laker1

About 20 + plus years ago I attended a sold out seminar at our local concert hall in Winnipeg Manitoba. There , Charlie White from British Columbia showed us a film he had taken with a camera secured inside a water tight box next to his down rigger ball. He filmed various fish but concentrated on salmon and their reaction to his spoons. He ran his spoons clean and dipped in various attractants. One of his findings was that oily bilge water from his boat was the best attractant. I was fascinated with this revelation. And the commercial scents available at the time seemed to have no effect. Mr. White produced a VHS tape recording his experiment with his full seminar. The tape was at our local library. I also saw the tape featured on Canadian TV. Despite all this I do wash my lures in Dawn and I do use scent from time to time. But just the same this still mystifies me!

I would respectfully like to add a note of caution about the black box thing. Particularly since you are operating an aluminum boat. My dealer told me that he once saw an aluminum boat where all the rivets under water failed. The owner used a black box! I would investigate the bonding wire instead. I think that you will find that your Lund is already bonded. By the way I have a Lund too. Your issue may not have anything to do with your electrical equipment, but do check it out. Instead you may want to consider boat noise/vibration and what causes it - some boats are just quieter than others when they go thru the water. I am adding rubber using pool noodles or whatever to soak up sound and vibration. There was a recent post just before Christmas in which the writer noted that after setting his riggers upon rubber bases that his catch ratio went up. He reasoned that the rubber base prevented offsetting vibrations being transmitted thru the downrigger line. Something to consider, good luck.

Very nice, well done, good to see you catching skis while snow is falling where I am ! Where have you found Shadzillas for sale?

My boat is out of the water with the bilge and drain plugs left open for air flow with internal hatches propped open. However i also leave a pail of mothballs inside all of our boats to discourage crittters. This seems to work. I notice inside our boathouse that liberal splashes of Mr. Clean spread over areas which attract otters also works well. If I had time to think during closing I would also put a rag soaked in Mr. Clean inside another pail in my boat . I store my boat outside on shore close to an otter family. Think I will address this later this month and add another pail. My system isn't perfect because I still find the odd pine comb from squirrels in spring but thats all, touch wood ! One spring my buddy despite taking the same precautions found a racoon family inside his I O. So I guess no matter what you do , stuff happens ! Hope this helps.

Could you give us a little more detail about what happens when winding under pressure? I almost bought weed eater line last year. I assume weed eater line binds under pressure but would like to be sure. Thanks Jim

Some suggestions: Definitely bring a Rapala Super Shad Rap! perch or sucker finish with steel or heavy floro leader, great inside and outside the weeds suick style jerk bait, use with a real strong steel leader, not a cheap one which will snap small to medium rubber swim baits like a bull dawg, steel or heavy floro leader large paddle tail minnows on a heavy jig, heavy leader safety pin spinner toss in weeds at surface, retrieve & hang on Super Top Raider with heavy leader, the contra rotating blades raise a wonderful ruckus on top then hang on! An old Globe or a Pacemaker would also work well. try using google if not familiar with any of these lures. Have fun and all the best! Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Hi Chas, I originally raised the eye bolts up on my boards. However changing to a longer bolt bent up really does seem to work better, could be some sort of mechanical advantage - I don't know. The idea is not mine I found it recommended by someone else and just tried it. Great Lakes, I am interested in seeing your pictures with the bungie cord. Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

We use both the Believer and the Swim Whizz all the time in season at Lake of the Woods either casting or trolling. In spring I sometimes find these lures on the shoreline after a long winter. They are no longer stuck on the bottom. Then I just, repaint, rehook and reuse. These cranks have a unique action that always works well. Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

A suggestion I don't pull copper but I do pull large musky baits with my homemade double boards. What I found was that it helps to use long eye bolts (about one third back) on the boards I made and to bend them up vertically to increase the lift of the far board so it does not start to dig in or submarine. I also think with the bent eye bolts that there is a more direct pull with water line drag being reduced. My boards are similar to those previously shown and made out of light pine that I sealed with varnish. The pine was recycled from an old wooden drawer. Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

