Commercial Salmon Trolling Forum

Thanks Mike, I'll check out that thread. Yes it sounds like our boats were rigged about the same. Hard stays are definitely on the list for the future.
Cables, wires, lines, they all annoy me. Why the heck I got into trolling is beyond me...hah!

Let me confirm my understanding on the Spectra Blue. Did I understand 3/8" spectra can replace chain? I'm using big flopper, I think its a #3, with 30# of lead on the nose (half of a 60# lead).

I'd love to get rid of the chain. It just beats the boat up.

U have 40 foot steel boat, right?
Assuming your rigging and stays are stout u could probably use 1/2. 3/8 has 6600# breaking strength. Spliced and knots reduce the load limit.

Yep, 40 feet of steel. Like driving a loaded 18 wheeler with no brakes. And I'm tired of grinding and re-prepping the gunnel after dragging chain across them all season. I think I'll give it a go with .5"

Lulu - I used 1/2-inch Spectra to replace stainless cable for my stabilizers on my last boat, a 54-foot steel Ft Bragg (Lackey) hull. I was skeptical at first but was very satisfied with how it worked-out. At the time, I hadn't installed it's rolling chocks yet and I was using a set of plywood stabilizers that were 42-inches across - with a 35# lead on the nose (half of a 70# cannonball).

On my current boat I'm using stainless chain so I can pull my stabilizers in with my third gurdy spool. I have SS quick links attached to the chain at [roughly] 4-foot intervals, with the haul-up line running through the quick links and attached to the chain about 2-feet above the stabilizer. I'm convinced that this hull fishes better with the SS chain in the water.

Lulu, I have the exact same set up with Chain and clips. Karl set it up for me. I love it.

This is interesting. My floppers, which sound to be about the same size as JKD's, have a SS fin which I put a 3" diameter zinc on every season. I'm using standard galvanized chain, 14'. I started with the zincs to cut down on the rust, but found (maybe my imagination) that the snooters fished better with a new zinc. So I started scubbing the scale off when they get white to keep them active. I hate to give up the fish over a little bit of maintenance.

Getting old. One answer to my wife's "when you selling the boat?" was "when I can't get the floppers up." But, I think I can find a way to ease the effort. I'm thinking about how you have skinned the cat. Some harbors I fish, you have to pull the poles and floppers in open ocean, it's got to be quick and easy. Lulu is a Monk hull and she rolls like a beer barrel on Sat nite. Though about extending the rolling caulks, but I always run out of money, imagine that?

Thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate them.

PS I am using 1/8 AmSteel as tag line. It works really well. Just replaced the first generation after 6 years because I noticed a little stray current in the tag lines. Six years of salt would account for that.

Can you post a pic of Lulu? Monk designs are one of the best. I enjoy seeing wood, glass, and metal boats fabricated by the same designer.

kj

I have to figure out how. Give me 24 hours. I need to do some work on the boat this am and pm. I'll do it to night. they'll be from the haulout. Maybe I can drop a pole so you can see how the floppers and poles are rigged, including the cheater.

How do you post pictures?

Are you using computer, phone, or tablet?

1. Go to full editor
2. Press upload attachment
3. Press choose file
4 press photo library
5 choose pic
6 press add file
7 press place inline
8 press preview
9 press submit

It used to be that we had to reduce the size of the pics when loading from the computer. Loading files taken with my iPhone or iPad Without reducing.

Thanks Salty. I down loaded photos off the iPhone to the computer, so I'll upload from the computer doc files. I haven't got time right now because I'm involved in the council meetings drawing up our 2015 season structure. Hopefully the screaming and stomping feet will be over in a day or two and we can go "do what we do" i.e. fish.

By the way, that's a beautiful specimen.

Thx.

How do you get your stabilizers to not tug hard on the rigging when drifting or underway at idle in the trough. My entire mast and A-frame rumble, in fact the house shudders. Its A-framed aluminum pipe with addition of two side cable stays, a forestay and two back stays. everything is tight. There is also a Canadian safety to the pole that is tight against the grasshopper. I have stared at it for lengths of time and am baffled…. I have the wooden stabies from Murrays (I think they’re 32s with a complete cannonball) - the chain connected to the furthest back digging position.

It seems like the most of the stress comes not at the moment of impact but a second after the chain comes taught if/when there is slack.

Its not intermittent either, happens every hard roll.

Any ideas or insights greatly appreciated.

Samson line from pole to just above waterline. Cushions the jar.

Samson Braid: Check

The best solution is anchoring in a bay or cove where you don't need stables. Sleep better, make better decisions, catch more fish, have more fun, extends your fishing career.