Misdirection

Back in the late 70's and early 80's my dad and I fished Erie with a 16' crestliner with a Johnson 25. We had to pick our days and didn't wander too far from shore. You'll need to pick your days. Days where the winds are less than 15 knots and anything out of the south are your friend. The biggest risk is if the lake gets rough or a summer squall comes thru, you wont have enough power to push thru / over a wave. Happened to us once, we were 3 miles west of the harbor and a mile off shore. Lake went from flat to angry in no time and we couldnt make headway. We, and about 10 other boats ended up beaching and waiting it out under a willow tree. There is also no replacement for experience. You only gain experience by being on the lake and making a few mistakes. Good luck. Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

Now don't you be calling Uncle Sherman Mr. Brown. That'll be going to his head.... Sorry Sherman, I just had too! Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

^^^ Good point here. I suspect an Northeast wind isn't as bad in Buffalo as it is in Ashtabula. So location is important! Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

5-15 knots if the wind is out of the south or west (or any combination) if it's out of the North (east or west), nothing more than 10 knots. At least until you learn the lake. If you look at it that way, when you get caught in some weather, and eventually you will, it wont be too bad. Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

20 knots, but it depends upon the direction. Down here in the Central basin of Erie, anything out of the N or NE probably gets lowered to 15 knots. Oh, and I have a 20,000 lbs boat. Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

I fish 20lbs single strand stainless wire and the dive curve is 1' for every 10' of wire out + your crank depth. So, if you run a Rapala DHJ-12 which has a max trolling depth of 19' and 300' of wire. You running 49' deep at 2 mph. 180' and 300' are common leads down here in the Central Basin. Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

I installed a Simrad Cruise instead of the Go model as wasn't sure of the touchscreen. That said, you can't go wrong with the Garmin. Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

I use American Fishing Wire in a single strand stainless. I personally use 20 lbs test but many run 12 lbs test. I buy it in 300' spools and put all 300 on the reel on top of backing. You will also need a haywire tool to make the twists as you can't knot stainless. https://afwfishing.com/afw_products/G020-4.asp Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

If it's cranking and not firing, the first think I would say is change the plugs (2 strokes need a little TLC) If it's not cranking over, check all of your battery connections and make sure their clean. Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

I think we'll need a little more information here... Are you saying that you need to crank your motor for up to 10 minutes before it starts? And what kind of motor are you talking about? Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

My rule of thumb is to make your leader the length of your rod. Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

I run my big boards off of trees. I can usually read the rod tips to determine which if any rod has a fish on it. One thing we do, especially when it's rough is to half hitch two rubber bands together to make one long one. Then use that. It'll stretch really long if there is a fish on that rod. The downside is if it's not rough or your boards don't pull strong enough, they are hard to break or trip. Another tip is to troll faster! Makes reading the rods much easier. Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

https://www.fishusa.com/Big-Fish-Tuff-Tru-Trip-Deep-Divers Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

To quote a charter captain out of Ashtabula regarding wire, "that sh!t just catches fish"! I don't have much experience with leadcore (did try it for one season). With wire, we are getting our lures far from the boat (up to 150' out on the planer tow line and 300' back to the crank). Those big fish didn't get big by getting caught. They seem shy of the boat. Two popular lengths with wire are 180' and 300'. Probably with 20' diving cranks your getting just below the first thermocline and just above the second one out where we fish. Another thing we do is switch out the cranks. I personally like Rapala DHJ-12's, but also like the Yozuri 4 3/8 deep diving for faster speeds. It's a salt water lure, but we've rolled it was fast as 3.5 knots on wire and they just rip it off the tow line. The downside to wire is if your running alot of lines, an autopilot is recommended, or at least a really good driver. Tangles just suck! Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

True trip 50's already have a weight on the front side of them and will dive to 50' (we tested in 50' of water and ticked bottom). But I'm not sure how much deeper they will dive that that. We run true trip 40's early and 50's when the fish go deeper. One advantage of a true trip over a jet diver is the true trip has a release like a dipsy. So once a fish trips it, it's easier to tell you have a fish on. Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

We catch the big walleye on wire! And walleye aren't known to be great fighters, just great eaters!!! Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

We run true trip which are similar to a jet diver, just a little better dive curve. We typically run the true trips off of planer boards and dipsy's off the corners of the boat. True Trips dive straight down as opposed to dipsy's which are directional. Likewise, dipsy's have a hunk of lead in them and will sink at rest as opposed to a true trip which will float and dive when forward motion is applied. So you get a different presentation. On a turn, an inside dipsy will sink and a true trip will rise. They are very effective at catching fish. You can troll shallow diving cranks, spoons, or worm harnesses behind them just like you would a dipsy. Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

In the central basin of Erie, we run stainless wire. Dive curve is 1' for every 10' of wire out plus your crank dive chart. We break this out come August (about now) when the thermocline sets up and the fish go deep. It's common to run 300' of wire with a Rapala DHJ-12 which dives 19' on its own to get 49' down. You can usually add 300' of 12 lbs wire on a fully calibrated 47 size reel. Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

Grady White's are nice fishing boats, but you'll be looking at outboard (s) in that size. Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk