Sk8man

Hell hath no fury like Lake Ontario scorned

I run the 124 mm Deeper Divers too and often run two per side on my 18 1/2 ft boat. I set the closest in to 1 (to stay away from my riggers) and the outside ones to 2 1/2 or 3 and they seem to run fine in terms of outward and separation between them. I seldom run smaller divers than them any longer because of the increased depth range of them.Trolling speed is always a consideration as are severe turns

Lilly is right. The seven strand stinless steel wire can act like a hack saw on the tip and or line guides unless the friction path is redirected by either a roller tip or a twilli. The twilli tip is the least expensive and perhaps the easiest solution for most folks as good quality roller tips can be expensive (some wellover $100 in the salt water environment) and they vary greatly in diameter so you have to pretty much know the actual diameter of the rod tip shaft and how it corresponds to the diameter number of the roller tips for a good fit. The twillis come with several adaptors in the package and the total cost is less than $10. The cheaper roller tips may have aluminum side plates which when the rod is at an inappropriate angle (say from wave action when in the rod holder) the 7 strand wire may see saw into or through the side plate. All steel roller tips with steel side plates are necessary when using the 30 lb 7 strand wire.

Send them to Andy Copenhaver at Tuna's Reel Troubles and have him go over them and put in carbon fiber drags. It will help but won't make them into high end reel drags either. They are very competent folks there and great at customer servicing, fair with their pricing, and quick on the turn around.

The quality of the antennae itself is a large factor in transmission and reception....not all them are equal to the job.

I also avoid the fatty areas near the spine and belly because that is where most of the potential contaminants are stored and I remove the greyish lateral line material as well during the filleting as it is an area where the strong taste comes from. Bleeding the fish soon after catching them also helps reduce the strength of the taste.

Mike gave you the "play by play" of it

One of the problems regarding the cormorants in numbers is water pollution from their feces. It has happened to freshwater ponds on Cape Cod big time. Combined with large numbers of geese wintering over etc. you have to wonder what the total effect may be on these lakes especially the smaller ones that already are plagued by blooms of blue-green algae.

I use both the large Victorinox and the Dexter-Russell for salmon (when or if I keep them) and a 7 inch Rapala for smaller fish and I frequently sharpen the Rapala. The electric is reserved for perch and walleyes.

Nice going Dan

I never let my boards release but I have the TX 44's and the Walleye boards.. My releases are tightened as far as I can tension wise (without unduly stressing the plastic so they break) and I insert the braid as far back in the grip as I can and sometimes I even wrap the braid a couple times around the release if run in rough water. When bringing in the fish I try to keep the pressure constant on the fish and take the board off the line when it reaches the boat. If the board dives I point the rod directly at it downward without giving slack and reel and it comes in.