I write the Tackle and Toys column for Great Lakes Angler magazine. Posts to this blog are about items I've personally tested on my own boat or when fishing elsewhere. These products (fishing toys) are the best of the best and I whole-heartedly endorse.
If you ever watch a professional at work you’ll see that he or she usually has all the usual tools organized and close at hand. That goes for heart surgeons to electricians. The doctor probably has the scalpels, clamps and other tools arranged on a tray next to the operating table, the electrician often has a tool belt holding the screwdrivers, wire pliers and the needed tools for the job at hand.
It’s equally important for anglers to have the tools they will or might need close at hand and considering the excitement and uncertainty of fishing on the Great Lakes, it’s also important to not have pliers, lures, line snippers and other cluttering the working area. “Scotty” as in Scotty Downriggers understands this and has added a variety of products to their line of ‘riggers and rod holders to help with the clutter. Newest of these is the 452 Gear Caddy.
It’s an organizer that attaches solidly into tracks or Scotty rod holder mounts, or it can be fastened in a convenient location with mounting screws. It can be a permanent fixture or can be repositioned depending on the style of fishing happening.
It has three recessed cavities, one is obviously a cup or beverage container holder, the other two are rectangular to hold any number of necessities, from bug spray to scent products. Add to this is multiple slots to hold knives, pliers, screwdrivers and other tools, or use the slots as lure hangers to keep the lures probably going to be needed or the ones just pulled at bay to allow them to dry or at least stay in one place before they are stowed away in the tackle box. A part of the caddy is magnetized, a great place to temporarily set hooks or swivels and keep them from disappearing onto the floor or elsewhere until they are needed.
If you want to fish like a pro, be organized like a pro. Pick up a 452 Gear Caddy at retailers handling Scotty Downrigger products, at Amazon.com or at a variety or other online outlets. Check out the Gear Caddy and other Scotty products at http://www.scotty.com.
I don’t know how long ago metal trolling dodgers were invented, but it was long before salmon were introduced to the Great Lakes. With minor variations these relatively flat slabs of thin brass or steel all looked similar and were built with nearly identical proportions. A six-inch dodger was about two inches wide; an eight-inch long dodger was a bit less than three-inches wide.
That’s why I noticed several of the bright orange dodgers dangling on the rods being readied for action on the boat being preparing to launch just ahead of me. I don’t know if the word, “stubby” is what I thought, but I did notice the dodgers were out of proportion compared to every other dodger I’d ever seen. They were proportionately wider than any dodger I’d ever seen – roughly only twice as long as they were wide.
A few hours later I returned to the marina to find the angler with the “stubby” dodgers just finishing his chores at the fish cleaning station and the pile of fillets being packaged showed he’d had a successful trip. When I got home that day, the mailman had delivered my latest issue of Great Lakes Angler magazine and it was in this issue I noticed the advertisement posted by Gold Star for Stubby Dodgers.
Due to the time-zone difference between the Great Lakes and Washington state, I was able to call Kelly Morrison, owner of Silver Hoard Fishing Supplies (who makes Gold Star dodgers), to ask about them. Long story short, Morrison said their Stubbies had earned a solid following by West Coast salmon trollers and they were betting their advertising dollars they’d be a hit in the Great Lakes.
By the end of the week, I had some Stubby Dodgers on my boat and about three minutes after I’d slowed to trolling speed I had a coho thrashing on a trolling fly trailing 18-inches behind one of the Stubbies. About three minutes after coolering that coho, there was another coho on the same dodger and fly pulled under by a Dipsy Diver. If that wasn’t convincing enough, though it took about 10 minutes, the same set-up caught the third fish of the day – and that set-up continued being the “stud-rod” for the rest of the morning.
There’s no better lure for early season cohos in Southern Lake Michigan than a six-inch flame-red metal dodger trailing a half-sized tinsel fly. Most of these cohos are caught within a few feet of the surface, but the dodger fly set-up will continue to work as the surface warms and the fish seek deeper water. Often, once the fish start foraging 30 or more feet deep, many anglers move to eight-inch dodgers to provide more “flash” attractant.
This was the condition when I started fishing Stubby Dodgers. I think the Stubbies boosted the flash to attract the fish but still imparted the same snappy action to the fly as the six-inch regular dodgers. I’m sold! I haven’t had the chance to use them in the early spring when the fish are shallow, but I think these might be a solid choice on those gray-spring days when a bit of extra flash could be helpful.
