Sk8man

I use one on a copper rig and given my nature (don't always trust every gadget that comes out :>) I have used the thing to run the copper out in the backyard and then mark the copper itself in 100 ft. sections with small amount of highly visible red yarn tied and then glued with super glue to the copper so that even if the line counter f's up I still have my backup system I also thought the same thing as Chas while I was doing it....guess fishing nuts think alike

Looks like I took the bait You got me!

They are "old school" spoons and have been used successfully on the Great Lakes and in the Pacific Northwest. They work on Lake Ontario as well but as with any spoon different day different colors and sizes and speeds. They tolerate speed pretty well though so are pretty good for fast trolling. i've had best luck in past with smaller blue and silver one especially for rainbows and lakers in the Finger Lakes., with the medium to larger ones (esp chartreuse and reddish one as well as green/silver) on lake O.

Welcome aboard and best of luck with it! This is a really great site and there is a lot of good information here from a wealth of fishing experience. Enjoy!

The 47's should be OK for 1000 ft. wire and some mono backing and 30 lb wire is by far the best way to go for all the reasons mentioned....especially the fleas. Nothing like not being able to get your line back in (clogged at the tip and early eyes) when you have tons of it out in flea season with a fish on the other end.

Back in the mid 70's I made my own (single) planer boards out of pine, beveled the leading edges and painted them etc. I discovered early on that I needed to do something to keep them upright in the waves so I made sand castings and filled them with thin layers of lead and screwed the result to the bottom of the boards (shaved the lead until they were approximately equal weight and width etc. What I discovered was that they did very well in the waves and held upright but it did not seem to affect their ability to stay out further from the boat.....it may have been different with doubles but that concept (doubles) was just coming about then. My hunch is that it might improve the upright stability of the boards if able to be accomplished done but might not significantly push them horizontal as you desire.

Looking at the name of the poster I'm wondering whether the specific Lake O stuff is important to him....might be from Finland

I'd give the ginger root a try then anything is worth a shot at that point. Make up some tea and be sure to take it BEFORE you go because once the actual sickness starts its too late (probably for anything). Good luck with it and with the fishing.

My original point was aimed at the reliance on all the hype and gadgetry and the forgetting (or failure to learn in some cases) of sport fishing skills - not price comparison of units per se. It is obvious that you are trying to SELL these things for whatever reason and that's great but I was aiming at the any folks out there who are just getting started in this sport and are maybe buzzed out or overwhelmed by the perceived NEED for all the high tech stuff when it truly isn't an absolute necessity to effectively and/or consistently catch fish. To charter folks for example $700 might not be much money and is part of doing business and attracting customers etc. which they NEED to do but for the young dude who is just starting out who is trying to get an informational handle on things here the $700 may be more than his/her entire equipment budget and they may get discouraged thinking they don't have a chance at catching big fish and that is certainly NOT the case. That was my point.....

Regarding the 5.5 trolling motor - ANY trolling motor (or second motor) is better than none at all and I'm sure it will be fine for many trolling situations but you will probably be running the big motor when it is real windy or in "against the wind" situations. The swivel seatat the helm and bench seat on the passenger side sounds like a winner to me ...your neck will appreciate it too I would stay away from the folding chair scenario because they are too unstable on the water ( I know some folks use them though) and the last thing you want is for it to get rough out there and have the chair sliding and tipping over in it. As for the sea sickness it helps to either take Dramamine an hour or two BEFORE going out rather than waiting to do it when it gets rough. One of the best things I've seen used by friends and relatives is GINGER ROOT best as a tea....can drink it hot or cold (before and at the onset) or take the capsules (found in most places they sell vitamins) a couple hours ahead of time (but the tea form seems more effective). This is what charter guys I know in Cape Cod use out in the Atlantic.

I was totally JOKING.....I'm just as crazy....and....my son and I both went through this year (at the the same time too on Honeoye) and got to test out my Arctic Armor suit in 4 ft. of water so my comment wasn't exactly unfounded either

Cool thanks for reminding us.....hope I can make it as it does give a "glimmer" of what is to come in the stream and lake although that warm spell a few weeks ago may have influenced things a bit ...

There are volumes of info written previously here that you can review here on the site to answer almost any question you might have and all it takes is sometime searching,reviewing things and sorting it out. Your question about the "right" rod and reel depends on a bunch of things like what do you intend to run on them for line and lures, running straight off the boards or using dipseys etc. I'm sure most of your concerns have already been answered somewhere here.

