spoonfed-1

Bill, Yes there is growth on the bottom. The difference in performance and fuel economy is minimal. Top end would be 38 1/2 to 39 mph in the fall instead of 40 I get in the spring. Doesn't bottom paint do that? (creat drag or friction) I have read reports that claim it does but I can't say that from my own experience as I have never used bottom paint. Glen

I have a 25 foot Wellcraft with no bottom paint. I leave it docked on the little salmon river from April untill October. When I pull it out at the end of the season I spray it down with Slimy grimy and pressure wash it. Takes about an hour and looks like new. Don't figure you could paint the bottom in an hour. Been working for me just fine. Glen

John, Do you have any experience (or know anyone that does) with these radar arches? Thanks Glen

Tim, Did you need to do the circle thing in the water to calibrate the compass. I tried several times but the dam thing tells me I'm turning to tight and without making any adjustments it tells me I'm turnng to slow. Keeps going back and forth without making any adjustments to the steering. Has worked fine all season without completeing that procedure but I haven't hooked up the NMEA yet. Glen

Get some Slimy Grimy and apply as directed. Plain and simple it's the best stuff going. It's also environmently very safe. Will loosen up that dried stuff if applied correctly with a garden sprayer then just pressure wash. Won't damage your trailer either. Glen

8 1/2 mi according to my Garmin BlueChart. That is from the mouth of the river to shore at the plant. Glen

Bout 6 or 7 miles I would guess. Not far. Glen

Great work Mark. Thanks for your efforts. Dave, Thanks for listening. Glen

Simrads are pretty sweet. Glen

You want to use heavy leader material no matter what brand you choose. The heavy stiffer line will give the fly the action you want off the attractors. All fly manufacturers want you to do well with there flys so you will buy more and the leaders that come with the flys are just fine. Glen

Plenty of water from the launch to the lake. Once on the lake there are a couple small bouys on your right. Go to the end one and if your heading for the Salmon River you can draw a straight line without problems. Glen

I have seen this boat. Fish catching machine!!! Glen

Sounds like good advice exept the fish can move alot in that time frame and so can temps. Come out of the river and look for the pack of boats. There will be fish there and fish the marks on your screen as far as depth goes. Good luck. Glen

LOL. Great report Skipper19. Been there so I can appreciate what you went through. Almost had a heart attack one spring out at the Niagara Bar. Was fishing alone in my 18 footer and did 2 doubles and 4 singles on Kings in under 3 hours. After the 8th fish I pulled the Salmon gear and set up a couple stickbaits and headed for the shipping lanes looking for some smaller, jumping fish. LOL. Good luck. Glen

8 or 10 " is fine. LUHR-Jenson if I want color or opti or Fishlander if I want to run clear

Scottys, They don't break down. Just keep fishing. Fast and reliable. Got 2 that are 13 years old. Never had a problem. Glen

Empty stringer, I usually just cut off the damaged cable and reconnect everything. tried the liquid tape and it doesn't hold on long. I run Scotty riggers and the damage is usually do to weeds or debris sliding the stop buttons on the cable but Bill is right. Cross your cables and there is considerable damage to the coated cable. I'm not saying it happens alot by any means just that the couple times a season it does it's a pain in the a_ _. Clarke, I bought a couple xtra spools of cable with the $200.00 bucks I saved over the price of the Fish Hawk. LOL. Keep buying those 9 volts. I average a couple seasons with a spool of cable. Next time, in another year or two, it will be more cause I'll get the extra long spool. 350 foot I think is the long one. That will give me plenty of extra for the repairs. Glen

I agree with Hank. Also running a fish Hawk for years. Hated the battery useage. I now run a subtroll and wouldn't go back. The coated cable is a pain in the a_ _ but better than buying the 9 volts. Usually a couple repairs during the season. Next time I got to buy coated cable I will definatley get the long length spool so I got plenty for cutting some off for repairs. Even with damaged cable I don't have problems unless I got to go really deep. Glen

Trout One won it. We were only able to do 4 Salmon and one guy on the boat wanted fish so I filleted them before we headed in. Bill that fillet board I bought off you is great with a few modifications to the mounting system. Saves alot of back pain compared to doing them on the side of the boat and is alot safer in choppy water. Glen

I would not recommend trolling with any big outboard UNLESS it was a 4 stroke. It is harder on the motor than running full throttle for extended periods of time. I just bought a Yamaha 200 hp 2 years ago. The place where I bought it had the exact same motor as mine and it was in parts on the bench. I asked what was wrong with it and the mechanic told me it had 385 hrs on it and 320 of them was trolling. Washed out a cylinder and this was one of the newer HPDI 2 strokes. The older 2 strokes are worse. If you buy a 2 stroke put a kicker on it. You will pay for the kicker with the gas you save and will save the ware and tear on the big one as well as having backup power. If you want a dual purpose big motor get a four stroke. Good luck with whatever you decide. Glen

i didn't like the quick draw rod holders on the outside riggers so I epoxied them closed. No problems since. Glen

No to Vanish. Bought a spool of 8lb test a few years back. Got it home and peeled some out. Grabbed hold of the end and gave it a yank. Snappped like a 4 lb test. It went from there into the trash and took my losses. Pline 100% flourocarbon has been doing it for us for the light line Browns. Haven't tried the heavier stuff yet but when a Brand of light line is good usually the heavy stuff is good to. Glen

Oak Orchard is probably the most consistant area to fish year after year. People in the area are friendly and it's a nice quiet area. Might be worth it to you to take a look around there. If it wasn't so far from where I live I would keep my boat there. Glen

Thanks for the kind words guys. Thanks to a great team we pulled it off. Glen

Another vote for the fish finder. Glen