Len,

Thanks for sharing…one of the coolest reads I’ve seen in a long time Your story hits home with me on a couple of levels…

About 10 years ago or so, the kids got my wife a wind chime for Mother’s Day and said they wanted her to think of them every time she heard it. At the time, we weren’t all that far removed from our oldest being a toddler and our twins when they were infants. The first couple of nights it was really windy and kept us both awake, to which my wife replied “that sounds about right…keeping us up all night” (unlike the oldest that slept through the night right from the get go, it took 21 months before BOTH twins completely slept through the night That said, we gave it a few more nights, got used to it and I’m happy to say it’s still hanging there.

My first exposure to cemeteries came when I suddenly lost my dad when he was 46. When trying decide where specifically we should lay him to rest, we got our sign on a bitterly cold day in February, after aimlessly walking around a snow covered cemetery, when a rooster pheasant decided to make his voice heard. Right then, we knew that was the spot. For that first month or so, the cemetery seemed just like I would have expected…cold and uninviting. Then a couple of events changed that…

First, winter gave way to spring and I went to visit on a warm sunny day, only to find the apple tree in full bloom and it, along with the neighboring spruce tree teaming with birds singing away. Among them, I heard what I’m pretty sure was that same rooster speak his voice one more time as if to say “this is why you were supposed to pick this spot”. To this day and among my countless visits over the last 26 years, I’ve never heard him again.

A month or two later, I had a totally different experience. Our last “big” fishing trip together was right before going back to college the previous fall to Sturgeon Bay in Door County, in which we pounded the magnum salmon. Dad decided to commemorate the trip by getting the biggest one mounted. Sadly, he never got to see it before it was finished. When I picked up the fish from the taxidermist on my way to work that evening, I decided I would head to the cemetery that after I got off work. A pretty good thunderstorm rolled in about the time I got there, but I so wanted him to see his fish, I sat graveside in the thunder & lightning and the pouring rain. After the storm had passed and the rain finally stopped, I finally got the fish out of the car and sat there to show him his trophy, reflect on that trip and the countless trips before that. Eventually, it starting breaking daylight, the birds started singing and the clouds gave way to a beautiful sunrise. Ever since then, I’ve come to find the cemetery a very peaceful place to be. And oh yeah, lots of wind chimes there to help those souls before us keep their memories alive.

Thanks again for sharing, let us remember those loved ones who have gone before us and be especially grateful to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, as we approach Memorial Day

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Welcome

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Awesome news I had a 3,000 bulk spool of it, so I was able to go for awhile after it had been discontinued, but was sure bummed after I knew I’d filled my last reel with it.

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Welcome and thanks for your support!!

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Thanks for the reminder Grant and for the memories! Brings me back to my days at UMD and fishing the “shelf” for loopers when the ice pack would blow down from Thunder Bay or some other point out in the open lake. Scenario one entailed standing right on the edge of the ice and casting to open water (what a rush when the fish would run underneath you toward shore and you had to hold the rod “over the edge”). Of course, one eye was always looking over your shoulder to make sure the ice pack was still butted up against shore Yes we wore cleats and had ice picks, but the thought of doing that now makes me cringe

Scenario two entailed staring though a hole for loopers on that same ice. That included picking the rock of your choice and noting its exact location in relative to your hole. If it moved, it was time to beat feet

In either case, we never did it with an off-shore wind, but the currents on the Big Pond can sure do some funy things. And when you’re off-shore and in deeper water, you don’t have either of those reference points.

Sure made for some great memories, but I was a lot younger and a lot more invincible

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Kari – you’re using the wrong medium to get the message to Brian…trying spelling out in little smokies and let me know when you’re done…I’ll be there shortly, thereafter

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You beat me to it…I stopped by on my way back to the office this afternoon and thought the same thing. Must have been your footprints I saw in the snow

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Wish there was something more I could add about colors, but it’s been covered very well above! That said (and not to hijack the post), but I think it’s worth touching on jig heads just a bit. The Precision heads with wire keepers are top notch and come in 1/16 oz. increments, which can really help with fine tuning presentations. Lots of color options there too, but I generally find black or plain lead tied on more often than not, though I have been giving the silver or gold glitter a bit more attention over the last year or so too. Secondary options for me are generally two-tone (green/chartreuse, orange/chartreuse or pink/white) or just plain white.

