Tim Bromund

The Depth Raider antenna has a large enough diameter that the scotty beads fit right through just fine. However there is another workaround where you cut the coil off near the plastic insulator and attach it to a solid metal pickup from the scotty black box. fish307.com has some tutorials on their site on how to set that up. Torpedo Diver now has a stainless cable with the copper electrode running on the inside that eliminates the exterior nylon coating. It was the old temp sense cable from Walker that the bought the rights to. They also have an antenna that when used with their cable has been down over 400' without losing signal. They are currently working on a larger diameter antenna to address the scotty autostop bead issue and once they have that on the market, I think I'm going to give it a shot. I don't mind the coated cable as much as a lot of people seem to, but if I can eliminate it and the additional drag/blowback, I'll give it a shot. Tim

Yes, I have quite a few, and yes they DO still catch plenty of kings and steelies as well as browns. Alpena Diamonds and LJ fluttersepoons are still awesome fish catchers also, but lure manufactures need to keep coming up with the next "hot" lure so the old standbys sometimes unfairly get kicked to the curb in the name of "progress". Tim

27 lb lead core will hit 4-5 feet per color at 2.5 mph leaders about 20 feet or so how much backing did you get on those 47's with 9 colors of core? Tim

Quite honestly, with the way kings are already being caught all over the lake, this is one spring where I would not worry about having to join the circus at the bar. Tim

I think the toughest fish to successfully release are mid summer offshore steelhead. Other than that if you have the capability to revive them, most fish will survive. Browns in particular seem really hearty and easy to release even in warm mid summer water. Tim

braid is a flea magnet, braid divers are useless for most of the summer IMO

I don't know, doesn't matter, Scotty's are better anyway.

Hey if anyone is looking to get new Scotty downriggers, check out John's Sporting goods in Everett Washington. I recently ordered a new Scotty HP 2116 from there and they have, by far, the cheapest price I've seen. $699.00 with no sales tax and free shipping by UPS ground. All the other Scotty rigger models are also significantly cheaper than I've seen elsewhere. http://shop.johnssportinggoods.com/Cart ... =152&cid=3 Tim

Did some investigating the other day. I took the trim piece off and pulled the "so distinctively 80s fuzzy hull covering! :)" away and it turns out that the hull to deck joint is easily accessible from the interior. In fact, the caulk joint is clearly visible, including the gaps in the caulk where the leaks are located. Right now, it looks like I will be able to rake out the old caulk with a hook knife (thinking of using a 5 in scraper) and recaulk/seal the joint with 5200 from the inside without having to remove the rub rail from the outside at all (yippee). Thanks to a guy on another boating forum I frequest for the great idea to check the inside first, I was ready to wrestle the rub rail off and tackle it from the outside before doing any interior work. Just made my life a whole lot easier. I should have that entire joint in the cabin raked out and resealed in a day. I was going to tackle it today, so of course after beautiful weather all week, it is pouring rain Tim

Nice, I'm a big fan of Toshiba Electronic equipment. Looks like they have a nice dash mount/docking station available for it. Only drawback that I could see is that it didn't look like it had NMEA out capability thought like a regular marine GPS unit would to connect to autopilot or a DSC marine radio. I wonder if there are some sort of USB or HDMI to NMEA adapters available out there. Tim

That last pick with the little one holding the laker is awesome!!! Tim

most of those are run during the off season.

I have 2 Daiwa Heartland Diver rods with Twilli tips that are 11 or 12 years old that are as good as new. You really cannot beat those rods for the money. The Daiwa SG47LCA is a super wire diver reel as well and 1000' of 30 lb wire fills them perfectly. Tim

because wire comes in 1000' spools, 1000' of wire fills that size reel perfectly and with a single continuous length of line, no connecting knots to fail.

Nice, Gotta love it when the fish doesn't fit in the cooler!!! Tim

Definitely permanent, handhelds only have 5W of power, fixed mounts have 25W. also since VHF is line of sight a fixed mount with an 8' antenna has a much wider range. All of the radios are pretty good and will do the job. The right antenna is far more important IMO. Don't skimp on the antenna, go with a Shakespeare Galaxy Series I think the Shakespeare Galaxy 5225XT is a good choice. Tim

soooooooo, what you're saying is you're afraid you're not good enough to compete in the new format... OK

It's actually been going on for a couple years now.... The cabin has been getting wet for a while and I've been ignoring it since it it only used for tackle storage, then the wood started crumbling last season. The way the fishing has been so far this year, I may have to leave it for now, though I probably should at least reseal the hull/deck seam/joint before it goes in the water for the season. Then, I can take my time and figure out exactly what I want to do in there, get all of the new wood sections cut, epoxied/sealed over the summer and ready to go in when I pull the boat in the fall. This is all that's left of the old Thompson cheesy interior construction. The floor, stringers motor bunks and transom were replaced in 2003, so everything from the cabin bulkhead back was already done. Dave, I checked the porthole windows and they are not leaking as far as I can see. Tim

Olcott has some of the nicest launch ramps on the lake. A little more detail on where you are coming from and where you might want to fish would be helpful in giving you a useful response. Tim

I'm really not looking to upgrade or replace Pete, just pointing out the fun I have in store for myself ripping out and replacing that rotten wood. Thanks Tim

This crumbling pile of rotten wood pulp used to be the interior of my boat cabin. Ahhh, the joys of owning a 26 year old boat. First I've gotta take off the rub rail and reseal the leaking hull to deck joint that was the cause of this mess. Tim

Wow, nice day Chad!!! Tim

nope, brown trout for sure. 5 is another coho. Tim

Congrats Mark!!!

rings are stuck......stuck to WHAT exactly? did they tell you that you need a new kneuten valve and to add grease to your muffler bearings as well?