sherman brown

I am a firm believer that anyone starting out fishing Erie should take at least 1 day out on a charter using the style of fishing they are planning to use. I had trolled the western basin for a few years just flatlining cranks and catching plenty of fish. but when we moved to the central basin we were totally lost. so, we took a charter out that used dipsy divers to get down to the fish. I had never seen a dipsy used and had no idea what to do. i didn't choose a charter using them but it just turned out our charter used divers. I went out on a charter a few yrs later that ran inline boards but I liked using divers much better. on the 1st day, we had started setting our own lines with 6 lines out. on the second day of the charter, we were running everything but driving the boat. by the end of day 2, we were able to fish with 6 lines on our own. now we did still make mistakes the biggest being setting the rigs out on the wrong side of the boat. but to be really honest it would have taken us at least 10 yrs on our own to be able to learn what we did in 2 days on the charter. most people will never learn to run 6 divers unless someone teaches them. and we still did and still do need to learn. the biggest thing was getting to know how much line to let out to reach the fish. if you want to be a fair fisherman in Erie I highly recommend using a good charter like the one here or ask for recommended charters in the area you plan to fish the most.

nope, but we have taken them out with us. but just maybe thats why we have such a hard time catching fish, LOL. maybe someone important slipped on a banana peel and started saying they were bad luck, and it grew from there, LOL.

copper does get you deep, but it is also less manageable than single strand ss wire. I like using 15# best if and when I use it. for running harnesses in warmer weather, late June through summer the best speeds I've run is 1.8 to 2.0, but I have had good luck at 1.6 when faster just wasn't getting it. but for spoons or cranks speeds of 2.7 to 3.0 have been good to me. but I've read some guys catch fish with spoons with speeds up to 3.5. the only time I run over 3.0 is when trolling with the wind and the waves push us faster than 3.0, be sure and try faster with spoons and cranks and then post how it worked for you.

sounds like you pretty much already know what you're doing. you wouldn't want to run to many dipsies when running a full set of inline boards. but 1 or maybe 2 would work. I like my lite bite divers much better than boards. I run 3 out each side and 2 riggers. I suppose I could add a board to the mix, but I just don't care that much for boards. I think wire with big boards is the best way to put fish in the boat, but it gets old reeling in so much line. at times it's best to run 300' of 15# wire plus 50' of backing plus another 50' out to the release. then start reeling fish in 400' can be more like work. I like to enjoy my fishing, so I'll settle for taking longer to get my fish. when we used dipsies and brought our lines in there was so many times, we had small fish on them. but now with the lite bites we have eliminated most of that. a small white perch will usually trip the diver if the lite bite tension is set very loose.

I agree that you need info on the area you plan to fish. the western basin can be as simple as using different diving cranks. back when i fished the western basin our hot baits were hot n tots in standard sizes, and wiggle warts in standard size also. but at times we used deep diving mudbugs and other times the hot bait was the wee warts. but mostly the hot n tot and wiggle wart was what we used. now they have bandit deep divers, husky jerks, reef runners, and many other new deep divers that catch fish. blue chrome, sunspot, perch, are just a few hot bandits that work well. but the old cranks still catch fish. and the make clip on weights to add to cranks to get them deeper. there are other ways to get down to the fish. bottom bouncers, diving weights that i think are called tad poles, divers like true trips, and even dipsy type divers are used as you fish deeper water. the central basin is a whole new ball game. i fish out of Geneva Ohio when I fish now. during the warmer months the fish move to deeper water. then you need divers, inline weights up to 3 oz or more, heavy clip-on weights, up to 300' of wire line, inline boards are used to spread lines and get more lines in the water. some guys use big boards with wire line and run a gazillion rods. but I started with dipsies, but the rings kept coming off, so I switched to Dreamweaver divers that are the same size without a ring, but then i tried the lite bite slide diver. which has 2 adjustments one that adjusts the rod tension just like the others but then it has a second one. the lite bite tension can be set to trip when a fish hits which should be set as loose as possible so it will trip on very small fish so you're not just dragging them around. I use them like a dipsy with about a 7' 20# Fluro leader and don't use the slide part of the diver. when I moved from the western basin, I had no clue about divers. so, I went out on a charter with friends for 2 days of going to school. we had a great teacher. in those 2 days we learned more than we could have learned in yrs. on our own. we could run 3 divers per side on our own after just 2 days of going to school. we are still learning new things even now after yrs. of fishing divers. we did have some tangled lines for some time. our biggest thing that tangled lines was letting out lines on the wrong side of the boat. you set the divers to run left or right. we sometimes let left divers out on the right side. you can mark the rods to each side. what I did and do now is use different reels for left and right. I recommend that if you are new to fishing Erie's central basin a trip on a charter is well worth the little investment. you want to make sure the caption knows it is a learning charter. but if you want to use divers don't charter an inline board charter. they have small charters for 3 people or less usually in smaller boats. but they have charters for 6 people also. another thing you can do is watch for open seats or even post a thread for open seat wanted for the type fishing you plan to start with. usually, a charter caption has many yrs. of fishing Erie under his belt and can teach you so much more than the casual fisherman. I think a guy has a better chance of catching fish in the western basin without going out on a charter than the central basin. but still, it wouldn't hurt to learn what's going on from a charter caption. and you may even make a new friend that will help you out once you are on your own by giving you a starting point. i have an old friend at Geneva that I made before he started running a charter. a couple of days before we go up, he tells me what depth and the gps lines he uses to get fish. this really helps so much for a starting point. even though he uses big boards and wire he uses a couple of dipsies also. so sorry for the book version on advice without something to help you catch fish.

W.O.W. what a boat! it really looks awesome! welcome to the site. if you fish walleye on Erie there is another great forum for sharing info. but i don't know if I can post it or not. so, I'll just send you a pm and you can check them out if you're not already a member.

hey, I went back and seen i had only looked at battle of the blades, so I looked at the rest of them. but I do like ladder backs with purple with pink or black ladder backs. I did put a few in my cart but there is a couple more I'm thinking about. I see a few that looks good but a have enough of those type spoons. now I'm looking mere for blends of pink or purple. i realize i may just be too particular and miss out on a lot of fish catching harnesses. but I can't buy or use so many rigs ar a time. I'll be back on your site later to finish my order. have you ever thought about adding a few small and large spoons to your site?

I checked out your site but didn't get caught by all the pretty harnesses. after all lures are designed to catch fishermen not fish. and if they do catch fish, it's just a bonus. but i am looking more for harnesses with pinks and purples mixed in them. I liked a few of your designs but I didn't like the colors. and your prices for double blades is great. but I will keep check your harnesses and if i find a few I like I will buy off you.