IRISH56

Ray - thanks for the reply. I guess I'd better take a closer look at it, it didn't look to me like there was enough room to access the center of the spool where the cable feeds thru and is crimped w/out taking it apart. Thanks. DAN

Just took delivery of a couple of Mag 5's and got them put together. I'm going to run a Depth Raider off one of them so I need to re-spool it with coated cable. My old riggers were Uni-trolls and easy to get the thing apart and get to the spool to put on the coated cable. The electrics don't seem to be so easy and reading the warranty I would void the warranty by taking it apart. Am I missing something?? Should I slice the coated cable onto the existing rigger cable? If so what's the most dependable way to do that? Thanks. DAN

Splitshot - sounds good. It may snow right thru summer :roll: :roll: My cell phone took a swim in Cayuga last summer so I don't have your # anymore so be sure to give me a call when you get up to Lansing. Not sure about Barney's Spring derby ... way too much sh!% going on around the household this spring. Your friend's daughter/son-in-law in the market for a house :?: :?: New kid is gonna put us exceeding max capacity :shock: DAN

The blacks release inline above the probe post was from Longline w/pics, that's how I had my DR set up before the move to electrics and how I plan on rigging it back up ... soon. It's basically a piece of the plastic nozzle extension (from a WD40 can) slid up over the cable with the blacks release slid over it. A crimp from a standard electrical connection is crimped on in the middle of the release just enough to hold the release. The release spins on the plastic piece no problem. This is all done before terminating the cable and hooking up the probe. Never had any problems with it and, even with the probe rigged as removable, never lost signal down to 120'. Great set up!! DAN

I've fished with both the Sub-troll and the Depth Raider, both are good. I opted for the Depth Raider mainly because it has a digital readout, smaller probe and smaller display unit. There's a lot of discussions on this, and other fishing forums that are worth reading if you want to research all available options; Sub-troll, Depth Raider, Fish Hawk, Cannon Speed/Temp etc.. Too many pro's & con's to list for each and a whole lot of technical info. as to why one is "better" than the other. DAN

Dual - - mainly to track downriggers. DAN

If you're gonna stick with braided line for rigger rods I would lose the pinch pads altogether and go with either Black's or Roemer releases. Remember also that the braid has a lot less stretch than mono so you may not wish to load up the rod so much, that goes for any type of release. For what it's worth, as it gets closer to summer you're gonna hate having the braided line when the fleas show up. They'll cling to the braided line like mad. DAN

Ditto on Gambler's post. There is very little forgiveness so remember that when you are setting your drags and most importantly playing fish. You'll want your drag just passed the point of creep when the rig is set and in the rod holder, if you creep a little every few minutes that's OK too. Any tighter and you'll have nothing but fishlips Whe you get a fish on just ease the rod out of the holder and keep tension on it. When you can pick up line on the fish just raise the rod tip and reel on the way down. If you pump the rod like a bassmaster you're done. Takes a little to get the hang of wire divers but is well worth it. Good luck. DAN

That's a beautiful thing .... thank god it's spring time!! DAN

Go to the Cabelas web page and look over their "Trolling Lure and Rigs" pages, Lake Trolls a.k.a. cowbells, trolling flies etc.. This should give you an idea of what is meant by all of the above. I am not advocating Cabelas but it puts all that stuff one one page for ya! Do a little surfing for some more information on trolling flies - if you're targeting lakers they are a good bet & there are plenty of other places to get them. DAN

I won't qualify myself as an "expert" but here on Cayuga L. they are mostly what we target. Off downriggers I like to run clean spoons with free sliders. Usually darker colors (purple, black, blues) at the ball and lighter colors (greens, silver, chartreuse) off the sliders. As far as lead is concerned I'll normally start pretty close to the ball (20' or so) and work out until I find a pattern. I'll usually be running dodger/fly combos off dipsy divers as well but they'll work on the riggers also. Usually smoke, green or white dodgers w/green, white or blue flies. Leads on dodger/fly rigs are pretty standard, less than 15'. Best combo's by far for me are Smoke Opti or LJ Green Glow dodger/green crinkle fly or LJ White w/pearlscale dodger/white fly. Speed is normally fairly slow, right around +/- 2.0 mph at the ball. Depth is sometimes tricky although lakers tend to be more structure and bottom oriented, if you can find the bait schools that's where you want to target. Once the thermocline sets up they are normally just below. Hope this helps. DAN

