momay4000

Wow! Great buck!!! I'm extremely impressed that you have pics on your trail cam of the same buck you harvested!!! Thanks for sharing, - Chris

This is my biggest buck ever and the biggest we have taken in 21 years on my uncle's property in Darien, NY. Of all days, we only had our cell phones to take a pic, so the quality isn't the best. Also, the deer dropped in a muddy swamp/quicksand area so it was a bit soaked/beat up for the pic. I'm doing a full shoulder mount on the deer, so I'll be sure to post a pic of the mount sometime next year. Good luck to all in the woods - be safe, - Chris

To all the Men/Women who have served our Country, Thank you for all of your sacrifice and dedication to our freedom. Because of you, I can wake up anytime at 5 AM to fish our beautiful waters and return home to my family without any fears....... Happy Veteran's Day!!!!! - Chris

I saw a boat very similar for sale in Wolcott (sitting in a parking lot across from the McDonald's). I'm not sure if it's the same boat, but it still looks like a real beauty!!! Good luck with her!!!! - Chris

...he wanted to fish during the salmon-day but he had to settle for fishing at "salmonite". Because it was dark he couldn't see and he hit floating debris and suffered a "bowbender"...... (By the way-thanks for the reference in your original post Tom!!!!!!!) - Chris

Nice story Ray and great sportsmanship Thanks for sharing! - Chris

Is this the same unit? http://www.marineboatsupplies.com/rayma ... -3727.html Thx, -Chris

OK - I see that he has changed the mid-point clip to make it an in-line. It seems like it would really pull on the line and rod and be tough to reel in a fish after it releases Still it's quite interesting..... - Chris

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think this is an example of an "in-line" planer. It looks like it requires a tow line. Please clarify..... Thanks, - Chris

Hi Tim, I was actually wondering if that's what it might be as well, and I'm concerned b/c my boat was bottom painted two years ago and the marina painted right up to the gimbal housing. If I'm not mistaken, certain hull paints can "react" with the metal in the gimbal housing and outdrive and form those deposits from breaking down the aluminum. Usually there's a one-inch gap between the bottom paint on the transom and the gimbal housing, but not on mine...... I'm getting it repainted this year so hopefully not too much damage has been done to the unit... Thanks for your advice, - Chris

Thanks Bob- I wasn't sure I could be that aggressive with them with a wire brush....next time I'll scrub 'em good. What about the painted surfaces on the rest of the outdrive? Thx, - Chris

Hello everyone, I have an alpha-one Merc outdrive which stays in the water during the season. Each year there is progressively more mineral deposits (white stuff) and barnacle like stuff which is a pain to clean each year. This year I used a mild solution of MaryKate Hull cleaner but I'm scared to use it again b/c it's not recommended for painted surfaces. Anyone have any suggestions on a good outdrive cleaner? Thanks, - Chris

To clarify - In my opinion when we fish these really long lines, I don't think they all sink at the same rate for every "color" out. Although we all know the rule of thumb is for every one color out, the core sinks about 4.5' or so, I don't think that holds true for every length since there's drag from the water, current, boat speed, etc. In my opinion it's probably something like this: first color out - 4.5' down second color - 9' down third color - 13' down fourth - 17' down fifth - 21' down sixth - 25' seventh - 29' eighth - 32' ninth - 35' ten colors out - 37' When you start putting out 20 colors, I bet that the last two or three colors is probably only down only 60-80' (instead of the expected 100' at the 4.5' per color rule) b/c of drag in the water. I think there are depth curves for lead core in the Precision Trolling guide which might discuss this but I'm not sure. Hope this helps, - Chris

Ray, We fished in Ludington, MI over the past decade and they use quite a bit of lead core up there. It's a lot of line out, but it's exactly the same as a 600' copper. It should get you about 60-80' down, but I'm convinced that the line doesn't sink at a linear rate, so once you get that much line out, the last 100 or 200' is probably more like "flatlining" under water like a down-rigger way,way back. Nonetheless, I use a ton of lead core - I have a 2,3,5,and two 10 color set-ups and I really like them a lot. I use all of my core on in-line planer baords and they seem to work just fine. I like lead core b/c it's fun to catch the fish and it offers a really nice stealth presentation. Good luck, - Chris

Stinger, I just pulled the boat last weekend and Pugsley's Marine will be pulling my defective unit this week. I talked to a tech. and he said Raymarine has new units "ready to ship" once they receive the defective helm drive in the mail. I'll keep you posted once I receive the new unit. As far as the recall, apparently the autopilot can "lock" and you cannot manually steer your boat.....sounds kind of dangerous, but I took the chance and kept using it despite the recall coming out in July. I'll keep everyone posted, - Chris

Scott, The thumbnail is there but I can't maximize it....hmmmmmmmm....... Good luck this year bud!!! - Chris

This was taken by one of my trailcams this past week on one of my properties - it's a nice shot of a 7 or 8-pointer looking right at the camera. For those of you that'll probably complain, I discard the salt licks once bow starts, I only use them as a camera aid..... Good luck this year to all - I hope I see him again! - Chris

