Sk8man

(585) 374-2628

Good points to consider about the TD and the use of the Offshore clips as well. My main use of the TD has been on the downrigger and on coppers so the 1 lb weight hasn't been necessary (or desirable). I use it more as a general device too. For example I run it down 100 ft on the downrigger and then review the data and I record it on a data sheet with a grease pencil the temp info for each 5 ft interval and determine where the thermocline is and then set my thermocline (Seth Green) rigs accordingly so I don't have to be "exact" as I straddle the temp range of the thermocline and above and below it. It does however give good starting information about the t-cline for downrigger lure placement. It is a somewhat "limited" device but it is much better than nothing and much less expensive than the other options and especially when considering probe replacement. Most of my friends have sacrificed probes on the Fishawk Xd models by the way despite the high quality of the unit itself . I beefed up the plastic attachment gizmo of the TD with an additional metal clip and have never had any problems or losses despite hundreds of hours of use over the years.

Dick if is purely a matter of locating the dipsey depth/temp you can get a very good approximation by using the Fishawk TD which you can get for a little over $100 new. It can attach to your line ahead of the dipsey and after turning it on and then you let out the dipsey to say 250ft on your line counter and then retrieve it and it will display the temp and depth at the depth it was running within 5 ft intervals at that amount of line out and you aren't risking a $250 probe if it is just for that.

I believe the probes are about $250 each if multiples are needed it might be cheaper buying the fish at Wegmans

Dick- My hunch is that you'd be happy with either choice as they both seem to be quality products. I think it may be a matter of just how much you wish to "tune" your trolling program. The Fishawk will measure the general temp and speed environment and at the weight and allow you to set things accordingly while the multiple probe approach of the Smart Troll allows more "flexibility" in following the temps and depths of individual lines and lures basically at the lure level and you can monitor multiple setups individually in nearly real time. I have no idea how the probes of either choice compare in holding up over time though or the "robustness" of the internal components. P.S. If you decide on the X4D make sure it is the newer one (red screen not blue one which is the older model)

Thanks for taking the time to post the results Ted. Congrats to Jim and Keith

Good going Dane and it is encouraging to see someone doing the right thing for a change

Sorry to hear about the prop Jim. I was out today but I keep my prop just below the water all the way out and tried to atay dead center as I had that happen 4 years ago and it was $200 to get my stainless prop fixed That water is so nasty that it left a yellowish brown stain on my hull. The only thing that will clean it is the Oxalic Acid stuff....a pain for sure. That channel is very polluted.

There is a potential technical glitch involved with bulk storage of the minnows. The certification virus free receipt that is required signed and dated with the amount etc. is only good for 10 days.

I should think you'd be OK at the State park

Jighead has it right. Usually you can park near the little pavilion and walk to the semi-floating aluminum "dock". It used to be fairly good fishing there but in recent years it has been very tough to catch anything and in late Fall the mud puppies on the bottom will drive you crazy and will be the only thing hitting usually. I haven't caught anything in the last three times there casting lures or using live bait so don't get your hopes up too high . Once in awhile there will be a big smallie or two in there.

I was there Monday as was one other guy. The conditions sucked (water low weeds all over the surface outside the wall and quite clear in the marina and choked with weeds. Never had a touch or the other guy either nor did I see any fish whatsoever. The state park at Geneva was basically "unfishable" because of weeds and lily pad growth. There are still a million boats int he marina docks too. The caanal was gin clear and devoid of fish.

Both launches are low water and you should have your lower unit up as far as you can. The channel at the north end has potential "bumps" in it and is about 2 ft (or less) in spots and the Woodville launch has a rock pile from the power loaders about midway out on the dock at the south side ramp. last week when I used it I had to have my motor completely out of the water and push off manually and start up once away from the ramp. The ramp to the north didn't seem as bad then anyway. It is also pretty shallow and muddy with a lot of weed growth out from the launch at Woodville for quite aways.

Why wouldn't someone be calling in to the hotline with the boat numbers at least? I think that ranks up there with the most incompetent bringing to the net and "netting" too

I believe the lampricide affects the lamprey primarily while in the ammocete stage (larval stage that resides for a long time in the mud bottom of stream before venturing forth into the lake as a lamprey).The lampricide is complicated to administer at the right time, with stream conditions just so (e.g water flow, wind direction and magnitude and et..) and in amounts that only kill the ammocetes and not the other inhabitants in the surrounding area (fish, minnows and other organisms). The adult lampreys live for quite a long time so the larger ones you see out there have been around awhile and may have survived during previous stream flooding or periods when treatments weren't conducted.

We used to use sliding type window screens and have one kid disturb the bottom with his feet (in hip boots) and turn over rocks on the bottom that way and they would swim into the screen

Great "ad"" someone who really deserves the recognition