John E Powell

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Check out this link, it has a lot of info about marine surveyors and certifications, and has a members page where you can search among surveyors in each state and locality. http://www.marinesurvey.org/index.html I've used surveyors off this list before and have been happy with the professionalism and knowledge each possessed. If you go to their search page: http://www.marinesurvey.org/index.php?option=com_storelocator&Itemid=303&view=map and enter in the zip code of 44004, and set the search radius to 50 miles, you'll find 7 surveyors listed. You can then check each surveyor's certification credentials and any specializations they might have. Among these you'll probably find a few willing to travel to Ashtabula. Talk to a few and ask about their services. I find it's sometimes helpful to know the name of the boat, the marina it's at, and the names of the current and previous owners - in some cases you'll find a surveyor who has previously surveyed a boat and can offer a historical perspective on the boat and what has happened to it since they surveyed it last. I personally would not go by the recommendation of a marina owner that you did not know personally. There could be a hidden agenda that might steer you towards a non-reputable person who might have the marina owner's or seller interests at heart instead of you. You are hiring this person and you want them to represent your interests, not someone else's. Another advantage to talking to multiple surveyors is sometimes a boat will have a major problem that is known to local people. It may have been surveyed a couple times already and previous interested buyers walked away from it. Most reputable surveyors will tell you up front that they have already recently surveyed a boat and found it to have a major problem without charging you. (They will sometimes offer to sell you a copy of their report at a reduced price). A seller who's not forthcoming to you about a boats recent multi-surveys and subsequent rescinded offers is clearly trying to offload their problem onto someone else.

Check out the High Speed Okuma Clarions also. CLR-453 LS and CLR-553LS Don't just compare gear ratios, check the specs for line retrieval per handle turn.

It is the matte finish IM6 blank, I'll dig it out of storage this weekend and check the length and line weight.

I have a G Loomis noodle rod blank, but I can't recall the exact model number. I think it's the 1-4lb line class blank or possibly the IGFA 2lb model. Let me know if you have any interest and I'll dig it out of storage and try to confirm which it is. It's definitely not the 2-6lb model.

There are lots of videos out there on how to do this, but essentially the steps are: 1) tape 1 side of a flexible double edge razor blade to protect your fingers 2) bend the razor blade gently over the blank holding it at an angle- left hand forward, right rearward and shave the epoxy down to the thread 3 loosen or cut end of thread then unwind it and remove guide 4) clean up excess epoxy on blank but make sure you don't cut the blank fiber - you don't have to get it all just most of it, especially the high spots 5) make sure foot (or feet) of guide are filed so they transition down to blank so thread can climb up foot as it's wound 6) position guide on blank with tape leaving filed area uncovered 7) put spool of nylon rod winding thread in cup behind thick book, open book and lay thread in pages, close book on thread (add weight to book to get adequate tension) when wrapped guide should be adjustable but snug wind thread over itself then up guide foot stopping about 5-6 thread wraps short of end, insert loop of super line, wrap over foot and super line to end, hold thread and cut, feed end of thread through loop of super line and pull super line and end of thread under wrap, trim carefully with razor 9) align guide 10) mix 2 part rodbuilding epoxy finish for 2-3 minutes, pour finish onto aluminum foil and let it spread out, once bubbles from mixing dissipate, use artist size brush to transfer epoxy to wrap, spread out but don't attempt to paint the epoxy on (dragging brush across thread introduces bubbles to finish) 11) finish is self leveling - rotate rod by hand every few minutes for half hour to hour or use grill rotisserie motor to rotate it continuously 12) biggest mistakes, wrong thread tension, not mixing epoxy well enough, not pouring out on foil to pop bubbles and keep cool, brushing or painting the epoxy Apply finish, let it self level, add where missing or thin, remove where thick, it's that simple Varnish is ok for some rods but for the load a trolling rod takes its better to use rodbuilding epoxy. Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. You tube videos from Flex Coat and Mudhole tackle on rodbuilding will provide a lot of tips and tricks. Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Plastic is a bad word when it's not up to the task. Plastic breaks down from uv light and many larger boats sit in the sun all year not covered up in garages. I know of three boats in my circle of friends that over the years have had problem with plastic part failures on the Big Jon reels. Has anyone out there experienced a Cisco failure? Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Mark, For most guys 7' on riggers, coppers, planers, and even inside divers on some boats is all you need. There will always be boat layouts where you can make the case for 8' inside divers, chute rods, thumper rods. But I've yet to fish from a boat where you honestly need more than 7' on a rigger. My own boat is pretty challenging to net fish compared to most boats, the front of my twin outboards hang on a bracket 32" behind the transom, and I can bring fish to a long handle net with 7' rods with no real extra effort. It's different, but not difficult. Shorter diver rods will require a change in habit to run longer leaders pulling attractors. But you know, having built and fished diver rods of all actions, powers, and lengths, I'll take a shorter rod and rig the diver to trip and slide or if on a friend's boat, I'll hand line the last couple feet vs the 10-10'6" rods any day. Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

