Reviewed by: Capt. Mike Schoonveld

            If your boat designer had any saltwater blood in his or her veins, chances are the boat came out of the factory with two or more flush mounted rod holders along the gunwales. My boat has four of them. I’ve never used any of them.

I’ve been on boats in the salt that used them but when the briny-water guys have a big spread out, that means trolling with four lines. Here on the Great Lakes, topping out with four times that many lines isn’t unusual.

In many cases the built-in, flush-with-the-gunwale rod holders have to be removed to install a track system to mount multiple holders and ‘riggers. In my case, I just worked around them.

I’ve now found a use for the pair of rod-slots positioned amidships on my boat. Quick Cleat, LLC makes a number of rope-holding cleats to attach to boats and docks. Instead of tying and untying dock lines, minnow bucket cords, anchor rodes or boat fenders, use a Quick Cleat. Rotate the top of the mechanism until a rope channel opens and lay a line in the channel. Release the mechanism and the top rotates back, securely clamping the rope in the groove. It takes only a second and makes adjusting the length of the line or rope nearly instantaneous.

Quick Cleat produces styles with applications for boats of any size, from inflatables, canoes and kayaks to offshore cruisers. There are a variety mounting systems as well including stick-on, screw or bolt on, as well as clamp on mounts for square or round rails.

The one I sampled simply slid down into my factory-installed, unused, gunwale rod holder. It’s perfect for holding a fender rope when I tie up to a dock. If I need the fender on the other side, slide the Quick Cleat out of the port side and into the starboard side.   I often just leave it in place but it is removable and comes with a plastic storage pouch. www.quick-cleat.com.

Reviewed by: Capt. Mike Schoonveld

          I’m often asked, “Can you see fish on that?” as the people point to the sonar unit on my boat.

My pat answer is “Yes, but if I had to see a fish on the screen to catch it, I’d be in trouble and if I could catch every fish showing on the screen, we’d fill the boat.”

I stand by that statement, but when I get better at using my AXIOM Multi-Function Display (MFD) I may have to change my answer. It will certainly mark more fish in the average trip than will fit in my boat, but it comes much closer to giving me (or any fisherman) the ability to “see a fish, catch a fish.”

The AXIOM is called an MFD because what you see is more than just a sonar, chart or GPS. Think of it as a computer monitor capable of showing screens associated with whatever program the computer is running. You can call up displays from other Raymarine devices, such as radar or autopilot. It will interface with some phone apps, Sirius Radio and with a wifi connection (such as your cell phone’s mobile hotspot) you can watch Netflix or connect to other entertainment. Use it to control your drone! Gearheads may want to connect the MFD to their motor’s computer to monitor engine performance on the display.

I’ll run through a few of the other selling points as quickly as possible. If you like technical jargon like “quad-four processor” and other exacting specs go to http://www.raymarine.com. The website lists enough details, techno-words and numbers with Greek letters attached to keep any geek happy and most fisherman confused. For instance, the AXIOM has CHIRP technology in the main sonar. I don’t understand all I know about CHIRP and I understand more than I need. I do understand when in use, the sonar picture on the screen is better. I see more fish, things on the bottom and other details.

It has two other “real time” sonar modes which, depending on where and how you fish, may be all important or of little importance to you. The way I picture Sidevision is turning a sonar transducer 90 degrees so instead of viewing straight down, it sends and receives pings and echos to the side (or both sides) of the boat. It will show nearby reefs, bridge pilings, rocks on the bottom and fish lurking near these things.

It’s harder to explain Downvision. It’s similar to the regular sonar, except it’s a sort of HD version. Even with CHIRP, if you motor across a sunken tree, a sunken boat or a pile of rubble, each will look like “something” laying on the bottom. With Downvision, the something looks like a tree, boat or rock pile.

Mr. Cool of the four sonar modes is the 3-D vision. The computer brains in the AXIOM uses the information gathered from both the side and downvision sonar returns to create a computer generated three dimensional picture on the screen showing the underwater world you just passed. You’ll see the bottom of the channel, the sunken boat on the bottom, fish suspended above it and the bridge piling the boat hit to cause it to sink.

The unit comes with a Navionics charting chip so when you switch the unit to charting mode, you can set waypoints and use the GPS to navigate to them and back. I’m sure it will do other things I’ve yet to discover. There are multiple choices of overlays so you can customize the screens to your personal needs.

One of the first things I noticed, different from all the other sonar/chart/GPS units I’ve previously used, is I don’t have to take off my polarized glasses or tilt my head to a specific angle to look at the screen and be able to see it. Not only will it see the fish better, I can see the screen better! In my mind that’s the most underrated selling point of this machine.

