13owhunter

Love hearing these reports.  Really itching to get out there!  Need to hurry up and finish my bathroom remodel so I can focus on getting the boat out!

These videos are some serious motivation!  Thank you!

I have used some old cannons and now have big jons.  The abrupt stop on the cannons is simply not acceptable to me.  Way too much stress on everything. My (newish) big johns stop really softly but do overshoot a couple of feet which is very easy to get used to.  They could be a little faster but they arent slow and probably fine for 9/10 people.

I dont think the magnum metalz are much more expensive than the big jon captains pack.  If I needed new ones i would be looking at those or scottys.  A few of my buddies run scottys and love them.

That said, new ones of any brand are not cheap and there are a ton of used BJs and Cannons out there.  Id take an old cannon over manual cranking any day!

Totally agree with Gator.  I was out a few times last year where I set lines around noon and got on mature kings immediately.  These were mostly last minute trips where it was real nice out and I just wanted to get on the water.  I didn't really care if I caught fish on these days which may have played a factor, but I did pretty well most of the time.  Ill be doing a lot more afternoon fishing this year myself.

Out of all the variables you can control, the most important is lure time in water!

As mentioned above, fish when you can and don't overthink it!

I would love to try "video game fishing" for bass at least once.  Really not my thing but would love to understand it better.  There is probably a lot more technique involved than a lot of us might care to admit to.  That said, droves of people using this tech on spawning bass is where I would, personally draw the line.  I will, totally, admit to harassing a spawning bass or two in my day .....

I know I mentioned this before but we, desperately need more people in the hunting and fishin game and need them to vote.  If they don't, we will have a LOT more to complain about.....

I use "Micro" leadcore because of its smaller diameter and same sink rate as regular leadcore.  I like to use the smallest reels I can get away with so the diameter is important to me.  Example being I can fit 10 colors on a reel with a few hundred yards of backer while regular leadcore can fit 6 or 7 colors. I dont think it would make much difference if you are running larger reels. 

The 27# suffix 832 is probably a great option but I haven't seen it available in a couple of years. (I have not looked recently so it may be available)  I use tuffline 27# micro mainly because that was the only thing I could find at the time.

PM sent.  Thank you!

I'll be adding panoptix to my boat this year and I think it'll teach me something about fish behavior and, maybe, put a few extra fish in the boat.  It is sure to add a bit more excitement, especially if the fish arent biting.  I respect the opinion that this technology provides an "unfair" advantage.  At the end of the day I'm still out there to enjoy being on the water and spend time with friends and family.  Sadly, I do not get to spend as much time on the water as I'd like.  When I do, I enjoy my fishhawk, screens, throttle control, GPS trolling motor etc etc.  They make it easier to control some of the variables needed to put a bend in the rod.  You still need to know how to run gear and make everything work which tech wont do for you. Really think that realtime sonar is different than putting on a driven hunt with a drone with a thermal cam.

We desperately need more outdoorsmen and women and need them to vote.  I think we should consider cutting folks some slack if there is a  disagreement with techniques used. (within reason of course)

You should be able to run a lot of stuff at 1.5mph.  If Im focusing on lakers Ill usually have a couple of boards out as they really dont get in the way at all.  We used to catch quite a few kings laker fishing pulling flat lined deep diving cranks slowly in deep water back in the day.  Most deep diving crank baits run great at slow speeds.  Most spoons should run fine as well but towing the line of the slow end of things is where a fishhawk really helps.  A bit of current and you could be pulling something that wont produce.  Id still rather have an extra rod or two out either way.  Cant hurt!

I'm partial to yo zuri and thundersticks but spoons have been doing much better for me early season.  At one point in my fishing career i would have never thought i would choose a spoon on a flatline before a stick bait......   Really think stick baits shine with a cast and retrieve that can introduce some variability in action.  Dont really get much of that trolling slow and shallow.

