Gotta Bite

I guesstimate it's about 5 to 10' feet per ounce. I also think it varies by where you place it whether it's on your backing or leader. I add those as well as torpedoes to my leadcore and copper set ups with good success on bite shy browns and kings. [ Post made via iPhone ]

Jolly II , Thanks for the feedback. The units is down to $359.00 at Cabelas. I will actually be there this weekend to get a hands on preview of the unit. I read a Post from Billy V who must be a Hunninbird user. it has enough power to mark the rigger balls and tracking the movement of fish which is what I wanted to do, but in a cheaper package until I upgrade to a true fishing boat as opposed to my cabin cruiser. I would like a GPS combo but my handheld will have to do for a few more years.

I am considering upgrading my sonar this year. I use an older monochrome humminbird 300 series and it still works well and I catch a fair amount of fish using it. I just want to upgrade to a color model and have seen that the 596C HD has a real time transducer so I can actually see the fish tracking my lures etc. I like what I read about this unit and the price is right but I can't seem to find any user feedback on this model. I know that RayMarine or Furono are probably the way to go, but I am holding off on that until I upgrade to a true fishing boat, which I'm hoping the electronics will be included with it. Let me know if you have one or know someone who uses this model and likes or dislikes it. Thanks.

Nice! Thanks for the report. We're rolling into town tomorrow. Hoping for fishable weather conditions. It's looking iffy for Friday. Hopefully this weather change will brings more kings in from the west. [ Post made via iPhone ]

I had 10'6" rods and felt they were too big for the beam of my boat. Dropped down to 8'6" blue diamonds which I loved but found them to be a little close to my rigger cable at times. Just picked up a pair of 9'6" taloras topped with tekota reels and they seem to be a nice fit. Not to big to get under the top when walking back nor are they long to store in my cabin. So far so good. Need to land more fish on them this weekend. Hopefully we'll see how cumbersome or clumsy if we do some doubles or triples which is a good problem to have this time of the year. [ Post made via iPhone ]

It was definitely tough fishing this past weekend. They have got to turn on soon and come in closer. Fishing was so good in May June and early July and as if some turned off the switch. Hoping for better results this weekend.

I tend to agree with Rich. I usually run brighter colored spoons on my cheaters and have had excellent success with browns and especially steelhead. I usually stretch my arms open an use the as my leader length and that has been working for me. During the Atomik challenge we stopped running the cheaters because we kept hooking steelhead and it was preventing us from getting into the kings. It was a good problem to have but cheaters will put fish in the box. Hammer spoon and DW Buffalo Bill being 2 of my favorite spoons for steelhead and brown trout. [ Post made via iPhone ]

Sorry to hear that your tournament day was Jon's shakedown cruise as well. Sounds like you fared pretty well despite the issues. I was hoping to run into you at Jon's at some point. He told me he was fishing it with you. I follow your informative posts on this site. I've run into dukdog a time or two as well as others from this site. Usually on blow off days. Take care and best of luck to you the rest of the season.

It was definitely tough fishing this weekend. Got my first skunk of the season on Friday . We were marking good temps and bait off the stack. Just didn't seem to make sense why no hits on the gear. Headed back to the same area Sat. morning tucked in south of the fleet and we started hooking into kings while fishing for browns, which was fun on the lighter tackle. We ended the day 7 for 10 on the day with 4 kings and 3 browns. That made up for Friday. Hopefully the next few weekends will be a lot better.

I have 2 55s for my copper, 2 45s for my salmon rigger rods, 2 30s for my wire line dipseys and 1 20 for one if my brown trout rigger rods and not a single issue with any of them I have a few penn 320s and Okuma magdas which are used in my junk rods and back up or stacker rods. The thing I really like about the Convectors is the over sized handles. I have become used to that when I use another style reel I miss how you can really crank down on it. Especially after a long battle with a king on the copper. I also have two Catalinas that I use one my brown trout rods before the fleas set up. They also have the same style hand but a smoother drag system. You really cant go wrong with a convector reel for the money IMO. good luck to you. [ Post made via iPhone ]

Stop by some of your Marinas and look for used electrics. You'd be surprised at what deals you can get. I had hand cranks for years. They are a real P I A ! I was able to buy 2 used cannon mag 10s for less than it would to but new hand cranks. Check them out, Some people buy somebody else's boat and want to put their own on and they get stuck with them. I would look at that Option first. Just my opinion. Good Luck.