To all, There's been a few posts lately on the "best" downrigger, but I've run Big Jon for the past ten years or so. I replaced my old fixed boom riggers this year with shorter adjustable riggers and I noticed that one of my new riggers was cracked (the reel assembly). Nonetheless I just called Big Jon, got an associate immediately (not an automated phone message) and a new one will be sent today - free of charge - with no questions asked, no postage, not even a request to mail the old one back. In my book, this is as good as customer service gets. I'm sure all riggers are great, but it's when you need the service, that one company stands out above another. - Chris Disclaimer - I have no financial of personal ties to Big Jon in any way

Broadhorizons, I am a family physician in Rochester and I have performed these examinations for charter captains. Although the majority of the examination can be completed by your family physician, most of us are not equipped to perform a proper assessment of your vision (color testing) as well as a formal hearing test. What I have done is I will complete the physical portion for my patients and then refer them that same day to an eye doctor and a hearing center (if possible) for the hearing test and the eye exam. You can also call an "Occupational Medicine" physician who specializes in these types of "physicals" and most likely could perform all of the testing under one roof. Here's a link to Occupational Medicine: http://www2.envmed.rochester.edu/envmed ... lcome.html Here's a link to the form: http://www.nauticalschool.com/pdf/1625-0040-719k.pdf Hope this helps, - Chris Disclaimer - I am an employed physician of the University of Rochester, however I have not received any compensation for this post, nor do I have any personal interest in the Occupational Medicine Dept.

Rod, I'm glad to hear you've had a good experience with Raymarine. They've been great to me this year as well regarding my X-5 Sportpilot which got recalled over the summer. I bought it through an online dealer who wouldn't support the recall - instead I was told to directly send my unit back to Raymarine. When I called the support technician, he gave me his personal desk phone number, sent me a postage paid sticker to send the unit back and already reserved a "new" unit in my name once they receive my defective helm drive. It would have been easy for them to "pass the buck" to the retailer, but I was impressed with the support. Thanks for sharing, - Chris Disclaimer - I have no personal or financial ties to Raymarine

Nice job, Now I'm going to go and change my shorts.......

Tom, Every year in my driveway before I launch the boat for the year, it seems like the grey wheel on the probe has a green dried algae like film on the sides. I actually take a piece of paper with a little vaseline on it and rub it between the wheel and the inside of the housing. As I recall, it was hard to get anything on the steel shaft because the space was so tight. It probably washes off with water, but who knows. I'm afraid to spray it with anything like W-D 40 b/c I'm scared it will ruin the thing.... - Chris

For fun, You are absolutely correct - I should have said "deep water counter current going the opposite direction of your PROBE", not "BOAT" (or in the same direction as the travel of the boat) . Consequently, that would make more sense b/c if you had a strong current going in the opposite direction of your boat than the probe would read 5.0 mph, not -0- mph. Sorry about that, - Chris

Ray, I don't get it....

Rick, Tom's analogy is very good - in fact it's excellent. Remember your boat GPS is tracking speed over ground (sog) based on distance travelled over the bottom of the lake in a certain unit of time. If you put a GPS on your lure down 20' or 200' it would read the same GPS sog as your boat. Remember the probe is tracking "speed" from the little paddle wheel (I have a Subtroll) on the unit and it is measuring how fast the PADDLE WHEEL is spinning, not how fast the probe is moving as Speed over Ground. Then the device converts the speed at which the paddle is spinning to "speed" on the readout in mph. Although the readout is in mph and we typically think of mph as linear speed, the "mph" is really arbitrary. It's not really how fast the probe is moving through the water, it's more like how fast the paddle wheel is spinning. It basically just gives you a reference point to make sure your lure has the best "action". For example, in a "perfect system" not taking into account water friction, if you had a strong deep water counter-current going 2.5 mph in the opposite direction of your boat going 2.5 mph on the surface, then your probe would still be travelling 2.5 mph through the water, but the wheel on the paddle would be stationary and the readout would say "0" mph on your display. Obviously the probe is still moving in the water, but the paddle isn't spinning. For me, the probe is simply a starting point and a reference point to replicate good lure action and another way to read underwater current. In my experience, I don't think my Subtroll downspeed has been that far off (typically only 0.2-0.6 mph) from my surface speed, so I'm not sure that the underwater currents are super fast. Also - one thing VERY IMPORTANT - every spring I drop my Subtroll probe about a foot down and take a speed reading just below the surface (usually 2.2-2.4 mph). Then I put various lures in the water at the side of the boat to see how they behave at that speed. This way I'm sure that my probe is "calibrated" for what action I expect when my probe reads 2.2-2.4. Sometimes the wheel can get a little sticky and it reads much lower (1.6-1.7 mph) and the lures are acting fine, but I'll have to add a little vaseline to the side or spin it around a bunch to get it going. Hope this helps, - Chris