Sk8man

I don't think anyone would part with Suttons for $2.00 Ray and that is the reason I didn't "guesstimate" their worth because it comes down to whatever someone is willing to pay for them just like most other things these days.....and nearly everything has increased in price in 30 years

I guess it boils down to whether you feel like laying out the $$ for a reel that will fully do the job regardless of what length of copper you decide to use with the amount of backing you feel comfortable with. The 50 series reels are the way to go whether Okuma or Daiwa or others and their drags tend to be "beefier" if you decide to go that route and if affordable you'd be well off to buy a pre-rigged setup by Bloodrun or Atomic etc.. The original question was whether the 47 LC would "work" as a copper setup with what you have.

Hard to put an exact price on them as they are used spoons and four of them are spoons for jerking copper (fixed hooks not on rings) not trolling but I can tell you that Sutton spoons are ALL good spoons and some of that is related to the real silver finish as well as the thin material they are made from which gives a superb fluttering action. From the looks of things recently they may soon become a thing of the past so if you can buy them at a reasonable price (i.e.one that you can afford) I'd jump on them. I have had literally hundreds of them over the years and still have probably 150 left and they are "golden". I'd give up any of my other spoons before parting with them. The 22 is close to the shape but a little larger than the 44 and works about as well. The West River is a little heavier and not a "flutter" spoon and works well from a downrigger or a top line or trolled from leadcore or copper by itself. Also be aware that where the finish may be messed up a bit you can still use reflective tape very successfully with them to "jazz" them up and they work fine. They are especially effectiveon the Finger Lakes where they were designed for and although they work on Lake O they are not real sturdy for large kings. All but the very smallest (e.g. #8 etc.) I have changed the hooks to stainless Siwash single hooks by cutting off the HOOK not the solid ring on the spoons. Most of the spoons work best at relatively slower speeds (e.g. 2 mph or less) but the smallest ones can tolerate higher speeds.

Brian is right about running off boards....I don't run my short coppers off boards. I wish you could have taken a pic of Keith's face when he nearly reached the end of the line with that king

They (Daiwa 47LC's) will work but it is desirable to get the drag upgraded to the carbon fiber ones (Dragmasters) before you set them up. I would also suggest using 32lb copper rather than the 45 lb if you wish to go to 300 ft or better on them. I'd use a short section of mono on the reel spool first (to avoid braid slippage) and then braid backing before the copper. I have one for a 250 copper and one for a 275 of 45 lb. copper. I know many guys on here want all the backing they can get on a high capacity (and more expensive) reels so in terms of that it is not the "ultimate" setup but it does work for short coppers. You can get about 150 yds of 50 lb Power Pro backing on with each of those coppers which again is not "optimal" but think of it in terms of being one and a half times the length of a football field and you can always chase down really big fish with a boat if you worry about getting "spooled" In all the fishing I have done fresh or salt water I have never been spooled. To get deeper I use weights rather than more length of copper as it helps to limit reeling and increases chances of getting in releasable fish quicker than using say a 500 or 600 ft copper. You won't be "horsing" any big kings on those reels though

Yeah he's easy to recognize by the happy look on his face and those eyes....nothing like butterflies to bring out the best in ya....to say nothing of the great net practice

Poor Nick..... first he loses his favorite net, then he gets busted mercilessly by his fellow southenders and worst of all he spent all his money on all those rod holders so he can't get a new one Life just isn't fair!

Nice work Mike Congrats on the win! Man the female bow looked really healthy and must have chowed down pretty good

I wouldn't feel too bad about the skunk Mike. You're both real good at the game and work well together....that lake has always been an "on and off" lake for me. I love fishing it but when I do I mostly go with thermocline rigs to increase the odds a bit. Also throw into the mix that it is June and I know a lot of the guys I know are even having trouble on Seneca and Lake O seems to be screwed up (temps etc.) right now. Once the thermocline sets up it should be "game on". The water temp on Canandaigua ran about 62-63 on average today and I'm wondering if we have some real warm weather that the fleas may end up being ahead of schedule this season...and that wouldn't be real great. I didn't hear anything about the brown situation

I usually send down the slider after I let my weight and main lure down about 15 ft or so. The slider lure often slides upward at the speeds I go. I don't usually use sliders in less than 30-40 ft of water. I just leave them wherever they are when I raise my weight up. They make the adjustment on their own and usually don't need to be reset.

Definitely one of the toughest and least productive derbies I've ever fished and a minor nightmare going solo. My daughter in law hit a deer with her car the day before so my son had to deal with that so even though registered he couldn't fish. The wind was brutal both days so both speed and direction were problematic. The fish and bait were VERY scattered and the ones marked would not hit despite changing lures and rigs what seemed like a million times. I only scored two fish - both lakers one about five and the other 6 lbs. (both released unharmed). Like Bob I fished 12 hrs (or more) on Saturday and 7 on Sunday. The only spoon that worked in the whole arsenal was a Great Lakes spoon (see pic) and I lost it shortly after the pic because the wind blew it out of my hand when changing. I did have some rather interesting screens on the depth finder though and I'll include them for you screen jockeys to scope out. One of them was real interesting....the one where I sent my spinney down and it was picked up by the transducer twirling around....pretty good example of the turbulence they create in the water . You can see from the speeds the effects of the wind and wave action on my speed and surface clutter etc. I won't go into the launch ramp fiasco that awaited me on Sunday afternoon, or the drawbacks to running three 5 leader rigs solo in heavy winds