Sk8man

Question: Were they all caught in the same general area of the lake? I know that often individuals of the same year class are found together "clumped" in the same spots but interesting that this seems those numbers are way outside normal random probability.

The board is supposed stay in place Andy and you take it off on the way in.....kinda clumsy but it works. There is a tension adjustment screw on the tx44 and I suppose it is the same on the tx22. I screw it down pretty good. I use the board with braid and it will slip somewhat without the rubber band approach. I originally tried using the board from another heavy boat rod (like a mast) as a regular planer board (experimenting so I took off the release and used another type on the back of the board but it didn't work....makes the board off balance. I actually prefer my old inline yellow birds for lighter stuff now.

Thanks Ed. I actually saw the fish and it was a really fat and short son of a gun for the weight....very healthy looking fish.

The last I heard a 13 pounder (laker) was leading it but when I checked the paper tonight nothing was mentioned about it....pretty worthless sport section....

You might want to think about using a combination starting/deep cycle battery. The regular deep cycles aren't really designed for starting the engine (high amp short term draw) they are better at running the other stuff over time...

The only thing that is worse is being ALLERGIC to the cotton ....that's me! At least I can still breath with the fleas

We're ALL learning here ...no matter how long we've been at it. The way to keep learning is to ask questions....and experiment. That's what it is all about ...having fun and experimenting. Sounds as though you have a good plan...Good luck and tight lines!

I guess first of all leadcore has its place in the "arsenal" but it is a rather limited window of opportunity these days because of the fleas (and cotton). During the height of the flea season it becomes virtually unusable in most places after early and mid Spring. After the water cools in the Fall it becomes practical once again to use it once the fleas aren't actively present. My suggestion to use wire was based on this fact together with the fact that wire is more flexible in its use to achieve depth. I've used mine with dipseys, cowbells, dodgers, flashers, Spin Docs etc. You have to adjust your setups accordingly (e.g. with cowbells I attach a three way swivel with a fairly heavy sinker at the bottom and fish the bottom in 100-150 ft or so for lakers). I don't run it with boards though although I could set it up for that as well but risk of kinking is there to a degree. If you are stuck on leadcore I would suggest using inline weights to achieve greater depth or dive bombers etc. to get down a bit further but leadcore is not really DESIGNED for real deep water fishing or bottom fishing it is basically a way to "topline" a little deeper than surface fishing. Also there aren't many reels other than expensive saltwater jobs that would have the capacity for 20 colors...

Man...that"s terrible. Do they have decent lighting there at night? They probably should put up some video cams with signs to indicate it.

It makes sense that it bellies out at a point where the weight of the line is overcome by the resistance and the larger the diameter you use the sooner this would occur ...copper wire does it also. The simple solution is to add weight and experiment with it. The other thing is just how long do you think it would take to reel in a decent fish with 20 colors out (you'll have popeye arms afterward)? An even more productive solution would be to switch it over to 30 pound 7strand wire or the newer 19 strand wire....much better control over depth and your presentation as well as the substantial benefit of avoiding the full impact of (coming soon to a place near you) FLEAS. Good luck.

I make mine the length of the rod I'm using usually 8-8 1/2 ft.

I think that opinion is dead on target Andy.

If it were me (and I didn't have many rods...which is not the case and its why my boat is called the white porqupine) I'd opt for 30 lb. stranded wire.....most of the braid will catch the fleas very shortly.

I never use the down button on my Cannons... just a waste of juice.... I feel that I have more control by just using the drag knob to control them. Not sure what the setup is on a Big John having not used one in about a million years (a buddy used to have them on his boat). It takes both hands to do (one thumb on the reel and the other on the drag to lower) but I never even think about the down button after all these years .

Yeah ....wouldn't "Life at the Launch Ramp" make a great reality show?

Good report....at least you got out there. I just got my boat back from the shop ($400 lighter in my wallet) but too late to fish or to get it ready for the derby here on Canandaigua tomorrow. Just glad to have my main motor functioning again....and to be in one piece after the Seneca fiasco last weekend . Not a great derby year for us....