sherman brown

we was fishing Erie for walleye and he was in the 30' class and i was in a 21' glass boat. he had more than enough time to make a miner adjustment in his course to have cleared me. but he had his auto pilot set and to he** with anyone who got in his way. in my opinion nobody was watching for other boats as he was just as surprised at the close encounter as we were.

ttt

i have to agree with fisherman21 on this. i would have been very peeved at the time but cool heads prevail. a friendship is really hard to find. call the guy up and ask him when is he taking you fishing., being good friends has a lot to do with jokes and having stuff told on you to others that you would rather no on hear about. i had this good friend since we were just kids. well he liked telling things about me at our guy night at our family reunion. so one night i tell the story about him screaming over a little 20" water dog wrapping around his are and barking at him. he was flayling his arm as hard as he could and screaming bloody murder untill it came loose. about a minute later we heard it hit the water. but it all started because i wanted him to save the jig and not cut the line like he wanted. but i told this on him and embellished on the screaming and arm shaking. that was to last year he told on me and the last time i told the story on him.

i have it on my boat and my dil almost quit going with us because she was our driver. but after the auto pilot was installed she said it gave her something to do. but now she felt kinda useless with nothing to do. well it worked out great because it was getting hard for me to set lines. so i started teaching her how to set lines. and it was no time until i was able to retire after setting lines for about 45 yrs. it felt so good to just do nothing but reel in my fish when it was my turn. but even with auto pilot people should watch where they are going and keep a close eye on other boats. last year we were trolling along and i see this big charter boat coming in our direction on the left side. which gave me the right of way as he was on my left. well some time later as he got closer he hadn't changed his course yet. well we got busy with fish and i look up and about 25' from us was this charter boat. i make a hard left turn and clear his boat but wanted to get out farther to clear his lines. about that time he starts yelling at us. so i yell back that he was the one that screwed up. i said we had the right of way because he was on my left. he piped down then. about that time we seen his board line right in front of us. it was to late to miss it. the other boat kept trolling but we had shut down and was clearing lines. but his line hung on the bottom of our boat and as the other boat kept moving forward his board hung up on our bottom. but my son got his board loose and let it go. as the boat kept going leaving us alone we noticed the boat was filling with water very fast. at first i thought his board had knocked a hole in the bottom. but then i thought his line had gotten tangled in our plug and with the forward motion of his boat had just pulled the plug out. and the boat was filling up with water. ( and we all drowned). just kidding. i always carry an extra plug or two in the boat. my son jumped in the water and i gave him a plug' but he was having trouble getting the plug to stay in. the water pressure in the boat kept pushing it out. i gave him the other plug and it stayed in. with the pump running and us dipping we got the water below the floor. but now the pump was failing. it would pump for a short time then stopped for a while. we lifted the cover off the floor compartment and started dipping out until we got the water level down to the bottom. we fired up and when we took off all the water rushed to the back and the water rose above the floor scaring the heck out of my crew. i kept telling them it was water in the bow going to the back but nobody believed me. we made it in. when i got home i had the pump replaced with a larger pump. then i got a huge extra pump and had it installed as a back up pump. then i crashed the boat top into the overhead door and busted the side glass and frame. the adjuster just totaled the boat. dang i should become a writer as i've just done a book.

one year after hearing that you get more hits with light line we gave it a try. i put 8# line on the reels and adjusted the drags accordingly where the drags would slip. we got out on lake Michigan and i hooked up with a nice summer king about 20# to 22# and the fight was on. we kept trolling for a short time turning the boat as best we could but after a few long rune we pulled lines and went after him. we got the fish some time later and we lost so much time with this fish and the next 2 fish was just like the first. we lost at least an hour or more in the fight and rigging our lines. we lost half the morning bite fighting 3 fish. this was the heyday yrs on lake Michigan when limits could be had. we normally caught 5 or 6 fish by 1:00 pm. so we cant say how the bite was any better as we didn't get enough time fishing. that night i bought a large spool of 25# line and respooled all the reels. the best advice i can give you is don't use light line. but if you insist be ready to clear all lines and go after the fist. once the lines are cleared you can shut it down and drift. but if the fish decides to go to the bow to come in a couple of times before being landed have fun running back and forth without power. with light line you still need to pull lines even if you kept trolling when the fish gets close to the boat. it can still make long runs getting tangled in lines, boards, or getting tangled in the riggers. it just not worth it. if you really want to fight a king on light line just run your riggers and when you get hooked up clear lines and riggers. never leave your riggers down with light line and shut her down. you sure don't want your fish getting into your board lines. these fish go pretty much where they want go go, and theirs nothing you can do about it.

lowered price to 2250.00. this is a drop in and go motor that was bought brand new and installed by Michigan motors. i thought it was 2007 but was 2010 and starts and runs great. this was the silver package with holly dual line 600 carb. to get it right now on special it costs 5989.00 plus shipping and taxes. i'm asking 2250.00 for the same motor only the 600 carb has been replaced with a 750. will deliver for gas or pick up in muncie in. motor still hooked up so you can see it run if you want. or i can remove it and have it ready to load.

If your young and heathy and feel like cranking a 10# or a 12# or heavier weight all day then get a good set of manual riggers for your boat and you';ll be good to go. i used manual riggers for about 35 yrs and got by just fine. electric riggers are just a better way to bring the weight up. cannon and Penn both use the same method for lowering the ball. just pull back on the handle and it releases the wheel. the more you pull back on the handle the faster the ball drops.

