CaptSpike

That is a great idea. To make it even better I could use detent pins so each holder could return to the original height if wanted. I hate modifying coated parts (assuming the berts holders have some sort of protection on them) but in this case it may just be worth it. Thanks for the idea. Good to know the mast move was an improvement. Simple enough to try out. I may mount the original base to a piece of wood and just use a couple c-clamps to hold it to the board the motor mounts to to try it out. If it works good I have no problem permanently mounting it there. Spike

Ugghhhh back ordered 2 -3 weeks.......Wont be much past that we wont be using planer boards here. Was planning a trip to Lake O in two weeks........Sometimes nothing goes right.........Are the traxstech worth waiting for or should I look at other brands? We have no place local to look at the quality of other units so I just have searching and word of users to go by. Thanks, Spike

I ordered two trees (traxstech). It can't be worse than what I had. I either had to get the tow line up or the rods up. Seems with any slack tow lines they are coming down npo matter how high they are. At least with the tree I can have three rods off one side with each one higher than the other lines should clear fine. I may need to adjust a slight angle to each rod so when they fire they aren't in line with another rod running down the length of the boat. Now that I think of it is probably only a problem with the middle rod? Anyay once I get the tree I can mimic the senario at home and see if anything needs to be adjusted. I think it is a step in the right direction. I'll let you know. Spike

I can see how the torque on the rod ends would be a bit of a problem. I really don't want to add weight. I am now considering a vertical rod tree. This will allow me to position the rods more upright and still have them pass over/under each other on a hit. Does anyone know if Trax tech fits in Berts tracks? I like that you can adjust the Trax tech's but maybe it is over kill and the Berts would work fine? Thought? Spike

I have an 18'Lund Sport Angler. I currently run a Big Jon dual mast out of the forward pedestal. I do have issues on some turns and on windy days (like yesterday) where the planer board line comes back and rubs against the rods that are set out to the side of the boat. I usually just reach out and guide the line until everything straightens out. Well yesterday while navigating some decent waves I look over and one of the rods is gone! I figure the tow line caught a guide and pulled it out when the line surged after the boat went down the wave. We were trolling live bait at 1.5mph and were likely stopped with the big wave which reduced any tension on the rod in the holder (Berts laid out to the side) and out it must have went. We did get lucky and one of our lines got tangled in the rod so we got it back, Whew! I now want to prevent this from happening again. I can mount the mast on the forward deck where the bow light and front trolling motor mount which would raise it about 18" and push it further forward a couple of feet. I'm not sure that would do the trick though, and I hate drilling extra holes in a boat. I was also toying with an idea I had about mounting a cross pole on the mast which would spread the lines outward before letting them go back. I could probably get a 6' spread off each side which once broken down would just pack away the same length as the mast. Any other ideas? Thanks, Spike

Well I ordered a bunch from Atomik. Not sure I got the right colors. I did order a bunch of white as I remember them doing well in August. Will the coho be in with the browns in the spring or should I be looking elsewhere? Only my second time out fishing the lake in the spring, so I don't have much to go by. Thanks, Spike

I read on here at some point in time that the smaller orange spin doctor was good for Coho's. My question is what fly is generally run behind them? I have the flasher and now want to pick up some fly's to run behind it. Also can Ho's be had in Mexico bay in early April? I am hoping to make another spring trip for browns and didn't know if it would be worth the time to target any ho's with this setup. Thanks for any help. Spike

http://www.mcmaster.com/#slide-on-grips/=grxfla Spike

A light just went off in my head. I didn't think of how the AP integrates with the throttle. I was only concerned with correcting the boat course by the direction of the motor. I have a control king on the kicker and that is how I control the rpm of that motor. Would the AP be able to hook up without an integrated throttle control and work? I did see on another forum how the Raymarine didn't do so well at slower troling speeds. Thanks for the posts I'm starting to understand how the whole system works. I have used Ap on plenty of boats just never needed to think about hooking them up and what system is better. Spike

My kicker is already tied into my main engine steering via ez-steer rod. I'm thinking I can just hook up an AP to the main engine and drive the kicker that way. I upgraded to hydraulic steering after the first yr without it. That was a big improvement. I'm now looking to go the next step with an AP since I do troll alot. Spike

After having carpal tunnel for months after my two week troll on Ontario last yr I got to thinking about adding an autopilot to the boat. I have a few questions for those that already have it. What brands/models are good? I own a 18' Lund so I'm guessing the cheaper smaller units would be fine. I found this unit on a search and like some of the features: RAYMARINE SmartPilot S1000. The price is reasonable too. Next question is how easy are they to install? I am mechanically inclined and usually perform my own work on my boats. I have just never dealt with an autopilot before. Radars, fish finders, gps's and such but not an AP. Do they work at slower speeds? I sometimes troll as slow as 1.5mph (locally). If anyone has any good (or bad) to say about a unit that would work on my size boat please give me some info. Thanks, Spike

Yanks are only one loss away from golfing with the sox! What's up with that? Spike

Sorry this turned into a BW-atomik fly debate. I was really just asking about the flasher fly and was hoping I didn't waste my money on them. Curious if anyone else did or if only the two mentioned companies flies were run. I will admit I ran BW this yr for the first time and my time is limited on the lake so I am by no means one to go by. I really like the looks of the BW flies and hope to use them with as much success as I have had with other offerings. I really believe it is a timing issue and being lucky enuf (no pun) to have the right fly out at the right time at the right depth. As many said it is a confidence thing. Most people run what they have had good luck with. I hope both companies are around for yrs to come. I have many more flys to buy before I die. Peace to all, Spike

