John E Powell

People are finally starting to give the 7-8' rods a try over the longer rods mfg have been promoting for the past 30+ years. For most boat layouts a good 7' rod is ideal. Remember, a fishing rod is a lever. The fisherman is on the short end of that lever and the fish is on the long end. The longer the fish's side of that lever equation is, the more effort you have to put into landing the fish which just tires you out. I did some experimenting a few years back comparing two rigger rods, a 9' rod and 7' rod. Both rods were moderate action with similar power capacity and had the same length grips. Using one reel with the drag set to slip at 3.5lb of dead weight transferred from one rod to the other I measured the amount of lift the left forearm wrist and hand the angler would have to apply to hold the rod at about a 45 degree upward angle. The longer rod required about 13lb of upward lift force from the left forearm, wrist and hand while the shorter rod only required about 9.5lb. This means the longer rod required the fisherman to use about 40% more strength to apply the same pressure to the fish as the shorter rod. That's a significant difference especially for children, women, the elderly, or people with physical limitations like arthritis.

Commedic81, Being a good observer is a lot more than knowing the rules, in fact I would say it's not the most important thing. When I observe for a team I approach the role of observer very seriously. Every decision I make in preparation for my responsibility to my team is to minimize the possibility of an unforeseen incident preventing me from arriving to my assigned boat early. I arrange accommodations near the harbor of the tournament well in advance. I contact my captain about two weeks out, then again a week or so before the tournament. I make contact again the day before I travel to the harbor, when I actually leave home, and when I arrive at the port. I show up to the captains meeting one hour before I am supposed to and send another text informing the captain I am there. I go to bed early and try to fall asleep no later than 8:30 PM. I NEVER go out drinking or partying the night before, I spend this time rechecking my personal gear for the day (food, drink, two working pens, raincoat, copy of the rules, list of every telephone number for both teams, etc...) . I get up at 3 am each day of the tournament and immediately send a text to either my or both captain(s) that I am up. After eating breakfast and rechecking my personal gear, I send another text that I have left for my assigned boat, and a third text that I have arrived at my boat or arranged meeting location. I arrive 45-60 minutes before I am supposed to be there. Because I have gotten a good full night's sleep, I am wide awake and alert throughout the day serving my role to my team in the best way I can. If my captain, at any time, has to wonder if I am going to be somewhere at a certain time, then I am a distraction to them and that is the last thing they need and I am a poor observer. The best observers are people that approach the role like a profession. Your captain should feel relief in the knowledge your part of their team, and not worry if they made a mistake in trusting you. Don't worry about being a data collector either. if your with a good captain, someone in contention to win any tournament they enter, they probably wont want to know specifics, they already know who is running what and how. Look for trends and be a student. Listen to the members of the team you're with and soak it in. If your captain comes to you and asks for info, be honest and give the trends you noticed, but remember your role is not to be a spy; if you play the spy role, you will get a bad rep among captains. The captain of the boat your on deserves the same level of respect and confidentiality as the captain who your observing for. Some captains are very willing to share info during the day, others are very secretive. If the boat your on is the more secretive, respect that. If your captain pressures you to spy for them, look for another boat in the future. Remember it's okay to be a sponge and share your observations on trends you might notice throughout the day, but don't go to your captain after the first day and tell them how to fish based on what you saw, you'll come across as a fool. After a few tournaments, if you're doing your job well you'll find some people you can work with and they'll want you back. When you start to have the captains whose boat your observing on ask you for your contact info because their impressed by how much more reliable and professional you are compared to their current observer, you'll know your doing the observer role justice. On a more personal level, be prepared for big water. If you can't handle all day in really snotty conditions, then observing is not for you; do everyone a favor and let someone else do the job. If conditions turn bad and the tourney is not cancelled, the last thing you want to do is be out there all day chumming, you're not doing your job for your team and you're an unfair distraction to the team whose boat your on.