If you only want to try a couple of them, stick to the 077 Flame color, but they are available in over a dozen traditional colors including one which is quite novel. For me, my second-favorite “coho” dodger color is chartreuse with fire dots. The Stubby does come in that pattern, but there’s also one that’s painted Flame on one side, chartreuse/fire-dot on the other.
There’s no reason a bland looking knife can’t be the best knife you’ve ever used. Whether the handle is black, white, or any color of the rainbow is about 99 times less important than how it fits the hand gripping it. Fillet knife blades are usually stainless steel and have either a bright, polished finish or perhaps a duller, brushed finish. Older fish cleaning knives I’ve used were high-carbon steel and sometimes had a blued look; but again, the color or finish of the blade takes a distant backseat to other factors like sharpness, shape, flex and length.
But recently, I have been using some “colorful cutters” when I show up at the fish cleaning table. They are all great knives. If they only looked cool but under-performed, they wouldn’t have “made the cut” and ended up on these pages. These knives do look great and more importantly, they do the job.
MERCER SPORT KNIVES
The first couple of knives I used late last summer sported a bright orange, textured non-slip handle with a comfortable feel when holding them. I used the 9” “regular” blade for large trout and salmon and found it to be perfect for this purpose. The blade was razor sharp and stayed that way fish after fish. I haven’t had to sharpen it yet, but I steel my fillet knives regularly when I’m using them – like after every couple three fish. Most of my knives only get sharpened on a whetstone or other abrasive sharpener once a season, or until I loan it out to someone who uses it until it gets dull.
The other Mercer knife I used was the Utility Slicer with the same exact handle and blade length. The difference is this blade is serrated which makes it a specialty knife for fish cleaning.
Several years ago I switched to electric knives when cleaning lake trout and walleyes because I’m a “cut through the rib bones” fillet maker. Once the fish is slabbed, step two is to remove the ribs by cutting just under them and lifting at the same time. I find that technique much easier, quicker and I get more of the “rib meat” doing it that way than to cut around the ribs when separating the meat from the bones.
Walleyes and lake trout have ribs that seem to be made from steel wires when trying to cut through them with a smooth bladed fillet knife. The electric knife snips them off effortlessly. So does the utility slicer. I make the first cut behind gills down to the backbone with a fillet knife, then switch to the Utility Slicer. The serrated blade acts like a saw and easily cuts through the wiry ribs, then I switch back to the fillet knife to finish the chore, removing the fillet down to the tail, removing the ribs and skinning the fillets.
I also use the Utility Slicer to make both lake trout and salmon steaks from larger fish. My wife and I think these bone-in, skin-on steaks have a better flavor than skinless, boneless fillets when grilled or in other recipes. In this case, I use the Utility Slicer to “saw” through the backbone with just a couple of strokes. Check them out at www.mercersport.com.
TRUE 7” SYK FILLET KNIFE
The handle of this seven-inch fillet knife is a pleasing, if not gaudy bright blue handle. It too has an easy-to-grip textured, well contoured handle. What makes this knife colorful is the avocado green blade – True says it was inspired by one of the colors on a yellowfin tuna. Other than in ceramic knives, I’ve never seen blades of this color. The color is actually a special corrosion preventing, micro-coating often used in firearms called Ceracote. Under the coating is hard, high-carbon stainless steel that will sharpen to a razor like edge. The hardness makes it a long lasting edge, as well.
Available in a 9” version, I found the seven-incher a good all-around size and I cleaned perch, coho, cisco and walleyes with it handily. It has a medium flex which I like better than a more flexible blade since I try to leave as much of the red-meat lateral line on the skin as possible when skinning trout and salmon. It also has a bit more sweep to the cutting edge which makes it easier to cut out the ribs whether cutting through them or cutting around them. Check them out at www.true.acgbrands.com/en-US.
Most anglers know they need to change their line on a regular basis and most fishermen know quality fishing line is expensive. The two things that can help cut those costs is to purchase line in bulk spools instead of reel-filler amounts and don’t remove all the line on each reel every time it’s time to swap it out.
Few anglers use all the line spooled on a reel. If that happens you probably need a bigger reel. That line at the bottom of the spool may not be as good as new, but since it is never subjected to the subtle degradation by UV light and it’s never brutalized by being stretched, cast and other normal wear and tear of just being used, why change it?
If you buy a bulk spool, how do you know when you have removed enough line? If you buy a 300 yard spool and you want to split it between two or three reels, how do you split it equally? The only way to do it with precision is to measure the line. There are tools to do this.
One of the tools is not a line-counter reel. LC reels only measure the number of revolutions the reel’s spool makes and the changing numbers on counter are approximations – at best! A revolution of a half empty spool will only hold a small amount of line compared to a nearly full spool.