I asked myself the same question and went with 2 of the new saltists.  They are real nice but I havent used them yet.  FWIW the new (bluish) ones have the line counter in the "normal" spot so hurting your wrist like the old models shouldnt be an issue.  I also have 2 of the new tekotas I use for rigger reels.  I got the non line counter reels but wish i went with the line counters as i think that they would be useful for using on a rigger and provide added flexibility should i plan on using them for something else (like snap weights)

Two years ago I ran mag dipsies with a 6 foot lead with limited success.  Last season i switched to slide divers with a mag ring and 35 foot lead and my success increased by a huge margin.  Was like night and day for me.  

FWIW: Im running black slide divers with a clear mag ring, 30' of 40# mono tied to 5' of either 20 or 25# flouro on wire.  I am not running the heavier weights in mine.  Mag glow green alewife spoon was hot for me for the first half of last season on this setup.  I plan on running a high/low slide diver setup this year as they out produced my riggers 10:1.  Maybe more than that....

I use regular 87 octane in my boat and marine stabil in every tank.  Stabil works....  I top it off with fresh fuel at the end of the season and am confident that I will not have any fuel related issues come spring.  All my 4 stroke equipment gets regular fuel and I run stabil in the fall for the off season.  I have had a total of zero issues due to fuel and I burn quite a bit more fuel than the average guy.  I do put ethanol free fuel in my 2 stoke equipment but i only run through 5 or 6 gallons a year so it doesnt cost a whole lot to do so.

I have one of the higher end food savers and it gets the job done.  I am, secretly, hoping it dies so I can get a chamber sealer.  I have used a commercial grade one a few times and they are awesome.  Only advice I have is dont get a cheap (non chamber) one.  I bought a highly rated, inexpensive one on amazon to donate to my buddies garage we process deer in every once in awhile and it was not up to the job.  She did 3 or 4 deer and lost her suck.

Beautiful!  If you called them in for someone they count as far as Im concerned!

I had one in my backyard almost daily this year when the mulberries were on the ground.  First gray I have seen up close in a very long time.

I really need to get out and whack some yotes at the farm.  We are seeing more and more of them the last few years and less deer.  Is there an advantage in waiting till it gets cold with snow cover and they are desperate for food, or better off dragging some roadkill out there and hunting the next evening? (or both)  I reckon theyd get on roadkill pretty quick in my neck of the woods......

I see the same thing and my farm is also in the Brockport area. (Sweden)  I have a couple of clover plots and do a half acre annual plot. I have tried several varieties of brassicas and other blends and the deer seem to prefer the clover in the winter.  I tried "Winter PZ" 2 years ago which was a mix of oats, clover and peas.  The deer ate almost every single pea plant in short order.  Oats came up great and the residual clover came up so well in the spring, i didnt mow it and let it go to seed.  I am planning on spraying in the summer and trying all winter peas this fall.  Would be interested to know if anyone else has any recommendations.  Maintaining all perennial plots would be a lot easier and I may go to all clover if i cant find anything better.

Edit: May be worth noting that my food plots are in different large fields where corn and beans are rotated. (we lease to a farmer)

Amazing pics!  Love seeing the lil ones getting out.  First tracking job in the woods for my lil girl this year too.  Now if i can only get her stubbornness to put down the snacks and reel in a fish bigger than a sunfish....

24v Terrova (newest iPilot) here on a 18.5 foot aluminum with 2 lithium batteries.  I have a kicker with throttle control and this setup works amazing for me.  I can run all day if im careful to use the TM on lowest i can get away with. Trolling for browns in the spring on a calm day I can get 6 hours just using the TM (going slow)  Pretty sure I got more bites because of a little more stealth on a few occasions. (less than 10 FOW)

I am really impressed with how well itll steer in some wind and chop.  If its so choppy it pulls the motor out of the water its too rough for me anyways. (get the longest shaft you can)  I do all my steering with the remote with the ipilot set to "point it and forget it" mode.  Whatever way you point it, itll continue to correct and go that direction indefinitely.  This has saved many arguments with my dad and wife when i complain they arent keeping it straight when im setting gear. Really a game changer for me.  I get to sit and relax a bit when Im fishing and not constantly worry about boat control.

