Fishtails

Shawn, that old saying "It's so easy a monkey can do it" applies here. They suggest using a utility knife, but I found scissors to work better. I already dropped hooks on it....no problems. They don't stick into the rubber unless maybe you stepped on them. The tiles just snap together. Once you lay it out, do your cuts and snap it together, it becomes basically one mat that you can then just roll up and remove for cleaning. I used a wooden mallet to snap them together, but a rubber mallet would be fine also. You can snap the tiles together without a mallet....but why? Total install time was about 2 hours.

I mentioned a bit back that I was looking to install duragrid flooring in my boat. Several said it was not a good product for various reasons, so I reconsidered. After doing more research, I ended up going with a similar product called Dri-Dek and I am absolutely thrilled with this flooring. I installed it a week ago and I have walked on it in the rain, and even with ice on it.....definitly anti-slip!! It's very easy to remove for cleaning. As far as it moving around, It does need to be attached to your floor in one or two places to lock it in place, unless you do the whole boat. Here is the product I used. I think the price was around $4.50 a square foot. http://www.tackletour.com/reviewdridek.html Here are a few pictures of it installed on our boat Lucky Enuff

Ditto........I use the 10'6" to widen the spread and love them!! I felt the same reservations as you did when I first got mine. I think you'll like them.

Nice Eric!! I'll keep an eye out for it at 4 mile. I know......how could I miss it, right? Well, they don't call me capt. oblivious for nothin

Darn you Ray.......I took the bait too

Thanks so much for the help guys. Jay....I will send you a pm. Bill, I have experienced exactly what your speaking of in the Oswego Pro Am last year....4 days of trolling with very limited time @ full power I found equals 2 dead starting batteries and a tow in from the CG. Some lessons are learned the hard way.... Thats the reason I want to get everything off the starting batteries.

Of course.....you already know this Clark, but I prefer the shorter rods for the copper. Like anything, it's just personal preference. We use cabela's trolling series rods and I like the 7'6" trolling rod for the copper rigs. I also use the same series rods for all our set ups. 10'6" & 9'6" dipsey rods for all our wire set ups, 8'6" ft downrigger rods and 6'6" leadcore rods. They are not the best rod money can buy and in fact Imho when they were introduced a few years back they actually sucked. That being said they have improved dramatically from a few years ago and I really like them now. $40 apiece is what I just paid for 10 new ones.

Thanks for the advise Jay and Legacy. To answer your questions Jay, I keep it at the marina mostly, so I get full sun when the sun is out. I also liked the idea that a solar charger will charge while I'm out on the lake. They make really powerful ones, but with wattage comes increased size, so I opted for a 5 watt trickle charger that should at least help. I don't have shore power, so last year I lugged batteries back and forth and I'd prefer not to do that anymore (at least not as much). The only time I'd see a problem is when I fish 3-4 days in a row......which I do fairly often. I figure if I get really good batteries, I should be good.....just don't know what kind to get? I will have two batteries dedicated to electronics only. This includes 3 chartplotters, 2 fishfinders, sub troll, marine radio, music radio and 3 downriggers. Another question.....should I run the batteries in series ?

I'm changing the battery set up in my boat. Currently, everything runs off the two starting batteries. I'm adding a new battery compartment with two extra batteries to run all the electronics and riggers. My question is, what's the best brand/type battery to use for this application? I'm guessing a deep cycle, but there are lots of new batteries on the market I'm not familiar with. Money does matter, but a longer lasting charge will be worth some extra coin. For charging I've ordered a solar panel trickle charger. Thanks guys.....Any suggestions would be appreciated !!

Me too!!

PM RichD.......he has a 24 ft Thompson and is one of the nicest guys you'll meet. I'm sure he'd be happy to talk to you about it.

Clark raises a good point......it's dark red and can be very hard to see when netting a fish. I'd have to agree with that. For durability, we only had one break off the entire season using it last year and it wasn't the line's fault. There was a mild tangle deep in the spool and the fish was burning line so fast it snapped when it hit the tangle....but any line would have done that. We encountered no knot problems either. I can only speak for the 30 lb test. I'm kinda indifferent on the stuff myself. I'm certainly not in love with it but It never let us down either, so I'd have to give it a thumbs up except for the low vis issues.

We tried it and I had no complaints. We use 30 lb and had zero fleas with it....so that was a good point. As far as the color disappearing........I don't see that it really matters one way or another Salmon fishing. I use fluorocarbon leaders anyway, so it's not like I tie up to the red line.

