Mille Lacs Guy

Thanks guys! I'm going to go ahead and order a cover.

Does anyone know if the Otter Sled cover that fits the sleds with a shelter are big enough to fit over the bench seats Otter makes? I don't want to buy the cover if it isn't going to fit over my seat. Any info on this would be appreciated, Thanks.

I think I saw your rig at Holiday in Chaska yesterday afternoon. It looked sharp. I seriously considered Tuffy before settling on my Yar Craft tiller. A good friend runs a Tuffy and has nothing but good things to say about it.

Pro Fishing Tackle out of South Dakota makes a nice 12 footer. Jason Mitchell makes a 14 footer. Scheels makes a 10.5 that is nice, as does Bass Pro Shops. My buddy got a 10.5 foot Bass Pro Walleye Angler rod and for the price I would go with those rods. I can't see needing to go larger than 10.5 feet.

Belle is a good lake in the Hutch area. Washington is also good. With the water temps being as high as they are yet who knows what the fishing will be like. If the temps start cooling off in the next 2 weeks or so fishing should really pick up. By the way, I wouldn't trust the beeper very much on the depth finder. Especially if you are fishing in 10 feet out water or less. It's tough to mark fish in shallow water.

I was fishing with a guy last week with a 250 HO Etec. We were running wide open at 63 MPH and all of a sudden we lost some power and only could get about 45 mph. We thought we blew the power head. After we stopped and listened to it idle we realized we probably lost a cylinder. We weren't sure if it seized or if we lost the injector. It ended up being an injector going out. It was covered under warranty. I don't believe there was any specific reason it went out it just did. I doubt they will cover it for you under warranty.

The local bait and tackle shop on the Mississippi River in Red Wing has a try it before you can buy it program and they carry Limit Creek rods. Go down and talk to Dean and he will get you set up.

The only two glass Lunds in either of these series was Ted Takasaki FLW and Mark Brumbaugh PWT. Takasaki I believe was runner up for angler of the year on the FLW Tour. I never heard of any issues with these hulls from anyone or anywhere. If you're going to post stuff like this you should have better information than I heard. What kind of facts do you have?

Actually according the Cabelas, their non leadcore weighted line has the same sink rate as regular leadcore. I think you would have to test it to be sure. As I said previously I've heard the non-lead version doesn't act the same as regular leadcore.

The non lead version doesn't sink the same as lead core from what I've been told. 18# leadcore is what 90% of guys use and it will sink 5 feet for every color you have out (30 feet of line). Stick with the plain old lead core.

I would agree with the St. Croix Avid 6'3" Medium extra-fast. This is a very versatile jigging rod. You can vertical jig, pitch, drag, etc with this rod and it will work well. I think you can pick one up for about $150 or so. This rod has a lifetime warranty as well. I think this is the best rod in your price range hands down. That my opinion anyway. Take a look at what graphite is used on some of the other rods discussed...other than the more expensive ones and I think you will find the Avid is a notch above the rest.

The way the try to prevent treating is by having the co-angler in the boat monitoring that the pro isn't taking a picture of the same fish several times and is measuring accurately. In the past the co-anglers were also competing for money. With CRR the co-anglers can only win prizes from a drawing, so they are not competing and wouldn't be inclined to cheat to help themselves in the standings. This was important to take the co-anglers out of the competition so there wouldn't be cheating with measurements, etc. The way that AIM looked at it was that your finish as a co angler has traditionally been determined by what pros you draw and if they are on fish, the finish of the co-angler didn't really measure the skill of the co-angler. So they determined that having a drawing for prizes would suffice. I'm looking forward to this new system and hope to possibly fish a MN or WI event as a co-angler. Dan Jochum NPAA #269

It looks like it could have some springer spaniel in it considering the ticking but that could also be from a short hair or a setter.

Typically there other other sites that have a thread for pro's and co's to connect. I'm sure I can't mention them here without this post getting dusted.

The league announcements should be out next week. I'm sure the league will be at Red Wing the weekend before the Tour event and at Leech the weekend before that event. I would also guess they are going to go to Big Stone and either Cass or Bemidji again.

Andy, Typically sign up is in January or February. If you want to do it you should sign up with a pro that way you are basically guaranteed a spot. If you sign up by yourself you get stuck behind people that signed up with a pro/boater and may not get in.

I don't think the Merc system works with the 90 four stroke. I believe it works with the Opti Max and is called SmartCraft or something like that. It may also be for the Verado but I didn't think it was for the regular 90 4 stroke.

I went through a similar decision last year between Yamaha and Suzuki 150's. I ended up with the 150 Suzuki. I have heard great things about the Yamaha 150 but heard that the Suzuki uses better technology related to fuel injection. The Suzuki's also have a lower gear ratio which means better hole shot and slower trolling speeds. I'm amazed how slow and how quiet my 150 Suzuki is. The 175 is basically the same motor as the 150 Suzuki. I would highly recommend the Suzuki based on my experience. I haven't heard anything bad about the Yamaha but considering the boat you are looking at is rated for 175 I would but a 175 on it and Yamaha doesn't make a 175 four stroke.

A good friend of mine said one of his fish was measured. So I guess you were misinformed.

What type of lure were you pulling on lead core? We were working the same area as you in the white and red yar craft and we only caught shorts and one weigh fish. We must have not had the program quite dailed in. We were pulling number 4 and 5 shad raps and some jointed shad raps on leadcore. Great job on first place and the huge pay check! Dan Jochum NPAA #269

Depending on what year your motor is the max RPM is either 6400 or 6000. I believe the newer 115s made by Merc go to 6400 and the older ones made by Yamaha go to 6000. Regardless you are going to want to get as close to max RPM as possible. I would recommend a stainless prop for sure. I think a 16 pitch Mercury Vengence would be your best bet. The lower the pitch the better hole shot you get. You could also consider a 17 pitch Mercury Tempest. The stainless will give you better performance than the 17 aluminum you are running. If you go to a good dealer they should let you try several props. Also, you may want to check what hole your motor is mounted in. If it is too low you want get good performance no matter what the prop or motor is. Finally, if you set your boat up to run best with 3 or 4 guys, full livewells, etc and you happen to go out with less than a "full-load" you are likely to over-rev the motor because you have a lighter load to push. Set the boat up for a typical load you normally fish with and go from there. If you only have a 115 on the boat you described and than have a heavy load you aren't going to get great performance no matter what prop you run.

How's the Salmon fishing in September? My mom and dad are going to Door County and are thinking of going out on a Charter for Salmon. If it isn't a good time of the year to fish they can find other things to do. Is it worthwhile to go out in Mid-September? Thanks.

My dad used to train there with those guys for several years. I would go with occasionally. It's a great group. Ask Bill or Silo, or Randy about Jim and Dan. They will know us. Bill ran one of our dogs Bailey and he was a Field Champion. One of our other dogs Riley was one of Bill's main stud dogs for several years.

Andy, The dog might have to stay out after trying to vacuum up dog hair for a couple hours on Saturday

Eric, in order for it to troll with co-workers it needs an A-number!! That's a little inside joke between me and eyepatrol...