momay4000

The older black models are discontinued and now the newer 2010 Heartlands are green and a bit more expensive. Thus if you want all of your rods to "match" you have to buy all new ones. From what I'm hearing most of the older model black colored heartlands are sold out across the country. You may find a few here and there on Ebay or at local tackle shops, but I think most are now selling exclusively the green ones. I'd be willing to bet you'll start seeing people sell their old black rods in groups of four/five/six, etc. as they start to replace 'em with the newer green models.... - Chris

Chowder, Thanks for the advice - I heard the same thing but I wanted my reels to "match" so I bought a 45D a few weeks ago. Previously I had my 10 color core packed on a 30D, but I didn't have enough backing. My earlier convectors seemed to be much better made, but on the new reels the star drags seem to be a little sloppy......... Only time will tell..... - Chris

Bluewater, I use 12# mono for spoons and 20# for flashers both with 10' of 20# flouro leader for my riggers and surface planers in the spring. When I'm targeting browns early, I only use 8# mono with 20# flouro leaders. As soon as I see the first fleas, I change everything to 30# Big Game with 20# fluoro leaders. Good luck, - Chris

Shake n Bake, I have seven lead core reels - 5 are Okuma Convectors (four 30D's and one new 45D and the other two are Accudepth 47LC's). I use 27# core, not 18#, so I'm not sure of the line diameter difference. However, I have a two and three color on the 47 LC's and with 50# PP backing and 20# fluoro leader it fits fine. I would push for a Convector 30D or the Accudepth 47LC, that way you can really fill it up good with backing (at least 200-250 yds.) and your 4 color core and 50-100' of 20# leader without any problem at all. Good luck, - Chris

Raider, These guys are correct - don't use the haywire to form a loop to connect your mono leader or backing without a swivel. The wire will cut the mono or backing eventually, that's why I agree that you should use an in-line swivel. My copper rigs go like this: 50# PP backing - trilene knot - inline swivel - Haywire twist - copper - haywire twist - inline swivel - trilene knot - leader Basically the Haywire twist is always tied to the ends of a swivel and the trilene knot used for the leader and backing to connect to the other ends of the inline swivels. I believe the pre-rigged A-Tom-Mik copper set-ups (backing, copper and leader) come pre-rigged with the swivels using the same techniques (they may use a different knot other than the Trilene knot, however) Good luck, - Chris

Birddog, Listen to these guys - mounting the reels directly to your bow rail without a mast is not good. You can get away with it on calm days, but with any chop the tow line will cut into the waves, constantly popping your releases and the boards will be harder to run farther out from the boat just as Vince said. I have an '08 Trophy 22152 with an extended hardtop and I have my reels mounted to the frame of the hartop about a foot above the bow-rail line, but I run the line up to a pulley near the top of the hardtop and out. On my previous boat, I had homemade masts mounted to the gunwales. They were mounted forward from my rod holders. They were about 6' tall - again they had a pulley on the top with the reel mounted lower on the mast. The base was simply a 4" flat aluminum plate which I fastened to the gunwales with stainless bolts. Keep it simple - keep it functional and keep it cheap. Good luck, - Chris

Chowder, I've always used Seaguar and I have always purchased the Seaguar leader spools (25 or 50 yds.) that have a yellow or red stripe on a blue background on the spool. I know Seaguar also makes a red-label spool in which the entire spool is red. I have no idea what the difference is, but I always buy exclusive LEADER fluoro. Off my Dipsy's I use 30# fluoro leaders for flashers and 20# for spoons. I use 20# leader material on all of my mono rods, other than those I use for flashers (I use 30#). For lead core I use 20# b/c I can't get 30# to slide into the dacron sheath on 27# leadcore. - Chris

Thanks Rob - cool link - I just had this same question yesterday. - Chris

As always - thanks guys.....Nick you lost me at "pi"....... - Chris

Ladies/Gents, Can anybody please tell me the maximum amnt. of Power Pro 50# braid I can pre-spool my Convector 45D with before I add ten colors of 27# leadcore and 75' of fluoro leader? Thanks, - Chris

I'm looking at the pic of the sled on the very first page (the fish that you only see the tail section). I'm not trying to be a jerk - it's just I wouldn't be posting pics of fish when a season is closed......

Hey, I'm not trying to be an a@@, but I thought bass are catch and release this time of year? It looks like you have a largemouth in the sled in the pic. Could someone please help me out with the regs.? Thanks, - Chris

Gambler, I fished for carp almost every day Spring-Summer on the Susquehanna River when I lived in Johnson City/Endwell for eight years (Binghamton area). I would always use corn (4 or 5 kernels on a medium size hook) and we would chum with a handful or two or corn. I used the carp bait (cheddar cheese mixture) and it didn't work very well. I would jig for walleye and smallies, but always had my carp rod in the water at the same time. Green Giant Niblets worked best and the hotter the weather the better the fishing. Some evenings we would catch 10 or 15 of those puppies. I would see guys hook into one every now and then jigging Dobson (hellgramites) as well. - Chris

Cool looking stuff for 2010 - I really like the look of the Green and White Nuclear Spinnies.....boys get the checkbooks ready! http://www.dreamweaverlures.com/images/ ... ew2010.pdf - Chris Disclaimer - I have no personal or financial ties to Dreamweaver

Pete, Raytheon trades on the NYSE (symbol RTN), but Raymarine trades on the UK side I think. Who knows????? Later, - Chris Disclaimer - I have no personal or financial ties to Raytheon or Raymarine

Pete, I'm not sure what's going on with Raymarine, but the bankruptcy may only affect their UK Division (Raymarine, plc). Raymarine, Inc. is the Western Hemisphere division located in the US. I'm sure it's the same company, but I'm not sure how the bankruptcy filing will affect the US division. - Chris

