Ready or Knot

Being in the same situation i also did alot of checking around. Octopus does make a mechanical drive but it is for rotary steering not rack and pinion. The general consensus i have found is that hydraulic systems are the better way to go. They are for sure not cheap. You will have 1000 in the helm , hoses and cylinder. Then 2000 or more in the pilot and pump. This will go up if you need to have a Nema 2k to hook up to other units such as gps, radio etc... I personally chose to go with a Furuno navpilot 300 for its point and shoot remote. For sure they cost alot but it will be the best money you ever spent to make life easier on the water this is especially true if you fish alone or with people who cant steer a boat on choppy days. Best of luck to you in your seach. Tight lines and hot drags ☺

2x. On not netting fish and bringing into boat. I have for sure seen less issues with fish that are released at boatside.

No wonder you are in the doghouse and he is on the couch ! Lmao. Sorry but had to throw it out there. 😀

Yes. Thanks to all for the imput on this. None of us are out to kill fish just as an incidental catch. We want them all to survive when released to catch again this week or next.

Gambler When you say burping are you talking about sticking them with a needle to fizz off the pressure in bladder from barotrauma ? Have you ever tried putting them back down to depth on rigger with a release clip and so you feel that this would help them? Thx

Copper is already not much fun to fight fish on. Why add an inline to it? I run mine off of Otter boats with duel keels.  As with everything we do on the lake we all have different ways of catching fish. We do what works for each of us. Having the board on the line is really not an issue if its tripped and hanging. It also gives you the ability to usually clear it from wire divers by just letting it go when you get a wild fish heading for it. There's 10 ways to skin a cat.

They also work very well behind a planer board. Was a killer set last year on erie for eyes. You can run a harness behind them without line twist issues

Magnum size inlines. Make sure to set them up to trip. Change out front release to a sams pro and it will work on the braid backing.

Had one done ystdy. Where are you located ?

Hey guys check the regs. You are allowed 6 eyes in ny waters of lake erie. Has been that way for a few years now

Buy and use what you feel comfortable with. Over the years i have had Eagle Claws , Shimanos , Diawas , Etc... And yes i now use Cabelas rods and have had 0 issues with them. Had way more problems with Shimanos that were pricey ( reel seats coming loose from blanks) . I dont know of a fish yet that has come over the rail of any boat on the water that knew if he was caught on a 30 dollar rod or a 100 dollar one. I think all will agree that its about how the fish is fought and mostly how they get hooked up . When they have a treble buried in there face i feel that we all loose very few of these. The ones that get off are generally not hooked up good to begin with. I also agree with the others that stated short rods are much easier for women and kids to handle so keep that in mind also. May we all have a hot bite and bent rods !👍☺

Its all about the antenna and its height above the water. You get what you pay for. Radios are all the same except for the bells n whistles. 25 w on high 1 w on low. You will get better radio performance with a better antenna limited by its height. Think of a sailboat with it on mast 👍

I will be switching my rig to hydraulic steering as soon as this snow leaves us for the year. Was also looking at the ev150 until i did some looking at the furuno navpilot 300. The point and shoot remote looks like it would be the cats a$$. Price is near the same and has a rebate until may. Anyone have any feedback on these ? Thx