It really comes down to liability. Are you willing to accept it? When my boat was built, Whaler rated it for 600hp. I don't think you could buy 300 hp outboards back then. Anyway, now you could buy and mount a pair of 350s. So I call Boston Whaler and ask them about it and they tell me some branches of the government power the hull with twin 350s, but they wouldn't sell me an updated 700 hp plate even though my hull is still under production through their commercial products division by special order and has the higher rated capacity. Liability is the reason of course, nobody wants to accept it. Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

In addition to the Daiwa reels, check out http://www.miyaepoch.com.au I have one of their older smaller reels. It works well to pick up line when you drop the rod tip, and can handle a salmon. I have not tried their mid size reels, which would seem to be appropriate for the various copper rigs we run. I assume the mid size reels would be more durable, powerful, and capable than my small reel. Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

There's nothing wrong with a braid diver - or a mono diver, or wire diver. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. Mono divers are great for fishing shallower depths close to the boat. The stretch of the mono helps absorb some of the shock a rampaging fish, but the stretch can make it more difficult to trip a diver from the boat. If you spool up with 30lb mono it will resist flea buildup. It's just not all that useful if the fish are below 50-60 feet deep. Mono diver reels may need to be larger to get adequate line capacity. Braid divers will go deeper than mono divers, because the small diameter of the braid has less resistance when pulled through the water, however this makes braid very susceptible to water flea buildup on the braid when the fleas are a around. There's no stretch, so when fished shallow the rod and reel drag are the only shock absorbers. Braid might be the best choice if the reels you have are on the smaller size and capacity is a problem. (For instance, some guys may have a set of walleye gear already and want to take a trip or two salmon fishing without investing in new rods and reels). Because braid is not smooth like mono, removing fleas that accumulate on the line is a PITA. If you have braid divers and the fleas are out full force, you'll probably not want to run them. Neither mono or braid require rod tip guide modification. Wire divers reach the greatest depth and have similar characteristics to braid divers with a few notable differences. Fleas don't tend to accumulate as much on wire and the ones that do clean off easily making them flea friendly. The wire tends to cut the flea's hooks that grab the line. This same cutting tendency makes wire tough on rod guides, especially the tip. If you fish more than occasionally, you will want to change the tip on the rod to either a Twili brand tip or one of the many roller tips on the market. I believe I am somewhat familiar with which shop you received your info at. I once had a discussion about custom rods at this shop and diver rods came up. Braid tends to be the recommendation at this particular shop because it's sort of the middle choice among the three choices. I can understand their viewpoint, though I don't necessarily agree with it.

Here's how to change a middle or outer inline planer board or bring it in with a small fish that doesn't drag it back behind the inside board: Before reeling in any line, drop your rod tip so the line between the rod tip and board drags in the water. After 20-30 seconds, the pressure of the water on the line will drag the board back behind the inside board. Then raise your tip just enough to lift the line out of the water and bring the middle/outside board in. It's really easy to do once you get the hang of it.

Groco C-60/C-80

This is what I would recommend, has built in GPS for simple distress position. No need to connect it to a separate GPS to get position data. http://www.standardhorizon.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=83&encProdID=8E6B84CBCC75E5A9C52CA71AA33BA6F5&DivisionID=3&isArchived=0

Yes if you have 2 of the same reels, transfer from one to the other. If both are line counters, all the better, make note of the counter readings for each segment. Just remember that the counter readings wont be accurate when the reel is partially full, you're just using them for reference. Also, keep in mind that a reading of, for example 430' when initially filling in reverse is not the same as 430' refilling normally - on subsequent reels you still need to measure out things in reverse on the counter then put them on forward afterwards. What you can do with 2 or more line counters is to take your readings on the second reel when you are in the process of transferring the backwards initial fill to the second reel. In this way, you are noting the readings on a forward fill, not the reverse fill. Does that make sense?

I use power pro 65lb braid. When I spool, I fill the reel in reverse to get the correct length of backing to fill the reel perfectly, then take it off and transfer it between spools so I can reinstall it on the reel in the correct sequence. Start with your leader to the lure (I use fluorocarbon leader material), then your copper, the a section of heavy mono where you will attach it to inline planers or big-board releases (5-10' of 40-50lb big game works well for this), then your backing until the reel is full. The last thing I do is add about 20 feet of 25lb big game on top of this. When you turn this around and reinstall it, the 25lb mono makes contact with the reel's spool (instead of the braid) and wont slide on the spool like Braid can. I always begin a braid backed reel with 20 feet of mono to prevent slipping. Connections are albright knots with the exception of Spro swivels on each end of the copper. Copper get's haywire twists to the swivels covered by clear shrink tape. The 40-50lb big game behind the copper can take a season's beating from releases and inline board attachment. If you go less than this, you may have to replace it more frequently. Don't go heavier as it's too difficult to tie small knots that will pass easily through the guides and reel's levelwind.

