TyeeTanic

Where will he want to troll when he gets hooked. OK, take my advice for after you get hooked.

As far as gear the minimum to me is: Dipsey divers size #1, at least 4 in black to start. 11" Spin doctors and matching atomik flies - screamer and frog, hawg wild, bloody death, hammer time Spoons size 3" and 4" - same colors as above, monkey puke, nbk,, purple thunder Now this might be a hard sell but I would buy wire dipsey rods if you don't already have them. Put 30 lb, 7 strand on your reels and you won't look back. Assume you have a decent fish finder. Having down temperature is a good bonus. Simplest is the fish hawk TD. But you can go smart troll which works on any type of rod or down riggers.

It was a slow start but is becoming a strong finish.

Thanks for the info. Was this done on a standard, #1 dipsey diver with regular ring?

I have an HDS 5. It is great. I would like to have an HDS 8, but no more room at my helm!

I replace mine also. BUT! Now that it has been shown that torpedo wire drops the same rate as leadcore, that 300' of wire can be used to spool a separate rod for free line fishing. Will get you around 30 to 35' deep. Put some braid backing on the reel (about 500' or so) and you should be good to go.

We use Church Tackle Boards. Walley Boards are okay for light weight such as a 4 oz torpedo weight. However, any over that like the 8 oz torpedo or 300 ft of copper will require the TX44 boards.

I've had my fish fighting belt for 3 years, and it still looks brand new. It is an easy to use, velcro fit belt. Just put around the waist and velcro to the right length.

Blue .... it's been a while. Just joking. Someone was bound to do that to you. My canon balls are black with silver flasher tape on the tails. It is well known they act as attractors. Somedays I hear colors work (silver), and others not. Black is viewed as a neutral color, which is my preference, to take one less variable out of the equation.

My settings came directly from a Lowrance guru (he sells them for a living, and has regular seminars at fishing clubs teaching people how to use their sonars - see video of him on youtube link below - Jocelyn Leung). Just about everyone in my marina is going to these settings. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqCaCgLkMFE Several parts to the video due to length of presentation - this guy knows his stuff, I have an 83/200 ducer. 200 has better penetration due to the narrower cone angle. I can't say how the 50 Hz works. You can always split screen the sonar. However, I find you do lose clarity when the ducer is switching between the two frequencies to display both. I can pick up my canon balls on 83 Hz, I use a 12 lb ball, and have around 50 or 60 ft of blowback. The settings are a balance of picking up detail, but rejecting noise. So the highest sensitivies and ping speeds are not always recommended. General use is recommended for depths above 100 ft. Below 100 ft, Joc recommends shallow.

- Auto Sensitivity - Range = Auto - Frequency = 200 kHz - Chart speed = 2x - Fishing mode = General - Ping Speed = 15 - Noise reduction = low - Surface clarity = off - Palette = 13 - Transducer: make sure you go to Installation and under sonar settings, select the correct transducer. - Network: make sure you go to Data Source under sonar use the temp from the Lowrance unit, not Global (via network).

My buddy runs the Fishhawk X4. It works great, I don't think he has any battery problems. Really easy to clip on the probe which transmits wirelessly to the transducer. Simple system, I like! I have the new Smart Troll system. This works equally as well, but the speed probe hasn't come out yet. Once it does, I'd probably choose that system over the Fishhawk, as you can use up to 6 probes at one, on dipsey lines, rigger, etc. to find out exactly the depth, temp and speed on each line. Now, not to say I will do that, but I will likely put a depth, temp, speed on the rigger and 1 depth/temp on the dipsey. I will find the 46 F - 48F on the rigger and then the 50 - 52F on the dipsey to define the bottom and top of the water zone I want to be in.

Wire line is the best. You need to take care of your rods if you put on wire - you can't just put it on any rod, as it can saw through the eyelets. Most guys convert their rods to wire lods by adding a twillie or torpedo tip to the top. That normally extends the life for a while. As for the reel - you'll want one with a line counter and big enough to fit 1000 ft of wire - so something like an Oukuma Convector 30D.

Owner hooks are probably the best I own. I just use a stone sharperner to keep them nail gripping sharp. I sharpen in one direction only - do one side of the barb and then the other side.

Lowrance HDS series are amazing. I have the HDS 5, but would go for the HDS 8 if I had more room at my helm. The HDS series can read large map chips. The Elite series can only read a chip less than 2 GB in size, which limits the maps you can use to lower detailed contours. I had an Elite and upgraded it to the HDS, which I am very happy with. Don't get me wrong, the Elite is good too, but the HDS has a more powerful sonar output and also more detailed maps.

As the guys say go to the Shell Pier (west of Bronte) and start fishing in about 80 fow. Troll that contour for a while and then head out to the 120 fow contour if you mark nothing. Work out as the sun comes up.

Don't listen to those folks that tell you power pro will give you less fleas. You will end up throwing the line out after 1 trip in flea season. You won't even be able to reel the line in with the amount of accumulation you will get. Wire catches more salmon for a few reasons: - it has a great sink rate (3:1) because it is heavier and thinner than anything else out there. - it creates a humming sound in the water due to vibration which attract salmon.