chowder

Thought I’d add that the critical factor in snagging and breaking off lips when trolling is the length of the lead between release and the stick bait. This length is a critical factor in how deep the bait dives. Sometimes I will deploy a chute flatline rod with a very long line BUT- I keep the actual lead much shorter by attaching the actual lead to a styrofoam ‘pike’ ball that itself is maybe 100’ behind the boat. I like to put that rod up in the arch so fish on other lines that swing into the space behind the boat don’t get tangled

Yozuri’s have always been right up there in my book. Almost always start with a blk/ slvr Yozuri as 1 of 3 stix on each side. Hard to beat an orange jointed rapala on at least one side ( since smithwick stopped selling orange ones) A green smithwick is usually out at 1st as well as a chartreuse bayrat. After that I let the fish tell me what to do. I would add that if shallow riggers are taking fish and not flatlines then add split shot and or use short cores off boards.

The lips are easy to replace with a Dremel tool. Rapalas run shallow, Bayrats will snag if you are running shallow. Here’s how I roll: stix on board lines( blk silver and color on each side)/ spoons on shallow riggers ( 1 natural and one color) / crank baits on shallow divers (1 natural and one color)

I do what Hank at L&M tells me to do…

Since this thread is supposed to be for folks who are not super familiar with meat rigs I just thought I would remind the uninitiated and less familiar that every day can be a different day and if you are a typical weekend warrior DO NOT PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET: Always let the fish tell you what they want. Start off with an assortment of what you have for presentations, vary speed, and direction and hopefully hone in from there. If green and white meat rigs running west at 2.8 are catching fish I don’t have to tell you what to do. If white and black mag spoons running east at 3.0 are catching fish then you know what to do. Most recreational anglers don’t fish enough to try and zero in from the get go- Always go with the basics. You don’t want to find out what was working when you get back to the docks with nothing- it’s not magical ‘in the know cell phone calls’ it’s process of elimination

Good herring, been using it for several years!

I got a bunch this summer- I only use it in my CVA Paramount ( my beanfield muzzleloader) I have lightweight Traditions that I just use the pellets of Triple 7 with

Someone should look into buying the rights and the blanks that Northport developed. Those spoons are BT lethal weapons

The Northport’s were an iconic spoon. I can only say that Dave is not quite in that category nor is he a dependable resource. The spoons of Dave’s we wanted we ended up getting painted by folks that make the blank and adding our own tape . Sorry to have to say this after working with him since 2007…

I don’t fish for perch on Seneca only Erie and a little on Ontario. I fish for walleye on Erie and trout n salmon on Ontario and Cayuga.What I typically see when I am looking for perch in 30-70fow on my Lowrance HDS screens is the bottom looking like the edge of a small, fine saw blade, this signature is very distinctly different than what I see when looking at Alewife pods in 50-200+ fow on Ontario or Cayuga on the same sonar set ups which are typically suspended and non linear blobs. I’m sure I’ve got perch and emerald shiner signature pics somewhere I’ll keep looking

The issue of mounting the displays while maintaining a very rugged movable module was solved using 2 track sections and pedestal track unit that enables the 2 sections to slide in and out and also fore and aft from another pedestal track unit in the track mounted on the gunnel of the vessels.

So- the solution I eventually developed to clone screens ended up being a bigger deal than I had originally anticipated. After giving serious thought to what I really wanted to a accomplish I did the following: 1.) designed a movable rear station module to hold a Garmin PanOptix display a Lowrance HDS unit. and a iTroll digital throttle controller for main and kicker 2.) Networked the Lowrance HDS unit to the 2 HDS units in the wheelhouse (sonar/ gps and dedicated radar) with both Ethernet and Lowrance hard connection wires. I built 2 of these units- 1 for my Hardtop Crestliner and 1 for my outboard Crestliner ( both boats are setup for mounting the PanOptix transducer, so the transducer can be switched back and forth. ) For several years now my part time chartering trips have been so much easier with no trips to the wheel house to make autopilot, throttle, or sonar/ gps adjustments. Now I’m able to spend more time with my clients in the back of the boat exclusively where I wed to be

Some of these paints do bubble some stick baits, have had issues with Smithwicks and Bayrats and Mag Lips - haven’t painted any Rapalas

Great posts- got me throughly ready for next season. Thanks