stinger

Well if you already have the bracket then use it and sinch up the kicker for the road.

I had one for awhile for my merc. 9.9. It works in a pinch but if you trailor you'll have to support the engine or it may not be there when you get home. I used a rachet strap to sure it up for the road trip. If you already have power trim on the kicker I would look into a fixed mount and play it safe.

I don't run copper ( at least not yet) but would like to know when another boat is. I've had my dipsey cut off by a guys rigger cable and know what it's like to loose some stuff I think a flag for copper is a good thing now that it is getting pretty popular. Quality Time starts deploying his copper while launching his boat so I'll always keep clear of him. Not sure about the rest of you.

Hi Kyle,............I fished a little farther north of you on the east side. Like you, the lakers were cooperating but couldn't get anything going in the upper water table . Nothing on plugs and one spoon fish off the rigger @ 50', ...everything else was dogger/fly, 240' on the dipsey and a couple @ 80' on the rigger. Surface temps were 43 deg.

All you have to do is put a common screw driver into the line guide pawl and spread the guide apart until the knot slides through. I had to do that with one of my 47's so a swivel could pass through.

I have 8 - 47's & 27's (20+ years). My clicker is always on so I usually have to replace one or two a season. The first time I had to replace a spring I ordered several so I didn't have to worry about a reel being down and waiting for springs. The were cheap enough to have spares. The spring change isn't a big deal at all. Google "Mike's Reel Repair " and check out the parts break down for your reels if you don't have one. There is also a toll free number if you want to talk to a person and see what other standby parts would be good to have.

Jack,......Mineral Spirits will cut pencil marks.

Those were caught in April (`05) and were typical 18"-20" Cayuga Lake fish at the time. Quality has improved since as many of you know. I took that picture in 2005 and have posted it a few times. ID'ing brown's & LL's seems to come up every year and a picture explains the difference a lot better when it's in front of you. Seems that once the fish get 21"+ they are a lot easier to distinguish.

... scroll down the page on this link to watch the video for a bolt on skeg> http://www.marinetechproducts.com/pages/Safe-Skeg/

Did my first trip Saturday out of Long Point. Was able to catch a few of those lakers you & 1dog' missed. It was a good day and my arms are't sore and no black & blue marks in my gut either.

The wonders of using copper: ....and you can look like this too after fishing with Ben a couple times.

You picked a nice day to be out there. The weather forcast was off a bit and in our favor. I was fishing the same area as you. Couldn't get anything going in the upper water column and my spoon program was flat. Ended up with a dozen lakers. All but one was down 240' on the wire dipsey or 70' on the rigger using the same color combos as you with a dogger & fly.

....wonder what would be said if something like that happened during a fishing tournament

looks like they updated their website. Try this link...> http://www.furunousa.com/Learning%20Cen ... ide-LR.pdf ...calculator http://www.furunousa.com/LearningCenter ... lator.aspx

Skaneateles Lake

I wanna go but I can't...... Next best thing is to read everyone's report.

Spike I have the Sportpilot hooked up to my main and my kicker is connected with a connector rod http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boating/ ... t104602680 . Throttle is controlled with a TrollMaster. It is not necessary for the AP to control the kicker throttle especially if you already have a Control King.

I'd say first try " Grease Lighting ". http://www.amazon.com/Greased-Lightning ... 679&sr=8-1 If that doesn't get it then this will for sure. http://www.amazon.com/Bar-Keepers-Frien ... 877&sr=8-1 I use Bar Keepers friend on my boat to clean the scum/oil line off the hull. No rubbing needed. Just sprinkle some on a wet sponge and wipe it on. Let stand a few minutes (don't let it dry ) and wipe again and rinse. Stain & mineral deposits gone. That easy. No elbow grease needed. Both of these products are available in grocery stores, Lowes, WalMart, etc.

Thanks for the heads up. This is what wikipedia has on that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Marine.

Thanks Copper'. Looks like the lake is about 5' lower than it's normal summer levels. You think that there will be a "No Wake " restriction this spring?

Thanks Billy. I had my finger on the keyboard several time but was hesitant to start a post about being able to launch boats by the end of March. If all goes according to the graph Cayuga should be up another 2 1/2 feet by April 1st. I'll feel better when I start seeing fish reports and launch conditions on Cayuga again.

The smaller Mercury 4 strokes are Nissan/Tohatsu engines with black paint. They are great engines and you won't go wrong regardless of the name and paint job on it, be it blue, silver or black. I've had the Merc 9.9 on my 19' glass-hard top for 6 years now without any problems. Trolls 6-7 hours on a couple gallons of gas. I've changed plugs a couple times and change the oil every 80 - 100 hours.

I also have Lenco electric tabs and am satisfied with their performance. The main switch ( #1235C - Indicator sw w/self retract) went bad after a year (3 year warranty) and Lenco sent me a replacement at no cost in less than a week. Space & adding more weight aft was an issue in my 19' er. What helped me make up my mind was when I was at a boat show in Richmond, VA 5 years ago I saw that the Lenco's were standard with some of the bigger boats ( 25' to 35' ), so I figured if they were good enough for those boats then they should be OK on mine and they are. Installation was pretty straight forwards and replacing parts once installed will be no more work than a couple screws and unplugging a connector. Good luck with your decision. Either way you'll be glad you added trim tabs.