momay4000

I finally pulled the drive and checked the entire lower unit for mussels after the intake ports on the drive were packed when we pulled the boat a few weeks back. Fortunately there was only two mussels but they were still on the "outside" and nothing had made it into the pump, i.e. past the screen, impeller, vertical pipe, etc. no signs of shells, damage to impeller, etc. I still replaced the impeller just to be safe. The boat never sat for more than a week, so it was a bit surprising. Nonetheless, thanks to everyone for all of their advice..... - Chris

Man - that's absolutely terrible. My guess is most people who see the digital cameras, steal them b/c their picture is taken. Nonetheless, that's a real bummer...and I'm sorry to hear that. No matter how "tight" you post your land, people still think they can walk on it anytime they want. I have 55 acres in Wolcott and despite me posting it with 200 posted signs - to the extreme that some signs are only 25 feet apart, I still had a knucklehead in there last week, four wheeler and all.... - Chris

Thanks Tom!! That's very kind of you.....next time my wife and I are coming in, I'll drop you a line. Take care and thanks again, Chris

Tom - I didn't realize you're the Executive Chef at Tournedos. It's my favorite restaurant in town.....best aged steak around!!!!! - Chris

PH - It's a DW Dolphin Chatreuse (looks a little different than the classic blue and green Dolphins from many different manufacturers): - Chris

Skunk'd, We've been fishing off shore out of I-Bay most of the summer and fall to avoid the combat fishing in close and we've done well most times. We were fishing 250 fow+, never more than 400 fow. The down temp. was deep until we pulled the boat two weeks ago. That being said, our best program were 10 color cores, surface planers with a 3/8 ounce keel weight, and for the deeper fish riggers parked between 80 and 120 feet down. That was our typical program day in and day out. Our only limitation was choppy water out of the North and East which made the ride out seem to take forever. Our best lures were: DW SS orange crush in both silver and gold (NK version), watermellon, various NK glow lures, and 42 second. Mostly we caught steelhead, but quite a few immature kings as well. Fish the "schools" of steelhead - once you hit one, keep hammering that area and you're bound to catch more. Flasher/Flies were slow, but white/white spinnies with green dots with white glow, hammer and purple mirage flies caught fish most times. Most times we were the only boat out deep and it was nice to get away from the pack and have the water to ourselves. Just watch the weather/wave forecasts b/c it was bumpy most times. Good luck.... - Chris

Thanks for the advice Bill, I will pull everything and take a look. Interestingly, the longest the boat sat without being run was probably 7 days. We took it out every weekend, and like I said earlier it's never overheated. I might consider putting the boat in a hoist next year....... I'll keep you all posted after I remove the case and take a peek.... Thanks again to everyone for the advice, - Chris

Thanks Gambler - I hope the warm water in the engine block is hot enough to kill the larvae in the engine, but man they were really packed in the drive.... Thx for the advice, Chris

PH - That looks like a DW Dolphin Chartreuse Glow spoon... Great catch - see ya next year, - Chris (yellow Trophy)

Hello gang, Quick question - I took my boat out of the water last weekend after being in a slip in I-Bay the entire summer. I typically use the boat 1-2X/week and it never overheated the entire year. When I was cleaning it up last week, I noticed the water coolant intake on the stern drive (Merc Alpha one drive) was absolutely packed with zebra mussels. Does anyone have an idea to prevent this from happening next year (it's impossible to tilt the drive completely out of the water), or could the rest of the engine be at risk for the mussels? Thanks guys/gals, - Chris

Thanks Mark for the advice about the docks at Mayers...the ducks were brutal this year. Nice video clips - it reminds me of combat fishing in Ludington, MI where we'd be fishing along side 200+ boats during tourney time.... Later, - Chris

Well we pulled the boat out this morning - certainly a little sad that the year is done, yet we're already starting to get ready for next year. It was definitely a successful year - no derby fish, but still a lot of fun. As we looked back on our diary for the year it certainly seemed like May, June, July were best although off shore fishing out of I-Bay for steelies was great the entire year. Our best steelhead lure was without a doubt the Dreamweaver SS orange crush, but our best lure overall was the 42 second in mag and 28 size, gold cup and silver cup. Our best flasher/fly combo. hands down was the white on white Spinny with green dots with a Hammer fly. I would like to extend thanks to everyone for all of their posts and taking the time to read mine. A special thanks goes out to Mark (REELJERKS), Bruce Bolger, and good ol' Ray K. all of whom were always eager to share pointers this past year. See ya back on the water in the Spring.... - Chris (yellow Trophy 2152) P.S. - make sure you all check your coolant water intakes on your sterndrives this year......although my boat didn't overheat, it was packed with zebra mussels......

