Tyee II

I have a 300 and a 250 copper on Clarion 55s that are 3 yrs. old and I notice when running big inline boards on them, the drags either slip or are too tight for my liking. Having the drags too tight with big inlines set to not release will definitely rip some lips and lose some fish. My Diawas seem to have a more finite drag adjustment, IMO.

Saltist or Seagate depending on your capacity needs.

Go with Garmin. They made the first hand held GPS (which was huge, and I still own and use on my small boat) and they still lead the industry today. I also own a newer Garmin Colorado that I bought for hiking, snowmobiling, 4 wheeling, and mountain biking. Both of my handhelds have card slots for maps. I have Lake Michigan maps for both, and snowmobile maps on the newer one. Handhelds evolved into very small screen devices that are difficult to see and don't lend themselves very well as a primary GPS on a boat, but would be smart insurance as a backup. My Colorado is decent. It has a touch screen that is gimpy (which I heard they fixed in newer models), an altimeter, and an electronic compass so you can tell what direction you are facing when standing still. It also has a camera as well for taking pictures along the way. Most of them have Geocaching capabilities if you're into that kind of thing. I found mine for cheap in the bargain cave. I recommend checking there if you have a Cabelas nearby.

I like the drags better on the Diawas. The higher gear ratio on the Saltist and Seagate is nice for copper and leadcore,and even dipseys too. The Sealines are perfect for getting started on a budget.

Check into the lowrance cable steer outboard pilot. I think I remember reading that guys installed them on IO boats and they work great. My hydraulic outboard pilot works great with twin outboards even though Lowrance says it won't.

Seaquest makes a Goby pattern spoon in several colors that has been working great for shallow water fish over here on Lake Michigan.

Maybe you can get a paddlewheel ducer for your present fish locator? Or a seperate paddlewheel? I have a P66 airmar with a paddlewheel on one boat for my HDS, and a seperate paddlewheel on my small boat for the Lowrance X-85 on it. What locator are you running? I would think you already have GPS if you are fishing the Great Lakes and are specifically looking for surface speed? Speed over ground is important, but so are surface and at-depth speeds. Comparing these to your GPS speed will tell you what currents you are dealing with and help you find your sweet spot in your trolling direction and speed so most or all of your lures in your spread are running correctly. The fishhawk WILL tell you surface speed and temp without using the probe, BTW. Those readings are coming from the transducer that has a paddlewheel.

You will need to connect to the 7 pin on the head unit so I would say the blue connector is what you need. My TM150 came with the 9 pin and I had to buy an adapter to convert to 7 pin blue to get my HDS9 to recognize the ducer.

I have the same problem garryny has. Been like this a while now. I also get pop ups on here saying I won a prize...same with the GLF website.

When I had just 2 riggers years ago I used to run the deep six on wire down the chute regularly and it was very productive. If we had a big fish on another rod we would just pull that rod, and it was quick and easy to do. I did start using a stern planer this year and I love it so far. Like Hard Knox said, you can just drop it back and out of the way and your lures will stay at the same depth.

I think a diver is a good chute rod because you can clear it quickly if neccessary. I would use a big deep six diver, but a directional diver on 0 will work fine.