Sk8man

Nice one Nick. Hopefully the crowd has thinned out by now. We're still waiting for ice.....bunch of new jigs and some new tipups to try out and no place to go

Looks a lot like a Freshwater Sculpin/Stonecat to me Mike....hard to see some of the features (e.g. spot on dorsal, scalloped pelvic fin etc.) with that mottled background. After several looks at it you may be right though it would have been nice to have had a contrasting background as those colors blend right in with the fish.

:lol: I have 4

Many years ago fishing for perch in about 60 ft of water on Seneca I was using two rods and had one in the rod holder while I fished the other.I had a double on and jumped up quick and my knee hit the rod in the holder (that had my favorite ultralight in it) and it went overboard and sunk in the 60 ft before I could do anything. I was pissed but I chalked it up to fishing and pretty much forgot about it. A couple years laterI was jerking copper wire with a Pfleuger 4 spoon right on bottom for lakers and I snagged something that I thought was a tree branch from the bottom. When I got it up to the boat I realized it was my lost rod and reel still in good condition (before the zebras came) and I had engraved my name on the reel so I was absolutely sure of the ownership . I disassembled the reel when I got home dried it out and put it back together and I still have it down cellar What do you suppose the odds are of that happening?

What about the workbench and the work shoes Nick?

They have always been great spoons and tolerate speed pretty well for the salmonids. Like Suttons, Evil Eyes and others they demonstrate firsthand that "newer" isn't always "better" in the lure department

abbreviation for pounds

I'm not sure of your exact situation in terms of motor shaft length and how they match up but mine are each 25 inch. I originally had the Ezsteer system installed and used it for a season or two and then one day I decided to try using just the main motor to steer with and no connection because the long shaft of the kicker stuck down a long ways into the water. I have never looked back although I still have the Ez Steer setup connectors etc. on the motors but I keep them "just in case". I don't think it would work well with a short shaft kicker setup but I just put a slight angle to the kicker and steer totally from my main 135 outboard. If it is real windy or very rough I just use my big motor to troll and to steer as I can get down to about 1.5 mph with it but I tyr not to do it often or for extended periods because I don't want it to load up or foul the plugs. Like rolmops I used the quick disconnects with a threaded rod on my previous boat without any problems but the connections were within the boat connected to the "inner face" of the motors so it was easy to disconnect and I didn't have to reach outside the boat. I had to make the "brackets" that attached to the motors which the quick discconnect fittings/rod attached to.

Billy the main outriggers that I'm familiar with are Tigress and Taco. Dotline made the lighter weight fiberglass and the aluminum ones for about $180 and the Tigress and Tacos start at about $300 and I think that s for the 15 ft. fiberglass ones. Some of these things for salt water offshore use go into the thousands and have pretty elaborate setups anchoring them so they can be run upright when under way etc. There is no comparison quality wise whatsoever between the first two and the Dotlines whether in the poles or the bases (holders)

One of the preliminary questions to be asked is: Do you fish solo often? This was my guiding concern because I often fish by myself and rather than locating mine at the front it is in back where it is always available.....but it also matters how your boat is set up. It works for me but others would I'm sure perceive it to be in the way. In the many years I've had it this way it has never been a "problem". Note how the net is angled toward the center over the motor I do most of my netting from the corners or sides. Sometimes I do move my RODS forward though.The problem seen in the photo is of a different nature....called "partner inattention" (my son messing with his phone while the fish is on the downrigger and during a derby ).

Geez Big I wasn't in any way "arguing" anything just throwing in my two cents and my last comment was basically directed at all the technical stuff. I think Brian said it right sometimes we "overthink" things and I can be as guilty of it as anyone I for one am glad you brought up the topic to explore.

One of the things I've noticed over the years is that VERY frequently the fish I actually catch I didn't mark at all beforehand suggesting that they may be way outside the cone angle so sometimes spending most of your time squinting at the screen may not be as productive as actually messing with your equipment and doing a variety of things with it and not totally relying on screen shots. My grandfather used to catch a hell of a lot of fish in a rowboat without anything but the line or wire in his hand....sometimes we forget to concentrate on basics.

hermit you have a PM Great tip Mark.

Basically they can be used in many scenarios with just about any species. I have used them for walleyes and perch on tip ups and on worm harnesses (usually size 10-12 treble hooks) and also with larger hooks jigging for trout in open boat or through the ice. It is very useful for fussy or light hitters. It is now possible to get the diameter down a bit while maintaining strength by using finer gauge titanium wire instead of stainless. These are older versions using mono in the pic (couldn't find my wire ones right away). A stinger can also be good at the end of a meat rig for the short hitters. Another feature of it is that as in a live bait still fishing doubles or trebles that is small if you happen to catch one that is undersized all you do is clip the "leader" and release the fish. The hook will disintegrate over time.

Very much depends on weather factors - on the good side my son called today and said the whole lake as far as he could see was iced over. If there are in fact no open areas that would let any developing wind mess things up (sometimes ducks and geese keep open spots for example) and we continue to have cold nights things may set up OK, but on the other hand there is also some high thirties and low 40 stuff projected coming up and the weather guys have been saying that January is supposed to be up and down temp wise this year and that would be a question mark. If the entire lake is fully ice covered and it gets an inchor two thick those intermittant warmer temps may not hurt things too bad if we can get some extended cold between now and then.

They have been around for at least 50 years that I personally know of

Springs, many gas pockets, and several small streams that can make things treacherous even in a good year and you never want to go out on less than 3 inches of GOOD ice (i.e. hard clear with no "bubbles" in it). The weather pattern is supposed to be up and down temp wise so it could be awhile or even not at all.