chowder

I think that a long or x long lined up w/ the cavitation plate is going to keep the prop in the water and the head out when you get into rougher water?

Great fish, great story, and a great picture that will stay with you for a life time!

From everything I've heard, and I spent some time looking into this, you want a long or X-long shaft on a kicker that is going on a full transom I/O boat.

Short & intermediate term money is costing me less than that right now but that was a low as the little amortization table I was looking at went (it's a little dated!). But the bottom line is that paying back any borrowed $( business,auto,recreational,etc) needs to be looked at as the same as investing new money unless there is a tax consequence or an early payment penalty to take into account. -Andy

I think I figured out the payback as follows; If the Kicker,bracket,etc cost $3000 then: Total cost + interest(any time you use $ for something it incurs an "opportunity cost", b/c the $ ,even if it's not borrowed, could have been "invested elsewhere with an alternate rate of return) =$69/month for 4 years (@5% annual rate) So that $69 x 12 months = $828/ year $828 / 30 trips(conservative) = $27.60/ trip (this would be the break even point) I can't see how the kicker's gonna save me $27.60/trip since that's more than it cost to run the I/O for the whole trip!. Hard to figure in savings on maint/repair on the I/O.Anyway, the point is that "on average" a kicker is not going to pay for itself in fuel savings until it's paid for, which of course, is a contradiction in terms.

Really nice work Vic!

Ok. Now, 1.What depth are you working & how much wire do you have out? 2. What setting are you using on the diver? 3. What color/type flasher & what color/type fly?

Brand name/source and a rough description of the process?

Tell us how you tried to use the flasher/fly rigs and we'll go from there. I'm sure we can get you headed in the right direction pretty quickly.

I just went thru all this w/ my Islander. I'm a business man and I really wanted to find a way to make a reasonably short term payback on a kicker installation. What I finally came to see was that a kicker doesn't have a short term payback unless you buy a used one really cheap and spend next to nothing putting it in and then you are just going to be trading unforseen costs for ones you can predict ( and you will pay these unforseen costs when you should be fishing instead) I decided to go ahead and get a good new 4 stroke Yamaha T8 tiller model w/ power trim and put it on a heavy duty kicker mount designed for power trim kickers. I rationalized the kicker addition to my boat for the following reasons 1. The kicker will use less gas and save wear and tear on the Mercruiser I/O(but not enough to pay for itself on this basis alone) 2. The kicker will get me back to shore if I have an issue w/ my I/O 3. The kicker should enable me to control my speed much easier than using the bags. 4. The kicker should enable me to vary and then return to a former speed much much easier than the bags. (example; big fish on-reach over to kicker tiller handle and slow boat down without attempting to explain to some one else how to very carefully use the main throttle control to slow the boat down. 6. I'm not going to live forever, I don't drink (much any way!), I don't smoke and I've worked my ass off for long enough to blow a couple grand on something I really enjoy and will eventually pay for at least part of it's intial cost. 7. The kicker and the fishing boat it's on cost a lot less than a Corvette and the affair/divorce that would probably come with it! I'd be glad to go into detail on my project w/ you if it would help. Go back thru this forum and a lot of the discussion is right on here.After talking with a lot of different people it became clear that putting a kicker on a fishing boat is not a clear cut issue, only you can decide whether it's worthwhile. Any questions-ask away here or pm me. -Andy

The alewives have largely displaced the smelt in many environments. The alewive forage base has produced a faster growing/ larger game fish population but the smelting action has been diminished and is a much smaller and shorter event. Constant change is here to stay...

Is there a significant difference between the Red label and the Yellow label flouro leader material? Also, I've been using 30lb for dipsy leaders, anybody using heavier?

ESG, a Moore parts dealer, sells 300' spools of both a 150lb and a 210lb (heavy duty) "Surflon" cable. Which one is the original( I'm thinking the 150lb is the original)? Is there a good reason to use the 210lb? it seems like it's going to make my counter even more inaccurate and make for more blow back?

Here is a great way to get started or move into Dipsy Divers in a big way. All like new; Selling as one piece; (2) 4 1/2" Divers, 1 purple/1 firetiger both w/ rings (2) 3 1/4"Divers, 1 purple/1 firetiger both w/ rings (4) 2 1/4" Divers 2 chrome/1 yellow/1orange (2) Walker mini divers (black) (2) Slide divers (orange) w complete kit for mono/wire/braid (1) Dipsy diver Pouch (it holds all these divers) 1st $60 (+ shipping) takes the whole package. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... 23&Go.x=17

Unfortunately this situation, much like the downturn in my industry( the Dairy industry), has no simple solution so let's not have a a predictable knee jerk reaction. Just b/c we are upset does not mean there is an easy answer- that's life. The State is broke & the Federal Gov. is broke and although each of us may feel like we know a simple answer to these problems the fact is we really don't and acting like we do is not going to help much! I'm not saying "Do Nothing" ,just trying to say "Be ready for complexity", b/c it's here to stay!

Nice Islander pix RR! At first glance I thought "who took those pics of my boat!" Here's some more food for thought.http://www.greatlakesplaners.com/tackle-shop.htm http://www.teclausa.com/old%20Bert/bert/ and http://www.traxstech.com/.

I'll try & get some pics of my Islander setup. I did use the Cannon planer masts as a starting point for my home made arch which worked out well. I would encourage you to look at the different track systems available (traxtech & bert's). I have tracks on both sides and across the transom for my 4 riggers, rod trees, and other rod holders. It is important to use backer plates for the planer mast/arch supports and the tracks, the aluminum is not that thick in most of those places.

Salmonite, which Slick Trick broadhead are you using? I see Asolute is using the 100 grain standard.

You will be able to put a 300 yd spool of PP on & easily fit 10 colors of 27lb core on that reel.

The Cabelas core seems to be as good as Mason and cheaper, I don't know anything about the Sufix. Most stuff from Cabelas is priced a higher than you can get it elsewhere but sometimes they are the low price. I found this to be the case with Maxima bulk spools too.

Here's another idea; if you have a scheduled day off(not something I know anything about!) and things look just flat out look poorly for Ontario, go to the Finger Lakes Discussion and see whats happening on Seneca or Cayuga, we'll put you on the fish w/out putting you on the bottom. Actually you might want to plan a trip to the Fingers and then you would have a sense of what we are talking about. Fish them on Sat and then cruise up & check out the Big Pond spots people are talking about on Sun (not very far). Then you would have a framework to go on.Just my 2 cents.

We launched & fished the S.end, both sides and the better the screen looked the less action there was! I spoke w/ a bunch of other trollers as they were pulling out and they had all gotten skunked yesterday after whaling em last week.Like I always tell people- If you have to catch a pile of fish to have a good time, then fishing isn't the right hobby b/c it just isn't gonna go that way all the time.

Hey, thanks again.I got away from work and out on the water in a nice boat with great company! -Andy

Clarke, I didn't hear from him, I'll catch up w/ you on the phone bud!

Nice bunch of fish! Great post!