REVIEWED BY CAPT. MIKE SCHOONVELD

     How fast is the wind blowing? How much rain fell last night or in the past several days? Is the barometer rising or falling? What’s the temperature or wind chill? These and other questions are all things I often need to know before heading out on the lake. Each one can determine where, how or even if I can get out to fish.

It’s all information I can pull up on my computer or smartphone, but how local is it? The information posted on weather sites is seldom taken from readings on or near the lake front. Most of the reporting stations are located a few miles (or even dozens of miles) away from the lake and any Great Lake angler knows conditions are usually different at the lake than inland.

On the theory any job worth doing is worth doing yourself, Bass Pro Shops has licensed a 5 in 1 Weather Center from AcuRite. (I don’t know why they call it 5 in 1 since it reports and displays over a dozen weather details.)

Rather than just reading and recording info gathered in some far off location, it has it’s own weather instrument apparatus you mount outdoors, up to 100 yards away from the receiver. On site details such as wind-speed, direction, temperature, rainfall amounts, barometer and others – the details I need to know at the lake – all show up on the bright, colorful display. The indoor display also reads some “indoor” weather, such as temperature and humidity. (www.basspro.com)

REVIEWED BY CAPT. MIKE SCHOONVELD

      This is an idea which is either really revolutionary or completely useless. Which side you fall on depends on how and where you use your boat.

      Most outboards and sterndrive boats come factory equipped with an aluminum propeller. They work pretty good and aren’t priced as though they are gold plated when compared to stainless steel propellers. Aluminum props have one side benefit or drawback (again depending on how and where you use the boat). Aluminum is a much softer metal than the stainless steel from which propeller shafts are made.

      The drawback? Hit a rock, a good hard tree stump or the concrete on a boat ramp with an aluminum prop and the propeller will show it. If you are lucky, one or more of the blades will be slightly bent; less lucky, one or more of the blades will be chipped; even less lucky and there will be chunks missing from the blades and the prop so out of balance you’ll be lucky to be able to run the boat at much more than idle speed.

     The good news is it’s highly unlikely the prop-shaft on your lower unit will be broken. The relative soft aluminum will chip or bend  long before the shaft will be damaged.  An aluminum propeller can be repaired or replaced for much less than the cost of replacing the propeller shaft.

     A popular alternative for people who operate in areas where whanging a boat’s propellor into a rock, stump or other obstruction is commonplace is to swap the aluminum propeller for a stainless steel model. These don’t come cheap but the stainless blades will definitely stand up to much more abuse than those on an aluminum prop.

     Being tough and strong is fine until the blade impacts something so hard (or so often) the propeller shaft gets twisted or breaks – or perhaps some other gear explodes up inside that mystical box called the lower unit. I ruined many aluminum props until I switched to stainless and have broken broken prop shafts and gears since switching to a stainless steel propeller. Here comes the Piranha Propellor.

     The Piranha looks as though it’s made of black plastic, but it’s actually made of a a hard, composite material, so only partially plastic, partially resin, partially who knows? The hub part of the propeller is actually made of an aluminum core, over molded with their resin/plastic/ composite material. The hub guaranteed for life.

      The hub is guaranteed to never break because the blades will. Whang into a stump, floating log, submerged rock or some other hard object and the composite blades will break off. Here’s the deal, however. The composite blades are easily replaceable and only cost $10 each, give or take a buck depending on the size. Hit something hard? Tilt up the motor and in a couple minutes, the damaged/broken blade or blades can be swapped out and everything down there is good as new.

      I installed one on my boat and took it out for a test. I noticed no difference in performance between the Piranha Prop and the stainless steel propeller I normally use. Available in three and four blade models for motors from six to 280 horsepower. Check out http://www.piranha.com for prices, dealers and on-line retailers.

 

REVIEWED BY CAPT. MIKE SCHOONVELD

They are back – almost from the grave. In the middle 1980s, primarily on Lake Ontario but with a solid presence on the other Great Lakes, Northern King spoons were solid producers, if not the overwhelming favorite of many salmon and trout anglers. When owner/creator of Northern King Spoons, Patsy Distaffen died, the company faded to near non-existence. Now they are coming back – solidly so on the north of the border portions of the Great Lakes, but increasingly, here on the U.S. side as well.

     The venerable Len Thompson Company, a maker of “Canadian” pike spoons since the 1930s, purchased the Northern King company – most importantly, they now own the Northern King dies used to stamp out the spoon blanks. Many believe Patsy’s dies produce a spoon with just enough realism to make just enough difference in the eyes of a hungry salmon or steelhead to get them to bite when they would pass on other brands.

     Many other fans of Northern Kings say it’s the genuine silver finish on the spoons that makes the difference. To humans, in direct sunlight, there’s not much difference between the flash off a polished chrome or nickel spoon and a polished silver spoon. Underwater, there is a difference and the fish can see that difference as easily as a woman can tell the difference between a real diamond and one made of cubic zirconium.