I have a 4 year old Honda 8hp long shaft. I like the charging system. It starts first or second pull every year and I just go fishin. Every fall I change the oils and filters and baby it as much as I can. The motor has saved my bacon a couple of times when the main power plant has failed. Both gas tanks have interchangeable gas lines. I like Yamaha too. In making a decision I would consider the local dealer network, can you get service locally and what is their reputation? We just like Hondas after using for years ALL the other engines. Hondas run and run and if serviced properly never need to be fixed because they just don't fail. We have Hondas on all of our boats. Just my thoughts. Good Luck ! Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

I have read this book many times and I thank Mr. Collin for his review. Yes Ray Johnson is not a natural writer and yes I questioned many of the same subjects noted by Mr. Collin. However I did learn about tenacity individualism and how important it is to use a long light line for as natural presentation as possible. I appreciate the reference to Mr. Johnson being on youtube, it completes my picture of him. However I am not prepared to live in a cave. Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Just replaced this summer my old Cannon electric with the new Digi Troll. The deck bolt pattern is the same, so I just replaced the old base with the new one. Hope this helps! At some point I will be selling the old rigger for parts. Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Please post the result to your inquiry . Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Hi, there is a guy known as Dan Baslore I believe who appraises lures and can be contacted thru Fishing Facts magazine. In addition if you do an internet search you will find the National Fishing lure Collector Club whose members will also help you and appraise for free. All you really need to do is send them a picture after requesting assistance. I believe Mr. Baslore is a member of this organization. You may be pleasantly surprised! Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Don't how cold your winter gets but I store my rigger and sonar inside a warm cottage to protect them both. I have been told electrical equipment does not appreciate intense cold. And of course as already stated the drags should be backed off. Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

I am a poor lake trout fisherman and I don't fish the Great Lakes. Sometimes I just can't buy a bite. And it seems to me at the start of the season your first fish is always the hardest one to catch, then its easy afterwards. Why I don't know but it may be something in their school mentality or the release of a fear scent or something. Guys go ahead and make fun of me but this is what I have found. My solution which may partially answer your question is to use cow bells followed by a minnow 2 - 3 feet with a small treble hook coming thru the anus, presented just over their heads when they are shown on your sonar to be 2-3 feet above the bottom. The minnow can 't spin so a couple of tooth picks are pushed thru the mouth to keep the body straight. I have also used a dodger followed by sucker meat but the minnow program seems to work better. They seem to always found near depth changes (breaklines) or rock - sand transitions. Usually though as the season progresses I switch over to spoons, but I only have success using the narrow canoe type of spoon which I think imitates smelt or minnows. I like silver, blue yellow and green and yellow in any combination. A yellow flutterchuk by Epinger can be really good fished shallower than you would think on a day with intermittent sun, rain and clouds - overcast etc. Line diameter seems to be a factor. Fresh 12 pound test seems to work best for me and I try to always reduce my swivels etc and to always use ball bearings. Line let back from my rigger is about 50 feet or shorter. I believe that my favourite spot has a couple of underwater springs and this is always keeps the water cold when the wind comes from the right direction. I am not trolling deep. I have been only going down 42 feet in most of my areas to again place my lure just over their heads. When trolling its usually slow 1.8 - 1.6 mph with lots of turns and sometimes I crash the bottom to wake them up. However there has been the odd time when I have sped up and caught trout, but its really rare. I have not really been successful using body baits but have not tried hard enough, preferring spoons. My largest fish have. always come on a spoon presentation sometimes presented six feet behind cowbells. A fixed slider above cowbells sometimes works very well. I have noticed that there are days when my fish have disappeared and I believe the fish in my area are heavily influenced by the wind and I believe that Lake Trout do travel near the surface at night to different areas. I have a friend who regularly catches trout on deep diving bass lures at night. There seems to be a migration of sorts from one area of my lake to a spot many miles away. There also seems to be times when they switch on and then just switch off. I have no explanation for this and don't understand it. Hope this helps and sorry to be lengthy. jim Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Alex, I have a Lund and had my dealer professionally mount a transducer board and then my transducer. I used to mount transducers directly onto aluminum boats but found myself over worrying about the hole drilling and how long the silicone would last. This worry and a blinding attack of sciatica caused me to reassess what I was doing. Now I just go fishing and don't fret about a leak or whatever. If I hit a deadhead I can easily replace , adjust or move my transducer. Four screws in and four screws out, no problem. I like using screws with Robertson heads. Good luck! Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app