mudflat

Short answer: IMO - Yes Longer Answer : Comparing apples to apples : For your riggers, if you get a basic depth/temp/speed kit from Smart Troll it's about the same $ as a Fish Hawk X-4D. Add another $50 for a tablet if you don't already have one. This would get you the same information with either system. Both systems are good and both companies stand behind their product with excellent customer support. With a Smart Troll you can then add more probes for your divers to gain depth/temp info from them but the extra probes add to the $ and can make the Smart Troll appear too expensive if you get the whole package. You don't have to buy all the probes at once but can add them as $ allows.

I have a Smart Troll on an I/O with a kicker motor mounted on the port side, the Smart Troll transducer is mounted on the starboard side. Works best when I am running just the kicker, I do notice some interference and jumpy readings from the port side when I am running the main motor in rougher conditions but the readings are still usable. I'm using a 8" Fire tablet ($49 from amazon) mounted up front in the cabin and I can still read it from the back of my boat , a 25' Penn Yan. Last week I was running 3 probes - Starboard side: Wire diver out 440' - down 142', and a 500' copper off the side on a board - down 112' Port side: Wire diver out 360' - down 123' Conditions were fairly calm -(1 footers) and the readings were stable most of the time but they would fade out once in awhile and come back. Not too bad since Smart Troll only claims a 300' range When I was trolling on the inside (80-120'), trying to get the stagers laying on the bottom to bite, I was able to keep my divers right near the bottom because I knew exactly how deep they were running. This is probably the biggest advantage of the Smart Troll because I found out my divers aren't always where you think they are. I also found that having the temp from several depths at the same time was also a big help keeping everything in the range. The biggest con is $ and getting over the idea of hooking a probe onto 30# wire line and thinking about losing it. Most of us sweat running a probe off a rigger and have felt the pain when ***t happens. I almost lost 2 Smart Troll probes at the same time when low voltage caused my auto pilot to make a crazy Ivan turn in 3 footers and by the time I got the boat straightened out both my wires had been cut off by the kicker. Fortunately I had a copper down the chute and both wires had tangled with it before they got cut off so I recovered everything. Only time in my life I was happy to have my wires and copper tangled up. When I think about it, over the years I have lost more rigger weights than I have lost divers because of break offs. Most of time it's the leader on a diver that breaks off unless you have a bad kink in the cable. As it all worked out I made it thru the year without losing any probes. The only other negative I can think of is that sometimes having too much info to keep track of can cause confusion. There are times when I want to shut everything off and just fish like we used to.

Nick, I was out earlier this week and couldn't get anything on the inside to go, I think they were all taking a bath in the warm water Had a good bite out in 300-400', down 100+

Sure, I can see it now Theresa, honey, rather than going thru all the trouble to upgrade and install a new Fish Hawk it would be a lot easier to buy a new boat with one already installed

Here's an old post showing how your divers are running further away than they appear Tim Bromund 3,667 posts Location Colden, New York Home Port Olcott, NY Boat Name FishStyx Posted June 24, 2011 · Report post · Divers are farther away from the boat than they appear. There is a belly in the line that makes it look like they are almost straight behind the boat, but back a little ways it flares out and the the diver is actually quite a bit further to the side than you might think. it looks something like this: Tim Quote Hide Tim Bromund's signature Hide all signatures Back in the Game Salad is what FOOD Eats !! Quote this

You should have no problems, I launched a 26' there last week

Oswego rates: http://www.oswegony.org/government/waterfront Sodus - Arneys http://www.arneysmarina.com/dockage/

A trolling plate is likely making the problem worse since you are decreasing the effective thrust from the prop. Adding a prop guard to concentrate the thrust may be counter productive with a trolling plate? You could leave your trolling plate "up" and try a couple trolling bags to slow you down while trolling. They might solve both issues for you while trolling . I'm planning to be at Arney's this week Thursday afternoon - Saturday and can let you borrow a pair to try. If interested send me a pm.

Another option to look at is called a "Wander Fin" http://wanderfin.com/Wander-Fin_c2.htm I have one on my PY and it does seem to help

There are three launches that I think are all open now: 1- Mexico state launch at the mouth of the Little Salmon River 2- Pine Grove state launch on the Salmon River estuary 3- Light house launch in Selkirk at the mouth of the Salmon River I would go to Mexico now that it's open again