My advice would be "Take it slow" (many if not most of the guys here have been doing this stuff for years and it becomes "second nature" and most have a lot experience with their particular boat aside from the equipment)). With that said Dave's advice about taking some time to survey your boat setup is good advice.... and actually sit in it and place your rods and holders where they will work and the downriggers and make sure things don't interfere with each other ( e.g. check clearances). Eyeballing other boat setups from pics or in real time certainly won't hurt either ...we all learn from it. The take one thing at a time ....downriggers first as they will be a mainstay and will pretty much be staying "put". Physically place all your equipment in the holders etc. in a "mockup" on your property somewhere before you get on the water...that's the time to iron things out not on the water and look for potential conflicts and problems with placements. Once you have your boat in order take a close look at what you want to do equipment wise. Think about the species you want to target, considerations relating to the season (e.g trolling in the shallows in the Spring, or chasing steelies and salmon out deep... they are each very different considerations....in other words you will probably not be running your wire rigs or 10 colors of leadcore or magnum dipseys in 6 ft. of water for browns...equipment changes occur with the change of seasons so think it through one season at a time. One of the other things is that I don't see a trolling motor mentioned so will your IO troll down enough for you to use it for everything? Are your current rod holders strong enough to support your wire rigs and leadcore or dipseys? The list could go on and on but my point is you should "make sure your horse is in front of the cart"... get the basics accomplished and the rest will follow more smoothly. That should also help with the identification of other things you may need to get make your system work effectively (both boat-wise and equipment wise). I know full well the excitement of getting a new or different boat and right now I have withdrawal symptoms from trolling for trout and salmon and am itching to get back out there....but it also needs to be done safely as well. You need to be sure of your boat and how it handles out there before making any hard fast conclusions about how your fishing equipment will function. There is a wealth of information on this site about the ins and outs of the fishing equipment, and it can save you a lot of time (YEARS) by taking some time and looking at it closely as many of your questions will be answered by it. Best of luck with things ...I look forward to seeing you out there.

I think it is then too.

Hope the DEC doesn't check IQ's on those guys

It does look cool but I'd carefully check out things beforehand e.g. 13.6 volts and 400 amp burst etc. and how it would operate in your application (marine use) or if would void a warranty if you have one on the motor. I wonder what the difference is in the special charger they offer relative to the amperage your alternator would be putting into the battery. Pretty slick if it would work! The beers may help ease any anxiety :>)

By the way I agree with Rolmops you have made VERY good use of the space you have there......very neat and orderly ...lots of room left for tangled lines and that kind of stuff too

You might be able to get away with placing the small gas tank ON the shelf (bracketed and secured by something like a metal not plastic battery tie down) that could free up the corner space on the floor I had previously mentioned the marine battery starter thing that has multiple uses and which can start up MANY low batteries as well. You could even store iit up in front or under a seat or something. That way you would have emergency start up capability but not be committed to a specific space. I have two of them that I keep for home use as well and I've helped countless people out (cars and boats) with the things. Some even have USB slots to charge your cell phone Here is what I'm talking about (mine is different but same concept) http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=747143&destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fproduct.jsp%3FproductId%3D1191397%26type%3Dproduct%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26searchPath%3D%252Fcatalog%252Fsearch.cmd%253Fform_state%253DsearchForm%2526N%253D0%2526fsch%253Dtrue%2526Ntk%253DAllProducts%2526Ntt%253Dmarine%252Bstarter%252Bbatytery%2526x%253D0%2526y%253D0%2526WTz_l%253DHeader%25253BSearch-All%252BProducts%26Ntt%3Dmarine%2Bstarter%2Bbatytery%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&WTz_l=YMAL%3BIK-524079

Maybe it works after you drop some of your coffee on it around nineish

One of the things to consider battery-wise is that marine batteries are specifically designed to withstand considerably more VIBRATION than conventional car batteries I don't have any experience (or knowledge) regarding motorcycle batteries but where you place another type than a marine one may be a consideration.

I've had 10 of the original 47H's and 2 Great Lakes LC's since the mid 1980's and I have never had a single problem with them (I hope I'm not jinxing myself here :>) I just recently bought SG47LC3b's for wire rigs and I hope these new ones hold up as well as the old models. They took the 1000 ft. of 30 lb wire and mono backing real well The drag is supposed to be the one they use in their heavy duty salt water reels according to the tech rep so I'm holding off on installing the carbon fiber drag washers until see how these work out.

FSNmachine - :smile: :smile: