Sk8man

I'll take them Brian

My 135 Merc Optimax on an 18 ft Whaler has a Mirage Plus 17P SS prop and although I seldom use it to troll and largely do so with my 9.9 it will troll at 1.8 mph at 560 rpm's and it is good out of the hole with top end speed in the 40's. I normally run it with the trim all the way down or close to it but it keeps the bow down and the stern upright while underway and seems to be a great all around prop with real good gas milage

You sure have your priorities right Jeremy

Good one Stan

Breaking Bass- Try using the offshore release with the rubber "pin" on the face of the jaw if not using it. It can help hold the line in. Despite placing a slider a given distance up the line it will seek a place in the bow of the line which can vary up and down and depending on the lure itself and boat speed can vary considerably so if want to keep fairly constant distance maintained a fixed slider is the way to go.

Admiral Byrd and I went for an afternoon/evening cruise and motored out to 530 ft to have a look. Nothing on the screen along the way out or there so trolled back in. Caught 5 or 6 lb steelie on 10 color, then 8 lb king on rigger both with spoons. Went to adjust wire dipsy with F/Fly set at 250 on a 1 setting and it got grabbed while in my hand by "hit and run' and got off. Stayed in the 220-280 range and ahd a huge hit on the dipsy F/fly set at 250 on 1 with white homemade fly on it. Had it on for several minutes and he stripped wire from 250 to 580ft and gone. When brought line in two hooks on of the triple X strength treble hook straightened out A little later huge hit and Spin doc with same homemade white fly set on #3 out 330ft. Fought like hell and took line repeatedly out to 0ver 600 on counter and never gave up until in the boat. Hell of a time netting him and he had a giant lamprey attached when he came in the boat right behind the gill but fresh wound and hadn't fully penetrated skin yet. Killed the lamprey. King weighed 25 lbs on scale. While bringing him in rigger fired and another 5 or 6 lb steelie on spoon set at 85 ft. All in all fun time gorgeous day and a couple of fights to remember.

WTG Mike and Mike and Mr. B

I've used roller rods for over 50 years and a variety of them at that. I also use twilli rods as well. There is a marked difference in roller rods, guides, and tips. less expensive rods often feature tips with aluminum side plates while quality roller tips are stainless steel, alloys, or titanium A problem encountered with the cheaper aluminum ones is that stranded wire cuts through them and allows the wire to reside within the cuts when at a certain angle. I use SS roller tips that are fixed rather than ones the revolve as it is easier to keep them and the wire at the right angle in the rod holders. As mentioned roller tips offer less resistance than twilli"s and you can usually roll through fleas unless real thick. The roller itself has to be really close to the side rails to prevent narrow diameter wire (e..g. 30-45 lb test) from nesting in between the roller and side plate where it can actually sever the wire and there is often a screw and nut that can be tightened slightly on the side plate to adjust. There is usually more spacing in that area on the aluminum type roller side plates. I even have an 8 1/2 ft downrigger dipsy wire rod set up with a SS roller tip with usual guides (eg ceramic?) and no problems after several years as the wire seldom if ever rests on the guides themselves. I have another with a twilli and no real difference in their performance. My shorter dedicated medium weight roller rods do roll in easier though than both of the other rods as there is less bend in them at the tip allowing the roller to function better. Again, these are all fixed roller tips not the swivel type.

Sweet! Certainly a day you both will remember

Good going Bill. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall listening to you two guys

Nice video. Wondering how you captured the boat underway at the start with drone?

Nice going John. Thanks for the report.

Way to go Stan.

Nice going Bill That spoon has always had good Karma for me too

Ditto on Deans you don't have to go far to jig and it is a little more protected than other launches especially from westerly wind.

Something to be said for predictability too Stan.....things that function like they are supposed to and predictably are rare these days. I still am using my Cannon 10 A's from 1985 that I bought from Canandaigua Fishing Tackle and they have been out of business for many years I figure they will probably last as long as I am able to fish