The MANIAC MOTEL! :) Nice looking set-up Eric. When will you be at the Bar this year? You guys should see how Maniac sets up camp....electric range, fridge, coffee maker...all the comforts of home. It's hardly what I would call tent camping!! I was REALLY impressed with his set-up the last time I got out there with him, and I can't wait to see this behemoth fully outfitted! Are you going to have a room to tie flies in Eric???

It depends on what you're targeting Chowder. If you're going after browns in the spring on the east end of the lake, you're fine with the 12 & 15# line. If you're going to be down at the Bar for the spring Kings you might consider bumping up to 17-20# mono. Once the fleas show up in the summer you're probably going to want to switch over to something heavier, like 30# Big Game. The fleas stick to the lighter line pretty badly, but they don't stick to the heavier 30# and up diameters too bad. Some guys still run the lighter line during the summer and just deal with the fleas. It's up to you. The 27 size reels will be fine for browns, but you might want to consider moving up to a 47 size reel for Kings, and you'll definitely want to move up to that size if you decide to go the 30# route for the fleas as the 27 won't hold enough line and you'll probably get spooled pretty quickly. You should be fine with your rods.

E-Chips are a lot like Spin Dr. flashers...made to roll or spin and are more speed tolerant than old-school metal dodgers. We run them anywhere from 1.8-3.0 + mph down speed with success. If you watch some of the underwater footage that's out there you'll see that they all have a slightly different action to them.

Shawn, We kept the wax in the sun so that it was fairly warm and we didn't have any issues at all with it. We were using Dolphinite T-Wax, which is supposedly one of the more forgiving waxes when it comes to temps.

Yup, that did it Chad!

Chad's working on it...I can't log onto it either.

I run what comes from the manufacturer. If it comes with a single I'll leave it a single. If it's a treble I'll leave it a treble. If I have to replace a hook on a spoon, I generally try to go with the same size and type (single, treble) as what originally came on the spoon. I like to leave the hooks like they came from the manufacturer so that I know that all of any particular make in my tackle box will run the same as the rest of that make. Just my $.02.

What a FABULOUS day. Nice report and great pics. Thanks for sharing!

I can't imagine it being much bigger than the portable city you had set up last time I was there with you!

I definitely was. My arms & lower back are killing me from all the buffing & waxing. Bet I sleep good tonight.....

Thanks for all the feedback guys. We spent the weekend buffing and waxing the boat. We also touched up the bottom paint. I'm pretty happy with the results: I had a little bit of Meguiar's Heavy-Duty Oxidation remover left and I had begun buffing the boat with that. When that ran out I switched over to the new bottle of 3M Super Duty Rubbing Compound that I had purchased. What a HUGE difference! The 3M has a ton more grit to it and it did a much better job of removing the oxidation than the Meguiar's did. I won't go back to the Meguiar's now that the guys at the boat yard turned me on to the 3M. That stuff coupled with an orbital buffer made the job a whole lot easier. We finished it up with the bottle of Dolphinite that I found in my garage and now she's shining like a new penny! I have enough of the Dolphinite to last me a couple more years. When that finally runs out I'll look into some of your suggestions. When we were done we drove up by the bay and there's still a ton of ice on it. If Mother Nature doesn't do her part and get the temps up to where they belong for this time of year, we won't be putting the boat in any time soon.

What Yankee said!

For what it's worth, one of the most respected charter captains on the lake once told me that they'll take their old chalky line and put it in a 5 gallon pail with HOT water and then spool it directly from the HOT water onto their reels. I guess they have a 5 gal pail specially rigged up so that the spool site in there properly. They claim that the hot water puts the moisture back into the line and its no longer chalky. Not necessarily recommended for tournament time, but more than ok for weekend warrior duty!