It’s expensive, but expect many years of use from the unit just as it comes out of the box. Add to that Raymarine offers free software and operating system upgrades so the Axiom you buy today will be nearly similar in power and features to the models they sell three, four or more years from now.

I’m not a trained professional marine electronics installer, but I easily installed my MFD, the transducer and connected it to the boat’s wiring system. Evidently, believing a picture is worth a thousand words, the installation guide is mostly pictorial, the wires and connections are color coded and basically, anyone capable of changing the batteries in a flashlight, will have few problems installing their Axiom.

The above picture shows the Mr. Cool, 3D picture on my 9-inch version. Notice the boat motoring to the upper left and the fish (in blue) I’d passed trailing behind the boat.  It comes in both seven and twelve inch screens depending on space or desire. The latest versions are like this, all touch screen, no knobs.

Reviewed by Capt. Mike Schoonveld

The dodgers and flashers I started using decades ago all came outfitted with a curly-cue swivel thing on the end to quickly attach and detach fly leaders. Whether or not they are the perfect answer, millions of fish have been landed using them.

 
Then some of the “newer” rotating flashers (i.e. Spin Doctors, others) showed up with a ball bearing snap swivel with the snap connected to the flasher and the ring end free. Where do you attach the leader? So you have to take it off, push the loop at the end of the leader through and over and then reattach. The next time I want to put that fly on a different attractor I have to unattach it and it has a kink in the loop maybe weakening it, definitely making it harder to attach a second time.

 
Okay, it’s not all that big of a deal, but compared to the curly-cue on the others, it seems cumbersome. Maybe it’s a left brain, right brain thing.

 
When I spotted the Offshore Brand Quick Clip Snaps at a Bass Pro Shops store, either my left brain or right kicked in and I picked up a pack. Both sides of my brain are now equally happy.

 
Use the clips two different ways. I either substitute a Quick Clip for the loop at the end of the trolling fly leader or put a Quick Clip on the ring end of the snap swivel of each Spin Doctor. Available at most Bass Pro Shops retail stores or on-line at http://www.basspro.com.

Reviewed by Capt. Mike Schoonveld

It’s not often I get a product to sample that is (or can be) simple, functional, useful, and decorative in any combination. It’s called a Reel Grip which, to be more descriptive should be called a reel handle knob grip. Made of some sort of silicone, spongy rubber material, it’s a sleeve that slips tightly over the reel handle knob on most any reel.

 
That’s simple enough. Just order or pick up the one you need, whether it be for a trolling reel, baitcaster, spinning reel or fly reels. (They make great sense on fly reels since for some reason you can buy a $500 fly reel with a 50 cent reel knob.)

 
On fly reels and others, they make a good reel even better by giving the reel cranker a good, non-slip comfortable handle knob to grab. Reel Grips are softer and more textured than even the handles on my reels which come with rubberized knobs. The factory-installed rubber handles have to last the life of the reel. Slip on a Reel Grip and if the RG gets worn out in a season or two, swap it out for a new one. Have a reel with a hard plastic or wood handle? Try a Reel Grip and you’ll never want to crank that reel again without it.

 
Reel Grips come in a wide range of solid colors or multi-colors. Bears fans might like the Orange and Blue ones, Michigan State backers can go with Green and White. Or color code your gear. Put solid blue grips on your downrigger reels, green ones on your diver rigs and cover the handles on lead core reels with red ones.

 
Reel Grips are carried in many tackle shops and big box sporting goods outlets. Or get the specific colors and kinds you need at http://www.reelgrip.com.

Reviewed by Capt. Mike Schoonveld

It’s been a long time since I saw something related to fishing that made me scratch my head a bit and wonder, “What’s that for?” When I opened a package of goodies from Brecks Inc. I recognized most of the samples they sent. Brecks sells items under many brand names probably familiar to you. Their Mooselock brand spoon is shaped like a fish. Their Savant spoons come sized and colored perfectly for Great Lakes walleye. They also brand Williams Wablers, a spoon that’s been around almost 100 years. .

The “mystery” product is a Lake Clear Wabbler from a brand called Lake Clear. It looks like a wide-bodied spoon with no hook on either end – just empty split rings. There’s no swivel on either end, and no markings or other way to determine if there’s a front end or a rear end, even if I wanted to attach a hook.

At a smidge over 3 inches long and about 1 ½ inches wide, the football shaped lure didn’t much look like anything I’ve ever trolled or cast. Before I relegated it to my box of yard sale discards, I did a bit of investigating. The give away was the claim the Wabbler is to be used as an attractor, much the same as putting a dodger or flasher ahead of a squid or trolling fly. The Wabblers are used most often a couple feet up the line from a spoon or body bait.

