holy mackerel

Blacks for me. Have been using them for 30 years. Also use them for fixed cheater and stacking. I make up a plastic barrel with a plastic thumb screw that fits in the gap of the release. loosen 1/4 turn and they drop down the cable. Will post photo when I find time. A good old toothpick wedged in the hole of the black also works. I have one fixed and two slider blacks on each rigger. HM

Hey Stix You forgot to mention the new floor with Nautolex and the Atlantic Towers hardtop with rocket launchers. I've fished a few hours in this boat myself. HM

My hand held flairs have expired again but I have the launch type for the gun. Does anyone know what the exact requirements are? I was told we need one or the other but not both. It seems like I buy them every spring. Any help would be appreciated. HM

What colors? Photo would help. Thanks

Capt. An 8 horse four stroke should be fine. I have fished many hours in a 22' Starcraft with one (honda). The Yamaha 4 stroke has better trottle control, and seems to maintain even speed better than the Honda. Both are great motors, I have fished hundreds of hours with both. I have a 9.9 high trust Yamaha on a 22' Lund Baron Magnum. As for shaft length, If it needs the long shaft, get it. You don't want to cavitate on a rough day, ask the dealer. HM

Fishtails, I have a Furuno radar connected to a Lowrance Gps and a Simrad autpilot. I comes in handy in the fog and darkness when I have a course set it shows on the radar screen and I can watch for other boats while under way. You can also see if there is another boat on your waypoint under the same conditions. I have also used it to get on a school of fish simply by watching some one run to the back of their boat.Just curser the radar to the blip, go to cursur, auto. It's worth hooking up 2 wires. Dave

Thanks Guys I should be all set with this info. I have been making my own spoons from scratch for 25 years or so. (working in a tool shop has some perks) I do know the satisfaction of doing your own thing. Mostly to come up with that secret color combo. I usually doctor up everything purchased, but its hard to do with a fly. Thanks again, Dave

I just ordered a bunch of stuff for tying flies. Heads, and skirt material. I wanted to try a couple of color combo's that I haven't seen. Are there any threads or web sights to get started tying? No use re-inventing the wheel. I thought I could use rod guide thread which I have on hand. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!! Dave

Nk's use # 1 VMC for the 28's and 1/0 VMC for the mags. I have bought them from NK in the past. I don't know if they still do that. I think they call them #1 for 28 and #2 for mags. Which is opposite of their true size.

Stan, I have the gps linked to the auto pilot and the radar. It comes in handy since my waypoints show up on the radar, and steer to via autopilot. My fishfinder is compatatible with the gps antenna,so if I need it, I would just move one plug over. I am using nmea 01083 connections to avoid buying all those extra connecters (NMEA2000). It all works fine. Some electronics have to have "sentences" turned on so they will "talk" to each other. Check you manual. It can take some time, depending on what equipment you have. As far as the radio goes I don't have that option now, but it sounds like a great safety device and will have with next upgrade. I always say, If you have it, why not have it in working order.

Lund Baron Magnum Overnighter 22' outboard. Only made them one year. Thanks for asking. Dave

They had a lot of problems when they first came out. Since corrected. Three units burned up in my marina the first year. Consumer Marine Electronics has a closeout on Lowrance LCX series, good prices. I bought a Lcx-37c last year and love it. A friend bought the new 8" Sitex and although it works fine, the screen is quite dark and very hard to see unless you have your nose on the glass. Its hard to beat the screen on Lowrance, their transducers need improvement. They loose power after a couple seasons.My $.02

I remember one of the guys from our marina bought two when they first came out. He lost them both the first weekend. Turns out they have alot of vertical pull in rough water. When the boat went up on a large wave, the cable broke. They may work better on the ocean, the waves are less steep.

Kramerdfl No-one will mess with the Salmon Chaser II crew..........Those boys are feerless!!

Blacks work well with rubber bands on the Finger lakes and without on Lake O, Double the line over, half hitch the rubber band and clip in the black. Simple.

Photos compliments of "Salmon Chaser II" Thanks Dave and Bob!!

My vote is for wire. Because of the fleas. Guide wear can be a problem, however there are some excellent suggestions under "dipsy rods... check your guides" SOME of the comments are useful. The photo below are guides just replaced on a 9' Cabela's diver rod. Rods are nice, guides are not. About 4 or 5 years use.

Guess what I'm assuming right now.

We had wicked current on the east end last year The divers are harder to pinpoint a depth with than riggers in a strong current. I found that out by letting out more and more wire until I got bites. Just my opinion.

Didn't mean to start any problems. I based my opinion on the past 30 years experience and from watching guys throw there rods on the dock and head off to buy a spool of wire. I assume they didn't have Shimano rods. It was an opinion. I guess it should have a few more years under my belt before I comment, Sorry

My vote is for subtroll. Have owned fish hawk. The analog speed display is more consistant than the digital due to a dampening in the gauge. I also have a seperate surface speed from Moor so you can calibrate both at the surface. The fish hawk has to be below the suface so the x-ducer can detect signal.

Some times the wire gets between the roller and frame when the rod turns in the holder, resulting in an expensive break off. They can be a problem when you have rookie guest aboard.

Thanks for all the input. I went for new guides this time, needed a project to get through the winter. The Daiwas sound good, had a pair of Daiwa great lakes graphites stolen about 6 years ago during the fall derby. They were great.

I have to agree on the twilli tip over roller, I found out the reel handle length makes a HUGE difference on ease of reeling after going from Daiwa great lakes 47lc to Okuma Catalinas. They have an adjustable handle length and a large knob. The constuction is vastly improved over earlier stuff from Okuma. detented star drag is nice. The size 25 model easily hold 1000' of wire. On par with Tekota in my opinion. As for rods, 9' to clear 6 foot rigger booms.

I have been using 2 Cabelas dipsey rods for about 4 seasons. They sell for about $40. You would not believe how badly the guides are grooved. After some research, I have found most rods in this price range use cheap aluminum oxide guides. No match for stainless wire. Now the dilema, buy new rods with crap guides or new guides for a old rod? I chose new guides. The best are SIC (carbide$$$) next are Alconite($$) , twice the hardness of the next,Hardalloy ( high grade aluminum oxide $). There a few others out there but are mostly trade names for aluminum oxide. I went with Fuji Alconite new concept guides, $25 per rod and about four hours per rod to strip and re-wrap. I have not tried the all roller route yet, have heard alot of negatives. Just thought I would pass this info on, may save someone some tackle