markmonkey1

If you're near Erie, Pa - Conneautville Canvas makes them- good quality and price. They are an Amish upholstery/boat cover shop.

That is great! I love the Black's releases for my riggers, definitely gonna add like pictured to my planer lines. That will solve my problems! thanks!

We have big boards and a mast but don't use very often since they are a pain to deploy. Should we just get better using these or are the small online boards better and easier?

Also, our releases don't hold heavy drag gear (e.g. spin doctor), for those using big boards what is your preferred release? If we stick with the big boards, can add a rubber band to hold the line I suppose

We recently added a copper line to our arsenal, first time using it we flatlined straight out the back and between the currents and our (wide) turns, we ended up with a jumbled mess with our dipsys...

How do you run your copper lines? One on each side off big planer boards? What release do you use or how to attach to planer line (since a flasher would have some drag). I imagine you're attaching the backing (dacron?) to the release? Are small online boards preferred?

Any advice on running copper is greatly appreciated.

Nice fish, we were up Sat (Olcott) and only 1 small king and 1 nice steelhead in 400fow out from power plant. Those east winds made it rough and tough.

I'm not real familiar with copper. Maybe I should post in questions area...but...

How do you run your copper? One 300 and one 400 on each side off planer boards? What release do you use or how to attach to planer line (since the flashers would have some drag). I imagine you're attaching the backing (dacron?) to the release? Any copper help/advice greatly appreciated.

---We ran 1 copper straight out the back and when the crazy underwater currents caused a major mess with our dipsys we put it away.

the Dacron splice may be so it can be ran behind big planer boards, this is so the release clip has something to grip. You would use torpedoes or stickbaits. I wouldn't splice if using with dipsys.

Just an option if you want to avoid trimming your plate so it stays good for walleye fishing...can try a drift sock and just keep the plate up.

If it's just for speed---a basic window mount car GPS should work--they are usually touch screen with suction cup mount and pretty easy to use. (Not waterproof though)

These are pretty common, you or a buddy may already have one of these to try out.

I use Perko clamp on rod holders and have no complaints whatsoever. My boat's rail extends almost to the stern so they were a perfect fit for me. The angle adjusts so they can be leveled out depending on the angle of your rail. I use them for exclusively for dipsys.

They are like these:

http://m.ebay.com/itm/191592031952?nav=SEARCH

Yes, slider is just 4-6ft of mono with a swivel attached to both ends. I use a larger swivel on the end that attaches to main line (easier to handle) and a smaller swivel at the spoon end. This is an easy way to cover more of the water column and doesn't add any more rods. I always use them if running a clean spoon. Always.

I'd try to pick up 2 more mono rods for 7 total... ***I travel 4 hrs to fish Olcott so I like to have spare equipment---a rod breaks or a reel gets tangled & you lose half your line---that can make tough a potentially great trip!!!

Contrary to many folk's philosophy---I like to put as many lines in the water as possible---then again I do enjoy the tangled mess that occasionally goes with it!!!

Releases---I like Blacks.

Balls---I'd stick with 8# if using manual riggers. You just have more blowback to deal with. (Watch your graph to see actual ball depth)

Setup-if possible on your boat I'd eventually add 3 more rod holders--1 on each side and 1 in the center back. This would allow the option of 2 dipsys each side, 1 rigger each back corner, and lead core down the middle. Then again, like I say-I do like that occasional tangled mess! . You don't have to run them all but you'll have the option once you get comfortable.

On the riggers --if you're running clean spoons (no flasher), consider adding sliders--this is a 4/6ft leader that clips on the fishing line with a spoon---it will slide to the bow in your fishing line (approx. half way down to rigger depth.). If a fish hits it, it will slide and catch on the other lure.

*** IMPORTANT---use good swivels---I like ball bearing sampo brand. A big fish will find the weakest link in your setup...and if you have a $15 dipsy followed by a $7 spoon, a $3 swivel is a small price to pay for added insurance that your $22 worth of gear stays attached.

Sorry for that long winded response...this site has been so helpful to me over the years. It's good to give back!

Have fun on the water and stay safe!

Markmonkey

I use palomar for braid and improved cinch for mono.

Where to get the heat shrink? Is that a fishing supply store item or a hardware store item?

My copper line is fraying (a few broken strands) a few hundred feet into the reel. Is it ok to cut this bad section out and splice back together?

Haywire twist knot for this?

For comparison, here are charts that came with the dipsy divers. (Magnums aren't on this chart.)

I keep laminated 8.5x11 copy on my boat for quick reference.

I normally do my trout fishing out of Olcott- does the 100-13 fow guideline apply there?

This past weekend, we were fishing for kings in 400-500 fow and our bite was slow...we stuck it out. Just to give the friends with us some action, think I should have went for the laker bite? Are they that reliable?

On my buddy's boat, the fridge and plugs work only when plugged into power at dock. No power to these when running under engine power. Is this normal? Bad power inverter? (How do we test it?). Anything else we should look at?

I don't want to wire directly to battery; when we're at dock and plugged in, I want the ship-to-shore power to run them. Will try wiring to fuse block behind dash. Thanks.

While running on engine power, my friend's boat tripped the main breaker (red push button at engine) minutes after turning on a set of halogen lights, installed by previous owner. everything shut down, including engine. (Not a good feeling 8 miles offshore in the dark!). The halogen lights work fine when we're plugged in at dock.

What would cause this trip? Bad wiring? Need bigger alternator? Where should we start looking to correct? Thanks!

What do you like?

I heard the Scotty retrievers can wear coated rigger cable (I.e. depth raider coating).

Any others I should look at? I am done almost falling into the drink reaching out for the weights!!!

I'm planning to fish Olcott starting on Thursday, I'm hearing that temps are all over the place.

If this is true, how important is the depth raider? Or should I just focus on finding bait pods?

Reelpower, PM back at ya.

Reelpower and grandslam---I'll be up Thur-Sunday out of Olcott if you want to share notes on the water. Sounds like it might be tough with temps...

Markmonkey on 68 or 72.

Good luck.

I like use idea of attaching to inside of hatches, but my hatches don't open fully with my rigger board...I'm thinking lobster sheets on the side walls.

Copy on my phone too as backup

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Btw, the HDS can be bought w/o xducer, or standard with 83/200 kHz, and the 50/200 kHz was a $50 upgrade last I checked.