guffins fisherman

Very warm and slow fall out of Stony and Henderson. Boats have been going far off shore to find better temps with intermittent results. The staged kings in the trench have been there for over a month and will not move.

I would recommend 50-60 hours if you are really concerned about the longevity of your motor. I would also recommend straight 30, or 40 weight oils. They are considered industrial weight oils and still have zinc in them.

In my experiwnce, rod holders on the gunwhale work much better than trees with big boards.

When I had Cannon riggers, I too didn’t care for the snap on the retrieve shut off. I put snubbers(Amish maybe?) on? They added so much blow back, I had no idea where my baits were at and I didn’t like having all that extra crap in the water. I sold the whole lot and moved on to a whole different set up. Snubbers work, but have their own challenges.

Several years ago I tried 65# braid on my divers due to it playing nicely with my mono rigger rods when they get into each other from a wild salmon. Does it collect fleas? Yes, but not any worse than wire when the fleas are bad. I collect the fleas in a loop and pull them off just like wire. Some days I wonder if I am missing wire. Some days I can’t keep the braid divers in the water, so I just keep on rolling.

Was it recently you found this out? Maybe this is a new policy for them. My Shamrock is 41 this year and is still insured as a charter boat by GEICO/BoatUS and has been for five years.

Awesome. I should ask again.

If you are looking for a dedicated fishing platform, inboards are the way to go. Once you cross into the upper 20's and longer, it will be difficult to find, and expensive to own an outboard powered boat. You will likely have twin powerplants. Repowering, if needed will cost more than the boat is likely worth. For a dedicated fishing platform, the outboards will be in the way netting fish, etc. and likely not any more efficient than a well-tuned inboard. Even if you do use more fuel with inboards, it will take years to offset the cost of the twin outboard powered boat anyway. If you ever had to repower, fuhget about it. A rebuilt Chevy 350 is pennies compared to a modern outboard of the same HP rating. With that said, do the looks of a 28 SteigerCraft intrigue me? Oh yeah. The problem is, to find a used one for a reasonable price, it has likely been in salt. I know people say they wash down and flush after every use, but still. There will be corrosion and rust somewhere that a freshwater boat does not have. There again, an inboard that has been in salt will likely be freshwater cooled, alleviating some of those worries. I have fished extensively on a single IO boat and hated it. The dog house for one, all the weight in the stern of the boat for two, and the maintenance hungry outdrive for three. Never again. I never had an issue with fish, or fishing gear getting into the drive, but I'm sure it happens. I currently run a 26 Shamrock Cuddy and am happy with it as a dedicated fishing platform. Steady in the slop, single SBC ease of maintenance and power, straight inboard Borg Warner transmission, open deck with a clean transom, keel drive protected running gear, paid for. Would I move to something else if the right deal came along? Yes, but it would have to check a lot of boxes. A lot.

X3. Been with this policy for five years. I also have a disappearing deductible, so the premium goes down a little each year. The only issue I can see, is the amount of liability they are willing to offer. I have asked several times for $1m. They won’t do it. Only $750k. To cover myself further, I formed an LLC. The boat and gear are owned by the LLC. I have been told by several of my financial friends that an umbrella policy would be a good idea too.

A pic would tell 1000 words. Losing bottom at higher speeds is not uncommon, especially if your transducer is on the transom. Sometimes an easy fix, sometimes not.

Rigger down the chute if you can. Dipsys set on the sides at different rates of dive. Deepest dipsy closest to the boat.

I don’t think it makes a bit of difference for trolling purposes. However, it is helpful to choose a paint that contrasts your barrier coat so you can tell when it is getting thin and needs to be reapplied.

FWIW, I fish frequently on a 21' aluminum G3 with a 150 Yamaha 4 stroke, no kicker. We put a bag out on each side and troll along at whatever speed we want for hours. Been doing it for years. The Yamaha is serviced by the dealer yearly, and is showing no signs of excess wear and tear. We have talked about putting a kicker on that boat a few times, and the owner can't justify the cost of it and doesn't like the idea of trying to net a fish around another motor on the back of the boat.

I was at the wheel and heard it start to rumble and act weird, and then start slapping the hull. Mind you, this was all at 2.2 knots. I hit neutral quick and knew what happened. I tried to reverse it out, and that was useless and shut her down. I carry a good mask just in case. I think it took me longer to decide I was going in, than it did to actually unwrap it. Quick action on the gear shift and the mask were key.

Put it this way, I had one of my tow lines break, and sucked the Amish bag into my straight inboard prop. I got the boat into neutral fairly quick, swam under the boat and unwrapped it. Didn’t even rip, cut or crease the bag. Tough as hell, pull like mad.

I bought a used X4D from the classifieds on this forum a couple years ago. It hasn’t ever worked right. I have tried everything short of sending the probe back. Finally I just gave up on the whole thing part way through this season. Lo and behold, my catch rate went up. I think that is due to just paying better attention to my rigs and fishing my program by using common sense and what I am seeing on the graph. I agree, if I was fishing temp in several hundred FOW all the time, a FH would be useful. Fishing structure in 160 FOW or less, the FH is just overkill and something else to distract me. Moral of the story? Be prepared to fiddle with it and be distracted by it, and ask yourself if you really need it. If so, great tool. If not….