I’ve no doubt some of the allure (some of the time) of a Dipsey Diver is as attributable to it’s being an attractor as much as a tool to pull lures deep. Why else would they come in an array of colors? Why else do you buy an array of colors?

I tested the two colors I have (yellow orange and fire tiger) with spoons, spinners and stickbaits about two feet behind the Wabbler. All caught fish. One day in particular, I paired the fire tiger Wabbler with one of the above mentioned Flashabou Aglias in fire tiger and it produced one coho after another all morning long.

I’m not saying every lure I’ll be running from now on will have a Wabbler ahead of it, but it’s a trick I’m going to put in my bag of tricks and continue to refine. Check out www. lakeclearwabbler.com

Reviewed by Capt. Mike Schoonveld

I was skeptical the first time I saw a “spinner” lure. It was probably in my grandpa’s tackle box and since he was mainly a bullhead fisherman, I don’t know why he had it. I knew the concept “big fish eat little fish” so I understood why a minnow-shaped artificial lure would catch fish. I knew bullheads eat worms, so I understood plastic worms. “What in the world swims through the water looking like a spinner? What sort of pea-brained fish would mistake a spinner for something it ought to eat?” I thought.
I still don’t have the answers, but I do know plenty of pea-brained fish have fallen for the spinners attached to the end of my line since then. Plenty of them have been coho and king salmon, steelhead and brown trout. Plenty of times, especially when fishing in dirty water, storm muddled or silty from tributary effluent dirty, I reach into my arsenal of lures and select a spinner and use them to fool the pea-brains swimming there hunting for something (that looks nothing like a spinner) to bite.
Among my favorite spinners are Mepps Aglias and though they’ve accounted for uncounted numbers of fish in their original versions, they’ve gotten better this year. The better is the hook on the end of them is now dressed with mylar tinsel from Flashabou instead of the traditional squirrel tail hair.
For years Mepps claimed nothing was better than squirrel tails for spinner hook dressing. Maybe for most fish, but the Flashabou dressed #5 Aglias I’ve been using this season are outproducing the squirrel tails seven days to Sunday. In the stained water (and because cohos in particular like to bite hot orange lures) the orange blade with orange/black hook dressing has been my top choice. The fire-tiger with fire-tiger(ish) mylar tail isn’t far behind.
I’ve caught a few fish on a double bladed model – one orange, one black blade, but so far, it’s not any better than its single bladed cousin. I suspect, the added noise may make it a better choice for steelhead.
I use them on both downriggers and behind Dipsey Divers. Be sure to employ a good ball bearing swivel. The Aglia Flashabou spinners may not be widely available this summer but you can always order them on-line at www. mepps .com.

Reviewed by Capt. Mike Schoonveld

When I hear “Field and Stream”, my thoughts go immediately to Field and Stream magazine, the hunting and fishing monthly I’ve been reading since I learned to read. As a kid growing up in a small Indiana farm town, F&S was the vehicle that transported me to hunting adventures and exotic fishing destinations – at least in my mind.

Now, another thing pops to mind at the mention of Field and Stream. Dick’s Sporting Goods now produces a line of outdoor products labelled Field and Stream.  There’s no direct connection with the magazine, but using Field and Stream products still helps me flash back to youthful dreams.

So it is when I spooled up some reels with the three kinds of fishing line available with the Field and Stream label,  braid, traditional monofilament and fluorocarbon monofilament.

I used the braided line as backing on a reel I top-filled with lead core line. I normally choose a bright “hi-vis” colored braided line for this purpose. Field and Stream Angler Braid is only available in a deep dark, almost black, chocolate brown. I actually liked the dark color and found it as easy to see as most of the bright chartreuse or orange colors I usually select. It worked flawlessly in that it has never broke and the normal braid knots I use stayed tied and tight where it was joined to the lead core.

I selected and used 25 pound test F&S Angler Fluorocarbon as the leader material on all my `core, copper and diver sets all summer. Again, it performed flawlessly with no unexplained break-offs or knot failures.
I spooled one of my downrigger reels with 20-pound F&S monofilament for use on staging kings. The mono is only available in clear color and I favor hi-vis but other than that I can’t complain. Many anglers prefer clear mono. Again, flawless performance, no unexplained breaks or knot failures.

If you are at Dick’s Sporting Goods and needing some fishing line, consider Field and Stream Angler Line and expect solid performance. No Dick’s nearby but you’d like a spool of this competitively priced line with the old, familiar name get it on-line at: www. fieldandstreamshop.com.

Reviewed by Captain Mike Schoonveld

Pinch pad type releases are the top choice of many Great Lakes fishermen. No other type is so easy to use. Just pinch the line between the rubber pads. No tensioners to adjust or line twists needed. Just pinch the line some where near the middle of the pinch-pad normally, tuck it way back for a tighter grip, out towards the tip if you need a light release.

