Sk8man

The HT's do leave a bit desired with lake trout on the other end too so Keith has a point

I'm with Longspurs. I have about 25 ice fishing rod setups and I still keep going back to those HT Blue Ice 's but in the 24 inch size.

I know this may sound simplistic but it is something often overlooked - make sure all your hooks are sharpened. Carry a file onboard and sharpen on three sides of hook going toward the hook point.

Good points

You can usually figure about 5 ft per color (but depends on what you are running and speed of boat). I'd go with fluorocarbon for the leader running that shallow.

A lot of ways to go but the reel used to an extent determines things. You want enough backing when using on inlines and 200- 300 yds of 30 lb test braid should do the trick on the Fingers. Spring suggests shallow water use so maybe 3, 5, 7, color setups. Fluoro leader 10-12 lb test about 20-25 ft long for silvers can be shorter for lakers

Definitely the way to go then. Great work reasonable price and you won't find anyone better than John.

John is by far the best option hands down and hopefully he is still working, but Geordie Magee in Brewerton is pretty good but not inexpensive either http://mageecanvas.com/ Not sure about right now in covid times but he (Geordie) normally services a lot of marinas all over this part of the state (but they also take their cut).

Thought I'd pass this on just for consideration. I have had my single axle trailer since it was new going on 19 years now. I stlll have the same set of bearings in it and only replaced the seals last year despite a lot of trailering on hilly country as well as major roads. I have had bearing buddies since day one as they worked well on my previous boat. What I do differently than many is this: I use triple guard grease (blue/green in color) as it is thicker than the other stuff, I load the bearing buddies up fully so the grease starts coming out around the inner circumference watching the internal ring move outward but stop at that point. You don't want to create too much pressure on the inner seals of the hub. I also fill the existing space inside the bearing buddy with the grease and then put the plastic bra over the bearing buddy. When I trailer and get to the launch I let the wheels cool down a few minutes while getting the boat ready to launch and do not enter the water immediately. Reason: expansion contraction potentially allowing water to seep inside the bearing buddy or inner seal. I ALWAYS refill the bearing buddy after trailering so the bearings are always in grease. Water and lack of lubrication is the greatest enemy of bearings when hot. I believe keeping that total seal is what has allowed the bearings to last this long Due to my superstitious nature I always continue to do things repeatedly when they work I guess the best part of this is that it has my top notch auto mechanic fishing partner scratching his head in disbelief Something to maybe think about....

I have always removed everything from the boat (electronics, seats you name it and store it in the cellar with even temp range. Never a problem in all these years so I continue that practice My boat is stored in a neighbors barn in the country and you never know for sure what may get in there (e.g. feral cats, raccoons, squirrels etc. I know folks that have had their transducer wires chewed up too when their boat was left at a marina, and folks that have had rodents chew their seats, PFD's and electrical wiring.

Probably not so much of a problem nowadays as the components are solid state but the older electronics were a lot more vulnerable to radical changes in temps. It isn't a great idea however to bring some of them (e.g. LCD screens etc.) from extreme cold into heated areas rapidly as condensation can form internally potentially leading to corrosion problems.

It read fine the first time Don but I'm on a computer not a phone.