Gray Fox, I'll chime a bit b/c I have a Raymarine unit - the new X-5 Sportpilot. I have an '08 Trophy 2152 with cable steering and the helm is very tight. I was hesitant to put a Simrad in there b/c I didn't want to cut a hole in my cuddy behind the helm. I bought the unit last year and used it the entire season despite a recall in July. The X-5 was recalled last year b/c of "locking" issues, but they have now fixed the problem and have already replaced my unit. I absolutely LOVE the unit, but I think some of this excitement is b/c I LOVE having an autopilot. Here's some of my thoughts: Likes: - excellent customer service at Raymarine - within 5 minutes I am ALWAYS talking to a human being, not a machine - excellent dealer network - Autopilot is an easy install - about two hours start to finish with excellent instructions - Mounts to a cable steering system (very few options otherwise) - Excellent electronics with good interface with your GPS for navigation - The unit held great in 4-6 foot seas - Can be used on a boat with very little space under the helm Dislikes: - Reasonable amount of "steer/counter-steer" when engaged. This can be adjusted with system calibration, but it is a little tricky - It's a bit noisy Overall, it's one of the best investments I have ever made - it allows me to fish very comfortably when alone or when we only have a two man crew. I fish out of I-Bay (Mayer's), you can stop by any time to see it in action if you'd like. Good luck, - Chris

Tall tails - my apologies - I thought it was in the context of an EPIRB. Thanks for clarifying - the DSC function on the VHF might not be supported for the same reason as the older model EPIRB's(too many false alarms) Thanks - please accept my apology, - Chris

Tall tails - with all due respect, I don' think your statement is accurate r/e DSC support on the Great Lakes. If I'm not mistaken, I'm quite sure the Coast Guard has the appropriate technology to monitor for a distress signal sent from an EPIRB. However, I believe in 2007, they "prohibited" the use of older technology EPIRB's (i.e Cat. A, B and S) b/c there was too many false alarms. However, a Category I/II (406 mHz) or Class C EPIRB is still supported. I'm not sure how to contact the local Coast Guard to see if this is true or not. I'm not trying to offend anyone, but it would be unfortunate if someone did not want to purchase one of these units b/c of a "rumor" that they weren't supported on the Gr. Lakes. - Chris

Cool pic - nice work. I have quite a few fish mounted including four kings. I have no experience with taxidermy myself so I commend you for your efforts. My only recommendation would be to add some more aggresive teeth. The mouth seems a little "soft" for a king and almost appears more like a steelhead. IMO, the aggresive "teeth" seen on the chinook really set them apart... Thanks for the pic - great job on your first attempt at a repoduction mount. - Chris

I have an '08 Trophy 2152 (21 ft) and could not fit the Simrad in the helm. I did extensive research on these autopilots for my Trophy and the support is lacking. Thus I went with the Raymarine X-5 sport (which mounts externally) and I love it. Just my $0.02

Now that my kids are burned out and quieted down from opening Christmas gifts, I needed a little time to relax and hit the LOU site.... Here's more data to support good deer herd numbers - the harvest over the past few years has actually increased while the number of hunting licenses has remained steady or actually decreased (the huge jump last year was from the rush on lifetime licenses) Licenses: http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/26368.html Harvest data (2006/2007): http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/42292.html Harvest data (2007/2008): http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/52340.html I'm not saying that coyotes don't play a role in affecting the deer herd, I'm just not convinced it's the main reason people aren't seeing deer like "they used to". My other theory is maybe they actually can HELP the deer population by selecting out and killing the weakest fawns and adult deer.......good ol' Darwin.... Merry Christmas to all! - Chris

Here's an interesting article r/e coyotes. http://www.qdma.com/articles/details.asp?id=59 Personally, I agree with Chowder and Paul C. and I don't think they have an impact on the deer population that people think. There's no way coyotes are responsible for 30-60% of fawn death. If that was indeed the case, statistically the deer population would be extinct in a few years. After seeing 40-45 deer opening weekend alone of gun season and our small hunting party harvesting two trophy 10 points, two huge doe and a button buck in Darien, NY in only a few days, I'm convinced the deer population is strong. That being said I didn't see many deer during bow season on a different property I own in Wolcott, but my trail cams were absolutely loaded with pics of deer at night. Then again, EVERY DAY and NIGHT I have 4-12 deer in my back yard here in Ontario. Rain or shine and even during the 50 mph wind storm a few weeks ago I have deer. This includes several trophy class 8 points and several sparring smaller bucks. Consequently, I feel it's more about deer adaptabilty to hunter pressure, food sources, etc. rather than the absolute quantity of deer dwindling b/c of predator death, nuisance permits, etc. I saw more deer than ever this year but we hunted our Darien property different b/c of new crop sources planted in neighboring properties. We hunted different areas of the property - different routes the deer were taking to these new food plots, different "funnels", different rub lines from year's past, etc. We also stayed on stand between 10 AM and 2 PM and one of the large bucks and one doe was shot during this time. When we looked for tracks or other evidence of deer activity in some of our traditional stand or ground blind areas that we hunted the last three years, there was very little if any sign of deer. Maybe I'm wrong and the DEC will provide statistical data this year which supports a dwindling deer population, but I think it's more of deer adaptablity based on seeking out food and security. Just my $0.02 - Chris

Hi Tom, I sent you $5.95 via my wife's Paypal account. Put me down for an XL..... You know this is only the start of my purchases with you this offseason......lol -Chris

Kliph, Are you confusing "coffee" or "smoke" colored 7 stranded wire line with copper line? If so, they are two completely different lines...the brown colored wire line is made of steel and is typically run with Dipsy's whereas the copper line which has a much greater line diameter is actually solid copper and is not typically run with a directional diver. - Chris