YodaMage

I'd stick to weekends at first and get yourself a hand held VHF. Why? Because there will always be guys within a few minutes of you on the weekend and with a handheld you'll be able to put out a quick SOS call that will get someone to you in a few minutes should you need it. 

Once you are more familiar with the territory you can think about going out on days and times with less people around. The CG is there, but they can't respond as quick as a guy 1/4 mile from you if need be.

Chinny in the box. A shiny 15 missing a chunk on gill plate. 250 water still just nw of Wilson. 85 on the rigger, took an old school silver dodger and green fly. Trolling back in now, pulling at 150 fow and going to grab a beer and burger. Final tally 7 for 9 in 5 hours. I'll take it.

Two more steelies, a 3 and a six 45 down rigger in the wash, both a pirate spoon.

Just doubled, 5 lbs steelie and nice 16 lbs Atlantic. Steelie on same spoon same depth, Atlantic on a stinger Nbk behind a mag dipsey, 2.5 180 out.

Been out since 7. Only one, a steelie of 15lbs 70 over 270 on a chrome/purple DW on the rigger. Seeing little action, marking little. But nice day

What's new...I get a notice about every 4 years that my info might be out in the street...followed by some notice 3 months later that says we're pretty sure you are safe, but keep an eye out. 

Government inflicts all sorts of BS costs and rules on private enterprise to store and encrypt data yet the top threat to your data is the government which is staffed by patronage morons without an ounce of competency and/or a third party vendor which was selected through a corrupt process of back room dealing. 

As the 4th of July approaches, I again break the record I set last year for how much shame one can feel for their government.

On Sunday I picked up a few and a ton of weeds. Another two weeks they'll be a nightmare.

First thing I would do, start about 12" from the crack and drill about 3/16 holes in 2 or 3 spots generally below that point, but only 1/2 way through the thickness of the transom. then I'd take a small screwdriver, a punch or awl and dig around a little to see how soft things were. If I drilled the hole and the bit came out wet or with mush on it I'd already know. If my test failed, I'd keep moving away in 12" increments and repeating, marking transom with a grease pencil as I went. That is the only way I'd feel comfortable as to what was in that thing and how extensive it was. If the damage ended up bigger that 4 sq feet then the transom would have to come off. 

If the transom was that bad, I'd also think about ripping out some floor if need be to get a look at a few stringers. If the stringers are also bad on a 1970 Thompson I'd think about parting her out. 

Anything can be fixed...but the questions of interest are:

-What kind of boat?

-What year is it?

-Why did it crack?

that is not IMHO cosmetic in the least, and the corner of the cutout scares me. Is the transom soft? Water penetration? Did you moisture test it at all before buying it? 

Those boats with the metal cap over the transom are notorious for rot.

So my kicker appears to be sparkless. Starting spins without any sign of ignition. Saturday I changed out plugs and hit it with some starter fluid both down the carb as well as fogged the cylinders while plugs where out. Sure sign to me of no spark. (Even without compression, a spark and some starter fluid will make a bang). engine is a 1993 Yammy 9.9, and in reading it is most likely one of 4 things: stator, CDI, pulser coil or ignition coil. While I could most likely deal with it, I have no time to be f'ing with this motor right now.

Anyone know if there is anyplace in Wilson or anyone around that area that will come work on the motor while the boat sits in the water? Or that will come pull motor? I'd pay to get the electrical fixed and while it is being worked on, get the carb cleaned up and would happily pay for it. 

I have a feeling it is going to be decorative until the fall and the boat gets pulled, but hoping there is an alternative. I talked to one of the guys in the shop at Sunset where it is docked, but they say they are busy months out..

Heat is almost always either the sign of an overload or a short. I seriously doubt an overload as everything in the circuit SHOULD be protected. So I do suspect a short. Something is not making good contact and is arcing. apply some dielectric grease to the plug and see what happens. If cool, think about replacing plugs eventually. If still hot....then onto the next question like tracing what might be a bad wire with a crack or gap in it.

Yeah, I have had multiple occasions where I had two steelies take the main and the slider same time. Never though when they weren't less than about 7 pounds combined. Always wondered how long two kings would play nice before breaking me off, lol.