If you have a Minn Kota with iPilot and the auto pilot seems to be correcting too aggressively, you probably have it in the wrong mode.  You have to put it in the "dumb" mode which will correct itself more gradually.  I think the advanced mode is more for following contours in smaller waters.

I run garmin electronics so I dont have the follow the countour option.  Would be nice to have even though i dont think id use it too much.

One of my best stands is in a tree that is infested with "little fuzzy jumping spiders" year after year.  I just got used to them crawling all over me after a few sits and noticed a deer tick on my hand a couple days ago in the same stand.  Now everything I can feel crawling on me or itch I have is a tick as far as my brain is concerned. Help!

Im surprised that there is this much talk about the need to charge TM batteries.  With the amount of electronics most of us are running, the main house battery should be a bigger concern especially because that starts your main engine.  I have two house batteries in my rig and theyll get under 12v without the kicker charging them in only a few hours if im running everything (2x graphs and 'ducers, radio, fishhawk, charging phone etc)

If you have a 12v battery for the TM, get another.  2x lithium batteries should last a real long time if you have a kicker and use the TM for steering.  Really not much different than a 24v TM other than the 24v likely has a bigger motor and more thrust.  Descent lithium batteries are under $250 for 100ah these days. 

-My 2 cents

Probably delta or tempo dust.  I've used it with a puffer bottle and it works well.  Takes a few days. 

I leave mine in until we get a warmish day in December.  Then I start both my main and kicker and run them until they are up to temp.  At that point I yank the batteries and leave them inside for the rest of the winter.  I like the idea of cutting down on the time my engines arent used an Im guaranteed to start the season without any surprises. This also forces me to inspect everything and make sure there are no issues with mice, water etc.  

I sent my drone to attack a nest like that last year.  It wasnt as amusing as I thought it would be and made a mess out of the machine with hornet guts all over it.  They did not sent the whole army after it, rather a few at a time which I was very surprised.

Couple of years ago i had a large yellow jackets nest in an old garbage can.  I threw a 120v bug zapper in there and giggled for a half hour.  That was much more amusing then cleaning bug guts off my drone for an hour.....

I'm running 2 Weize LiFePO4 100ah batteries from amazon for my terrova and couldnt be happier.  They are down to $239 each and have great reviews.  Charging with a 10x2 noco.  Trolling slowly for 6 hours straight for BT in the spring they came home with about 20% juice left.  No problem trolling all day using for auto pilot in conjunction with my kicker.

They allegedly have a 10 year warranty which Im not sure I would trust long term.  I do, however, trust Amazon to make it right should I receive a dud.

A good 100ah AGM battery is $200 so it was a no brainer to me (and i paid $300 each)    My boat is a bit imbalanced and I move them around often so weight savings was also important to me.

IMO lead acid batteries will be obsolete sooner rather than later.  They are better in almost all circumstances especially when the price keeps coming down.

Great report, pics and fish! I've caught 2 Atlantics and 1 coho this season.  All have been under 3#.  I don't think I have caught a king over 20 although several pretty close. 

Thanks for the intel! 

I have 2 echo pole saws for sale.  I believe they are both commercial models.  Both saws run.  The orange one needs new fuel lines and has a standard chainsaw end on it.  The gray one has a reciprocating saw end on it.  I believe these were used for orchards and were really expensive when new.  I have an extra blade or two if i can find them.  This one needs a couple of bolts for the handle.  Its loose. Looking for $100 for the orange one and $75 for the reciprocating one.  Will entertain trades for fishin or huntin stuff.  Only reason im not keeping one of these is I have another one.  Shoot me a message if you have any questions.