Sk8man

There are times when it could be double the frustration (as when marking them but they won't hit )

I'm pretty pumped too. I've been rigging equipment all winter.....I'm still not certain what they are going to do about the north end weigh station this year as they knocked down the Chamber Of Commerce Building. I hope they have something at the north end as it sure helps on gas not having to run all the way to Sampson full tilt just to weigh something (if I fish to the north). Last year mine was flopping on the scale though I was at Seneca today looking around at the Long Pier....the water was crystal clear to the bottom for as far as the eye could see. A good rain a couple days before the derby could certainly help out in stirring things up a little ....I've come up with a few bizarre new weapons this year...must have been the long winter

That's what I did I just left the old transducer/impeller on and left the electrical and transducer wiring intact but disconnected. If my Lowrance should conk out I could just hook the wires up to my Impulse and at the battery end and I'm back in business.I do have a separate panel installed on my transom for my transducers so I can move them around if necessary too and only have the 2 screw holes on the transom to deal with if I ever take it off.

Hey its my birthday as well.....instead of fishing I will be at brunch with my mother , wife and daughter but then again...there is always Monday

Yes your English teacher was probably horrified by it!

Lowrance H2O It won't set you back a whole bunch and it is versatile. The speed function is within a tenth of a mph of my depth finder and I use it to verify the speed and it also is handy when I go hiking or travel in someone else's boat who without a GPS. Takes a secure digital card for extra memory

A good general strategy is to use a small bobber (I use a weighted one lead ring at the base of it) about 2ft. or so up from a 4 to 6 lb test fluorocarbon leader (2 ft long) attached to the main line (6 lb test mono ) by a very small barrel swivel. At the end I use a "Fast snap" or "Quick Clip" and a trout magnet jig with a small live fathead minnow or a gulp bait (smallest immitation minnow they make). Some of the best crappie fishing can occur at NIGHT in relatively shallow water (sometimes 6 ft or less). Generally with the live bait you let the minnow swim around and just watch your bobber but with the Gulp Bait approach you cast the bobber out and retrieve it slowly jigging it as you go and stopping briefly imtermittently. They usually either hammer it while jigging it or will nibble and then pull your bobber under. Sometimes all you see is your bobber moving away without going under. You have to experiment with the height of your bobber and adjust it accordingly sometimes they like it just a couple feet below the surface and other times they prefer it to be just above bottom. I use ultralight rods and reels for them.....You don't want heavy tackle. Hope that helps....Good luck!

Thats why I switched to outriggers back in the 80's :

Sure hope not but then again whats another foreign invader when things are already screwed up?

Hey Kev I think the DMV needs your money

Thanks for the laughs fellas

If not marking them AT ALL try turning up the gain/sensitivity way up and see what happens if too much turn back a bit until you get something .

One of the things to consider is whether you have a spring loaded victrola or the motorized version. I think the lighter the wire you can get away with onthe spring loaded one the better I've always used the 20 guage for the victrola and 22 for my A &S automatic reel (spring not as strong as victrola). 20 on motorized. AC is on target too ....it's mainly a preference thing and what you get used to. No matter what you use remember to wear finger protection because if you hang up on bottom unexpectedly or get a big one on you could lose a finger without it. ( Cut off first finger and thumb from pr. of leather work gloves) As far as stories go.....I once lost my favorite ultralight perch rod and reel in 59 ft. of water on Seneca (my knee popped it out of a rod holder) a couple months later I was jerking copper and making a pass by there and pulled up my rod and reel....after drying it out ...good as new What do you think the chances of that happening are in terms of probabilities?

Good point. I lost a buddy years back (who was also a charter captain) on Seneca because he wasn't wearing one in the summer time fishing by himself and when they found him in 8 ft of water his pants zipper was down so they thought he was just taking a wizz and slipped and hit his head when he went over....you never know....he was a very experienced fisherman...

If it were me I'd take it to a trust worthy marina where they do this stuff all the time and have it on a separate electrical block and fused. A lot of guys feel comfortable messing with electrical stuff but other than basic stuff I wouldn't take the chance especially with something that has already been previously jerry rigged. You may also want to make a close inspection of the electrical cables coming from the downrigger. I have replaced mine twice because of severe cracking from the UV rays.

In light of Tom's comments I should clarify something too. I never considered either coated cables or probes being attached as I don't use either...that would make a hell of a difference too. That homemade weight looks pretty neat by the way...maybe not too late ....NASA might be interested Tom

Sometimes its tough to take our wives advice but unfortunately they are usually right...about that kind of stuff anyway

I don't think it will be a factor as it will be underneath the wire (and hopefully it won't see daylight for a while) Good luck with it!

30 lb Mason or Malin, or Blood Run 30 lb 7 strand would be good. You'll need 1000 ft. (if your reel will hold it) not sure how easy to find it (1,000 ft rolls) in Mason now days. (I prefer the brownish color if you have a choice), You should also consider putting on a few hundred feet of 30 lb. Berkely Big Game mono as backing too especially with an aluminum spool reel)

Some of it may depend on how big your boat is too.....and how deep you usually fish riggers. If fishing from a small boat (say 18 ft.) and fishing almost exclusively within the top 100 ft. of the water column and you are primarily running lures and not stuff with a lot of "drag" (e.g. stealth rigs) you don't need a super heavy weight. The larger boats especially the charters etc. may have very different issues with "blow back" and they can afford to replace their equipment (e.g. downriggers) more frequently so running heavy weights may not be as much of an issue as it is with the average sport fisherman on a normal budget without "write-offs". I've run 8-10 lb weights for over 35 years with success. That being said I seldom use them below 100 ft. but my point is that common sense would dictate that the heavier the weight the more stress on the downrigger motor bringing it up even within the range they were designed for so if you plan to hang on to your electrics for awhile you may want to consider using only the amount of weight necessary to run the what you want to. There seems to be a lot of "overkill" in the way of equipment these days. Fishing salt water may necessitate it but on Lake O I think the minimum to get the job done is what you shoot for especially when you keep your equipment long term. I just put on my flack jacket and body armor just in case the responses to this get "dangerous"

Welcome aboard and glad to have another "old timer" here

Welcome and hope you get into them.....its been a bit slow in most places but the surface temps looked decent at the eastern part of the lake a couple days ago so I'd start out going east if it were me...

The twilli's are a good solution and if you are only fishing Lake O the twilli is probably the least expensive and a practical choice but the roller tips aren't bad either and although the line fatigue could hypothetically be a problem I have 4 thermocline rods that have had the same 7 strand wire on roller tip rods for over 30 years (Mason 7 strand) and many hundreds (or more) fish have been caught on each with a 2 pound weight also at the end of it and the wire looks like it was just put on.. For fresh water you'd want a light to medium roller tip rod (they usually have a roller guide for the first one as well as the roller tip) if you ever go in that direction.