Gray Fox, Here's the Lowrance link to the Sounder (take a look at the 7 minute video clip). I was looking into this same technology a few weeks ago and personally it doesn't seem like it's worth the money (at least based on the video clip). I think investing in a fantastic unit like yours with a larger screen, with great resolution is a better investment. http://www.lowrance.com/en/Products/Mar ... Sounder-1/ Just my 2 cents.... - Chris

Iceman - Great point about littering the lakes, but pretty much every time when I rig with the rubber bands, whether on a planer board or off the riggers, it's still attached to the main line after it breaks. Nonetheless, you have a good point and I never really took the time to think of the potential "litter" possibility. Thanks for the insight...you've made me think twice about using them - Chris

Like I mentioned earlier - in the first few hours after a fish kicks the bucket, it will actually GAIN weight through the permeability of the skin changing, osmosis, etc. However, most fish lose weight b/c of the vomit, pee and pooh that they involuntarily lose, so there's a net loss. My guess is it's impossible to prevent this but if you could somehow plug the anus and throat, you're all set..... - Chris

Yes I do - the rubber bands are very small gauge (1/32"). The #16 or #18 bands are the same gauge, just longer. Just set the release tight and you'll be fine and they'll break no problem. Good luck... - Chris

Doublehaul - I use #12 rubber bands for everything - riggers, boards, keeping Dipsy from flying around on the rods when stored, etc. Try this: http://www.business-supply.com/boxed-ru ... oduct.html Good luck, - Chris

Paul, Again, with all due respect, a fish CAN lose weight from other means other than from the stomach, GI tract, and bleeding and this can happen when a fish is sitting in water or a cooler. Believe it or not, in the first few hours after a fish dies it can actually GAIN weight (as long as there isn't any loss of stomach contents, blood, etc.) because the skin becomes permeable to water and small amounts of water enter the tissues and the fish swells a bit (the slime layer forms at this time and is a consequence of this process). Immediately after death, however, a process called "autolysis" occurs where the tissue starts to break down by the body's own digestive process. Once this occurs, the fluids no longer are going into the fish, but now permeate through the skin in the other direction and the fish "dehydrates" and loses weight. This occurs whether or not the fish is sitting in a bath of ice water or not. You're right - the majority of the weight loss we see is probably more from the loss of blood, vomit and poop, but eventually fluid can also travel through the skin and out. Does all of this really make a difference? Who knows... - Chris

Mower, Weren't you looking at a Trophy? If so, they come with a small cooler which fits under the port seat, but we also use the large fish wells near the transom for the big fish which don't fit in the smaller cooler - Chris

Paul et al, With all do respect, a fish, or any mammal for that matter will lose a small portion of body weight initially when they die. As a physician, I have also seen many dead human bodies, and certainly there is also some initial weight loss at the time of death from loss of various fluids. Any time the heart stops, there is no longer any blood circulation, and consequently there is death of tissue. Fluids can seep through any membranous surface (skin, gills, membranes of the GI tract etc.). Typically there is also regurgitation of stomach contents and an involuntary response of the gut to rid itself of any fecal material. Certainly, some tissues of the body upon death also retain fluid (the brain) but typically the net loss of fluids outweighs the gains. Although the net loss is probably only an ounce or two, it is still significant. Think about it - we all have that "nasty" water - i.e. a slurry of pooh, stomach contents, blood, etc - in the bottom of our coolers at the end of the day and it has to come from somewhere. So I do not mean to be disrespectful, but there is certainly some element of weight loss as a consequence of different fluid losses from the fish when it's dying and stressed or dead. - Chris, MD

Diversion - What camera are you using? The pics look great Thx, - Chris

Slimy and YT, Thanks to you both for some very informative reports for this past weekend - nice to have good information with spread, lures, temp/speed, etc. instead of just "numbers". Kudos to you both and thanks.... - Chris

Great looking deer for sure! Hope he's still hanging around during the season.... - Chris

Mower - Here's the link from Hanafin Marine: http://www.hanafinmarine.com/moredetail ... afinmarine - Chris

Mower, I have an '08 Trophy 2152 Hardtop and I love it. (pic below is the day I picked it up before I rigged it myself). I rigged it with two Big Jon DR's on the transom, two double BJ rod holders on each side, two BJ Dipsy holders on each side, planer reels, FF, Subtroll, etc. Pros - easy to trailer, great build quality, easy to rig (wide gunwales and transom with easy access), lots of space and very ergonomically friendly Cons - lots of bow steer on the boat at slow speeds, hard top makes it a little harder to dock in a strong cross wind, very little storage space other than the cuddy I see you're from Vestal - (I used to be in medical practice in Kirkwood). FYI, there was an '06 Trophy Hardtop (I believe it was a 2052) for sale fully rigged at a local boat dealer down there. I saw it on line a few months back and it looked like a fantastic boat. - Chris Drop me a PM if you have any more questions.http://www.postimage.org/gx17H0_0.jpg' alt='gx17H0_0.jpg'> [/img]