It’s not rocket science – it’s clothes-pin science. The line release I ever saw put into play was made from a pinch-type clothes pin. The captain wasn’t a penny-pincher. Downriggers were brand new inventions in the early 70s and there were more anglers used homemade ones than factory models. The same went for line releases.

Since then I’ve pinched line in most brands of pinch-pad releases. They all work about the same, they are all reliable. My advice is to buy what’s available and choose the least expensive one if you have a choice.

When I saw the Troll-Master Seahorse Hydrodynamic Line Releases, I asked the Troll-Master guys what made theirs different than the others? “They are hydrodynamic,” I was told.

Indeed they are on closer inspection! Look close at them and you’ll see they are sleek and obviously will pull through the water creating very little turbulence. Is that a big deal?

Most of the time, no. Otherwise, all the other brands would have been “sleeked-up” over the years. Ford’s Model T is now a Mustang. All the other pinch-pad releases are exactly the same as they were decades ago. They are still Model Ts.

Still, decades ago, downrigging lures more than 100 feet deep in the Great Lakes was extreme. Not so much, these days with food web changes and light penetration issues driving fish deeper and downrigger fishermen commonly put lures deeper than anyone ever imagined.

Once you lower a downrigger more than 100 feet, blowback becomes a real issue. Once you speed up your troll a little, blowback becomes an issue. In either case a slight change in hydrodynamics of what’s being trolled through the water does make a significant difference. A release that slides through the water behind a downrigger weight instead of tugging through the water becomes valuable.

As far as holding line and releasing, the Seahorse pinchers work are the equal of any brand I’ve used. The sky blue colored light tension model is perfect for any strength of monofilament/fluorocarbon likely to be used in the Great Lakes at normal depths. The bright red, heavy tension version will grip braided line and hold well all the way down to submarine depths.

Both tension models are competitively priced and widely available at retailers or on-line outlets.

www. troll-master.com

Reviewed by Captain Mike Schoonveld

Are you needing a new diver rod and reel combo? Could you use another rod and reel able to comfortably fit 10 colors of leadcore line or 300 feet of copper wire? Is money the main reason you don’t have these already?

Both leadcore and copper line are thick and require a large size, large capacity reel to accommodate the backing, the heavy line and the leader. Fishing with these long, heavy lines or dangling a diver off the side requires a rod with plenty of backbone just to hold up to the pressure of dragging that stuff around.
You may want to check out the StrataMaxx Combo from Bass Pro Shops. It features an 8′ 6″ medium heavy rod matched to a solidly built, relatively large, line counter reel. This combo retails for $89.99. I have “name brand” combos on my boat that cost more than twice as much. Do they work twice as good? Will they last twice as long?

The answers are no and only time will tell. I used my StrataMaxx Combo as a 10 color LC set-up in June and later in the summer I switched it to a 300-copper (45 pound). I used 200 yards of 40-pound braid as backing for the heavy lines. Both types of line fit comfortably.

The rod held up nicely to the drag of the long lines trolling at speeds up to 3 knots even when pulling large dodgers or flashers. It also easily handled the kings, cohos and Skamania steelheads that fell for the lures I was pulling.

I often ran this set up straight down the chute behind the boat. No planer board on the line or stretchy rubber band release off the big board planers. When the fish bit, the rod has to absorb the pressure of the strike and the drag has to smoothly start to slip. It’s fun to experiment with new gear, but when I have paying customers on the boat, I don’t play with new stuff that may not be up to the task.

This combo performed time and again all season long and feels as good now as the first day it was put to work.

www. basspro.com

Reviewed by Captain Mike Schoonveld

Luckily, I’ve never had to shoot off one of the visual distress signals Coast Guard and state regulations require I carry on my boat when I’m on the Great Lakes. Every time I purchase a replacement set, (they all have an expiration date) I visualize a scenario in which the hand held flares or the meteor shells are all that stands between me and a nasty-fate should something that “only happens to the other guy” happen to me.

Three or four meteors would give me only about 20 seconds of signaling time. Handheld flares might give me 20 minutes – but are visible from a much shorter distance. That’s if they work; that’s if they don’t set the boat on fire.

Weems-Plath noticed a provision in the Coast Guard regs allowing an electronic (battery powered) visual distress signal. This easy-to-use handheld device features a compliantly bright LED bulb programmed to blink three-longs, three shorts, three longs – SOS – for up to 60 hours. There’s no expiration date. Just keep fresh C-cells in the handle.

It comes with a day-signal compliant flag so for less than $100, you are legal. More important, you are more likely to be noticed should you need help. It’s widely available.

www. weems-plath.com