chowder

I thought I could feel a distinct difference in the AFW camo diameter vs. the bright. Thanks for spelling that out Bill! I feel like the AFW resists kinking better than the Malin so I'll probably go w/ the AFW 30# Camo. Now all I need is for Tom to run a winter re spooling special !

I take the husband of one of my wife's friends fishing. First thing the guy does is step down into the boat while I'm trying to get the rods stashed in the arch, he misses the step stool and falls w/ his full weight (not a little man either) right onto the middle of my 8' Talora roller rods which were leaning against the transom! They were fine. That's one tough rod! One thing though; it looks you fish Erie and I will say that the Talora roller rod is overkill for eyes. I don't use them when I fish the finger lakes. Like I said earlier, on the Finger lakes I use the 7' Talora downrigger rod w/ a twili ( I have used this rod on Ontario too and my 12 year old son brought in a pair of fresh 20lb+ Kings w/ it back to back)

That kind of sweet talk won't get that arch off my Islander and onto yours.

Not a magic bullet but can be useful. I suggest you just get one trap (umbrella rig) and then get a few different blade kits and switch out blades, it's a lot cheaper.

Any thoughts on this? Need to respool a dipsy rig.I tried some camo last year & not sure I saw much difference but I wanted to see what anybody w/ more experience w/ the camo has to say? Also curious about opinions on 20lb vs 30lb? Thanks

I'd make plans to get that copper out of the chute and off to the side w/ inlines or big boards. Church Inlines can handle up to 300', copper rigs longer than that are better off out on big boards (actually I prefer the big boards for any length). Eventually a copper line in the middle of the chute is going to cause a problem w/ a fish coming in on one of the other lines. This is especially true if you're crew is inexperienced about moving rods etc. The way I look at it is if you have enough people to run 2 riggers, 2 dipsy's, and 1 copper then you got the numbers to run another deep or shallow copper board line and you should b/c it will probably increase the odds of locating fish. So If I were you I'd get 2 copper rigs of different lengths and plan to run them out to the sides where they are out of the way.

I've used the Riviera and several other 2x plastic folding boards and the Otter boats and none of these setups pull anything like the heavy duty 2x boards available thru Amish Outfitters(Frank Kittrick). I'm trying to gather info on another setup that might be a little easier on the line & masts-will keep you posted...

Like I said- I'm no pro at this. Most of the browns I've gotten on Ontario and Cayuga have been what they call "cookie cutters" and so I've sized my tackle accordingly. My best browns(9-10lbs) so far actually have come from Cayuga and though my line is light the 8'6" Eagle Claw (SF 400 A) ML rod has great forgiveness, I use it like I use a noodle rod on steelies- let the rod fight the fish not the line. You might need to clear some rods for the occasional "big " fish but that's all part of the fun! I use the Okuma 7'6" ML Blue Diamond rods for my riggers on the Fingers but for summertime on Ontario I put my reels on 7' MH Ugly Stik rods. I've lost a few good fish w/ my light spring tackle setups but I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of the bulk of the typical sized ones. As I re-read the original post I think I hijacked a question that was actually about using divers in the spring so I'll say what I've got to say about that too. Again-not a pro (hopefully one of the guy's who really knows what he's talking about will chime in) For Spring time and for summer steel I've used a number of different diver setups including 1. The Walker mini discs (like them better than the LJs b/c they trip, the LJs are fixed) 2. Size 00 slide diver on braid setup w/ an inexpensive 8'6" M dipsy type rod. 3. Regular size Slide diver on the same dipsy rod/braid setup. I can't say that any of these "high diver" rigs are the first thing I'd reach for for Spring Browns -or summer Steel but they have each had they're "day". In the interest of economy I think I would rig up a pair of braid reg size slide diver combos (get the rings for these too) and this should cover most of the situations where a high diver setup is needed. Having said this I will add that I've had much better success w/ different board setups for both spring Browns and summer steel.In my limited experience the super braid Slide diver rig is more effective on the browns when they start to scatter and move deeper as both the day and the season progresses.

I sense a "Browns thread" coming on! I'm no pro but here's how I set myself up for spring fishing; Eagle claw starfire series rods ($20 apiece), 8'6" M or ML. Daiwa Accudepth reels, model 27 or 47 & spool them w/ high quality 10-12# test. Use small black swivels & snaps.Probably gonna want to run 2/ side = 4 combos. Run stix & spoons on these w/ long leads (100'+) off big board planer lines. You can use you're regular downrigger reels on a another pair of these rods to use as shallow rigger presentations just use an albright knot to spool 100' of 10 or 12# mono over your heavy summer line. That gives you 6 lines, if you want to run more you can run another pair of board rods or go w/ a pair of slide diver rods (rigged w/ braid) to cover the space between the rigger baits and the board lines. I set these divers on 3 and use long leads. Another possibility is to use "snap weights" on some of the boards lines or if you have any short lead core rigs use these on the boards but either way they need to be the last lines off the boards b/c they will run deeper. These setups will need light leaders if they don't have them all ready. Basically what you are shooting for when you first hit the water is a spread that lets you find where the fish are feeding. Sonar will not help you like it does when the fish are deep b/c they are too shallow to "show" on the screen. Once you find the bait type/color etc and depth that "works" you can change some of lines to mimic the one that's working. That's the theory anyway. Spring Browns are wary and will change their bait preference and feeding depths day to day so working with them is a fun challenge. Keep asking questions!

