TyeeTanic

You can, but often times the riggers and wire divers work better ... so guys are focusing on those setups. The ACTUAL strategy is to create a pattern that draws the fish into the riggers (due to ball turbulence), if they don't take the rigger lines, they drop back and have a look at the diver lines, if they don't take that, they have a look at the copper lines further back (and stealthier). For walleye what depth are you normally targeting? I think guys get worried when they have 300 ft and 400 ft copper lines out on the boards ... we already see enough tangles (one is more than enough) with just two lines out, especially when a king takes it, and sweeps across from port to starboard (or vice versa). Can create one big mess really fast.

20 ft down for 100 ft out ... so 300 ft is getting you 60 ft down. You'll be running 2.2 to 2.8 mph ... the depth above is achieved more in the 2.2 to 2.5 mph range. Terminal tackle also impacts depth, a large paddle and meat rig will create more drag than say a clean spoon, and more drag "lifts" the line up so you lose depth. Anyhow, I'd say if you stick to 2.5 mph, you'll be in the 50 ft to 60 ft range with 300 ft of copper.

I assume you've run an 8 rod spread before? It's one thing having the equipment, and another having the experience to deploy and retrieve and not end up spending half your day untangling lines. Assuming you have done this before ... for sure 2 downriggers, probably a cheater on one of them (to target steelhead), 4 dipseys wire divers, and 2 off the boards one on each side of the boat (depending on where the 42F to 48F depth is, it'll be either leadcore for shallower depths, and copper for deeper). If you haven't done 8 before, I'd probably cut 2 wire dipseys from the stage.

Depends on how well you put the wire on .... it should be tight as heck, otherwise you will have problems with misalignment of your wire guide and where it sits on the reel afterwards. Some guys put on the backing line and wire .... then go out with a big board on the line (no lure/hooks), let it all out, then reel it back in. Gets rid of line twist and also gets that wire back on tight. When I filled up a size 30 reel (or Oukuma 600) ... we had some braid backing, kind of enough to cover the entire base of the spool (maybe 1/8" deep), and after that, wire went on and filled it perfectly to the top.

I wish I had the money to buy the right stuff at the beginning, instead of the wrong stuff 3 x over, before I spend the money anyhow and buy the right stuff.

Sorry for your loss. No one can take away your good memories.

I put some electrical tape. Basically tie the braid around the spool once, make a knot, then apply one turn of electrical tape. You don't need many revolutions after that for the braid to bite down on itself and prevent spinning.

I used mono once to back ... led to creep ... basically the mono stretches with enough wire out, then the wire position and guide end up not aligned, and you saw a hole through the line guide, plus puts a lot of stress on everything, sometimes it just stops coming out, if it gets bad enough. For this reason, I would suggest using braid backing ... it doesn't stretch, this way the way (position) it went on the reel, always stays aligned with the line guide. I don't recall having to put that much on though ... maybe 200' of braid ... I normally just made sure there was a good bed of braid on the spool, to cover the base completely. With that much on a size 30 reel, the spool was definitely full with 1000' on ... in some cases, too full (but that I might blame on not putting the wire on tight enough ... which is another problem you need to deal with ... keep that wire tight when spooling!),

Nothing more to be said. I think overall fluoro is the better choice, and I try and keep it simple and stick with that.

Don't get Magda ... they are crap ... too much plastic. You will regret it, throw them away, and buy something a little better that will last, and in the end it will just cost you MORE money ... you won't save anything with magda reels. I'd much sooner spend a few more $ and get Okuma Convector Reels.

Wooden poles? Or have they changed that? I snapped 2 Eagle Claws after 1 year of use, one on a laker, another on a big king. Snapped right above the first eyelet. I swore I'd never buy Eagle Claws again after that.

Wire cuts through fleas that show up in drobes in July. Braid will become a mess if you go through the fleas. That's really the main reason people choose wire over braid. Some also say wire has a better sink rate because of its density, which I do buy the argument on.