Sk8man

You are not alone wondering.....two buddy's in different boats and days (yesterday and today) skunked and didn't see much worth mentioning. Yesterday he fished 13 hours without a hit and tried everything under the sun and his friend came all the way from Tennessee to fish for the kings..

I believe the EZ Steer usually has a sticker on it that says it is factory adjusted (tension) so I'd be cautious about changing that. Sounds as though it may be binding up from the angle from bracket to motor (e.g. perhaps tilted too steep?)

I don't know the name of that particular spoon but the blank itself looks just like a generic spoon blank that used to be sold by Netcraft so if you come up dry you may be able to get the blanks somewhere and paint your own. i used to both tape and paint them. The action will be the same and that is what is critical. I believe they came in a couple or more sizes including magnums

Some folks think that lake fishing and current conditions are like stream fishing where fish often orient toward the flowing current and i believe it is a mistake to look at the operation of underwater current the same way in both situations. Most salmon and trout actively feed by foraging and traveling about looking for bait which may or not be anywhere near the path of the current. Underwater current in the lakes can be running in different directions at once with cross currents and up and down in the water column where it is not as contained as in a stream. In places in lakes where points occur with currents rounding them, and the mouths of streams where currents flow into the lake there may be more similarity. I know some folks like to troll with the current but most of the time this may be of little value because it adversely affects the action and way lures run; especially spoons (kills a lot of the action). In strong detectable current going against and across or on diagonals to current may provide the best lure action. You may however have to adjust boat speeds accordingly. It is a good idea to see how a lure is running at the side of the boat before deploying but the underwater current can greatly change this action and you may need to slow your speed a little in some cases.

Bad board?

As you can already see from just these responses Mark specific expectations vary considerably from person to person. One of the prime factors is the level of experience of the customer and perceptive captains can usually sort this out rather quickly.. Servicing the public in any manner requires some "people skills" and patience. The charter trip is a two way street regarding respect: the customer has the responsibility of maintaining decorum such as not drinking too much beforehand and puking all over the nice clean boat, dropping a rod in the water, or allowing kids to run all over the boat grabbing equipment etc. The captain has multiple responsibilities to balance, tries to insure the customers have a good time but also being patient with inexperienced folks and kids and offering tactful guidance, answering questions that might just seem obvious, tactfully delaying answering while busy rigging or navigating, and not assuming that customers must already know how to handle the equipment no matter how obvious it may seem. Many Americans seem to think that more is always better and this can occur with fishing too, but I think most folks want to mainly enjoy the experience and the anticipation of the strike and bringing in a fish despite the captains concerns about productivity. I have been on multiple charters on both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and whether I came home with a bunch of fish was always secondary to whether I had fun, whether the captain or crew was congenial and whether I learned something from the experience or not. Sometimes the customer has to break the ice with the captain but often it should be the other way and the customer made to feel comfortable regardless of experience. Back in the eighties I had such a charter on Cape Cod. The captain was a shaggy bearded salty guy with a real no nonsense approach and he and the mate did everything while fishing for stripers and blues with light lines and equipment. He acted as though we were kids or something until I chatted a bit with him and discovered he was a Vietnam Vet. Once I indicated that I too was a vet during that same period he perked up a bit, and then when I started mentioning some previous fishing experiences, and that I salmon fished on Lake O etc. he warmed up even more. After a short time, I was manning some rods and making adjustments etc. fully accepted, I went on repeated charters with him, and we are still friends to this day. The moral of the story is: personal relationships are a two way street no matter what the nature of them. Trying to get to know someone a bit better through conversation whether captain or customer has its benefits to each party. An impatient captain reluctant to converse or answer questions (no matter how simple they may sound) or shift gears in assumptions, may not have a repeat customer. A disrespectful and annoying customer may not feel as though he/she had a good time either. In short, the personal experience aspect may play a larger role than the specific numbers of fish caught. ( I guess I should add it isn't true for everyone however)

Getting an X4D makes all the sense in the world. If it is the money involved save up for it. You can always transfer it to a bigger boat. Spending the significant amount of cash on the X2 now and then deciding later you want the advantages of the X4D is what makes a lot less sense.

I prefer the chute approach but sometimes when other folks on board have ten color leadcores out it becomes quite necessary right Bob?

I stick to a 300 copper and run it off the inline first and then if nothing that way run it down the chute. The action is different each way and sometimes the fish will respond to one way and not the other. It is a good idea to pull it if a big king or particularly active king is on another rod (e.g. especially if they are doing the usual sideways stuff heading toward the surface) One of the common tangle problems occurs when a dipsy is triggered either by a fish or just by hand and folks forget that with 300 ft out on the dipsy when coming back up it is out that far. Another is when on a turn a dipsy even ever so slight that is out goes sideways and the trajectory (angle downward) of the dipsy and copper coincide.

Yes and the couple of huge sewage spills from the treatment plant coming down the Keuka Outlet hasn't helped either