Whew! That's a slammer, hoping to get back up there next week.

Welcome to the LOU! You are in a great spot. I have a lot of family out at that end of the lake and the opportunities make me jealous!

As far as the belt type inflatables go Cabelas sells the "Guardian" belt type @ $79 a pop, Bass Pro carries the "Stearns" @ $59 apiece. Anybody got anything to say about the difference (besides the $20)?

Thanks Hank! Now that's a solution any practical farmer would approve off, now I have to see if I have the space/access to make this a practical solution.

In some of the follow ups to Glen's original post about the bilge pump failure I got the impression that some of you had rigged up a 2cd pump you drop into the bilge and power it off a battery w/ clips. Since I fish the Finger Lakes in the winter I'm somewhat intrigued by this idea b/c then the 2cd pump & hose could be removed from the boat, eliminating frozen water problems (as well as moved between my 2 boats). If anyone has done this successfully I have a couple questions. 1. How do you deal w/ the pumps motor torque? Doesn't this twist the wires going to it? 2. What do you do for circuit protection?

Lots of new/ small PFD vests & belts out there. Looking for advice on best options. Need new flares ( don't trust the stuuf that came w/ these boats(bought them used) what should I get & best way to keep them usable?- how long can you trust them? Good safety ring choices? (been using floating seat cushions- not sure this is a great idea) Thanks

I've made a commitment w/ myself to ramp up my bilge pump sys. and get new flares and new PFDs for my 16.5 Alumacraft and my Starcraft Islander before I set these boats up to run my new Yamaha T8 kicker (yes, I did buy one finally!). So my questions are; 1. What is a good choice for a 2cd bilge pump w/ a screened inlet ? Looked at what West Marine has (awful lot of choices, 1500 gpm? -what about installation, should it have it's own pump out port-this seems like a major hassle) If it was portable I could use it on both boats, which would save some $ for the PDFs 2. What's a good choice for a manual pump & hoses- how do you keep these things fastened down so you can work the handle?

Ray, that rig might be a little heavy for car topping down to the keys!

Not sure of the avg size of perch on Cayuta, but if you seem to be getting a lot of dinks, try raising your minnows up a bit. Small perch will often not come out of the weeds/cover but larger ones often will. After fishing w/ Traveling Man last year I switched to tip downs for perch, using a 2 hook rig and I stay fairly close to them, they are much more sensitive to subtle strikes from perch/crappies. I use my tip ups mostly for Pickerel now.

I think you would be happy w/ the Depth Raider, been using one for 2 years, had the earlier generation Fishhawk before that. Coated line precautions; stay away from using coated line on the out down riggers- the angle is hard on the coating. keep some electrical tape around for nicks.

Talora 7' downrigger rod TLAF70M, $59 & put the twili tips on them. I also have a pair of 8' Taloras w/ the roller guides. I have a smaller boat and I really like the 7' Talora DR rod for controlling fish at the boat, getting them past the rigger lines, etc. These kinds of issues are probably not a big deal in a bigger boat w/ a bunch of experienced guys but I fish w/ my kids in a 19' I/O and in this kind of situation a short rod really makes a world of difference. I've also gone to pretty much using the slide divers instead of fixed length leader dipsies. I set my SD leader to 12' w/ flashers and after the diver trips I've only got a 3' leader at the boat, I find this setup much much easier to deal with when the fish is at the boat!

I like the sounds of this conduit runner idea too & would also like to see pix!

I've got a 4x4 4 whlr here on the farm that we have used a little for ice fishing and I can tell you they are far from a great solution to hauling sleds & equipment. Here's why; 1.) Early & late ice are questionable for that much weight. 2.) They take up a lot of space. Unless you have a trailer, it becomes very awkward to get the sleds & equipment & 4 whlr and ramps in one pickup truck. 3.) Park Police and other law enforcement officers can and will prevent you from using a 4 whlr in State parks , public access points , roads etc. It doesn't matter if it's registered. I'm not saying this is right- I'm just saying that you risk getting hassled and under some circumstances issued a summons and fined. This last issue seems to be a case by case and place by place situation. Some places I've never had a problem, others I wouldn't try it again.

Any rod w/ some backbone will do. I like the Okuma Classic 7' ($19). No need for special guides, copper is soft.

Did you guy's get into any?

Good question! I'm not sure. I thought that dual beam was used to describe a unit w/ 2 different cone angles vs dual frequency in which the sonar wave transmissions are sent at different wavelengths?