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Everything posted by Sk8man
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The Magda 45DX's aren't bad for that purpose. As mentioned the Penn 209's and 309's aren't any speed demons and the drags on the 209's have always been a little sketchy for me but their higher end salt water reels and the GTI's aren't bad if you also get them with power handles especially. I have a 310GTI and a 320 GTI and they are good all around reels. The problem of the level wind on the 209 and 309"s can be solved by opening up the opening in the level wind mechanism (CAREFULLY) with something like a screwdriver so that swivels etc. fit through.
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Sealine 57LC's nice reels and adaptable to many tasks.
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I fill my 60 gal. tank to full all the time (e.g. after each trip and when I winterize) but I run double amount of the Marine Stabil all year long and I only use 91 octane non-ethanol so I guess I go against the odds but I also had the same set of plugs in for 13 years without any problems and when they came out they were still good on my Merc 135 Optimax and it always starts almost immediately when you turn the key. I don't troll too much with it and blow it out a lot so that may help
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Just a small suggestion regarding the braid backing etc.- You may wish to secure the braid on the spool with tape or something as it has a tendency to slip on the spool (can give the appearance of the drag being inoperable). I usually use a short section of mono instead of braid as with 1,000ft of wire the backing is just to prevent the wire from binding on the spool and to keep the wire "nested" so you don't need much as it won't come into play as it would with say copper or leadcores where the backing is being used. When you start out to put the backing/wire on the spool make sure the level wind mechanism is centered on the spool and it will help keep the wire from running diagonally over itself.
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Salmon Showdown new season- (complete season)
Sk8man replied to Legacy's topic in Open Lake Discussion
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I'm with Bazooka Joe on the Diawa 57LC's I have 2 of the SG57LC3b's and I love them. High speed, 6 to1 gear ratio, come with a power handle, good line capacity, sleek profile compared with bulkier Okumas, 20 lb carbon fiber drag system. I also have the somewhat smaller SGLC473b's which are also really good reels but they have a 4.2 to 1 gear ratio, 24 inch line take up vs. 40 inches on the 57 and a 15 lb carbon fiber drag and quite a bit less line capacity (but they hold the 1,000 ft of wire with room to spare). It has performed flawlessly as a wire rig with a number of large salmon and steelies trying to exploit it. I have 3 Okuma 45DX's and they have also performed well but they are not up to the caliber of the Diawa's but they aren't in that price range either. I had a Convector which didn't function (no drag) right out of the box. I have never had a problem of any kind with the Diawa reels (dozen 47H's for over 30 years).
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Need suggestions for making quick-change leaders
Sk8man replied to Todd in NY's topic in Tackle and Techniques
I use a variety of pre-tied leaders for various things and I use a 1 ft section of pool noodle to store them usually 8 or 10 to a section with the ends of the swivel stuck in the noodle to hold them. For "sliders" on the downriggers I make them about 6-8 ft long with cheap but solid ring swivels at each end. I use cheap black colored swivels (with wide rounded bend) because I have experimented over time and they work in that particular application and I don't feel that action suffers in the way that they are being used and I've never had any problems. For all my other connections I use good quality ball bearing solid ring swivels with duolock snaps. The reason for using solid ring only is because the split ring type can cut your line with large fish when the knot may slip into the depression in the ring. For the flashers and dipseys I have some with a small Spro barrel swivel at one end and a ball bearing swivel/duolock snap on the other end at various lengths and wrapped on the noodle with the length and lb test ( and an F for fluoro and an M for mono) written near them on the noodle on a piece of white tape. I also use pre-tied leaders on my Seth Green rigs and for those I wrap them on squares of 1/2 inch styrofoam with a wire clip (spring clip) at one end and a quality ball bearing swivel on the terminal end and I wrap 5 each with a rubber band with the lures already attached and placed within one of those blue water proof cooler bags from Wegman's all ready to rock n roll. -
