Sk8man

Luke - Devin is right about sometimes needing to get down deeper than the 300 will go but in my experience it is in the mid/late summer period when the fish (especially salmon) can be down real deep but I run the 300 and even a couple 250's during much of the rest of the season. Depending on boat speed and currents etc. you should be able to get down between 50-60 ft with the 300 copper if you are just running a spoon behind it. As Devin mentioned the 300 run down the chute is often productive and I usually run mine that way too. It will run off the TX 44 boards too. I don't use the Offshores as I have all Church boards so I can't speak to that. As far as the dipseys a setting of 1 -2 generally works well but it also matters how much other stuff you are running and where. Bottom-feeder is right too - expect to tangle once in awhile and it may not even be your fault as cross currents and certain lure actions and a bunch of other factors come into play sometimes.....you can expect over time to have some shorter coppers than you started with originally My problems have never been with the wire rigs mainly with multiple leadcores..... As far as how far out to run the boards with copper you'll have to experiment. You want them far enough out to be sure that the other stuff you're running is clear of them and I usually run one shorter than the other on the opposite side so that if they swing on turns they clear as well. I also don't usually run my downriggers as far back either and stagger the lengths of them as well. I know some guys like using dipseys from coppers I normally just run a single spoon (usually small to medium for trout and larger for the salmon) just less to mess with and less drag coming in.

Actually they were used on the Finger Lakes for trout and landlocks but if not pulling real heavy stuff I think they should still work but it may also relate to the type of boards too. Mine were regular singles not Otters etc.

John you have a PM

One of the things that strikes me about this issue is that it is like a lot of other things with much of the fishing equipment we use on Lake O .....a lot of it is "overkill". The heavy duty salt water guys (e.g tuna fishermen etc.) would probably laugh like hell over some of our concerns. Kings fight like heck and likewise with good steelies but sometimes folks get carried away with the "issues" (myself included). If a rod is pretty solid at the lower section and not plagued with hairline cracks which may or may not be visible to the naked eye they are nearly all "serviceable" for these fish. In the old days before the advent of all this fancy fishing stuff (and fleas) we started out with medium duty spinning rods with 12 lb line and landed many kings (1970's). The novice fisherman just starting out now days after seeing our usual comments here may believe that you have to have 1,000 Yard capacity on reels and heavy duty boat rods to land these fish and that is not the case. I've used the Okuma Classic GLT's in medium as well as the Diawa Wilderness medium rods (similar to the GLT's) for multipurpose use (downriggers, inlines, toplines etc.) and for most situations they work fine. They are inexpensive rods but serviceable when treated and used properly. There are some situations that stiffer shorter rods seem to be a little easier and more convenient to use for me at least and for wire dipseys I prefer 6 ft. roller tips medium action while other folks may prefer a 10 ft. rod with a twilli tip. They are a lot more convenient to store in the boat and it seems to me quicker to get fish in with (for release purposes). I also have 7 ft. Ugly Sticks for general use which I like and they are durable and stiffer than some of the other rods but I don't view them as "essential" to the fishing mission . Most of the issue centers around personal preference with most of this stuff. The issues for the charter guys are somewhat different for them as many different folks are handling the equipment and it makes sense to have highly durable rods and reels, and keeping them the same for consistency and some "overkill" because of the frequent rough handling of the equipment by folks who don't really understand the potential limitations of the stuff. The avid sport fisherman can get away with less "durable" less expensive equipment if properly used and taken care of. I've had about a dozen of my salmon rods and reels (mainly Diawa 47H's) for over 30 years and without servicing of any kind (but taken care of and not abused). Just another perspective offered and hopefully it won't alienate anyone and the comments are intended for the less experienced folks on a tight budget looking to get into the sport.