Sk8man

Tim is right no sense jumping to conclusions a lot of times the stuff just represents more dope to these losers and they just fence the stuff.

I skirted the problem as I too am a bit superstitious. I never actually put a printed name on my boat and maintained the name of my previous boat which was named White Porcupine by a buddy busting my balls about all the rods sticking up

Just buy a sheet of the blue colored styrofoam insulation (e.g. Lowes) the same thickness and cut them to size.

You didn't offer her enough money for a bribe Ed

A year or two ago I tried the recommended stuff on my TX 44's (bending the tow arm etc.) and it sucked and I didn't think it did anything to improve the way the boards worked so I returned to the standard setup and tried slight adjustments on the weights themselves and got them to work pretty well but I don't release the boards with the releases either I manually release them on the way in and crank the screws down very tight (carefully) and set the line way back as far as it will go so it doesn't release. I think it takes some experimenting with different weight positions on the Walleye boards specifically for what you are running to get it right.

You guys bring up some really good ideas. The Veteran's Cemetary is right near by and Sampson served as both a Naval and Air Force training base in the past and currently houses the military museum what better place to hold the derby honoring veterans.... I sure hope something can be worked out but the major concern I have is in knowing how the state bureaucracy works it may take major coaxing to bring anything about especially in a timely manner and they always worry about liability issues, and fending off any expenses etc. The fact that it is a private enterprise operating out of a public facility will be a factor as well. You'd think Geneva and the Chamber would be stepping up to the plate too in this as it brings in quite a bit of $$ directly into the city itself and since it is already an existing function and they have the place already identified for the awards ceremony etc.it would be a "no brainer" to take over the administrative functions.

They will be running close together so I'd add some weight even a few large split shot about 4 or 5 ft up from the lure on the leader to the 4 color to make it a 5 and as said put some more lead line between them.

Thanks Jason.

Yeah Bob and how about when you were handlining those 40 lb kings on the Seth Greens with the 12 ft. waves running solo....don't leave out that part.

i missed the 1964-67 derbies while in the military overseas and a couple while in graduate school in the early 70's but have fished over 45 of them so it has become sort of like the "Olympics" to my son and I and I sure hope this isn't the end....especially since we have yet to win it Aside from the obvious economic input to the area the derby has been a real family building experience for a lot of us including camping out at Sampson for years, joking with the weigh-in staff, eating hotdogs, and sausages at the stands, ogling the fish in the coolers that we wish we had caught etc. It is an important Finger Lakes area tradition that we share and need to maintain somehow.

Great tip Jim Thanks.

Colin is a good guy and has worked hard to keep the derby going for a long time and at his age most folks would have given up long ago. He deserves a lot of credit. I think one of the factors involved behind the scenes is the total lack of support from the Geneva Chamber of Commerce. They are all absorbed in their glamorous building and attracting out of town people to the wineries etc. and have pretty much totally ignored the derby and haven't even supported by letting folks use the restrooms during the derby to my knowledge. I think Colin may have tired trying to deal with them. Speculation on my part not hard data.

The whole invisibility thing in my view is probably marketing hype. I do use fluoro but because it is abrasion resistant and a little stiffer and I believe it may give slightly better action to the lure. I also believe in having a bit of stretch in the line for some applications (e.g. in the case of flies) because of the instantaneous shock from kings or large fish hitting them and mono tends to be stronger at the knot at least in my experience so I tie my own flies with 50 lb. Big Game. Fluoro is more brittle and quite stiff in cold weather too and I feel that knot strength suffers there the most and that mono performs better in most cases in the cold for things like Seth Green leaders but in summer months I use fluoro. Everyone has there own take on it based on their own successes and failures so it is mainly a personal preference issue in the end.

Nice going Joe and crew....not the easiest of conditions or lake for silvers for that matter.

When the board dives point the rod tip downward towards the board and reel quickly . I've found that reeling them in fast right from the start usually prevents the diving.

It could even happen with the boat going back on the trailer wrong or even a stone in the road hitting it. They can be pretty fragile if directly struck by something. Good luck with it.

Congrats on the 3rd place finish and thanks for the report. I was wondering how things went. Congrats also to Joe as those other guys are a tough bunch of competitors

I believe the short answer is "yes you do need the same transducer" (or one with the same configuration) to effectively achieve the intended results. This could however be either a thru hull or transom mounted type. This is to get the most from your unit (e.g. DI or SI etc.)There may be other manufacturers (e.g. Airmar) that make a compatible one too. It may still be possible to use the unit with a standard (non-SI) but matched transducer but you won't get the special features out of it. I'm not a Humminbird guy though so this may be different than the Lowrance units that I am familiar with.

Is it always a great idea to hook both motors to the same gas line.....maybe not. I keep mine separate for a reason: if something happens to the fuel line itself or contaminates the gas etc. you're screwed and when these things happen it seems as though it is usually at a time of vulnerability (e.g. storm coming and you're miles out etc.). I know it can be a pain refilling a kicker motor gas tank but the chances of both motors going out on two separate lines is much more remote than if both are tied to the one source. Just food for thought.

Good luck with it. Sounds as though it is a "fixable" issue anyway.

Did you check closely to make sure it wasn't the same one coming back time and again?

I think you will be a very happy camper Dave

Allthough there could be a number of possibilities a couple things come to mind. The fact that you lose sight oof the downrigger when this happens suggests that it may be transducer related and it may be going out of the cone angle. Check to see that there isn't a crack or break in the transducer cord especially at the point it enters the transducer. I know you previously had a Lowrance transducer in the spot but was it exactly the same shape and size transducer? I would double check the positioning of the transducer following exactly Lowrance's specs relating it to your hull scenario....the face of the transducer should be parallel with the ground not your hull shape itself e.g. curvature). Usually electrical interference will present as dots or clusters of them rather than vertical lines so I'm thinking it has more to do with the transducer situation itself. If it does turn out to be electrical in nature using suppressor type spark plugs may help if you don't already have them. You also might want to check to see that your power wire for the unit is routed away from other wires to avoid cross feed from other nearby wires that may be vibrating or moving as you bounce. Just a few thoughts of the top of my head I'm no electronics wizard