Woody,
Follow the water line backwards from the outside of the motor. Some outboards have a 90 degree angled piece that the output hose connects too. Like Freeman 77 said, it can get clogged by spiders and bugs. I had a brand new Johnson on my last boat and had the problem. I took the line and cleaned it out and the difference was night and day. The clog can be in the line or the 90 degree angle piece.
Adjust the lines from the front to back. Make the front line slightly shorter and they will run better at slow speeds. They will pull a lot harder but will track a little better.
1. I would not run braid because my lures will dive too deep. I like to tuck in as shallow as possible at times trolling browns. Braid lets your lures dive deeper because of line diameter.
2. Floro leaders help significantly if the water is clear. If the water is stained, it will not be much of an issue.
Line counters just make things easy. Take the reel, pull line off the reel until the line guide goes all the way across the reel. Measure the line that came off the reel in that "pass". Let out the proper amount of passes to achieve the distance you want your lure out. For Divers, you want a Medium heavy rod. If they are medium or medium light, they are a little on the light side unless you are using smaller divers. I used to fish the lake as a teen out of a 14' smokercraft. You had to really pick and choose your days. You can do it. There is not reason wny you can't add riggers to the boat. I had small cannons on my old 14' boat. They worked great.
I run mine on the main line. I have tried hooking them to the ball but currents can make a real mess that way. I also found without the resistance of the bells, the lakers come up way too fast and are even harder to revive/burp.
My speed range differs a little. .08 to 1.8. 1.3 is the sweet spot. Bottom contact is a must once and a while. Follow the what Mickey Finn says about dropping the ball. He is dead on. When you turn, make sure you raise the inside rigger on the turn up a couple feet or it will sit on the bottom and the lure will collect muscles.
11am - 2 can be really good. Most days, thats when we fish them. I run one set of bells 5' off the ball and the other 20'. My leads on peanuts or spin-n-glows is 32-36"
The only time you run into problems putting out your wires first is if you deploy the copper too fast. Set the copper rod and let it "settle" before putting it on the board. Another tip, Do not turn sharp or your copper will find the high dipsy. Don't ask me how I know that one.
Codie,
Ditch the Luhr Jensons and buy some Hammerheads. I used to use the Luhr Jensens and there was a ton of drag with them. For Hammerheads, I use Crystalina, Mountain Dew, All Silver, and Gold and silver.