Sounds good Shade.........all the info is up top. Most of our crew will be fishing till 10 or 11am, so feel free to stop on by anytime from 12 on........we'll be there all afternoon/evening!! It sounds as though we will have a slip at The Boathouse in Wilson from May 1st till the end of the Pro Am. The rest of the season we slip in Oswego. I look forward to meeting you and your crew. I'll be there most of the loc derby also, so we may even cross paths before the roast??

Maybe I'll catch ya in the evening on the 10th or 11th before I leave. I'm there till the 11th. I'll be in 202 I think till the 10th, then I move to 108.

Dude..........when we were down there a couple weeks back I had two of them swimming under the boat when we were fishing in the ocean. I remember seeing all those dots on their back. They were only about 4-6 ft under the boat. In hindsite, I'm glad I didn't hook one :shock: You wouldn't even think one of those could launch itself up into your boat....what a terrible freak accident.

Welcome aboard Bill. You'll find this is a very friendly and fun group. I hear you on the radio all the time. We keep our boat at Wrights in Oswego also, from the 2nd week of June till the fall. We are on the end of Black dock. I'll stop by one day this summer.

I hear that Eric....esp. right after this looooooong winter. I think we're all itching to get out on that water !!!! I'm gonna have a really fun crew out there on Memorial day weekend. We'll beat up on the fish in the morning, but we'll raise some he11 back at camp in the afternoons. Just gonna one of those kinds of weekends. No wife or kids that weekend to keep me in check Are you guys staying at 4 mile when your out there? If so what dates? I'll have the boat & RV there the whole month of May, but I'm not sure yet if I'll be there during the middle part of the month?

In Memory of our late friend Duane, I thought I'd bring his "Boat name Origin" thread of a couple years ago back to life.

You only eat sandwiches when your fishing anyway Just one more reason why you should stay another week.

Thanks for the tip Nick......your right. It appears to be somewhat similar to a Tennant's Tang. Some different markings, but definitely a Tang. I appreciate the help in identifying it. http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/1834/product.web I was probably on a school of them and will never catch another one. Perty fish!!

A Tang huh....... Thanks. I'll look that up. I couldn't find it in my books and hadn't caught one on previous trips. Funny thing about those fish.....of the ones we caught ....that one is the only one that was hooked in the mouth. We hooked them in the belly, back, side....all over the place, but only one was mouth hooked :?: Had me real puzzled.

Pig Roast....LOU members are welcome! Where: Campsite #108 @ 4 mile Creek Campground (Youngstown NY 14174) When: Saturday May 24th Time: 1pm till ?? ( Pig will be done around 3pm? ) A couple buddies and Myself will be having a little Pig Roast on May 24th (after the morning bite ) My one buddy has a roaster we will be pulling out there for the weekend We do Pig roasts a couple times every year. We will be out there fishing for a long weekend, and our initial intention was to do a suckling pig just for us and maybe a couple people we meet around camp. Then I got thinking maybe other LOU members will be there that weekend? If so, and If your interested in joining us......PLEASE let me know well enough in advance.....thus the early posting. Our intent is still to do 1-2 suckling pigs, but we can do some barbecue chickens also if we expect more people. We'll have horseshoes set up also. What you'll need to bring if you plan to attend: A chair A side dish (if poss)...store bought is fine Beverage.....we will supply the pig/chicken.....you supply your beer! Pm me if your interested in joining us.

I had heard about how bad it had gotten by my friend Bruce out in Ca whose an avid So. Cal fisherman. His father runs a Salmon charter in No. Cal and he told me how they've screwed up all the spawning habitat out there for the Salmon. The future looks very bleak unless radical changes are made. He fished with me one day last summer and was blown away with the fishery on Lake Ontario. I think we went 8 for 12 that day including a triple and it was only the two of us. The fish gave him a good whooping and I sent him back to Ca a tired man! I had to tell him to stop fighting the fish like a little girl. He said they only average one fish a day out west, so they pull all the lines and stop the boat when they hook up. I thought the first fish he fought had a better chance dying of old age than us ever landing it He got the hang of it after awhile though and did great! Best part was he was whooped....noodle arms and all cause I made him pull in all the fish. Just as we get ready to call it a night.....the 600 copper fires and it was game on again. It was pitch black by the time we got back to Oswego harbor.

I'm always interested in a good poker game, but it would have to start early enough or be on thursday night for me to get involved. It's lights out for me by 10pm during the Pro Am. I'm sure I'll be all jacked up Friday night and won't be able to sleep anyway though....or I'll fall asleep round 3:45 We will have our RV @ 4 mile creek (#202) and that would be good place to have a card game. I'm guessing others here entered in the Pro Am will be staying there as well??