One of the tools that will accurately measure the line spooling on or peeling off a reel is KastKing’s Kalibrate Line Spooler. (It’s designed to measure line being spooled on, but can easily be reversed to measure outgoing line.) There are a lot of moving parts on this tool allowing it to be used for spooling with both spinning reels as well as revolving spool reels and on rods from heavy trolling to light carbon-fiber models – but it’s not complicated.
There are lots of line spooling tools available. Before I got the Kalibrate, I normally used a screwdriver punched through the arbor of a spool of line and clamped between my knees. There are a few line-counter tools that clamp onto a rod as well but the ones I’ve tried ranged from horrible to barely okay at best, for both ease of use and accuracy. The Kalibrate is the only model I’ve found that does both things and does both of them well.
Fenwick rods have been around almost as long as I’ve been fishing. The rod company was founded in the 1950s and sold to a new owner about the time I graduated from high school. Fenwick quickly became one of the leading innovators that changed fishing rods basically from fiberglass sticks to high tech fishing tools demanded by the increasing numbers of competitive anglers.
They were the first company to produce an all-graphite rod and for a time Fenwick captured almost half the fishing rod market in the US and Canada. During that time, they branched into fly fishing rods, rods specialized for a variety of fish and even paired their rods with a line of reels that paired perfectly with some of their rods.
Pure Fishing added Fenwick to their stable of rod and reel brands like Abu Garcia, Shakespeare, Berkley and others some time ago and there are plenty of anglers who still look to Fenwick when they are shopping for a new rod. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it, seemed to be their marketing plan.
However, over time, rod technologies changed with rod makers producing new models using lighter, tougher, more specialized materials that better met the specialized needs of modern anglers. The rod engineers at Pure Fishing turned their attention to the Fenwick line and the result was a new line of rods at last summer’s ICAST show. I’ve had the chance to fish with both the casting rod and spinning rod models. Both performed flawlessly for me. I own a World Class spinning rod which I used for a variety of species and techniques, from dock fishing for sunfish with my grand daughter to deep jigging for ciscoes in Grand Traverse Bay. Walleye, bass and lake trout have also “volunteered” to help me evaluate this new rod.
It’s extremely light, but according to Fenwick their proprietary Powerlux 500 resin (whatever that is) makes them 30 percent stronger compared to similar rods produced by other companies. The cork handle on all of the rods I’ve used were flawless, there are quality guides and I’ve not had any issue with the reel seats not gripping the reel firmly.
Whether or not you are a long-time Fenwick fan, if you are a looking for a high-end, long-lasting rod which will match up or exceed the performance of any brand on the market, give these a look at a tackle shop near you. To see the entire line-up of Fenwick World Class Rods check them out at www.purefishing.com/fenwick.
When I’m at the ICAST show or in tackle emporiums when I’m on away-trips to “salty” destinations, I’m often looking at a variety of saltwater gear. That’s not because I fish saltwater often enough to warrant owning a full set of ocean-fishing gear. It’s because there is a lot of stuff designed to be used in the salt that plays quite nicely in the Great Lakes. That’s what I was doing at the salty-section of the Penn booth at last year’s ICAST.
What I found was a line of rods called the “Mariner III Boat Conventional.” The display started with short little brutes-pretty much what I consider to be saltwater “boat” rods – but at the end of the display was a 9-footer, rated medium (by saltwater standards) that caught my eye. Most of the saltwater boat captains I’ve been with would have viewed a 9-footer as a pole vault stick. As a Great Lakes captain, I viewed it as a diver rod. I hefted it, wobbled it, gauged the bend and pronounced it diver-worthy.
Let’s look at a few of the details in this rod. First off, the rod is made of graphite and fiberglass. An all fiberglass rod would be heavy with a slow action, but it would be as tough as a pole vault stick. But by engineering it with both glass and graphite, the rod’s weight is reduced, it’s action is faster and it’s still plenty tough. That’s important for a diver rod since when the diver is being trolled, there’s a constant heavy strain on the rod and when a fish strikes the rod has to go from heavy strain to extreme.
Penn has fitted this rod with their own one-piece stainless steel Dura-Guides. Dura-Guides eliminate the need to fuse a ceramic or other type of insert to protect the frame of each guide. The extra-hard stainless is plenty durable for years of use with mono, fluoro or braided lines.
