MANIAC

I started out much the same way with Cannon unitrolls then quickly graduated to Cannon Mag 10A's which worked well. When I got the bigger boat it came with 4 Big Jons and 2 Penn 825's. I loved the Penns right from the start. I immediately sold the big jons and bought 2 Penn 835's. Loved them even better, sold the 825's and bought 2 more 835's. Don't know their retrieval rate but they are considerbly faster than my mag 10's. Auto stop is not an issue, you can program up to 10 points to stop it wherever you want. Their swivel bases have 36 positions so you can position them exactly where you want. I am extremely happy with them!! Eric http://www.pennreels.com/01_products/downrigger/downrigger.htm

SS, 3 colors: Green, chartreuse holo, and glow. Skeiner, there's yellow in the blue one and I'm sure you know what that is an imitation of !!

Dan, I am going thru the same project as we speak. Aluminum boat, so no rotten stringers. Replaced fuel,vent, and fill lines and below deck wiring. New gaskets on the fuel senders. Pulled the tanks and cleaned them. Had a few cracked welds repaired. Went with starboard anti skid for the flooring. It has been no small project and I have found lots of other little things to fix up along the way. My advice is to be thorough and do it right the first time and not rush through anything. Better to pay once than twice. Eric

Sure Dave, Give me a shout!!

The Oak, July and Aug.

Bourbon-Sugar Salmon -1/2 cup packed brown sugar -1/2 cup bourbon -1/2 cup apple juice or cider -1 tsp black pepper -1 large salmon fillet -1 cup chopped pecans -1 tbsp butter, melted -1/2 tsp salt In a large ziploc bag, combine brown sugar, bourbon, apple juice/cider, and pepper. Seal and mix. Add salmon, seal and shake to distribute. Refrig. 2-3 hours. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spread chopped pecans on baking sheet. Bake pecans at 400 degrees for 5 minutes or until toasted. In small bowl, combine toasted nuts, melted butter and 1/2 the salt. Remove salmon from marinade, place on baking sheet, and sprinkle on remaining salt. Spread pecan mixture on top of salmon. Bake at 400 degrees for around 15 minutes or until fish easily flakes with a fork. Meanwhile, place marinade in small saucepan and boil 3 minutes. Serve salmon with cooked marinade. Great with angel hair pasta.

Bushwacker, Sent you a pm. Eric

Bushwacker, here's some pics of an alternate connection method for the Cannon probe that I came up with. The plate is made of stainless steel. When I want to remove the rigger from the boat I unwind the spring antenna from around the cable. Only takes a few seconds. Eric

Always have the trail feature on. It helps you to duplicate the trolling direction that worked previously. I also have my grid lines on too...just prefer it that way.

Good to have you back Dave.

Send my vote in for the recipe section too!!

I have the Cannon unit and it works great. It had its problems in the beginning. Cannon ended up replacing the unit and it has worked flawlessly since. I like the display and the tru depth and light intesity info that it also gives. I came up with a different way of connecting the probe to the cable which is alot better now. Seems like most or all who have the Subtroll and Depth Raider units have given them positive feedback. Cannon and FishHawk units seem to get mixed feedback. Another thing to consider is the cost to replace the probe. I know the Cannon is around $400. I think Raider and subtroll around $200. Just my $.02 Eric

In clearer water I like to run blk/silver, blk/gold, perch, blue/silver raps size 7 & 9 off the boards up to 200' back and blk/silver R&R's on the rigs. Cloudy water- orange/gold, firetiger, chart/silver raps sizes 9 & 11 off the boards and chameleon, sunrise, and chart/orange dot R&R's on the rigs. But besides lure selection, I think one of the most important aspects to spring brown fishing is locating warm water pockets and concentrating your efforts there.

When you are trolling with downriggers the weights and cables will not be hanging straight down. The drag on them from moving thru the water will cause them to swing back, thus blowback. Heavier weights and slower trolling speeds will reduce the amount of blowback.

Gray, Would love to get back out for eyes but who knows when conditions will be ok again. Back when we had all the wrmer weather I was so busy at work the only thng I could do was get some sleep. When work slowed down the freeze set in.

Yeah Gray, Long Point is behind the boat. Ethan caught another good one later in the afternoon that day. Both were 30". Thanks Dan, I think he can handle a rod pretty good for a 9 yr old and he has patience and persistence to boot. He makes me one proud pop.

Nice pics Gray, Good to see you got the boys into them as well. I fight very few also but, getting newbies and my son into them and watching their enjoyment is all I need.

Anybody out there use or try one of these before? Thanks for any input. Eric

I am a union electrician and work in mostly industrial environments.

3 for me. 24.5' Sabre 20' Starcraft 16' Monark

No hiding it from my wife. She already knows and thinks I'm a wacko. Guess I'll have to show her this thread. 9 rigger rods 5 diver rods 2 2 color cores 1 3 color core 8 brown trout setups 12 spinning rods 7 flyrods another 5 rigger rods hanging in the rafters

Glad you guys enjoyed it. I know I sure do!!