mr 580

I run both wire and braid dipseys. Braid doesn't require twilli tip or roller rod and is a little more forgiving to work with. Wire goes deeper and has a different signature. Really have to be careful of pigtails with the wire. If you are breaking off with dipsey my guess drag setting most likely issue. Braid to me is ok if targeting 50 feet and above.

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I don't know if the small Yamaha electric start motors also have a pull cord. I do run an 8 hp Yamaha manual start on my Lund and a 9.9 on my ProLine. Both of those little four strokes do have alternators even on the manual start model so they charge my battery while I'm trolling. My 9.9 has tons of hours and has been great. Just keep the oil changed and it keeps ticking. My Lund's transom was setup for a kicker from the factory so I think you could add one pretty easy as well.

Running an 8" SD tighten your leads up to 22" or 23". If you are running a 10" SD I'd stretch the lead out. As far as speed I'll normally run 2.3 or 2.2 down at least. I have found lately that slowing to 2.1 or even 2.0 has given me a few more rips. If you are taking fish on a paddle I'd speed up a bit with a SD.

You might try Tuna's Reel Troubles for these rod clamps. I've had good luck with their web store for reel parts.

Dipsey size use 001 or 003. Yes to running spin doctors with wire dipsey's. If you are new to wire, would suggest you put a snubber behind the dipsey. Pretty tough to limit to two flasher fly combo's but something in a white/crushed glow or a green spin doctor along with white or green fly is a good starting place.

If you can't find the Cortland flea flicker line a good alternative is 30lb. Berkley Big game. The big game is readily available and pretty reasonable price wise. Tie in a short section of lighter leader and you are set. I use reels with lighter line when the fleas aren't bad. If I don't need to run the heavier stuff I don't.

The way you read the slide diver depth charts is the topline number is the setting you select on the diver-higher the number farther away from the boat. Right hand number is the depth you wish to achieve. The higher your setting the more line you need to achieve desired depth. Slide diver website www.slidediver.com has diive charts, tips and rigging instructions. Slide divers work well especially the light bites when you are dealing with small fish. Like anything the more you use them the more comfortable you'lll be running them. If you are unsure on setting number start with a 3.

I have tracks on both my boats and have either added track or wished I had. So go with more track than less. Check how your Lund is constucted as I think you will need some additional backing to support your track especially if you plan to add downriggers. For planer board line you can buy 130lb or 200 lb test planer line pretty reasonable and I find that lays on a mast reel better than the weed wacker line. A suggestion before you make a mast and a big board system, take a look at the in line board options. I think in line boards make sense especially in smaller boats.

I have been running a Trollmaster Pro 2 last couple years. Went with the digital as I thought it would give better range of control. Like the idle feature and ability to dial in my speed. Only negative I see is that it's not waterproof so you have to keep it protected. Have gotten it wet a few days but have been able to dry it out.

My experience with a LGC2000 was that they were very unreliable. After going through three of LGC2000's along with downtime and time on hold with Lowrance, I went to the LGC4000 when that became available. Have been running that at least two years with no problems. My opinion is if you have an LGC2000 that works you are probably lucky. Making the switch from an uptime standpoint probably worth considering. When the 2000's failed there was no warning. Would work one day then not acquire satellites the next.

Long shaft is the way to go with kicker. Trollmaster pretty easy install on a 9.9 Yamaha. Trollmaster provides pretty clear instructions-toughest thing was bending the supplied wire that actuates the carb. One other comment I would make is the Trollmaster box is not water proof so it needs to be stored out of the weather. I have a Trollmaster 2 on a Yamaha and it works fine.

Not sure how many riggers you are running, but with multiple rigger setups less blow back means easier turns and fewer tangles. Also easier to get a good release set with less blow back. Need to match your weight to your rigger but heavier is better. Yes, rigger blow back and controlling it is a concern.

Pulling 300 copper or 10 color lead core with an in line is on the marginal side. Better with a board that pulls harder and gives wider spread. I lost an in line with a 10 color when I broke the line popping the release to retrieve a few years ago- board just sank. Backer use 50 lb power pro and for a reel fast retrieve with smooth drag is the way to go. I'm running 50 Daiwa Saltist on 300 copper - huge difference to the Penn 330's on my 10 colors. Speed rules.

Eventhough I have four riggers on my boat, I usually only run three. Seems these days that less is more and less tight rigger spreads and some junk lines put more fish in the boat. I think it's better to have productive rods out than putting the legal limit in the water. How the back of your boat is setup makes a difference too.

Sounds like the cannon riggers have the old small black male female connectors. Those don't interchange with newer Cannon wiring parts. Cannon has used several wiring setups over the years. The newer wires are heavier. Probably makes sense to replace the wires on the riggers and so you are sure the plugs match. Not a big job as I updated two of my riggers. The downriggers should have a circuit breaker buildt in, but it does makes sense to fuse your line in as added protection.

Radio is fine overhead. It's nice to have probe display near GPS so you can compare down speed to SOG on GPS. Nice to see FF and GPS when you are running and fishing. Each boat is different-if you have to dash mount it's not bad to mount FF to the left. I like to keep top of the dash open in front on me. I had enough room in the dash on my current boat to flush mount everything which makes for a very clean install. After you setup a few boats you develop preferences.

The form you use is the Small Vessel Sea Service From. You fill out a form for each boat you are using for your sea service. If it's not your boat then besides your signature, you also need the signature of the person attesting to the experience and the boat owner. You also need to calculate the vessel gross tons for each boat. Don't stress over it- just take your time and fill out the forms. Lots of paperwork to submit with your application-step by step it comes together.

The Walker release needs to attach to your downrigger cable so the white or adjustment end is tilted upwards. Let out the amount of line you want and just clip about one loop of line into the release. Don't wrap multiple loops. If you are not sure pull back on the release to check it. I've used Walkers for years and find them to be very adjustable and forgiving. They'll work on light line and walleyes up to pulling big flashers and meat on kings. Don't be afraid to adjust it and experiment with different settings.

Go with what your probe is telling you for speed. If you are used to setting your speed by angle of cable, you need to learn to trust your probe. If you are getting a side slip on your cables adjust your heading. If you have to crank it up to get your speed get your downspeed where you want it. Use GPS SOG along with your downspeed. The probe will put way more fish in the boat than watching cable angle. I wouldn't want to give up my probe.

With a 16 footer and a 9.9 you are starting where many of us did on smaller waters. With what you have for equipment Hemlock and Honeoye are great places to start and get some experience. If you want to try the Great Lakes, either take a charter (money well spent) or make friends with someone with a boat setup to troll big water. If you think you have a lot of tackle now wait and see what a pro has. Pretty big investment to "get real smart" in this game. Nice to see you have interest, but it's a pretty long learning curve. Many of us have been doing this for 20 or 30 years. Make some friends, keep learning and don't try to jump too far too fast. Reading books is great but time on the water is the best teacher. Good luck with it.