It's not the last. We'll doing it again for sure. Better camera this time around. LOL.

It may. I can easily tell what stinger spoons in my collection work by the lack of paint on them. That's for sure. They catch fish but the paint just doesn't hold up. Damn shame. [ Post made via iPhone ]

Sent you a PM

I have both brands and have success with both. But the 3 flashers I bought this month made by Pro troll with the chrome finish is chipping off. I have to wonder if there was a quality issue with them. My spinnys with chrome finishes have some or no chips in them but that's after a few years of using them.

I just started tying this past winter and have been catching them this year on the flies I tied. It's very satisfying. Most of the manufactures like Big Weenie etc sell the materials online. Biggest one caught this weekend was on one my own. Makes you feel good.

I bought a pig pen 1 and pig pen 2 flasher this weekend and after using them once in the water this past weekend I noticed the chrome is chipping off and this is after I brought it up from the water. I was not running it near the bottom of the lake either. I also bought a Davie Jones version a few weeks ago so I looked that one and it too is chipping but not nearly as bad and we did a few fish on it. Just curious if anyone else noticed this problem.

I sent my membership application back in May and my check was cashed. I have received no correspondence from them. I was a member a few years and got a newsletter occasionally, but I did not even receive that. I'm sure there are a few people on this forum that belong to it. Can you fill me in on what's going on with the organization. I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

We started playing around with videoing at the end of last season. We took this video pre fishing on Friday and during the challenge on Saturday. It was challenging at times due to the placement of the camera and trying to drive and land the fish. We caught a lot of fish both days landing over 30 and losing a 1/2 dozen. Never would have thought we'd end up in 28th place with all the fish we were catching, but it was more of a size thing . We didn't get into any majors until late in the morning Saturday when we trolled farther west. Regardless the 3 of us had a good time fishing . My friend Jeff "Empty Hook " Waner , my son Zach and I. I have a Go pro camera ordered and hopefully the next one we do will be a little better I think I got a little moisture in my camera at one point as you'll see it's a little blurry.

Nice job! After this report, I can't wait to get out on the water on Thursday.

I have the heartlands for brown trout rods, 12-20 and I have Blue Diamond roller dipsey rods which I love but had to get used to. I have the 8'6' roller rods. The only problem is that you have to have them turned at the correct angle if you have the roller rods because the line can get caught between the roller and side of the eyelet and a fish can snap you off. I had it happen but have since learned how to have the rod lay. If you get the regular blue Diamond without the rollers, I would say go for it. I like the bend and action of them. They are discontinuing them this year and redesigning them for the future. On the other hand Heartlands are an all around good rod, whether trolling of downrigging. Just need to add a twilli tip. You can't go wrong with them.

You don't need to fish that deep to get kings now. We did teenagers and a few majors in 140 to 170. 170 FOW off catfish creek was the spot for us. We had rods firing all morning. I share your pain on the waves. It was rough trying to navigate and land fish in that, but were able to do so on Friday and Saturday. It wasn't as fun when it's calm. but was interesting and productive to say the least.

We fished the challenge too. It was a little slow for us with only a few in the box in the first few hours and then once we slipped out to 160 170 FOW it was fast and furious with us culling fish. We ended up going 14 for 17 on the day. Once that sun got high anything chrome and Mtn Dew colored was taking rips. It was a little rough at times fishing with those rollers, but made it fun getting the fish in to the boat. I am still waiting to see where our team ended up. We were far off in points from the number 12 team. Congrats on your win.