The size of the ones that come on the front of Spin Doctors work well. No real need to be stealthy for that connection.

Does anyone have info on a campground near Sodus? Im looking for a spot to park my RV for the Tournament weekend that is within a few miles at most of tournament central. I don't want to be further than that cause I'm getting too old and fat to ride my bike at early morning hours more than a few miles. Any suggestions?

I appreciate the $75 a day I get because it helps to offset my expenses. Sometimes if it's a local tournament, I make a little money. This past weekend I probably broke even as gas for three trips back and forth from Niagara Falls where I live to the Oak certainly adds up. Gas, meals, and traveling to Sodus from the Falls and booking a budget room for two nights costs me about $100. All in all, over the tournament season, I loose a few bucks. This is not the reason I observe. Now like the familiar credit card ads on TV say, the fishing friends I make as an observer are priceless. It's not so much what I can learn or take away from the experience (that is part of it), it's the friends I make along the way - and it always will be the main reason I observe.

This is how I run my divers also. As to the size of my divers, I make my diver size choices based on a couple of things including targeted species of fish (and the likely range of depths I will find them at) and lures being pulled. Generally speaking, I fish for kings which can be all over the middle to lower depths of the water column, so I use a mag diver on the inside set on 1 and a standard diver on the outside set on 3. If I wanted a mixed bag of fish including coho and steelhead/rainbows I'd still run the magnums on the inside, but would probably consider changing out one or more of the standard divers for a smaller one to fish the 15-25' depths. My settings would still be 1 and 3. My initial two-person six-rod setup might be 2 riggers 4 divers, 2 riggers 3 divers 1 copper/core, 2 riggers 2 divers 2 copper/core, 1 rigger 4 divers 1 copper core, or 1 rigger 3 divers 2 copper/core. If I get a third person aboard, I probably start with 2 riggers 4 divers 2 copper/core. As I mainly target kings, which can be at widely varying depths, I tend to spread my divers out a lot and run attractors off them as each diver is fairly alone in my spread. If the fish are hot for a certain depth or distance, then I might tighten them up a bit and try to form a diver proximity pattern. If it enhances the bite, I stick with it, if it doesn't I go back to spreading them out. On a given day I might have 150' on a mag wire diver and 350' on a standard wire diver at the two extremes with the other(s) in between. One last piece of advice, when setting a second diver on the same side of the boat where you already have a diver, let it out under tension slowly. Set the clicker on and back off the drag so it goes out slowly and it will slip right into place without tangling the diver already deployed. Just tighten the drag when you reach your desired depth/distance. This works for both the inside and outside divers.

Update: I have accepted commitments to observe both Saturday and Sunday so I am no longer available.

Stuff happens, and if your team is in need of a last minute replacement observer for this weekends Oak Orchard event, I'm available to help your team out. (716) 465-8218 text only before 2:30 PM.

Sure you can, leadcore on the outside board and copper on the inside board. You can work the leadcore both in and out over the copper very easily.

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Orange, hot pinks, reds, midsize and smaller usually, not the magnum sizes so much (at least for me). Toss in some gold/silver for overcast/sunny days maybe some bright prism tapes. I'm definitely old school, so for me it's sutton 44, alpena diamonds, andy reekers, original Joe Rieffer pirate 44s, eppinger flutter spoons. One of the younger guys can chime in on the new school stuff... My stuff has seen so much action over the years it's all been resprayed multiple times with fluorescent paints. If you have some favorite spoon brands with colors that have fallen out of your favor, I'd do the same, re-paint them and save a lot of cash compared to buying new stuff. Bargain bin spoons in poor colors make great repaint candidates too. You really can't go wrong with repainting in fluorescent orange/pink/red where steelhead/rainbows are concerned.

In the past I've fished 10 dodgers and squids on 5 riggers and 5 rods... you haven't lived until you land a pair of 28lb kings in the same net on the same rod... I kid you not.