According to Fish Hawk the X4D will work with the same transducer as the 840 or the X4 Should be plug and play Fish Hawk X4D now with Bluetooth Smart wireless technology! NEW FOR 2015 - You'll get trolling speed and water temp at the lure, the true running depth of your downrigger weight, and surface temperature and speed - all key information for succesful trolling. The Fish Hawk X4D uses Bluetooth Smart wireless technology to send data to your mobile device and the free Fish Hawk Mobile App turns your smartphone or tablet into an extra display anywhere in the boat. The App's Catch Log feature lets you quickly record the species, size, GPS coordinates, time, probe data, and lure notes everytime you catch a fish. The app also lets you quickly and easily share Catch Log information with fishing bubbies in other boats via text or email. This complete system includes: the X4D Trolling Probe with protective bumper, LCD screen with mounting gimbal, transom mount transducer with bracket and hardware, 12-volt power cable,foul weather cover and breakaway cannonball safety cable. Patent Pending. Wireless digital data transmission guaranteed to 300-feet Magnum digit LCD can be seen from anywhere in the boat Easy to use with any downrigger Displays surface temp, surface speed, probe depth, probe temp, and probe speed Works with any downrigger cable including superbraids, coated cable not needed! Water pressure sensor provides true depth of downrigger weight Works with the same transducer used by the X4 and 840 Operates at unique frequency of 70KHz Units of measure: Fahrenheit/Celsius; feet/meters; MPH/KPH/KNOTS Sealed probe electronics, totally leak-proof Water activated probe, auto-on and auto-off 100+ hour life on 4 AA batteries Cannonball breakaway safety cable included Adjustable red backlit screen eliminates night-blindness Backed by the Fish Hawk Catch More Fish Guarantee Sammy I'm headed up tomorrow morning - maybe I'll see you at Arney's

Since your divers have a steeper dive curve and will run deeper than a your copper a copper run inside of your divers will tangle with the wire every time the diver trips and comes up towards the center. Standard rule of thumb is with lines off the side to always run your deepest lines closest to the boat. You can run a copper down the chute, straight off the back, as long as you get it out of the way when you bring in any other line. The key to launching a copper on a board over top of your divers is to keep the boat running straight, deploy the copper slowly down the chute and let the copper stabilize straight behind your boat before hooking it to your board. Since copper's dive curve isn't as steep as your divers' it should pass over top with no problems....unless you have some strange currents, the diver trips, you change speed or turn the boat

At least it's not going up: http://w3.lre.usace.army.mil/hh/GreatLakesWaterLevels/GLWL-CurrentMonth-Feet.pdf They've been releasing 10200 cubic meters/second, almost 2.7 million gallons/second, since 5/24 and it's still not dropping. http://ijc.org/en_/islrbc/Lake_Ontario_Outflow_Changes

The only problem with the Scotty snubbers is the odd snap they use on them won't work with my weights, the rubber holds up fine. Big John's have a regular snap swivel on them

A-TOM-MIK is now selling cut herring: http://atommik.com/a-tom-mik-cut-herring/ Great Lake Tackle has it also: http://cart.gltsupplies.com/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=29827

Angler's Avenue has it, even sells it all set up on pre-spooled reels or you could order direct from Torpedo Divers http://www.anglersavenueproshop.com/weighted-steel/

I have a T9.9 on a Penn Yan 255 Intruder and it does the job in most conditions. As long as you get a "Hi thrust" motor I don't think it would make much difference if it is 9.9 or 15 hp. I would suggest going with a extra long (25") shaft to keep the prop in the water, a long shaft (20") will work but will probably ventilate once in awhile when the waves pick up.

A Sealine 47 size reel will hold 280 yds of 20lb test, maybe 180 yds of 30lb A 300 yd spool of 30lb Sea Flee or 30lb Big Game fits nicely on a 57 with just enough room for a leader and 3 colors of leadcore to make a SWR From Daiwa.com website: LINE COUNTER REELS WITH COUNTER BALANCED HANDLE Model Number Action FW / SW Bearings Gear Ratio Line Per Handle Turn Wt. (oz.) Line Capacity (Lb. Test / Yards) Drag Max SG27LC3B H / L 3BB 4.2:1 24.4" 16.2 MONO: 12/450, 14/30, 20/210 BRAID: 40/300, 50/240 15.4 SG47LC3B XH / M 3BB 4.2:1 24.4" 17.5 MONO: 14/480, 20/280, 25/230 BRAID: 40/480, 50/380 15.4 LINE COUNTER REELS WITH POWER HANDLE Model Number Action FW / SW Bearings Gear Ratio Line Per Handle Turn Wt. (oz.) Line Capacity (Lb. Test / Yards) Drag Max SG57LC3B XXH / H 3BB 6.1:1 42.9" 19.6 MONO: 20/580, 25/430, 30/330 BRAID: 40/830, 50/650, 60/550 20 Like Les, I prefer the smaller size 47 reels and use them on my riggers with 20lb test until the fleas show up then I start using the 57's with 30lb. I hate fleas!