mr 580

Minn Kota now offers a 87” shaft for the 112lb Saltwater Terrova as a 72” shaft is likely too short on a 25 footer.  I have a 60” shaft on the Terrova on my Lund and it needs pretty much all of it.  I have to believe the bow on a the Crestliner is easily over 12” higher than the bow on my Pro V.  Minn Kota has a video of 87” shaft on a 25 foot CC stripper fishing with I pilot. Check it out.

I ran the torpedo cable on my depth raider for one season.  Didn’t see any performance benefit and was more difficult to terminate.  Also seemed pretty fragile.  Went back to coated cable.

Plenty of full boxes coming inside of 100 fow. Last couple trips 80 fow has been good for me.  Big numbers of eater size fish with pretty much everything working.  One of the advantages of Dunkirk is that deeper water isn’t a long run and many days decent bite right out front of harbor.

When you are looking to fish the Great Lakes you are going to have days you can’t get out.  If you can’t get on Lake Erie from Dunkirk, there are two nearby options for inland lakes that do have protected water.  Cassadaga Lake is just up Rt 60 and Chautauqua Lake which has decent walleye fishing is nearby.  Both are good plan B’s so a trip is not wasted.  The walleye fishing on Lake Erie has been awesome this year so it is worth trying to get here and fish it.

Lake Erie United has a free Navionics Hot Spot Map for site users with Dunkirk on it.  Site also has links to Eastern Lake Erie Charterboat Association if new visitors to the area wanted to charter before trying it on their own.  Wind and rough water can limit fishing on Lake Erie in similar fashion to Lake Ontario.  A southwest wind at Dunkirk is generally not favorable as it runs the length of the lake.  Lots of people make trips out of Dunkirk to enjoy the great walleye fishing-just have to pick your days.

Flasher Flies and meat rigs aren’t a stealthy presentation so a heavier leader 30 to 40lb is fine.  To me mono with some stretch might even be better than fluro leader.  I’ve found with inexperienced anglers that adding a clear snubber helped eliminate break offs too.

Check for Cannon’s rating- think that model was rated at 8lb max.  Those have a pretty small diameter boom.

Gill’s suggestion to go take a ride with someone with experience is excellent.  Likely would save you money and get you headed in the right direction sooner. If you don’t have buddies doing this type of fishing, make a post in the “open seat/trade a trip “ section.  Nothing like on the water experience to show you what you need.

Size 1 @ 4 and eight inch is the “standard” size in a dipsy.  The slide diver is also a number 1 and it is a bit smaller than a Lahr Jensen dipsy.  Width are w/o rings.

Have run Trollmaster 2 for 10 years- definitely worth the money.  Only downside is lack of being waterproof- I used some rtv and electrical tape to seal mine which has helped.  I would also look at itroll for waterproof feature.

JBK, suggest that it might help your search if your description was a bit more detailed.  Your initial description of connecting to the windshield with a plastic window in front is normally referred to as a “stand up top”.  A Bimini is normally open at the front and rear without connecting to the windshield or offering an enclosure.  Why this is important is that the structure supporting the canvas is different for a Bimini vs a top.  A Bimini is more universal by design and  tops are more boat specific which can be more costly.

I recently updated to a Minn Kota Terrova 80 ipilot 60 inch and really like it so far.  Much heavier than my old 65lb 60 inch Minn Kota.  I didn’t have any problem selling my old motor either.  Plus parts and service are available in the area for Minn Kota.  Don’t think Haswing has much other than a cheap price going for it.  

Check the decal on the top of the body- Cannon uses the same body for all models and that decal might also be a seal.  One of my Cannons had this issue and had water damage.  I drilled a small drain hole in the bottom of mine.

I have two Big Jon Jettison Releases.  Send me a PM if you are interested in them.  I haven’t used them in years- back when we ran mono divers we used the Jettisons to rig up a slide system for the dipsey.  They worked with mixed results and got tossed in with a bunch of other releases I’ve played with.

Angler Boy, I would suggest that you change your search approach from brands to looking at boat styles that are within your 3500lb tow limit and under $20,000.  Once you determine what might fall into that group, then you can look at specific brands.  This approach likely will point you in the direction of what Mr. Powell is suggesting.  I don’t believe you will see many walk around glass boats under 3500 lbs tow weight in a 22 ft plus size.  I’ve owned several and they were all in the 5,000 to 6,000 lb towing class size.