The EVA Torque grips (another Penn exclusive) are substantial, plenty long to fit comfortably in any rod holder. The feature I’ve come to embrace is how the foregrip is triangular in cross section. That gives it a comfortable feel in hand and helps eliminate the rod from twisting when being gripped and the reel’s handle is being cranked.
Penn Mariner IIIs are mostly available at retailers who handle saltwater tackle but you’ll find them at Amazon.com or at www.purefishing.com as well as at other online outlets at surprisingly affordable prices.
For Great Lakes salmon, steelhead and trout, using affordable rods is certainly possible, but skimping on the reel you clamp onto that rod can be a heart braker – and that’s even more important for diver reels than those used for ‘riggers or planers. Most “affordable” (spelled C-H-E-A-P) reels can’t hold up to the constant strain of pulling a full-size or magnum diver into the depths and then be able to smoothly become a fish fighting machine when a big king or an energized steelhead is at the end of the string.
I could cut this review short by saying the Fathom II is up to both tasks. There’s more to it than that. I’ve never had a reel with a drag so sensitive. On too many reels, you can dial a drag to go from near zero to full strength in less than a half rotation of the star-wheel on the handle. That means if you need to loosen or tighten it just a bit, the star needs to only rotate a few degrees and especially, when in the middle of fighting a “big one” it’s easy to over-correct. Not so on the Fathom II. Backing off the reel from the setting I was using to near zero required 1 ½ revolutions of the star wheel.
I like to adjust my diver reels so the drag is just holding firm as we are trolling, then give it a tiny bit more so when the fish strikes, the diver will trip and the fish can make it’s initial run on a smooth, medium drag setting. Tighten it up halfway through the battle and a bit more as most of the line is regained and the fish is pulled close to the boat.
The handle is oversized, compared to most other reels and exceedingly comfortable to grip. With a full spool, one turn of the handle will crank on more than 30 inches of line. The clicker mechanism is solid, but not overly loud. The reel’s frame and housing is metal, not composite, so it looks, feels and is rock solid.
I spooled-up with mono for early season fishing, then switched to braid as the fish went deeper. In early summer, when the fish headed to the depths, I respooled with 19-strand wire and switched to magnum divers to put them down to or below the thermocline. With a solid season of using this reel on every trip and catching countless fish, it’s still delivering “out of the box” performance and I have no doubt I’ll be able to say that again next year (and the next, and the next….). Check out the Fathom II at www.pennfishing.com. They are available at many retail outlets and through many online outlets including Amazon.
Elsewhere in this magazine is an article about fishing scales, how they work, available models and how accurate they weigh fish. I gathered several scales to use, evaluate and test for this article and while none of them are perfect for every angler, for every fish or fishing condition, one thing did come out of my tests. I replaced the spring type, mechanical scale which had been on my boat for the past several years with the Rapala Angler Model acquired specifically for the feature story.
I’d owned digital scales in the past and they worked well when the batteries were good. Too often, I’d pull the scale out to weigh a notable catch and found the Energizer Bunny had died. That’s why I switched to a good, mechanical model, but my tests for the feature showed my spring scale was “off” for the better part of a pound and the graduations that showed the weight were so close together that weighing to anything less than to the nearest pound was pure guesswork.
The Rapala digital was spot-on for accuracy and was easy to read. I could have chosen one of the other digitals I tested, but several features guided my selection – most notably the scale operates on AA batteries – available anywhere. Try to find one of those square, 9Vs when you need it.
Rapala says the two AAs will run the scale for 400 hours so expect a season’s use out of each pair. The circuitry automatically turns off the scale after a few minutes eliminating the possibility of accidentally leaving the scale in the on position from one trip to the next. Should the batteries run down, there is a back-up memory to store any weights you’ve entered and want to save.
It will store up to eight different previously weighed fish – one for each person perhaps, or save the weights for different species as the season progresses. It will also total all the stored weights for an instant cumulative weight for tournament or other purposes.
I don’t much use those features, but maybe I will. The kicker for me, however was instead of a simple hook to hold the fish being weighed, the scale comes with a rugged “vise-grip” style lip gripper which holds the fish securely and is less injurious to the fish being weighed.
Rapala Touch Screen Angler Model scales are widely available at retail or online merchandizers or order them straight from Rapala at: www.rapala.com.
When I’m getting my boat out of winter storage and lake ready in late winter or early spring, the last thing I want to do is take a look at it and tell myself it needs a wash and wax. If it was dull and dirty when winterized, it will be that way when the spring melt opens up the lakes and harbors. If it was clean and shiny when laid up in the fall, even if it was just fitted with a cover, it won’t look disturbingly bad when pulled out of storage. Spend the time getting the interior stocked up with rods, lures and all the rest to make that first of the season outing a success.
