Mortigan

There's a joke there, somewhere...

That's a nice one.

We use the Okuma as well. Spoonfed is right though - the Shimano Talora wireline roller rod in 7' to 9' paired with your reel would be pretty sweet.

The natives are revolting...

I used to be nuts. Now I'm broke and I'm nuts - but I can fish!

Regarding retying - I was taught to closely inspect the line after each fish and replace if nicked or stretched. You can retie on the boat as needed or do a batch ahead of time for quick replacement. We have a bunch stored on pool noodle sections at the moment but I'm going to try the Plano 1950-36 Snell Rig Holder shortly.

Put those Marksmanship badges to good use

You're going to need a lot more line. If you're running a dipsy at 70', you've got approximately 210' feet out to begin with. If a decent king hits your spoon, it could run hundreds of feet before slowing down. You're looking at 200 yards of line out before you even start reeling. I'll let someone that runs braid address the specifics for you. Dick's has 300 yards of Power Pro on sale right now for $19.95 (assuming they're not sold out)...

The news article mentioned "State navigation law says the town has the right to regulate vessels within 1,500 feet of the shore." At least they got rid of the exemption that would have allowed the residents and their friends to continue the floating party while excluding the rest of the world. If you're not familiar with the area, it's a little strip of waterfront cottages between the I-Bay Outlet and Sea Breeze amusement park. On a bad day (good day, depending on the side you're on), it can look something like this:

We've been getting lakers that big but smaller king and coho so far.

Blood Run Tackle Co - their link is listed on the Legacy Sportfishing website.

Boss looks happy

I doubt if his ad is true but he's protesting a newly-passed town ordinance: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/art ... ionstories

I am SO going to enjoy that boat when I buy it from you in five years

I'll be at Charlotte, eating BBQ ribs until I pass out http://roccityribfest.com/

Nice boat. Gonna be few years for me, unfortunately.

Where are you located?

I picked up a Shark and a Snapper to try but I've only run them on wire, straight off the back with a spoon a couple times so far. You can run them off big boards or inline planers though using braid or mono. There hasn't been much detailed conversation regarding them yet so I'm experimenting.

Wire is the way to go. Once the fleas come out, and when is anybody's guess this year, braid becomes difficult to use. Get 1000 feet of wire for each; Malin, Mason & AFW get the majority of the business with Torpedo the newcomer (and less expensive). We're running Torpedo 7 strand and 19 strand wire with no issues but not a lot of hours in yet either. The major brands all make reliable manual riggers (we're using Cannons) but make sure whatever you get will handle the weight you want to use. There's always used manual ones for sale - if you can afford new manuals, you might as well pay for used electrics instead. One option instead of manual downriggers is to try running Torpedo Divers to get your line down where you want it. The owner and one of his sponsored pros are members here, posting regularly. http://www.torpedodivers.com/ The guy I fish with and I are in a similar position but running one season ahead of you.

Gets your heart rate up though, doesn't it!

Nice job My friend's nephew landed a 20lb laker off Irondequoit Bay yesterday evening caught on a dipsy with a flasher & fly. I might be wrong but I think that's the first dipsy fish caught on the boat - we just started using a pair of wire rods.

Oh, yeah - way more flies than fish off sandy creek Saturday