chowder

The 600' is a monster + you will not be able to use it on a board (the 300' is nice that way), just started messing with them late last summer and you might want to start out thinking in terms of getting both a 300' and a 600', so don't go hog wild on rod & reel for one and not be able to get the other. Just a thought.

For planer/surface duty I use the Eagle Claw 8'6" "LIGHT" rod with the 17 or 27 LC reel spooled with 10 (last year I used 12 and 15, and I think it hurt me), these rods are inexpensive but rugged and have an awesome action for smaller browns. I have used these with both inlines and dual boards, they were a bit soupy when we tried 2 colors on them off the inlines and I switched those reels to a pair of Cabelas med.light rods. I use the Eagle claw setups to troll using inlines for walleye,pickerel and small mouths in my canoe outfitted with an electric trolling motor and they are great for that too!

Rollie, just curious where the map was off and by how much? Also, what unit are running the map on? Thanks-Andy

Orvis Clearwater II, 10' 8wt & mid arbor reel+backing& line puts you in biz for about as cheap as it gets, maybe a little heavy for steelhead but would work for salmon as well, I think the promo on the reels gets you an extra spool for the reel till the end of the month.

Did anybody else notice that Engel's deep Kings spread featured in GLA showed the outside divers as the deep pair? What's up with that?

Welcome aboard! Ice out? What's that? Ask Ray(last post above) about hard water fishing!

I got a reservation from Dan, will probably leave wicked early from Cortland, if anybody is interested in sharing the drive, PM me, not sure about the thing on Sunday; could somebody tell me what that's like? Thanks -Andy

Hey Tim, Check the new DW line up for this year. I came up with two "gobie" patterns last year that DW has added to the line. One has the yellow and brown you're looking for and was a terrific BT producer for some guys on the East end last year and was absolutely DYNAMITE on the Lake Erie walleyes. I wish I could say it produced lots of browns for me but we just didn't see any at the Oak last year. The other is a green/brown/gold pattern that also produced well. See ya at the swap meet! Paul Free Spirit Do you guys know who carries the "4 DW" size Dreamweaver spoons, they are 3 1/2", most ads I see do not list em.

Ray, I posted on Sanders to see if somebody could check clearance. I must say I went back & forth thru there for 4 days in August and always took my rods out of the 45 deg. rigger holders in my little 16', water is lower now but if you look at the boats in that little marina they are all pretty low profile.

Constant change is here to stay- but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater!

The Okuma Blue Diamond wire line rods do have a nice action for FLX sized fish. On a similar note the 7'6" Blue Diamond rigger rod is pretty sweet too!

Ray, I am on the eastern edge of Cortland county, could get to Seneca fairly easy, never fished it but I would like to, we go to Cayuga a lot.

Ray, do you keep your Islander in a heated shop? I don't think my 97' 4.0 would be very happy trying to start right now. I do get up at 3:30 every day though if you need a 3rd, ice fishing just isn't keeping the monkey off my back!

I am not an expert on this, but like Tim , I always use smaller spoons on my cheaters.

I toss my sliders in after I am at depth with the ball, but before I tighten down the reel, that way the slider runs down to the belly in the main line. Tighten up the line and your all set! Watch your wire dipsy lines when you bring in a double on one of these, be prepared to let them drift behind the boat under tension if they get frisky and start popping out of the water(something about being hooked so close together seems to make them do this more!)If one gets on the other side of the wire things get interesting in a hurry...

Rob, I think I got it; 1. Put the liberator or add a line on the main line before you tie on the swivel that goes to the leader & terminal snap (maybe this liberator can be added after, I can't tell from looking at the picture) 2.let out 10-12' of line with the small spoon on the end of it and put the line in the release. 3. hold onto the liberator or add a line at the water level and drop the ball 5' down 4. secure the liberator to the main line ( does a add a line get pinched to the dr cable? it looks like the leader from the liberator to the larger spoon can be snapped to the liberator at this time and you drop this cheater line in. 5. drop the ball to desired depth or temp range. The liberator has the advantage of not involving the dr cable which the add a line needs to clip to to fix the depth of the large spoon- Do I have it or am I still missing something?

I am confused about this setup; is your offshore planer release what you are calling a "Add- a- line release", if so then what is the clinch pad attached to and where is the "6' leader " with the larger spoon coming from - a 2cd rod, or is it a slider on the main line?

Split, pm an address or just post me to talk grilling . I do have a larger size gas grill (+ a stash of venison hot Italian sausages as a consolation prize for the last place finisher - see how I take care of myself!)

Yankee, I buzzed up to Fat Nancy's & got the skinny on centre pins and made my donation to the industry. Just curious how long it took till you could cast it somewhat? Planning to go out with a guide after I get a bit of a handle on this thing!

Did you go with the center pin or a spinning float set up? Trying to decide myself!

I don't think people should be allowed to use floats or center pin setups or downriggers, or dipsy rods or down speed monitors or sonar or boats or even any intelligence at all to catch fish! I mean where's the sport in any of that?

Jax, what #test should I use if my main cable is the coated Depth Raider cable, and where can I get it? Tim, will the Cannon terminator hold lesser test weight cable ok? What are the advantages to using the crimpless Cannon terminator as opposed to just tying to a heavy snap? Merry Christmas to all and thank you for all the help.

Anybody got a simple recipe for making a few break away cables to go from the probe to the weight? I do not have a crimper, was hoping you could tie knots like rigging up a wire dipsy. Please specify hardware brands , length, and # test. Thanks, I have been using the cable that came with my Fish Hawk speed & temp unit and it looks kinda rough!

I have a 525cDF w/ext gps in one boat and a X515cDF in the other, no problems so far!

What bottom contour lake maps are people using on Cayuga, Ontario, Seneca, etc? I have the Lowrance 525 and the factory depth contour map is terrible for Cayuga, just got us into endless trouble till we stopped trusting it at all. There is no depth contours for Ontario on the factory map. I got the Navionics Platinum lake Map after talking to some guys from New Hampshire who used it on Cayuga on a Humminbird, and I am in the process of getting my units to run it. Has anyone else installed the Navionics Platinum lake map in the Lowrance, if not how do you troll structure?