Hey, you gonna fill us in about the new ride? wink wink

Are you clipping the leadcore into the release? If so, I'd try to avoid doing that. Leadcore isn't made to be twisted and pinched like you can get away with on monofilament. We let all of the leadcore out into the water and then clip the backing material into the release and almost never break the core off. I'd try to put all of the core in the water. If you repeatedly let the core out with less than the full core in the water and stop at the same spot every time the core will rub on the rod tip and eventually break inside the sheath at the rod tip. Once the core is broken inside the sheath, it starts cutting the sheath from the inside out and eventually it'll break off. The same thing is probably happening where you're putting it into the release on the board. We run 5 seperate leadcore rods...a 2, 4, 6, 8, and a 10 color core so that we can let all of the core into the water and clip the backing material into the release. If all you have is a single 10 color and you like to run it at let's say either 5 colors or 10 colors, try putting a 2-3' splice of mono after the 5th color. That way you can let out 5 colors and clip the release into the mono rather than on the core itself. I've heard of guys who splice mono after every two colors for the entire length of the core. But whatever you do, try to avoid twisting, pinching, or breaking the core inside the sheath. Hope this helps.

I just heard from the guys at http://www.gloutdoorstore.com/, and they've decided to offer a discount to any LOU member who orders online from them. The discount code to put in at the checkout is billvpennyan. The discount is good for the next 30 days and is for 5% off your purchase of any item in their online store. Additionally, any order over $100 will get free shipping. This site carries all of Dreamweaver's spoons and Spin Docotrs, plus a few other brands. I've done business with them before and asked if they could offer LOU members a discount and they emailed me back last night with this. With ever-rising fuel costs, every little bit helps! Happy Easter fellas!

It's almost that time!

Sweet report! C'mon ice out!

I just got this email from John at NK. This is a great sale and an easy way to stock up your tackle box with all sorts of color combos for a lot less than retail. ** In House Sale ** Northern King Lures "In House Sale" 4/22 - 5/1 2008 Tues - Fri (4/22-4/25) 9:00 - 6:00 Sat (4/26) 10:00 - 2:00 Sun (4/27) CLOSED Mon - Thur (4/28-5/1) 9:00-5:00 Sorry for the delay on putting the dates up, also we thought we were going to have it early April, but we need to do it at the end of April, due to spring break. 1,000 of NK 28, MAG, 4D & M80 Irregulars & Test Colors 1,000 of Over Stock Colors in L22, L24, L28, & A-4D sizes Also plenty of Eagle Claw & VMC Treble Hooks, Mustad Single Hooks, Split Rings, Tape & Ladderbacks, Beads, NK Shirts, NK Hats & More All Irregulars, Test Colors & Over Stock Items are under $2.00 We Do Not take credit cards, sorry. Come check us out and see what we have to offer!!! Tackle Shops are welcome and will get a discount!!!!!!!!!!!! We are Located at 60 Hojack Park, off Ling Rd in Greece. Use Mapquest to get directions: 60 Hojack Park / Rochester, NY 14612 http://www.mapquest.com/ Hope to see you there!!!!!! Good Fishing NK

Congrats Tom!!

It'll be interesting to keep an eye on this thread. Definitely some inspirational stories there, especially yours Chinook. Boat Name: Billy V II Home Port: Fair Haven The name of our boat is sort of a family deal too. Back before we had any kids, my wife and I began working with a financial planner. The planner began asking us questions about where we saw our lives in 5, 10, 20 years, and we mentioned that we'd like to have kids someday. I'm the 4th in a long line of William Ruth's, and he began joking with us that if we ever had a son that we'd carry on the tradition and name him the 5th. That quickly morphed into a long-running joke about our yet-to-be-born son, Billy V. I swore up and down that I wouldn't name my child William the 5th. But as soon as he was born, I realized that I couldn't break the tradition, and we did indeed name him William the 5th. When it came time to name our last boat, Billy V seemed to be a perfect fit, especially since we only planned on one child. I go by Billy V on the fishing forums and now all of my fishing buddies call me Billy, even though I've gone by Bill in every other part of my life. We named the business Billy V Sportfishing. When it came time to name this new boat, Billy V II was the only thing that made sense to me. Now I just need to figure out how to incorporate my second son's name somewhere! Maybe a second boat???

Nice Bro! Way to start off the season.