I agree with many others. My average shows good 5-8, so-so 8-10, dead awful 10-1, great 1-4, poor 4-dark. For some reason much of my best fishing is early afternoon, especially the Coho and Steelie bite that I have killed on in that range. As a result now I have started to only fish for kings until 11AM, then maybe leave 2 lines in for a prayer and start transitioning over to spoons higher in the water column after lunch.

If anyone knows the secret of the evening bite fill me in, I'd love to know what I'm missing.

Stacking refers to multiple rods on a rigger, all with a relatively fixed position in depth. Spider is usually as Gambler described. Now many stack and run a slider on the upper line same time. 

I ran out in the evening, about 4:30 start. Setup out front at 150 FOW and setup blind from 110 down to 50, a couple of spinners and the rest spoons. Ran NW out to 325 FOW, then back SE to 120. It was 45 to 47 F at 90 down the whole trip. Marked good bait at 250 FOW up high between 30 and 50 but saw no sharks or action. Pulled out at 7:00. Was generally a nice evening minus the black flies that tried to eat our souls.

I must be weird...have only used Roemers for years and wouldn't switch.

SPF

Matt, replied.

James, VHF yes, mount no. You can get stainless for $35, nylon for less...but blah on nylon.

Got a Shakespeare 5101 still new in the box that I don't have a need for. $40 bucks, can meet somewhere in Erie or Niagara probably.

I personally believe it depends on the layout of the boat, the size of the boat and how many rods you usually need/want to have in the water. To get REAL deep and do it with 7+ rods it is tough to get there without the 4th rigger. Now that said, if you don't have a wide beam or an inboard powered boat, the 4th rigger might be so much of a disadvantage as to skip having it. What I mean is that, with an I/O or outboard the middle 3rd of the transom (or a corner if running a kicker) is already lost. Running two more riggers off the tail leaves zero netting room. If you have a wide boat and run off an inboard, you have the whole chute clear to bag fish. 

My rig is 9'8" wide but it I/O and has a kicker. I'm only going to run 3 riggers restricting myself to how many deep rods I can run, but making my live much easier. There is a lost art out there that many of those fishing today have lost. While copper, divers and lead are fine, they don't get you down 150'+ in the summer where the big pigs live. The lost art of stacking does, and for those that go back that far and mastered it, it allows you to safely run 12 lures off 3 riggers and 9 rods downtown without adding all the extra clutter and equipment. That is how I run in the heat, then in the fall switch out to divers and copper when the fish move back up in the top 100. 

Spring: Two riggers, boards, copper and divers.

Summer: Three riggers, a few divers.

Fall: Two riggers, copper, divers. (I try to keep boards out of the water as traffic makes them annoying..I also don't find a need to run more then 12 lines almost ever)

Yeah, that 330 Grady...now that would be a rig that might make me check the weather less, lol.

First thing...I have nothing to do with Collins Marine other than having it 3 minutes from my house. Second, I do not, nor have I ever had, $159,000 to spend on a boat. third, spending $159,000 on a boat might require some sort of therapy to be administered.

That said...WOW

http://www.collinsmarine.com/showroom.html

All new electronics and wiring done. Glass work all done. Rough mechanical done. 

Next stop, oil change engine and outdrive, add a fuel water separator that isn't there, new belts, new bilge pumps, new water pump, new seals, new bellows..maybe a few other things when the universals/gimbals and such are exposed. We'll see what else is worth getting into when outdrive is off. Probably new plugs, wires and coil too. 

Anything else worth looking at, replacing and such while I'm at it?

Getting close to seeing if it floats, LOL!

Think I got her solved.

Ordered:

http://tandlproducts.com/versa-ball/ times two.

https://www.speedymetals.com/pc-2221-8347-1885-x-0325-x-5-325-channel-6061-t6-aluminum-extruded.aspx 72" piece

With a few holes drilled, a couple of backer plates and a few washers I think this is exactly what I need. About $200, about 20lbs, quickly detachable. Perfect! Never heard from Traxstech and was prepared to give them almost $600 to get to the exact same point really, so win for me, loss for them.