jekyll

I suspect that many of the anglers that bought the Obama spoon without giving it much thought will end up throwing it out in about 3 years. They are finding the change a bit too much for them.

You can do that, just don't use a snap swivel at the plug. Is your leader tied to the main line or do you connect with a small swivel? J-plugs don't seem to roll but put a laker on the end and they will spin and twist like a figure skater. They can bunge up a line all by themself.

I have a love/hate relationship with scales; well, mostly hate. Last season, I sent 2 scales to Davy Jones' locker because they proved unreliable or difficult to use. One was a Rapala and the other may have been a Berkley. I have a different style Berkly this season that is still an air breather, so far..... Seems the scales are always light. Fish seem to loose about 10% of thier body wieght on the scales. That never seems to happen when I step on the scales.

Andy: Always TIE an 18 to 24 inch leader to the eye on the hook cord. NEVER connect a snap swivel to the eye on the hook cord. The plug can slide up and jam/break the swivel when fighting a fish.

C&E for salmon and browns C&R for stealhead and lakers C&K for lamprey C, curse &R for sheepshead On the fall rivers, I keep a limit of salmon which works out to about 15% of what I catch. I have no shortage of friends looking for salmon to eat. The reports I get back range from "that was great fish" to "that was the best salmon I have ever eaten". It doesn't seem to matter whether the fish is a silver spring king or a dark spawner, people love them.

Comes with 150#

My experience suggests that slide divers don't move as far to the side as do regular dipsies. I may be wrong but, that's my experience. I tried several times last season to deploy a high slide diver outside of a wire dipsy set on 1.5. The result was less that satiafying (unless I intended to play twister.) Instant FUBAR. Inside of the wire may work OK. I may try this myself on a boring day when I need something to keep my hands occupied. Let us know how it works.

It seems a good place and time to mention that the FF shows how far the balls are from the transducer, not how deep they are. Just a reminder. This all makes my head hurt. Run them out till you plow, catch a laker and take notes. I'm hard on my balls.

Fishusa.com may give you a combo deal on that mix if you call them.

I didn't see much use in running the Obama spoon. Red is the first color to wash out with depth.

Chowder, you've fished my boat. I run a 13# pancake on my port boom rigger with a Blacks release or rubber bands in the Blacks. This is because the tail of the pancake is slightly bent to track the ball out to the side. If you attach to the tail, you loose the flying ball advantage. My center rigger is a 10# pancake which I use with a Scotty Power Grip. This one has a straight fin and I use the Scotty so it will act like a kite tail and keep that ball running straight. The Scotty is attached to the fin. If the tension adjustment doesn't help, try using rubber bands. Rubber bands will stick in the Scotty like glue. Also, if you run them at high tension, don't fully bury the line. Try seating the line to different depths using the high tension setting until you get the right setting. If set on the light side, fleas will pull it free when they accumulate. My Starboard, probe rigger has a 15 # shark with a Walker Klincher Release. I stqarted using rubber bands in the Walker as well when I'm after browns or expect shakers. My balls only tangled once when I first ran the port boom pancake but, the bend fixed that and I've not had any difficulties in any situations.

I use 30# Power Pro or Fireline with 30 yards of 30# Big Game to the final leader. My final leader is 6-8 feet of flourcarbon after the bead and swivel (poundage is based upon the species for which I'm trolling). You want to use a regular dipsy rod for this, not a down rigger rod. I use the large ring and heavy weight and I get much deeper than with #1 dipsies on wire when using the same settings. I seem to be getting 15 feet deeper with the slide divers rigged this way when running similar settings and set back (300 feet out). Chowder's choice of 65# PP may reduce the fleas but, the 30# will go deeper and is plenty strong. The mono provides sufficient stretch so no snubber is needed.

Another point wih the rig mentioned which I should have added to my fisrt response: 4. A 47 reel won't hold enough 30# Big Game to run a diver deep. Once you run a dipsy out to 300 or 375, even a mid size king will be able to spool you. Even a foul hooked 12 pounder will strip you clean. Go with PP or Fireline. I use 30# Fireline on my braid divers and have had good luck. Braid does collect more fleas than wire but they are easier to remove from braid than from mono. Remember, that deep with a dipsy is 100 feet. So if you are fishing in water of at least 100 feet, you will want to be able to go deep.

