Mikeyman104

Went out for a couple hours this evening. Only got a 16' boat so didn't get out far but made it to 80 fow. Was marking decent amount of bait but couldn't get any takes. Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

I fished there today from about 10-2, but only got a couple of small lakers on spoons. Was out in deeper water with riggers but by the sounds of it I shoulda tried shallower. Beauty of a day to be on the water though Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Took the riggers on their first run yesterday. Launched out of Mexico point and went to about 40' of water. Setting everything up solo while trying to steer is gonna take some getting used to cause it was pretty messy looking, but we'll get there. Looked out to about 80' but nothing. Ended up finding fish and bait in front of Selkirk but couldn't buy a bite. Overall good learning experience. Today went down to owasco for an evening trip out. Launched from Emerson and trolled the east side. Had a buddy with me to made setting up easier. Ended up going 4/5 with 2 Lakers and 2 brown. Most over 100-120 fow and 30-40 down. A stinger with a copper back had 3/5 hits. Riggers are working good and looking forward to getting back out to use them again. Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Wow you guys are crushing it! Good stuff!

Well they are wired in. Used 10 ga wire and just wired right from the battery to a fuse block then to an old receptacle I found laying around. We're also in the process of having the kitchen redone so I stole a receptacle box from that and ordered a cover for it. The fuse block is just velcro'd to the side of the boat so might have to find a little better solution for that. Should be alright for now though. Used a sharpie to put a mark on the cord and the receptacle to help remember how to plug them in correctly to make sure they go the right way. Hopefully be able to give them a test run soon! Thanks all for the assistance Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Thanks Sully Any idea why or how something like that happened? The swivel bases seem pretty robust so surprised to hear that, but would definitely like to try and avoid that from happening. Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Thanks all, Ideally I should wire them with the fuse box I put in last year. To do that though I would have to run new wire from the battery to the busbar/fuse block because currently it's too small (16ga) to accommodate the riggers. Hate running wire especially on a center console, but this would probably be the safest and cleanest looking install. I was hoping to keep it simple with the plugs already on the riggers so I might just get an inline fuse, receptacle and wire right to the battery. I at least know now that I'll need some fusing in there so I appreciate the help! I'll keep ya posted on the progress and thanks again. Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Thanks all for the responses. I'm not good with electrical but I at least knew enough to not plug them into one of my garage outlets. That sucks for your buddy that he had to find out the hard way. Electrical is not my strong point so these may be dumb questions, but the big jons do have push button breaker on them. This mean I still have to add a fuse to the circuit? Would a GFCI receptacle be sufficient? Tried to find the specs on these motors and think they pull about 8 amps. PS - had a teacher back in high school tell me "there's no such thing as a dumb question, however if there were, that would certainly qualify" lol Thanks again for all the assistance with this project! Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Well got 'um mounted and they aren't the prettiest but they are on. Just got to wire them up now. Could I use just a receptacle? Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Thanks all, Ended up getting some gimbal mounts from a fellow LOU member (thanks nysrx01) and plan on using a board to span across the two. Probably a 1x6? One of my gimbal mounts is really crooked. It just be a matter of rotating it a bit to level it out or I was thinking of using a piece of wood as a wedge to go between the mount and the board. Thanks again all for the responses. Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Thanks, Ended up getting a couple big jons with swivel bases from a buddy for a good deal and they seem like they are about 3' long. In chatting with gasman and your note above, I think the gimbal mounts are the way to go. Might run a board between them for added stability. The gimbal rod holders I currently have on the boat are just held in with sheet metal screws so I'll probably replace those with some hand rivets too. Thanks all! Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Appreciate it. That was my thought too, but boy it'd make mounting them easier [emoji23] Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Anyone ever put their riggers in the middle of their boat? 16' CC and I have access to the underside of the gunwale in the middle so I'm thinking that might be easier for a backing plate Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

I know I should have figured this out before I went on my boat, but is this the safety switch (circled in red in the picture)? It doesn't have a lanyard or anything with it so I'm not sure but the picture on the actual dash seems to make think it is. Also, I picked up some Big Jon downriggers and am trying to figure out the best way to mount them. Thinking I might just have to bite the bullet and buy the gumball mounts that run about 75$ a piece. If I do go that route, would the gumball mounts themselves need additional mounting to the boat or perhaps a backing plate? Any suggestions are appreciated! Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

I got a 16' boat and follow many of the other guidelines mentioned above. 10 mph is about my limit and anything over that just beats me and the boat up a bit too much. I use Windfinder to gauge the winds and it does a pretty good job. The wave forecasts on that site are way off, but it seems pretty accurate with the wind speeds.

Thanks all for the feedback! I'm thinking I'll give it another try sometime but will be depend on the weather and all. It's funny, while I was out there jigging and marking fish I was thinking to myself I wish I had some live bait.

Not really and I tried to keep the jig in view of the finder Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Made it out but no luck for me today. Seemed to be fish around I just couldn't convince them to put a hole in their lip. Bunch of people fishing from shore on this nice day and saw one boat get what looked like a brown. All in all a good day for February in my book Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Awesome, thanks for the advice! Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Thanks, I do have a fish finder so maybe I'll see if I can find them. Would the same summer techniques work? Only tried it once but used a decent sized jig with a white swim bait