What I was referring to when I said the perch were cleaned out concerns inside the marina itself. There has been intense fishing pressure on the perch there for months and some folks sell them so they don't toss ANY back. It is accurate that they are harder (but not impossible) to catch in clear shallow water and that they prefer cloudy water. To think that perch are a fail proof and unlimited resource is a mistake. One of the things that makes perch popular is also the very weak link in the viability of their numbers and that is the fact that they are a "schooling" fish. Their vulnerabilities can be easily exploited when they become vulnerable and human greed comes into play (or even the cormorants for that matter). For a good part of the season they are dispersed throughout their habitat in smaller groups but in the Fall and Spring they school up in sometimes massive numbers in very contained or dense spots e.g. when spawning or shortly beforehand. There are still somewhat large numbers of perch throughout the lake but the question is :"Will this remain so?" The numbers certainly are not what they were years ago and there are many reasons for this ranging from compromises to their spawning and feeding habitats (mussels clogging up the areas, predation of spawn by alewives, lack of cover from less dense weed growth etc.). Add to this increased fishing pressure for a variety of reasons (e.g. bass and pike fishing deterioration, allowable sale of perch and perhaps increased awareness of this, and a host of other things). All these things are combining to place their numbers in jeopardy and like everything else in life their numbers are not truly infinite despite the assumptions that many folks make. To think that perch fishing will remain good or even viable if this continues year after year is asking for real disappointment. It appears to be a good time to re-evaluate the 50 daily limit as well as the ability to sell perch commercially on the Finger Lakes. Nobody is going to be eating more than 25 perch in a sitting so why not make that the daily limit? These limits also need to be rigorously enforced as well as they aren't currently and there is a lot of fish being kept in excess of the current limit. I know this idea may not be popular with some folks especially those benefiting from the personal gain from the sale of a publicly owned resource but it would be nice if our children and grand children could enjoy the same quality of fishing that some of their forefathers have enjoyed.
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Even with the 91 octane non-ethanol I run double amount of Marine Stabil and some periodic Sea Foam in my gas year round.
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Sounds to me as though the gas stations don't have much of an incentive to make the lines dedicated since they make money on the transactions this way (e.g. gallon or two overpaid by a dollar each)
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Was last May normal for salmon?
Sk8man replied to flybuster's topic in Questions About Trout & Salmon Trolling?
Yeah the western guys took all our fish in May and June was therefore slow down east At least that was our excuse -
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The reason nobody is catching is because the unreal fishing pressure has cleaned them out ....especially with some of the baboons keeping the 5 or 6 inch fish there. Way too much pressure (open water and ice) for such a small confined area.....really too bad to see it spoiled after over 50 years fishing out there.
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I need a clamp-on downrigger mount for a utility boat
Sk8man replied to Todd in NY's topic in Tackle and Techniques
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Having replaced the old type wires twice on mine over the years I can tell you that the new set of wires is MUCH improved and is the way to go if you decide to keep the riggers but the motor situation is a different matter. As Lucas mentioned those downriggers are often found in the classifieds here and usually for a reasonable price. Maybe try to get one in good condition and either go with it or use the motor in it and keep the rest of one or the other for spare parts. As far as the old wiring it deteriorates badly in the UV light and I had one that was bare wire in spots prior to replacement with the new ones.....not worth taking a chance on in my view and I was glad I bit the bullet for the new ones.
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I need a clamp-on downrigger mount for a utility boat
Sk8man replied to Todd in NY's topic in Tackle and Techniques
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I think Mark makes a real good point . I will say that the battery seems to be pretty long lived so far though (about 5 years so far)
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I can't answer whether it is worth the price as that is an individual finances judgment I will say that they can be handy for some things such as telling the temp and depth that coppers or leadcores are actually running. I have used one on someone elses boat when they lost their Fish Hawk probe and when a Subtroll stopped working on another guys boat as I carry it with me "just in case". I t can also be used to find the thermocline initially when running Seth Green rigs or downriggers if you don't have another temp device. They are very compact, light, and easy to use but I also put an additional safety clip on mine as the one that comes with it is in my view a bit flimsy (although I have never had a problem with it).