chowder

Scott,I just got a bunch of DW ss spoons and I can see what you mean, those hooks have got to go! Not sure about sizes between brands, the VMC hooks seem pretty good can any body tell me what size I should get to replace the ones on DW ss and reg. spoons ?

I would look at the new Off Shore mini inline boards, paint the bottom half black & use longish leads, Billy V had a great post here on rigging for spring browns, maybe somebody can find it. Be really careful in that boat. The problem is weather changes quicker than you can, one minute you are having a great time and 20 minutes later you feel like your gonna soil your drawers before you get back to the launch ( been there in my 16' and it's no joke!)

What a great story, I really liked the soundtrack , thank you for sharing that with us.

My first steelhead on my new center pin setup, got 3 fresh hens and 2 males that day, lost a real slammer when she snapped the leader on her 4th run!

Go to Ernie's site "Fish Doctor" , check out his video on rigging slide divers.

Sean, they are not a "inexpensive" rod at $55+ apiece, but I am interested in getting something w/ more action than a heavy or med/heavy for running both super braid and wire slide divers on the FLX. Right now I have a wire SD rigged up on a 10' Eagle Claw dipsy rod, and 2 super braid SDs on a pair of Daiwa 9'6" Firewolfs, these rods would probably be ok if I only fished Ontario but they really take the sport out of a lot of the rainbows, browns and salmon I run into.

Looking for comments (pro or con) on the Talora 7' med. dipsy rod, especially if you run wire on it.

I have an 840 in one boat, got the Depth Raider in another and there is really no comparison, the DR is much easier to use.

I'm going to push the snow piles away from the shed where the 16' is and forget the steelheads if you guys keep talking like this!

Those combos should keep the net man busy! Don't undersize that leader, those divers are precious! consider using a fireline leader, Stinger on the FLX forum got me using them, and I like them, though they are not standard fare. I would not go w/ mono under 20. I use a snubber but I run wire.

Ray, is that what the bear is covering up in the pic?

Ray, don't worry about giving me sh-t, I'm a dairy farmer so sh-t doesn't bother me, but actually we were very careful to go way out and around any boats casting or drifting, ( I have spent too much time in my canoe and kayaks to have any thing but sympathy for small craft) the issues that came up revolved around around boats that we would give wide berth to firing up their motor, practically cutting thru our planners to pass us and then set up casting again 100 yds away right in our path. This happened twice, one guy did this 3 times in a row, the last time he did it I did not give him quite as wide a berth as I did the first time, and that is when the "bobber" comment came up, (I sanitized the original quote considerably for this board.) As a number of people have commented, "rudeness" like in the example above is a situation that calls for a calm, relaxed attitude, unfortunately on that day I had a hot headed buddy of mine( ex corrections officer) with me who eventually yelled over to the guy " you are the reason I don't carry a gun!" Needless to say the situation deteriorated from there. My take home lesson from that experience was to just avoid a stretch of water if there is more than one or two boats fishing in it (especially if they are bass boats w/ guy's drinking lot's of beer!)

In my limited experience with pulling planers I have had much more problems with guys in small, new, boats casting or drifting or large luxury boats. Most of the problems we encountered were due to cluelessness- actually had one guy shout over"what are you using for bait under that huge bobber?" At least he saw it! No problems meeting another trolling vessel (yet).

Ray, I don't use a snap stringer, just have a brass snap on the end of a piece of line that is secured to a stern cleat, put the snap thru the mouth, out thru the gills and snap it to a transom eye, hang the fish over the transom, snip the gills and let it bleed out in the water for a bit & then onto the ice. I got carpet/ no hose on my boat and this procedure has worked well. Just make sure there isn't a rod tip in the way when you let the cooler top drop down (not that I have ever done this...)

I will be leaving early sat. am from Cortland area and come back Sun pm, but I might have a couple kids to bring back if they spend the week before at grandma's in Lockport.

Jekyll got me going on that after going out on his boat. I really think it makes a difference- just make sure your snap or knot is secure and don't forget about the fish!

Make your first day out on the water with the new boat a week day so you don't have to worry about how much time you take getting the boat in the water and getting ready. Keep it really simple the first day. I would not try trolling untill you have been out a couple times and know the boat, the sonar/ gps and the radio. With that under your belt keep your first attempt simple and your crew to a minimum ( they take up space and you will need that space) a pair of riggers will be plenty or a pair of inline boards if you get back early enough. You are probably going to have enough new to you stuff to figure out that fish are really the last thing you will have time to worry about on day one of actual trolling, but you are starting a great adventure! Enjoy every part of it!

Hey Ray, you get a self addressed envelope from Navionics when you buy a Gold XL 9 chip, you send it to Navionics and 6- 8 weeks later you get the fishing chip. You can run one or the other at a time, your GPS must be compatible w/ the Gold XL 9 chip( can find that out on the Navionics site) and supposedly the bottom detail for the FLX is not real good on the fishing chip.I all ready got the Platinum Lake Map & I am getting the Gold XL 9 cause I dont know stink about getting around the big O and I am hoping to go out to Niagra in May. If you want I will compare the bottom detail on the Fishin chip to the bottom detail on the Platinum Lake Map (which I know is top notch) for Cayuga and or Ontario(not too sure how far west my Platinum lake Map goes- I don't think it makes it to the Oak).

Yeah, Lake Michigan Angler has it listed as 8'2", probably because of the model no. Pretty sure it's an 8' rod.

Stan, out here we put the bait in a cooler, why do you guy's keep your bait in a landing net? (sorry, I figured Ray K. was out in his canoe "bare" hunting and I didn't want you to think we were unavailable for comment. actually I love the pix and the fish- I'm starting to look at dairy operations for sale in Northern California (LOL)!

Black Dog, PM sent.

Black Dog, the longer rods will enable you to keep the dipsy lines away from the downrigger lines that you will eventually add + it will actually help you to land fish, because it acts as a longer lever to get the fish closer once the diver is at the rod tip. I think if I was going to fish alone a lot I would go w/ the longer rod unless you are going to use slide divers instead of dipsy divers. Since I am just starting to experiment w/ the SD, I cannot say that's the way to go but I would seriously consider trying one out after you have played w/ the regular dipsy divers. Longer dipsy leaders = more fish but will be tough in the netting department.

Okuma 8'2" Blue Diamond Dipsy rod , economical w/ good action for FLX size fish!

Thanks for the help Rick and Billy, for what it's worth I will just say to anybody who is looking at these aftermarket maps-Buyer beware, Navionics has these products very carefully packaged. I don't think that you get near the bottom detail in the fishing chip for most inland lakes(FLX and others) that you get in the Platinum lake maps( at least that what tech support said) BUT if you go with the Platinum lake maps and you want bottom contours for the western part of Lake O. and the eastern basin you need two different maps!

Rick & Billy, let me see if I have this straight;Billy you got the x 14 Gold chart and it has bottom contour but not in great detail, but all landmarks, and shore side facilities are presented in high detail with names available? Rick, you got the Gold chart + fishing chip too and now you are gonna run that on a handheld because the Gold chart is in the SD port of the boat's main GPS. What portable unit do you have that runs the fishing chip? Will it run the Gold Chart too? It almost seems like I should have gotten the Gold chart and the fishing chip instead of the Navionics platinum Lake Map, but it doesn't sound like I would get the high detailed bottom contours in the FLX w/ the fishing chip, at least that's what they said when I called and talked to them about this last August. Maybe I got a bum steer on this.