8' to 8 1/2' MH wire roller rod, Eagle Claw or the like. Mono would stretch way too much w/ 16oz. or so lead ball. I also use a 10' 6" MH Okuma rod w/braided line as a "Superline" thumper rod (Great Lakes Angler article a few years ago). Advantage for me is the rod length on a 17' boat, I set it parallel to the water just in front of a rigger. Works real well on lakers. DAN

Finally ... some more boys in blue on the board. Welcome to the site. DAN

Pair of Cannon Uni-Troll downriggers w/standard bases, telescopic booms, single rod holders & Retro Ease weight retrievers. One has appx. 150' of coated cable other has appx. 200' standard cable. $300/obo Pick up in Ithaca NY area, will consider delivery in and around Elmira/Rochester/Buffalo depending on timing or buyer pays shipping costs. PM or e-mail. Thanks. DAN Will post pic's when I figure out what's up w/digital camera. :? SALE PENDING

Whats' the upgrade from that :?: :shock: DAN

Normally slipped in Wilson Harbor???? If it's the same one it's slipped not too far from my bro's boat and it is a nice looking ride. Maybe if I hit the Mega-Millions .... Real nice boat!! DAN

Clarke - Joe and I were just discussing that topic whilst punching holes in paper targets yesterday. The new schedule hasn't been posted yet however you would think he would know what his days off are going to be as he just picked them a week ago :roll: :roll: Joseph will be working the 3 - 11 shift and will have MON & TUE off starting the week of the May 10th. I will continue to pester him until he commits to something, now that I'm his Sgt. he'll have nowhere to hide. At least he knows your plan - - I told him that also. DAN

Hey - - where'd you guys get those cool fish logo's?? Disregard ... found it. Got my shirt ( 2XLG only because they shrink a lot ) and bumper sticker today. Really like the logo, very cool . DAN

Just in case you guys were wondering Dryden is a suburb of Freeville ... oh wait ... maybe it's the other way around Welcome aboard slider, nice to see some more local talent. DAN

Simple answer is yes, the eyelets aren't normally the problem it's the tip. You can remove the tip and put on a "twilli" tip that's designed for wire - wider radius at the tip. Some guys just leave the tip until it wears and then replace it. Google up "twilli tip" and you should find a link. DAN

No doubt about it Clark!! All the "experts" that say direction is one of the biggest factors apparently know what they are talking about. I'd say you hook up with a stray fish, usually a skipper, or two going back through but the bigger fish are apparently all looking the same direction :shock: DAN

10lb mono is plenty for tackling trout in the Finger Lakes, problem is when the fleas show up. Not sure if some of the smaller Finger Lakes get them (Hemlock, Canadice etc.) but Cayuga, Seneca and Owasco get them pretty thick and they will load up on anything less than 30lb mono ... or wire Running wire divers puts a good deal of stress on the drag system so I would suggest using a levelwind reel with a linecounter designed for trolling, Daiwa, Okuma & Shimano all make good reels. Get the best you can afford. If you plan on chasing Lake O. kings you might want to invest now in a good wire reel - Shimano Tekota, Daiwa Sealine or Okuma Convector etc.. Your average FL trout is not gonna smoke your drag on a single run but over the course of a few seasons running wire you'll be happier with a quality reel. Malin 7 strand wire for me also. Wire divers with dodger/fly rigs are killer for lakers on Cayuga L.. Hope this helps. DAN

Go Depth Raider!!!!! DAN

I've started picking away at new spoons & stickbaits, ordering some new Mag 5's here shortly and 2 core rigs, 2 planer rigs, and the new Cannons will come from Cabela's with free trolling rods so I'll probably rig one up as another wire diver. It never ends DAN

Ditto - always on. At the end of the day you can tell where you hit good concentrations of fish and mark waypoints for the next morning and get rid of all the criss - crossed lines ... or leave 'em and make a bigger mess of your screen. DAN