jigstick

Before I'm yelled yes...yes I did see the current leadcore thread going on. 

I have the basic understanding down of how leadcore works. 

I'm looking to run either 5 or 7 color leadcore.  My problem with my current wire dipsys and downrigger setup is getting my spread to run shallow during the early season, while maintaining space between the 6 rods.

So I'm looking to run stick baits and spoons off the leadcore about 25-30ft down.  I think 5 or 7 color is correct? 

My main question is...will running 5-7 color leadcore sink the OffShore and Church INLINE planer boards that I currently use with deep diving REEF Runners.

With either of these Garmin units, would I notice a significant improvement in marking ability compared to my Raymarine A60 + Airmar P58 setup?  My current setup marks fantastic on Lake Chautauqua when I'm going after musky.  But it seems like its performance craps out when I get onto Erie or Ontario in deeper water

I'm looking to replace my old Raynarine A60 chart plotter and sonar with some new technology. But I don't need all the bells and whistles. All I need is a big screen, GPS / sonar combo, that is NMEA compatible so I can sync with my Raynarine autopilot.

The choices now are stacked to the gills with Bluetooth, sidescan, down imagining, etc. I don't need that crap.

I troll exclusively. Would like to stick with either Simrad, Raymarine, or Garmin.

Any ideas for a simple unit?

I'm just past the bell tower now. Marking fish 5ft from bottom in 30fow. Trolling 3.2mph. Can't get a rod to fire

Anybody fishing Chautauqua today? I'll be on the water in an hour on the northern basin

I'm looking to go out of Wilson. But have no clue how the fishing has been. I'll probably start at the bar and work my way east

Are you on the water now? PM sent

Was out trolling today between Prendergast launch and Bell Tower. Marked a ton of fish. 25-35fow. Most big hooks located within 10ft of bottom. Only trolled for 1.5hr. Nothing fired. Going out again tomorrow.

Where is that belt located? Back by the engine by the power assist cylinder? I have a merc I/o with power assisted rack and pinion steering.

How long ago did u send it

Send it in where? My research is telling me that Raymarine no longer services the unit. I can't even find parts for it.

Apparently ray marine customer service has been absolutely terrible lately. Especially in regards to these auto pilot units. But I guess it's worth a try. Where they helping you with this particular drive unit?

I really think it's inside the autopilot. I let the boat sit over night. And when I went back in the morning it was easier to turn manually. ??? Do you think it will recover? And I shouldn't run it for extended periods like that in the future? Can I order a new clutch somewhere?

Can u describe the clutches to me? Are they metal? Can I fabricate them myself? I'm a machinist and have a lot of equipment at my disposal. I'm not sure if ray marine is still servicing these units

Ive had the new Evolution 200 Sportpilot installed on my boat for 2 years now, and it has worked awesome.  This past weekend I was out salmon trolling from Olcott all day long, about 12-15hrs of trolling.  Towards the end of the day I noticed that the steering wheel was getting difficult to turn manually when the autopilot was disengaged.  Anybody else with this unit ever hear of this?  The autopilot itself had no problems turning the boat.  It was only when I manually tried to turn the wheel that it got stiff.

I tried curing a few table spoons with the 3-2-1 mix of 20 MuleTeam Borax, sugar, and non-iodized salt. I threw the eggs in a zip lock bag and sprinkled in the cure mix. It seemed to pull a ton of moisture out of the eggs and almost made a soup. I let it sit like that for an hour or so Nd then dumped them into a paper towel to dry off. Then put them in a jar. Was I supposed to leave them in all that juice?

I like the Scotty Power Grips. They are just soooo easy to use. Uncomplicated design with minimal parts that could come loose or break. I use Scotty releases and stackers. I can have my rod tips almost digging in the water without them popping if I want. Really lets me see lite hitting walleye bites. I never get a fish on without seeing the bite.

I made sure not to grab the snell when removing the hooks. You could clearly see the snell unravelling while the treble was still stuck in the fish. On 2 occasions as soon as I removed the leading single red hook the fly came out of the fish. Leaving the treble still stuck in the jaw. It shouldn't be doing that.

Anybody use a Borax - Sugar - Salt dry cure to do this?  Specifically so I can use the eggs to tie egg sacs for stream fishing steelhead. 

Question for you guys.  I was using some Atomik flies this weekend out of Olcott.  3/4 had their snelled treble hooks come undone after being hit by shakers.  Is this normal?  I had to tie their trebbles back on so that I could keep fishing because they were the only flies I had on the boat.  I made sure that I wasnt grabbing the knots when unhooking the fish.  The snells just came completely undone. 

On a side note.  The one that stayed intact landed the biggest fish of the day.  But I cant find it listed on the Atomik website.  It kind of looked like a plain mirage fly, but with light purple beads on it.  Anybody know what model this is?

We fished Saturday as well. 300-550fow. Marked a ton between 340-410. Nice big marks all stacked up. Caught over 20 fish. Lots of shakers. A few decent steelies. Landed three 12# kings and one 20.5# king. Most came on FF. riggers and dipsys. Watermelon spoon took 2 bigger kings. Darker colors didn't produce for us. Mostly bright stuff. Watermelon spoon. purple mirage fly. MTN dew SD. Out of Olcott.

I will check when I get to the boat

What is "borax o fire"? I have some 20 MuleTeam borax here. I'm located in Pittsburgh, and my local Ganders and Field and Streams don't have a good selection of curing products. Can I order something online? How long do I have to get these cured before they go bad in my fridge?

one side I left in skein. The other side I scraped the eggs off the skein with a spoon. Both are in a bowl in my fridge at the moment

They do still make the sport pilot. It's just renamed.