Downriggers.  If you don’t have them and where just going to run divers I’d still suggest you kept your divers directional.  If you tangle divers major mess.  Better bet would be a 10 color down the chute than a diver at 0 IMO.  Where are you looking to fish walleye?  Sounds like you might be looking at a Lake Erie trip.

Same size have settings 2 numbers apart- inside at 1 outside at 3.  Deploy slowly together.  Works well with 8’ rod inside and 10’ rod outside.  Keep your spread “square” - if you have strong currents sliding your spread just run one.

You might try adding some weight to the outside board on the Super Ski’s to get them down in the water and pull harder.  I’d put it towards the rear as the last thing you want a plastic board to do is nosedive and become a submarine.  Years ago I had a set of folding plastic boards that stowed well on the boat but didn’t pull hard.  When the Super Ski’s were popular they were used mostly in the spring for Browns in shallow.  Advent of use of copper changed some board designs to pull harder.

Interesting thread.  Looks to me like a Yamaha 190 FSH is a jet drive.  Anyone have any experience big water trolling with a jet drive?  Curious how they are to steer at low speed and ability to control speed for trolling?  I don’t know that I’ve seen anyone trolling with one.  IMO drifting in shore for bass or fishing in the bay would be a better option with this style boat than as an off shore trolling boat 5 to 10 miles out in Lake Ontario.  Hate to see somebody buy a bunch of gear only to find they can’t hold a course or proper speed.  Lots of pieces to being successful on big water.  Might be worth some additional research before jumping in.  Best wishes.

Shakemsam is right on- take a charter.  Buying the downriggers is just part of what you need to troll Lake Ontario and the learning curve for having success is pretty long and steep.  Regarding the Sears downrigger that is likely 40 years old- I chuckled at the description “works great”- probably it did the only time it was used in 1978.  Even if you get it for free, you are still money ahead taking a charter.  Enjoy your vacation.

If temp was normal and you didn’t overheat, then it is back to figuring out what oil consumption was and what might have caused it.  Seems like an awful lot of oil to be used.  Might even check and make sure the right dipstick was in the motor.  The wrong dipstick might cause crankcase to be under filled so you were low on oil without knowing it.  Really need to compare level you saw originally with what tech saw when he checked it.  Do an oil change and put correct amount of oil in and see what level reads.  Check for metal in the oil you drain out.  Hope engine isn’t hurt bad-sometimes you can luck out.

A 454 Mercruiser has an oil capacity of 7 or 8 qts including filter.  You need to look at dipstick to figure what it read when you checked it in May then see what it reads now.  If there is little or no oil in it, then where did oil go?  The burnt diesel smell seems like a sign of overheating- why was water pump changed in the fall and were temps normal during operation?  My advice would be a face to face discussion with the service personnel at the marina where you keep the boat.  You need to know what kind of shape motor is in now, then figure what might have caused the issue.  As others have said checking oil level before operation is a good idea with an engine especially one you are not familiar with.  Good luck with the engine.

A few years ago I bought a Factory Reconditioned Humminbird with a great price and 6 months warranty instead of the standard 1 year warranty for a new one.  I bought it in the spring so I had factory warranty for the whole season so not much difference in coverage considering the downtime we have in winter.  The only thing I could find with it that the looked altered was the plastic screen cover had been sanded in the center where there a casting mark. Have had no issues with it and still using it. Important to buy with a manufacturer warranty and to be sure you use the product during the warranty period.

If you don’t want to deal with flares and their date codes, there is another option.  The USCG has approved a LED battery powered day/night emergency light that flashes an SOS.  Comes with a daytime orange flag and costs around $100.  Light itself has no expiration dare, however the three C cell batteries are to be replaced annually.  I don’t see any cost savings when you figure light cost and battery cost vs flare cost.  NYS Parks also accepts them on PV’s in lieu of flares as my inspector mentioned it as a good option.  I did buy one as I feel the cost of the flares to be a bit much.  Be interesting to see how it works out.

Get a stainless U bolt that fits tubing on tower with long enough threads to add a second mounting bracket.  Use first bracket to tighten U bolt to tower. Put an eye bolt in second bracket and open eye to attach pulley then double nut to eye bolt.  U bolts available at most hardware stores.