TTT

if you wasn't so far away. I have a decent tandem axel roller trailer that had a 21' boat on it that could be adjusted for a 19' boat. but i live in Muncie In. I've never even used it as i totaled my boat i was going to put on it. it has been painted over the original paint and the top paint has been peeling off. but the old paint still looks good. i would let this trailer go for 600.00 as that's what i paid for it.

the best advice i can give you is to ask on here for an open seat that uses divers or go out on a good charter that uses divers. and be sure and tell then your wanting to go to school. i moved from the western basin to the central basin and didn't have a clue about running dipsies. the only place i had even seen them was on the shelf at bait shops. we got a group of guys together and took a charter out for a day. by the end of the day we were helping set lines. so he was open the next day so we chartered him again for a second day. by mid day we were doing all the work with his supervision. then we went out on our own. we were able to run 3 lines per side with 1 downrigger per side. we did get a few tangles but as time went on and we gained a little experience we got much better at it.

they would be best run off the boards. if you want something run of the boat that runs out to the sides you would need a slide diver or a dipsy diver or a dreamweaver deeper diver. i use the lite bite slide diver but dont use the slide feature but tie on a 7' leader. the thing i like best about the deeper diver over the dipsy is its the same diameter as a dipsy with the ring on it. the deeper diver doesn't use a ring. i thought about using the dipsy without the ring but the ring helps pull the diver to the side. the only thing is its very hard to trip the diver with mono line. use 30# to 50# braid to the diver then use a 7' 15# seaguar premier fluro line for a leader.

no you cant run light line with any of the divers that have to be tripped to bring them in easy. you would want to use 30# braid for lite bite slide divers, dipsey divers, or deeper divers. a better option for running boards in 30' of water or less would be to use true trips. they make a 20 for getting down 20' once enough line is out. but the make a 30 that can be run up to 30' deep depending on line let out. you would need a copy of a dive chart for the 30 but that's what i would use. the line would depend on the release used. but you can go a lot lighter with true trips. and you can use noodle rods but you need to set your drag for the rod as much as the line. lots of guys use true trip 40's and 50's on erie to get down but i think 40's would be pushing it on boards. another option is using clip on weights if your using deep diving cranks to start with. but i would order inline weights for running spoons. rednekoutfitters.com has a dive chart on their website. they also sell inline weights. you tie them on the end of your line then add a 6' or 7' leader then your bait. you can use them with cranks harnesses or spoons.

or i'll let you tow the boat home to remove the motor. i just need the trailer returned because i have it sold to someone.

i just throttle down but keep the boat moving forward. but if you clear the other lines there just isn't any reason to keep the boat moving. but if you go to neutral the boat will turn side ways and may get the other lines tangled or get them into the props or motor. you might get away with it a couple of times but sooner than later your going to have problems unless you clear lines. just my opinion though.

must be picked up in Muncie Indiana. i bought and had installed a 350 vortec aluminum high rise double line holly 4 barrel holly carb in 2010 and hasn't been used much at all. most yrs we make a 1 week trip to Erie and a one week trip to play in the water at Brookville lake in Indiana. a couple of yrs it wasn't used at all. one time we skipped 2 yrs and I had to pump out old gas. just didn't want to try it on 2 yr old gas. the original carb started peeling in the bowl and stopping up the jets. it had a 600 dual line carb on it. I replaced the carb with a 750 carb and at wot on top end it misses a bit., I think a set of plugs might change that as it still has the original plugs since new. but at low and mid range all the way up to full throttle it runs great. this is a set in complete motor. just drop it in and go. the boat is an 86 with the large flywheel. if you have an older boat that has the small flywheel it will have to be changed. I have taken the outdrive off boat but the motor is still setting in boat and can be started and run for a very short time. it has the electric fuel pump that shuts off if you don't have oil pressure. i put a switch on it that bypasses the shut off to fill the carb with gas when cold after setting for a year. then the switch turns off when released. it will pump just fine without the switch when cranking. 2250.00 cash! we have a lift to remove the motor from the boat and set in your truck or for gas i can deliver it. if you tow your boat here we can drop it in for you at no charge but you'll have to help remove motor as I've never done that. im getting ready to watch youtube.

with the 2 batteries just add a perko battery switch. make sure the riggers are going to the house battery only. when your trolling with the kicker select the house battery for running the riggers. then if it runs low its no big deal. when you get ready to start your motor just switch the switch to the starting battery. i use the number 1 setting for the house battery and the number 2 battery for starting. they also make a battery isolator so when you get the motor running you can put the perko switch to both and not worry about over charging the starting battery. once the starting battery reaches something like 13.3 volts it cuts that battery off and routs the current to the discharged battery. if the starting battery gets below 12.8 it starts charging again. i have 2 like batteries in my boat but with the isolator i don't think it would hurt anything. they make a combiner that I've heard is a better option and works better. but you can read about them and check reviews on both. it sounds like a lot of trouble but its as simple as hooking up a few cables.

i've never used scotties so they may be a better option. and it's true that if you get electric the motor might burn out some day. but that's not something that happens very often. just make sure they are still working good when you buy them. and a big jon heavy duty motor does cost 209.99 at big jon. but worth taking the chance to have electric. i have a set of cannon mag 10 that came on my boat that looks to be very old so they usually last for many yrs. if i was buying used i would just get ones that's working good at the time i bought them.

i like to mount my riggers if im using only 2 about a foot from the back of the gunnel making sure i can get to them to reset the lines and crank the riggers. i dont think a swivel base is mandatory but it sure comes in handy. i like to run mine at a 45 degree angel to the back side of the boat that leaves the back open for landing fish and the sides open for running dipsy type divers. something you've got to think about is pulling into a dock without swivel bases is if they are to the side or even just at a 45 degree angle you may have to remove the rigger, where if you have a swivel base you can swing it around. the one thing i recommend on any rigger is ball retrievers to pull the ball in to set your lines. and the best one i've used is the traxstech pully retrievers. they have a larger roller on them. and they are quality made.