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Nice report Greg! That last photo makes me think of the guy on the street that opens his trench coat to see if you’re interested in buying a watch. So you want Doos, Ringworms, Moxies…I got ’em all

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Nice report Mike! Debated whether I should hit P2 or P4 on Friday, but opted for P4, as I had a full day. Pretty sure there was no wrong choice though

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Way cool

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Prayers and Blessings sent!

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We all know there’s only so much you can do to predict Mother Nature. My problem with today’s meteorologists is that they have a lot more technology at their disposal, often claim to have “up to the MINUTE” forecasts (um, ok sure) and can out “guess” their competitors, but the reality is that they don’t do a whole heckuva lot better than the ol’ school guys like Bud Kralig (sp?)use to

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Great post and great reminder!

For those of you who carry 5-gallon buckets, there’s a great way to turn that into a safety device, as well. Secure a long section rope to the handle, wrap it within the grooves near the top of the pail and secure with a piece of duct tape. In the event someone goes through, simply dump contents, remove duct tape and you have an easily throwable device that’s also a large target for the person to hold onto. Make sure they hold the open side DOWN to trap an air pocket for flotation.

Good luck, be safe and have a great ice season!

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Fantastic post! I just made a similar comment about Brad’s review of the Suffix 832 leadcore, but these types of disccusions are what make this the best fishing site on the web

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Fantastic review Brad and great follow up discussion everyone It’s this very type of thread that makes this the best fishing site on the web

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Was able to work on this over the weekend and happy to say that I had the new cable installed and secured on both ends in less than 20 minutes. Forgot how nice it is to be able to steer with one finger

Thanks to all who replied!

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X2 on plain/lead, followed by black. When I do paint using other colors, it’s pretty much always two-tone (sometimes adding a splash of a third color).

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Was over several weeks ago for our annual family vacation and they dropped the water level by over a foot just before we arrived. Flowage as a whole was down by approximately two feet, after having been up much of the summer. That left a lot of my favorite shoreline cover high & dry and a lot of the lanes and pockets in the weeds had collapsed because weed stalks were laying over with the drop in water level. That lead me to abandoning spinner baits (my favorite way to cover a lot of water with only short windows of time before my wife and kids woke up) and fishing the slop with plastics (worms & frogs). We’re talking for LM bass here (a lot more northerns this year than normal, too).

Look for rock and wood to hit the smallies. Never targeted walleyes and the only muskies I see are the ones that are interested in bass baits As for panfish, look to bogs edges, deep weeds or submerged wood as noted above.

And in case it wasn’t mentioned above, a GPS is VERY helpful for navigating the Big Chip

Good luck and have fun!

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My favorite State Park too

Personally, if I couldn’t get one of the lakeside sites in the Lakeview Loop, I’d go to the Maple Grove loop, as it’s spread out a bit more. The trade off is that you can’t really see the lake from there if the leaves are still up…which should hopefully be full of fall color

Have a great time!

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An update…

A buddy and I took a look at this over the weekend and lubrication for my particular system is not an option. Inside the sliding arm on the motor end, there was another metal tube that was crimped (appeared to have been done by machine) over the cable to protect it and clearly not meant to be removed. OK, so to the helm to approach it from the other end. Turns out, the cable/metal tube goes into a long/narrow/rectangular gear box, in which the gear from the steering wheel slides the gear in the box back and forth, thereby moving the cable. Gear box was easy to remove…only held in by four bolts. As the grease in the gear box was very dry/used up, we thought that would take care of it, but not to be and again, no way to get lubrication onto the cable itself. Definitely the cable though…steering wheel and motor both moving very freely.

So that leads me to buying a new one. The good news is that the whole assembly runs through the gunwale and once we knew we had to remove it, we had it out in 5-10 minutes and complete replacement should take no more than 20-30 minutes.

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Thanks for the replies guys!

