I used planer boards on my 191. And I did not put the mast on the bow, mostly because it is very hard to get to, when something goes wrong.
Instead, I put up 2 masts on. One on each side exactly where the top of the front window hits the roof. The masts were anchored on the side with wooden boards under the aluminum to disperse the pulling power over a larger area. The only thing on the masts were the pulleys the rest was farther back and within easy reach
I would get rid of the EZsteer and have hydraulics on the kicker. It is so much nicer to know that your stuff works without surprises. That way you can go fish without worries
I do think that it matters, because it makes the bar longer and exposes it to more strain, while also causing it to pick up debris in the water.
You should position the EZsteer as shown in the picture posted by Zinger11. He found the sweet spot for the length of the bar and experimented with the hookup height.
Also, the outboard should move move freely around with little resistance. because the harder it is for the bar to push the outboard back and forth, the more things will go wrong. There is a bolt on the outboard that tightens or loosens the resistance. Make sure everything is clean and well lubricated. The angle of the connector on the kicker is important because it allows you to make the width of the radius adjustable thereby allowing you to make the radius on the main en engine and the kicker the same or close to it.
I see what you are trying to do. With the EZsteer connection in the original position the outboard does not move back and forth quite as much as the main engine, but I suspect that by moving the connection that far down and out it will move way too much. So much so that the bar may come apart.
A possible temporary solution may be changing the angle of the EZsteer attachment on the kicker so that instead of it sticking straight out of the back of the kicker it is angled about 20 to 30 degrees toward the main engine. this changes the push and pull a lot.
I would get rid of the (not so) EZsteer system and replace it with a hydraulic ram that is fed from your main hydraulic system so it will get its directions from the auto pilot.
I drove by there this morning and although I did not enter, I could see new wooden docks laying in the water.
How deep is that marina and how much is the slipping price?
The things that seems to be missing is are natural enemies of the lamprey and mechanical means to eliminate them. Did anybody consider pumping liquid nitrogen into the muck where the small ones are?
This is a picture of an eel weir (google "paling fuik") they can be bought online -Ali Baba -amongst others sell them. They were developed for eel fishing in the narrow ditches of the Netherlands. They would be perfect for lamprey fishing. You set them in a stream, and every day you pick up the end loops where the lamprey has gathered, pull it out of the water into a barrel ,empty it out and put it back in the water.
This really is a matter of one hand washes the other.
Between the time that large lots are sold off and housing is build, this land will change hands quite a few times with of course the help of subsidies. A very few people will probably get very rich just by buying subdividing and selling and reselling.
I appreciate the efforts to pay debt , but this is just another way for a few billionaires to get even richer.
If reducing the debt is the purpose, then maybe the billionaires should start paying the same taxes over their overall income as you and I instead of paying far less or nothing at all.
Sadly this is just a way to take our public lands away for the profit of a very few without even asking us ,the owners ,you and I , how we feel about it. I would like to see this come up for a general vote. Somehow I think that both republicans and democrats will be very united in voting this down.
Davy, you mention these natural reproduction brown trout. Now these brown trout are in fact an introduced invasive species.
Would the atlantic salmon have a better survival chance if the brown trout were removed?
The I-bay predators are mostly warm water species and, like most predators, they prefer easy prey. It seems to me that browns and atlantics that are not hatchery raised are very weary. (the dumb ones were probably eaten already by the time they made it all the way to the bay). I think that the survival rate of the natural reproduction fish is probably a lot higher than we might expect.
The fluorocarbon cannot be used with split shot. When you squeeze down with your pliers you damage it. Mono can be squeezed without ill side effects because it will just stretch where you squeeze.
Full disclosure: I often use slightly heavier fluorocarbon and also a thinner mono instead of the high end fluorocarbon. Also, I am just a weekend warrior and not a captain by a long stretch.
As for braid. It is great for casting because the strength/ diameter balance makes it great for casting a thinner stronger line with less resistance.
That is great news. Just please, please make sure you copyright that info so it won't end up in some fly fishing magazine. Because then these sportsman will descent on above mentioned creek and empty it out in no time.
Putting them in the streams and the lake without proper preparation will not make them come back
If we want them to succeed we need to try and convince landowners along the creeks to plant shade giving and erosion preventing trees. Also there need to be projects to remove sediment from creek bottoms and weirs to create fast currents that make deep holes. These weirs should be accessible to equipment that can remove sediment. Once there are deep cool holes in the creeks the atlantics stand a chance to survive . There also is the issue of the Oswego River which for some reason unbeknownst to me has dams in it that make it impossible for fish to migrate. If fish could freely migrate between Fingerlakes and Lake Ontario, the atlantics would probably do a lot better.
I have caught fish down there. Often when the "normal " temperatures don't produce we drop one down there using a peddle and a purple magnum spoon.
The icebox is usually about 39 degrees and holds steady. This is a preferred winter temperature for fish, so it is not that amazing to find good fish down there. This temperature allows fish to conserve energy because their systems slow down a bit. The funny thing is that higher up in the column the temperatures are often lower down to 32 degrees. 2 years ago in early April I moved away from shore brown trout fishing and went out a bit farther until I found the 39 degree water at 105 feet down. It produced a king.
Here is a fairly correct weather website (this is not a phishing trick)
https://marine.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-78.71978759765626&lat=43.36154814173986