Go shallow with em. You might not like the results if trying to dive deep. Last week off Oswego, the therocline was steady at 100. I don't think you could have fished this with big game on dipsies (I may be wrong). Several issues when diving deep: 1. You will have significantly more line drag than with PP or wire and thus, less depth. 2. Line stretch will significantly hinder your ability to trip the release. A lightly set release to compensate will result in many more false releases. 3. Line stretch may prevent fish from tripping the dipsy. You really want to PO your wife? Let her fight a king with an untripped #1 dipsy (and don't back off on the speed). Another option is to spool up a PP slide diver with 30 yards of big game for the leader. It makes for a workable compromise and can function as a deep, silent, tail gunner.

Andy: Like Ray sez, clean out the dung. Wait, I meant to agree with the material. Switch to regular mono for that section. Make it as long as you can handle (net a fish without diving in after it). I've been using a spool of 30# Yozuri co-polymer for years and don't recall a single failure except for a failed LJ snubber. I'm switching to Opti snubbers as I retire the LJ brand.

Better than a sheepshead!

Spike: Here's the Michigan Stinger web page showing all the Stinger spoons: http://www.michiganstingerspoons.com/ca ... tartpage=0

Sticks In Mexico. 877-302-8537. On 104B & Co Rt 6 about 3-4 miles south of Mike's. $55 per night last I checked.

Yup, me thinks you will go through many props ifin you drive your boat like an amtrack. Semper Fi.

"Let the bodies hit the floor..." Insanity, pure and simple. It ain't easy. I think the fish draw straws to see who must sacrifice themselves to the new guy. They want you out there trolling all over the lake. See, it's a game to them. They get to charge around whacking at flies, spoons and plugs to see how close they can get to the hooks. Sort of like an aquatic game of chicken or russian roulette. After that, the lucky ones get to really hone thier skills dodging flies and hooks in the rivers as they move upstream. We only get to play with and eat the unlucky few that screw up. In my case, a 29 lb 14 oz bruiser was my saccrificial king on my very first outing in my 19 footer. It's on my wall and I'm on its lake. It's now an addiction which has seen me buy a 28 foot Penn Yan and rigg it as well as a charter boat while keeping the 19 footer. I see dead fish.....

This sounds like an old wives tale. I tend to think that if aluminum wasn't strong enough to safely work, then no new motor would come with aluminum. The owners manuals of my 150 and 250 say nothing about not using aluminum. Aluminum is your friend. Props are far less expensive then lower units. I've had 2 repaired for my 150 hp Evinrude. Cost $45 or so while a new prop cost much, much more. I've had better luck keeping my prop free of nicks and bends on my 250 hp IO: it is aluminum as well. SS is better for pure performance as long as you understand and accept the risks (lower unit damage, theft, cost) in the unadulterated quest for a little bit of additional speed at top end.

PJ: Congrats on the fish and the new boat. Was this with Darren or other son? Also, does the boat have a name yet? Doubling up is the way to go and, remember, " it's in the hole".

Spike: Consider adding 2 church boards. You can run copper (up to 400 feet), lead core, or a pump handle from a church board. No boat mods necessary other than an available rod holder per side. This will get you into 6 rods easily without tangles (unless you do another Crazy Ivan like last year, then all bets are off). This provides the added benefit of widening your swath through the water. Ensure you buy a starboard and a port church if you go this route. You'll need to move the keel weight to the front with copper, core or pumps.

Try tying a small swivel to end of your main line and then add 6-8 feet of flourocarbon leader and a small snap. I use Berkley snaps and Sampo swivels. I also use the spoon the way it comes regarding split rings (ring or no ring.) I wouldn't tie line directly to the spoon beacuse the shoulders of the hole in the spoon can be sharp enough to cut the line with an active fish on the other end.

Come up now only if you want to catch Brown Trout, Atlantic Salmon, Steelhead and King Salmon. Stay home till August if you want to catch Coho Salmon. The BT bite seems slower than last year but the Salmon bite is much better.