It will be easier than ever to button down my boat all clean and shiny this year since I’ve started using SRD20 products during the summer and fall fishing season. SRD20 makes three products that make it easy called: Pink Soap, Waterless Wash and Wax and Graphene Spray Protectant. I call them simply wash, wax and wipe.
The marina where I often launch in the fall opens into a river that is often almost stagnant and filled with algae and stained water by the time the salmon are spawning upstream. Two or three late season trips puts a scum ring around the bottom of the hull that looks like the boat has been soaking in the marina all summer. I’ve used some highly acidic products that does a good job of knocking it off, but it won’t work on aluminum boats and it takes longer to rinse the boat and trailer than to do the actual cleaning. I doubt that stuff is good for the driveway or wherever rinsewater it runs off.
The SRD20 pink soap is pH balanced and environmentally safe. Use it in the marina if you wish. A couple of ounces in a five gallon bucket is enough to clean most boats. Spray in the water and stir it well to produce a high-suds and then swab the boat. It’s easy on existing wax, but you can see the white suds turn gray as it drips down the boat’s side and picks up dirt. A bit of scrubbing and a quick rinse and the hull is clean.
Next step is Waterless Wash and Wax. Spray on about six to ten square feet, rub it in with a microfiber cloth or an old towel, then buff it dry. The result is a ceramic-like shiny coating of wax that protects the paint, chrome or gelcoat. No power-buffers needed.
I use it inside and out, as needed. It doesn’t need much, thanks to the Graphene protectant. I use it as a touch up and regularly apply it to areas like the dashboard and where people climb in and out of the boat. Graphene is diamond-shiny and diamond hard, microscopically thin coating. Just spray it on and wipe it off to make the surface gleam brighter than new and to protect it better than wax.
The motto on each bottle of SRD20 products is, “It shouldn’t be hard work.” That nails it. The soap does much of the work to clean your boat. I could see the suds go from white to gray as it ran down the hull. The Waterless Wash and Wax gets any residual dirt and tar-spots from trailering on the highway. Wipe on the Graphene Spray Protectant whenever a place, inside or outside needs a touch up. Wash, wax and wipe as needed through the season and your boat will be ready for lay-up in the off season and ready to go all season, next year.
Check out the products more thoroughly at ww.SRD20.com. These American made products are available at Amazon.com.
I love the fall and early winter weather in the Great Lakes. That includes the brisk, frosty mornings that often gives way to tee-shirt warmth in the afternoon. Obviously, seasoned anglers know the key to this is layering but it doesn’t have to be a complicated system as is needed in “real” winter on the ice, in deer stands or other cold weather outings. The Fitzroy Jacket from Gill can be your go-to top layer on those Indian summer mornings (and just as useful on middle-spring days.)
My go-to outer layer for the past couple of seasons has been my Gill Winter Jacket and Bibs, which are both heavily insulated and fully waterproof, but the winter-wear is overkill on those days when the frosty morning fades quickly to comfortable temps as soon as the sun brightens the morning sky.
The Fitzroy jacket is very lightweight and packable for when it needs to be stowed, but easily fluffs to a warm, well insulated, good looking coat and hood. For me (so far) the hood is more for style since I’ve never needed it.
Fishing can be a wet sport even on a sunny day, either from errant spray when the boat is under power or when dealing with wet tackle or flopping fish. The Fitzroy will handle spray and wet fish, but it’s a poor choice for a rainy day. It has the same Durable Water Repellant finish on the outer layer that’s the first line of water resistance on all of the best totally waterproof rainwear, but that makes it water resistant, not waterproof. A bit of spray will just bead up and run off or evaporate, a soaking rain will, eventually soak in.
I love the three zip-close pockets – two on the sides for hands, for stowing car keys or other items and one on the upper chest where I often insert my cell phone or camera. The sturdy zips open and close easily and keeps things secure and available.
One observation I’ve noted on this and other Gill products is their sizing. Gill products are designed and engineered in the United Kingdom and sold worldwide where many people are smaller than many of us in the Great Lakes. I choose garments one size larger than I’d normally buy from American producers.
If environmental responsibility is important to you, both the Fitzroy’s shell and insulation is made from recycled materials.
Want to try Gill yourself? The Fitzroy Jacket (and other Gill products) are widely available or order them online straight from the Gill website with a discount:
At checkout, use the discount code- CAPTMIKE10 – for 10% off your order at gillfishing.com
FISHING TOYS 