YodaMage

I see you are out of Braddock. My old man docked in there at the marina on the east side for years. Someone told me the CG pulled the channel markers out of there and they stopped dredging it, is that true? How much water is in there now? I remember that even with a 24' we had to surf in past the point some days to try to keep the lower unit from grounding. 

I ran an easy troller plate on my Trophy and loved it. Would never run a bag personally.

Using that line of thinking why even buy a boat at all might as well head to a pier head and cast for them, guys catch plenty of fish that way. Seeing that op is considering going to Portland Oregon which if you are geographically challenged its the other side of the country I woud think he's pretty serious about buying a sweet rig. Why shouldn't he rig it right.

I could walk or ride my bike to the grocery store but I would rather get in my big SUV with leather seats and touch screen GPS instead as well.

Fisherman like to rig their boats with all the right goodies and even go overboard on rods reels electronics etc because it makes life better and simpler on the lake and if used properly those fancy tools do help you catch more fish.

Btw, you need 15k in gear to catch fish

So with that logic, buying more expensive golf clubs actually makes you a better golfer.

I'm a guy who likes to encourage people to try fishing and to get into the hobby, as a higher head count only helps the whole. I'm against this mind set that you need to buy your way in or that for some reason trolling//big lake fishing is an exclusive country club for those with the expendable income to drop tens of thousands in. Did I say that options aren't nice to have? No, the OP asked what is:

which is not defined as what might be nice or convenient. Since guess guys don't catch fish in 16 foot lund with a graph and two dipsy rods without any electronics then you are right. Or maybe those guys aren't fishermen... 

While I have a bunch of gear on my rig you can, if you know what you are doing, boat a ton of fish with nothing but a $400 fish finder. On top of that I consider still a $99 VHF radio a must have. 

So for the record, that is $500 in electronics. 

Adding a bigger and or better FF, a probe system, a GPS all are nice add-ones and upgrades, but not MUST HAVES to catch fish in the lake. Some of the best days we ever had were with a 18 foot starcraft with a tiller steered kicker and a old black and white paper graph. We also had homemade manual riggers back then. 

Don't let people tell you you need 5K in gear to catch fish. They are either clueless, lying or have an agenda. Start with what makes you comfortable and you'll enjoy the fish you catch more. I've put a 5 series B&W Humminbird or base Garmin graph with a couple of manual riggers on more then a few friends boats for under a grand and had them catching fish the next weekend. 

I can say that with Verizon I get good signal 10 miles out. 

Where is this bad boy?

Now talk to me about the $60 you have to drop for the 3M adhesive that is the only thing known to man that will stick to the stuff and only then after you torch it.

Most of that I'm guessing is shipping due to the size of a 4x8. I just bought two pieces 15"x28" 3/4 that showed up for $50 to my door. 

Probably because the brown that I've seen seems to kink less and have less memory. Spool with as much as you can fit on, 400 is good. You won't go that deep, but being able to cut off 10 when it gets all banged up without thinking about it or even 50 if a strand breaks a couple of times without a re-spool...priceless.  You run 200 on a rigger, then have out 120 and break it off or kink it bad while on the water...done. 

Then again, I love starboard and use it a ton now and sometimes it is the best answer.

You usually can't get it at the big box stores and the difference is a preparation and quality thing.

Marine: Dried layers, few if any voids, sealed and finished on all 6 sides.

PT: Usually green wood, finished on 2 sides, usually will 'bleed' toxins

What are you doing? Sometimes regular BC and some epoxy or gel is the better answer. 

232 is a great boat and that is a great price if it is even half as nice as it sounds. For those that don't know, that is one of the few Grady's left with a real transom (no euro) and it is a wide body (9'3" I believe), so compare it to a 26 by any other maker. 

Why selling her m?

I'll say I usually notice that their pattern looks like:

3 weeks where they are building but not awful

4 or 5 weeks where they are brutal

3 weeks where they decline 

That said, the whole game with them appears to be water temperature so the earlier it gets warm the faster they start, the longer it stays warm the worse they are. This might be a bumper year for the evil bastards.

3 Purchased, thanks pd, looking for 3 more. $40 each seems market price. H or SH, not looking for counter reels.

I'll call Fishhawk later tonight when he gets off the water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfwY9AYsZvg

I'd have left the riggers where they were. 

Nice rig.

The 16lb Steelie we had a couple weeks ago would still be high on the board I'd think. Oh well.

I always liked the rocky drop offs at the edge of weed beds that are common up there. Dewolf and Lake of the Isles area is where I'd focus and I'd put one rod in the water with a minnow suspended in the middle of the column then I'd jig the bottom 6 feet right down drop. 

Nice part of this is you might get a smally on the drop, you might get a large mouth closer to the weed edge and you never know when that minnow is going to get Musky or Pike smashed for fun. (Yup, don't forget your 6" or 8" leaders).

I think generally most of Lake O is just not great habitat for them and they also have too much competitive pressure to deal with. Erie is rocky and fairly stable in depth and temp. You also have very little pressure from other apex fish in there, with only a few trout and pretty much no salmon.

Lake O is a mud pit with almost no weed cover as it has a very smooth shoreline with few bays and coves. It gets deep fast for the most part and is subject to major flips, flops, upwellings and other things that make it a rough world for fish that aren't ready and willing to travel LONG distances as need be. Trout and salmon and fine in this world. Walleye, pike and even bass don't love it which is why the population stays much lower outside of the tribs for these fish. Ambush preds tend to pick a spot, with cover, and use it to feed. Lake O doesn't have much cover and no reliable spots.

That is my take.

You read it. I'd like to add 4 to 6 additional reels to my fleet to make line changing easier and these are and always have been my standby rigger reel and I like to stay consistent.

Let me know.

Viagara fixes Limp Mode I hear 

Funny how no two people will ever have the same chemistry and/or experience with a place. I wouldn't go near Arney's with a three mile pole but would go to Krenzer in a heartbeat. 

Pm replied. Danny, I'll keep you in mind though I'm not sure where you are located and I'm not shipping this thing. 

Letas might be a good call for a '99. I know when I had my '06 Trophy Letas wouldn't sell me anything, referred me to some other shop down south as they cannot according to who I spoke to suppy to Trophys newer than a certain year due to some odd contractual BS.

Matt, you have mail. Hope it helps you.