Sk8man

Good going Brian I was also encouraged to hear that they were into smelt. Congrats also on the success of your new business venture....well deserved

I've haven't had any problems whatsoever thus far (couple seasons) with mine sr1. Sounds as though you may have a loose connection or broken wire perhaps in the power connector and maybe vibrations within the boat are causing it to fail intermittently?. Have you updated to the most recent software update? http://www.lowrance.com/en-US/Software-Updates/Elite-40/ Hey Ed those browns on Seneca must be shaking about now knowing you're getting ready for action on the west side

Good going Kevin. I saw some of the guys around here today and they weren't doing much on the crappies either and they didn't last long at the usual spots before they gave up

Sweet boat John. I guess it has been worth the wait and all the looking around Best of luck with the boat and the derby bud.

Thanks Mike and John and Mark.....I'm selling boat ride tickets to the Lost City if you're interested Good one!

I use both Mike and the 83 picks up downriggers a little better with the wider cone angle too, but it was on 200 from last time out and I left it as I was fishing shallow all morning not all that much difference on mine unless I'm fishing real deep water

:lol: Good one Kev. Yeah I'd like to get out down there before the derby myself. unfortunately I have other obligations Saturday (funeral) but I'll be interested on how you make out there. Good luck.

and I agree with you about learning from each other.

jrs1986 I wasn't trying to be a smart azz.....and whatever works for you is what you go with but Rick fishes a little more intensively and extensively than most of the rest of us and he knows what he is talking about. Any time you introduce another factor into the equation it can be just another "complication" and potential "risk" factor just like every knot or connection that is introduced in our lines. Neither of us was criticizing your use of the Offshores.

Keeping things as simple as possible is usually the best strategy in most things in life and fishing in particular.

Mike I agree on the Elite. I've been happy with it. The water/weather conditions wre near perfect in the AM and I figured I'd score some rainbows but wasn't in the cards That odd pic was even stranger and more square looking before I snapped the photo of it pretty unusual.

As usual....good advice

I wanted to get some more time in on the new kicker so I launched from Woodville this AM seeking browns and rainbows. I tried the usual setups for over 3 hours without a touch as none of the conventional stuff worked (e.g. downriggers, boards with cores and copper so about 11 AM I switched to a couple 5 leader Seth Greens and first a 5 color core then a 10 color, then a 275 copper down the chute and switched them out nothing on them but I connected with 2 browns a 22 1/2 inch and a 21 inch on the Seth Greens. Down about 70 ft over 145 and 167 respectively. One hit a black magnum NK of all things tried just for the heck of it and the other took a Great Lakes 44. No rainbows and no other hits. I marked some masses of bait down deep near bottom intermittently in 140 's and 170's and then some real good pods in closer in 84 and 102 ft. I pulled right through a bunch of fish sitting above the bait but couldn't get them to budge. I'm still trying to figure out bait pic 3 and all I can think of s that I was at the far outside edge of the cone when it marked the bait which didn't mark some of the interior of the pod so it appeared as a "square" shaped form inside the outside edge which appeared as a big arch. Browns released unharmed.

You can fish them directly behind a downrigger up short towards the weight or they can be fished from a dedicated rod . I most often run them off roller tip wire rods with a three way swivel with a 2 lb weight suspended from the bottom part of the swivel about 20-24 inches (20 lb test so if hang up you lose just the sinker). They are most effective run about 1.4-1.8 mph just off bottom or intermittently touching bottom with the sinker. They need to be carefully run this way with downriggers constanlty monitoring bottom contour and speed. Cowbells run this way are very effective for lakers.

If you have any recessed rod holders in the gunwales you could use gimbal mounts and be able to easily take the riggers on and off after use