If your having a difficult time believing a short rod can land big salmon easier than a long rod, watch how easily this guy lands a 250lb tuna on a rod that is just 5'5" in length. Note where he's holding the rod with his hands, it's in the middle of the rod! That means he's fighting and landing that fish with about 33" of rod in front of the handle... We have more trouble landing a 30lb king on a 10' dipsy rod than that guy landing a 250lb tuna on a 5'5" rod. It's simple physics, a fishing rod is a lever. The point which we hold that lever in our hand is the axis upon which the lever rotates. Reducing the length of the fish's end of the lever and lengthening the fisherman's end of the lever puts the fisherman in control over the fish. It's that simple. All you need is a rod long enough to clear your gear, anything longer is counterproductive. For most boats rigged for Great Lakes trolling that's about 7'.

Before you pull the trigger on the Big Jon reels (which are good) take a close look at Cisco's reels. Their a bit more but they're also the best in my opinion. Top quality materials, design, and durability and the motor can haul in a set of Amish Outfitter boards like they were yellow birds.

Question, is the 2" worth the extra money? Answer, I wish my 12" unit had 3 more inches (and my 8" unit had 7 more inches)... The original poster only mentions fishfinder, not a multi function GPS/fishfinder/radar display type unit so sticking to the question as presented, the latest technology in fishfinders are units that use CHIRP technology. Last year when they first started to appear on the market, I recall the Raytheon Dragonfly received good reviews and so did the Garmin units (I can't recall the model numbers offhand). Im sure you have more options today.

That sounds like it would make a great flea brush. Now combine that with your deck washdown pump and it should work even better. I always stretch the line tight laid across the top of the transom and use the high pressure water to blow the fleas off the line. If you have a strong pump and a quality nozzle that provides a really concentrated stream of water, i find that about 90% come off the line really easy. I follow up with a toothbrush to dislodge the remaining fleas, but I bet the Velcro brush board idea sounds like it would make short work of the few remaining fleas that seem to hold on for dear life.

That's a rescue door option available from Penn Yan for boats purchased by government agencies (coast guard, sheriff, fire companies, etc.) The original purchaser probably had the boat special ordered that way to serve as a dive boat or possibly as someone else suggested for wheelchair access, though it looks a little narrow for that purpose to me unless it was for a child. As a rescue door, the door on the side is designed to make it easy for people to be pulled from the water. The body weight of two to three rescuers inside the boat positioned at the door will lean the boat just enough to dip the bottom of the door into the water making it easy to pull a person in distress from the water. In a rescue situation where a person might be incapacitated, the boat might have to be maneuvered under power to bring the door to the person. In this scenario, if the door was in the transom, the rescuers would be operating the propeller in very close proximity to the person in distress without a direct line of sight to the person in the water. As you can imagine, not having a direct line of sight could be deadly. By having the door in the side, the driver has a direct line of sight and the prop is much further from the person providing a greater degree of safety for everyone involved. Transom doors are for fishing or loading swimmers who can climb aboard on their own without the assistance of others. Climbing aboard over the transom doesn't cause the boat to lean to the side an appreciable amount so the boarding process is more stable.

It allowed my dad to land some fish for a couple extra years. Near the end of our fishing time together, his arthritis was quite debilitating and his balance kept him tied to a seat and out of the back of the boat, so he pretty much took over the role of supervisor and chief prognosticator as we fished with friends. For me, it was sort of like one of those credit card commercials where the electric reel was the third purchase providing the priceless memorable experience. I've since retired the reel to my shelf of mementos. Maybe some day I'll need it and bring it out of retirement.