The reason I was thinking I would pull it (sheath and cable)was to let gravity do it’s thing and make sure the lubrication made it all the way through, but it sounds like just hitting the end a couple of times and working it back and forth over a couple of days worked for you guys, so I’ll definitely give that a try first

I do agree that if that doesn’t work at it gets too complicated too quick, it’ll be easier to replace the whole thing…definitely not interested in doing the same job twice

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X2 on the Needles Highway followed by the Game Loop in the evening. To really make that day complete, be sure to stop by Sylvan Lake (very small lake) before the Needles…bring a picnic, go for a walk around the backside of the lake to let the kids do some climbing around & get some great views and then stop by the little store for some ice cream! Plus, there are trout in the lake

If you have a really nice day and enjoy swimming, hit the beach at the south end of Pactola Reservoir, kick back and enjoy one heck of a view! Reservoir is also loaded with with trout and there is a Marina where you can rent boats/pontoons. I know it’s a deep reservoir, but if you have a fly rod, bring it…or use spinning gear with a clear casting bubble and fly behind it. Despite it’s depth, the fish this time of year should be feeding on bugs on top (you’ll likely see some dimpling if it’s calm out). If you get a boat, hit the shore/point straight across from the beach. If not getting a boat, walk out to the end of the point by the beach that drops off to deeper water and give that a try. The campground there (just down the road from the marina) is one of my favorites anywhere. Take a few minutes to check that out too if you’re going to the beach or marina anyway (for a future trip?).

Also love the caves and hitting the backroads, as well…

Enjoy, safe travels and make some great memories

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Cool Fish Sounds like a great time!

Jim

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I bought a box of 100 disposable exam gloves…about $8.60,
you can find them at most Thrifty or Fleet stores.

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X2

I take a handful of them out of the box and put them in a sealed Ziploc. Helps keep them dry (they’re a pain to put on it they get wet). Also great in case you need to deal with gas, oil, repellent, etc.

Nope…lack of sunscreen is definitely not worth the short-term pain of sunburn, moderate-term pain of an unhappy girlfriend, wife or kids and the long-term pain/hassle of getting carved up for skin cancer, as I did a few years back.

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Nice fish…thanks for the report. Sure gets the juices flowin’. Headin’ that way the end of this month (Rowley’s Bay). Can’t wait!

Jim

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Thanks guys

When I first got into fishing the big ponds twenty some years ago, it was Lake Superior and one of our bread and butter setups for lakers was an Abe & Al with a Wobble Glo. Really haven’t spent much time trolling Superior since getting out of college…turned my efforts to Michigan, where spoons and j-plugs have almost always gotten the job done. That said, there are those times when it slows down and you just have to reach for another tool in the toolbox. Started playing around with leadcore a couple of years ago and decided this was the year to use dodgers with some more frequency.

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P.S. Mark – PM will be sent shortly

Brian – Thanks for the tip on sizing. Won’t wait to get a fish in the picture…will try to get something up in the next few days.

Trophy 19 – Yes, the links are in contact with one another, but keep in mind that I hung the chain straight up and down from a bird feeder pole (not rolling it on it’s side). When it was hanging one way, the spray couldn’t get between the links on the underneath side. Hence the reason for flipping it to the other end and going back and forth between coats. One of the things I want to observe is how the coating holds up between where the links contact each other (verses the rest of the chain from coming into contact with rocks, etc.)…I suspect that will wear more quickly due to tension between links. That said, I’m more concerned with the coating staying on the outside to minimize noise if it’s banging the rocks in rough water and more importantly, keeping from damaging my boat as I raise and lower the anchor.

The name of the product escapes me, but I’ll take a look at the can and get back to you on that one.

wkw – This whole thing is an experiment for me, so I guess I couldn’t say whether or not the undercoating wil work or not…sorry.

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Easiest would be quoting the entire post and remove what you don’t want by either high-lighting the portion you do not want and hitting back space or manually hitting back space and doing it one letter at a time.

Or

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Just praciticing Thanks for the help guys!

Jim

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Apparently, I need to practice my spelling too

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Quote:

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Easiest would be quoting the entire post and remove what you don’t want by either high-lighting the portion you do not want and hitting back space or manually hitting back space and doing it one letter at a time.

Or

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Just praciticing Thanks for the help guys!

Jim

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