Well I ran the flash fly one morning and it was the only rig to take a fish. So I will try them again. I ran the BW and atomik's that I have and the atomik out fished the BW I ran. Again many factors involved color lure depth ect.. I'm guessing all flys will take fish at some point. Just glad to know I didn't waste my money, lol. Spike

How fast was he running? I don't believe I got over 20-25mph which may have been what saved me. I wish I could get a service rep or mechanic to comment on this and what potential damage could be done. I'm afraid to use the motor again without having it gone thru. Spike

Honda with a kicker set up I have a 150 Honda with a 9.9 kicker. I run the kicker for trolling only and have run in with the kicker down and tilted at various times. When tilted the kicker will bounce as it lifts from the second click up to as high as it can go before hitting the inside of the boat. Two weeks ago I noticed the prop on the kicker was loose, about 1/8 of an inch. I tightened it up and couldn't think of why it would be loose? My friend mentioned that running with the kicker down may have done something to the kicker because it might not be designed to have the prop spin at the speeds the 150 reaches. I tightened the prop and checked the manual to make sure something hadn't fallen out. The manual recommends checking the [prop every trip so I'm getting a feeling something is setting? as you use the motor???? Anyway last week when using the boat I shut the kicker down but forgot to pull it out of gear. We ran in and when coming off of plane I heard a clunk and looked back to find the kicker was running. I believe the prop being moved thru the water actually jump started the kicker. Again does anyone know what damage may have happened due to that? obviously the prop would have been revolving much faster than the engine would have ever gotten it to spin and what damage might have been done to the engine components if any due to this? Would it have tried to rev the kicker engine to match the prop? I would like to pull the kicker out of the water when running on the big motor but I can only get it up two clicks due to the tiller handle hitting the inside of the boat. Hopefully I haven't damaged something. Pretty sure I'm not the first to have had something like this happen. Can anyone shed some light on potential damage and how I can prevent this from happening down the road. I did notice the cooling stream is not as strong as it used to be so I'm thinking when running in on the main engine the kicker wasn't pulling in as much water as it usually would at the slower speeds and wore the impellar a bit. I did run the kicker for another evening of fishing and had no issues, at least none that I know of. I called one dealer to ask these questions to and they were clueless, so I figure to check a forum where the more eductated users reside, lol. thanks, Spike

Hey I knew my last day of vaca would get the bill passed. That is the kind of luck I have. Probably for the better in my case as the crew I had struggled to run four rods, lol. Thanks to all that helped this along. Next yr my odds went up 25%. Spike [ Post made via iPhone ]

Hammered them tonight! Same lures same depth but unlike this am we hooked up fish. Fished like it should have tonight, as good as I remember it being. Tons of boats which kept you on your guard. Glad to be heading home in the morning, I am beat. Spike Oh yeah pretty much everything worked for us tonight. Riggers At 85 and 90, dipseys at 275 and 313. [ Post made via iPhone ]

You must be in the black Lund. We talked to you at the ramp. We are in the sport angler. We were snake bit this morning. Hopefully the pm isbetter. Fish all around us but we couldn't get them to go. Spike [ Post made via iPhone ]

Fishing Report Your Name / Boat Name: ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): Time on Water: Weather/Temp: Wind Speed/Direction: Waves: Surface Temp: Location: LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: Total Boated: Species Breakdown: Hot Lure: Trolling Speed: Down Speed: Boat Depth: Lure Depth: ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ==================== Better week but not as good as past yrs. Early morning and evenings best for us. We are getting plenty of decent size fish but fishing is in spurts. Our fish have beentaken deep, 90-115 over 120-200. Heard of fish out deeper but more smilies mixed in out there. Many of the fish caught today are starting to color up. Spike [ Post made via iPhone ]

Fishing Report Your Name / Boat Name: ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): Time on Water: Weather/Temp: Wind Speed/Direction: Waves: Surface Temp: Location: LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: Total Boated: Species Breakdown: Hot Lure: Trolling Speed: Down Speed: Boat Depth: Lure Depth: ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ==================== Arrived around 8:30 and was fishing by 9:30. Most boats were inside but complaining about lack of fish, so we headed out deeper. Started at 300 and trilled out to 450. Got only a small king out deep with one other release. Came inside and got two kings and a 10 lb laker. Largest king was 16 lbs. Back at it in the morning. Spike [ Post made via iPhone ]

I emailed and asked if he could sign it today since I'm heading out for round two on Ontario. I'm sure he'll sign it today to help me out. If not I'm going to ask every NY'er I know not to re-elect him, lol. Keeping my fingers crossed he signs today and I will be fishing three rods on Tuesday, weather permitting. Spike

You could use the walker termination which needs no crimping. I am using them and love them. I can use them over too if I tap the top and use a thin Aluminum shim to tap it out without damaging it. Cannon also makes a termination that doesn't need crimps either. http://www.basspro.com/Walker-trade-Downriggers-Clincher/product/10212538/-1495568 Spike

Anyone use the Luhr Jenson flash fly? I picked up a few one yr but haven't tried them yet. Would it even be worth it or should I just stick with the Atomik and Big Weenie flys? Looking for someone who ran these and either had success or not. Spike

X2 Spike