I have no experience with the device discussed above in this thread, but I do have some experience with electric reels. When my father was aging and began to havie difficulty landing fish, I did some research on electric reels and at that time (about 10 years ago) the consensus among regular users of electric reels was that the reel-add-on devices were a pita to use, unreliable, and lacked the necessary capacity to adequately perform their intended job when used for trolling. Just about everyone warned that purchasing such a device was a waste of money, so I took their advice and got my dad a frequently recommended Miya Epoch electric reel. Here's my thoughts on using an electric reel for trolling based on observing my father use that Miya Epoch for a few years: You can't ignore the laws of physics or abandon common sense - Electric reels, sized for our fishery, are not designed to be, nor will they function as, continuous duty winches. You can't just mount them to a rod and press a button and winch in a 30lb salmon. You still have to set the drag the same way as a regular reel. You don't need a special heavy-duty rod, and you don't have to use 80 or 100lb test line as suggested in a post above (you're still using just 3-4 lbs of drag). That person is describing how heavy-duty gear is used for offshore predator fish, not great lakes trolling for salmon. When fighting a fish with an electric reel, you use the electric reel at the same time you would turn the crank of a conventional reel. Once the fish stops running and you start to pump the rod, you press the button as you lower the rod tip and recover a few feet of line. When the line becomes tight again, you release the power button and lift up on the rod again. If you keep the motor running full time as you pump the rod two things happen. 1) The motors get hot and you will burn the motors up prematurely (this is not covered under the mfg warranty) and/or 2) you will wear the drags out prematurely (this also is not covered under the warranty). If you fish with an overly heavy drag your more likely to burn the motor, and if you fish with an overly loose drag you're more likely to burn the drags washers. There is an acceptable range of drag tension each particular reel is designed to work at and you must match this drag setting range to what you would normally set your reels at. As to using the reel to clear a line this will work as long as the rig your trolling could be recovered by a conventional reel and normal drag setting by a person simply turning the handle of the reel. If it's a heavier rig and would normally require a person to pump the rod and recover the line on the rod tip drop, you can't simply press the button on an electric reel and expect it to recover the line. If you tighten the drag and try to use it like a winch, in time you'll overheat the motor and burn it up. If you have deep pockets then have at it, but most of us don't. Again, you can't avoid the laws of physics or common sense. A rod with an electric reel with the drag set to slip at three pounds of pull must be worked in the same way as a conventional reel with it's drag set to slip at three pounds of pull. You only press the button at the same time you would turn the handle. i don't know anyone (with the exception of a first timer) who madly cranks a reel handle continuously until a 30lb salmon is netted. You can't use the electric reel like that either.

I think there's probably a case to be made for high activity over straight body floaters at this time of the year because the salmon aren't really feeding anymore. Body baits with a lot of action tend to trigger aggression strikes. If you have a variety of lures styles and sizes try a mix of the higher activity ones first. If things are slow or there's a lot of boat traffic that has turned the fish to neutral or negative mood, then experiment with some less aggressive floaters. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Yes they'll work. Here's a non-traditional method that'll also work with deep divers when the fish are right at the surface porpoising at the pier heads . Try placing a float (like a large bobber) a rods length (7-9 feet) in front of that deep diver to keep the lure close to the surface and deploy it to the side with an inline planer and run it in the shallows like 5-10' of water along the shoreline. You'll get some pretty good action this way. A long line down the chute with the same bobber will also keep the lure at the surface. When I go out alone after work and the daytime boats have gone in, I'll usually run 2 inline planer rods and a chute rod right along the beach and pier heads pulling Ping-A-T lures. I'll run that inside planer just outside where the guys are casting on the piers and get a lot of hookups.

In better quality rods there's very little difference between 1 and 2 piece rods. Modern ferrule technology has come a long way. If you blindfolded yourself and had someone hand you identical one and two piece rods, you probably couldn't tell the distance by casting the rod. From a technical point of view with all other factors being equal, a one piece rod will be lighter than a two piece rod. Rod weight is a factor in determining how quickly a rod returns to a static state after being flexed (during a cast or even when a fish nibbles a bait and tugs the fishing line). The quicker this process of returning to a stable state occurs, the more sensitive a rod feels in the hand. By eliminating the extra weight of a ferrule, the rod is able to return to a state of equilibrium quicker giving the angler a sense of increased sensitivity. But like I wrote above, can the average person tell the difference? Not really, the difference is just too small. As to action, a ferrule may or may not alter the action of a blank. It depends on what the action of the blank is and the number of ferrules the rod has (a four piece travel rod will have three ferrules for instance). On a fast action blank (bend in upper third of the rod) and a center ferrule, the ferrule will be in the straighter section of the rod and will have a negligible effect on how the upper third bends. Conversely, on a slow action fly rod (bend in the upper two-thirds of the rod) a center ferrule will be a stiff point in a section of the rod where the blank is bending. This will change the bend of the rod, but is that bend a problem? It could be, but for most of us it isn't. With modern ferrules, the added weight is low, the effect to rod bend or action is minimal, and the sensitivity is negligibly reduced. While I'd be spit-balling here, I'd put the "performance" loss of a modern two piece rod vs an identical 1 piece rod at 2-4% on a typical rod. For most of us that is not a meaningful significance. Other factors like storage in the boat or car would be greater concerns.

It's such a frustrating topic. Back when I was President of LOTSA and one of NY's reps to the Great Lakes Sportfishing Counsel, I traveled extensively and lobbied to establish both rules and empowerment to enforce them, yet here we are some 30-35 years later and still can't seem to get anything meaningful accomplished. The last time we were able to get all the key interests on the same page, we banned commercial gill nets in NY waters of lake Erie laying the foundation for the fishery we enjoy today. Unfortunately without a grassroots effort no meaningful change will come to fruition.