     They are available in three sizes, the NK 28 is a standard 3 3/4 inches, the NK 4-D is just under 4 inches (a great size for steelhead) but thinner and with a different action completely. The NK MAG is the 4 3/4 inch “king-killer.”

They are not (yet) available in an amazing array of color patterns, but I don’t detract from them for that. Many companies produce a dizzying number of patterns and anyone who thinks a fish cares much about whether or not the spots on the lure are round or oval or if the orange highlight stripe is 1/4 inch wide or 3/16s pays more attention to those details than I do (and most fish, I believe).

They do come in nice selection of standard and UV as well as extended glow patterns. The first fish I caught on my “new” NKs was on an orange-monkey-puke, NK 28, the venerable double orange crush proved as deadly on steelhead as ever and the UV Mixed Veggies gets bit by any species that comes close to it.

     Northern King is becoming increasingly available in Great Lakes tackle shops here stateside. The biggest on-line seller when this review was written was http://www.fishusa.com. Take a peek at all their colors at http://www.nklures.com.

REVIEWED BY CAPT. MIKE SCHOONVELD

     Are you looking for a medium light spinning reel perfect for bass, walleye or most any other species you’d normally fish with 8 or 10 pound line? Do you want the reel to last forever, and man-up when a fish you would normally fish for with 17 or 20 pound line mistakenly bites your bass or walleye lure? Do you want one that handles like a reel twice the price and is comfortable to fish all day with braid, mono or fluorocarbon line.
That’s exactly what I was handed one of the days I spent fishing the lower Niagara River earlier this year. Using the medium sized Revo X, we were targeting smallmouth, but the smelt run was on and lake trout were on the prowl in the river at the same time.

When my rod slammed down with noticeably more force than the smallies normally made, the importance of a reel capable of manning-up became paramount. The matching Abu Veritas rod added little to the fight once the rod bent double. It was 90% reel, 5% rod and 5% just hanging on long enough to winch those middle teen trout close enough to swoop a net under them in the tricky currents of the big river.

If you fish a place where something far larger than your target species could occasionally end up on your line – perhaps a sturgeon in the Rainy River, a musky in Sturgeon Bay, a 20 pound sheephead in Lake Erie and you need a reel perfectly suited to the species you are after and reserve toughness to handle any unexpected job, the Revo X (available in three sizes) will be up to the task.

 

REVIEWED BY CAPTAIN MIKE SCHOONVELD

 

    Would you pay $85 for a downrigger weight? Not me. That’s about twice the price DRWs cost at most retail outlets. But the $85 price point isn’t that out of line for a Fish Fighter weight when you consider the big-bucks “canon ball” does the work of two or more weights and comes with unique features not found on most other weights.

    When I used manual crank downriggers on my boat, I had ‘rigger weights of various sizes to use, depending on how deep I needed to fish. No sense in hand-winching up a 12-pounder if I was only lowering it 15 to 25 feet. An eight-pound weight would work at that depth without having an excessive blow-back. Even now, with a set of electric ‘riggers at the back of my boat, I use smaller weights when I’m fishing shallower and heavyweights when I’d putting ‘em down, way down.

The Fish Fighters work on the same principle as a set of adjustable weight barbells. The “weight” part of the weight are thin, steel plates a downrigger user can add or subtract to the sides of the devise to vary the total poundage, like adding additional weight disks on a barbell. The one I sampled could bulk-up in incremental steps from one to 14 pounds.

    The individual side plate weights bolt to the sides of a thin, stainless steel center plate. Each weight comes with two detachable tail fins, one is straight for the riggers on the stern to keep the weights tracking straight, the other is bent ten-degrees to become a rudder which sways the weight to the left or right adding a few feet (or several feet on deep sets) of spread to the lures positioned on the out-downs.

    When changing the weight, leave the polished steel outer side plate in place if you like a flashy ‘rigger weight. Take it off if you just want a black, stealthy weight. http://www.fishfighterproducts.com.

 

Reviewed by Capt. Mike Schoonveld

 I put a tip in the Basics and Beyond column I write for Great Lakes Angler magazine in a recent issue suggesting carrying pair of muck boots in the tow vehicle to eliminate having to perform a balancing act on the bumper or trailer tongue each time a boat is launched or loaded. That elicited a response from a reader who agreed the boots were a good idea but he’d eliminated his need for them by installing a Drotto Boat Latch system on his trailer. I clicked it up at www. Boat2Trailer. com, http://www.boat2trailer.com, watched the videos posted there and promptly contacted Rob Waterbury at the company about the product.

Long story short, I found myself at the top of a boat ramp soon after with a 3/4″ inch ratchet and wrench, taking the rubber roller off my winch support at the front of my trailer. I reused the same bolt to attach the DBL and snugged it just tight enough to hold it in place.

Then I backed the trailer down the ramp, pulled the boat forward with the winch strap and adjusted the angle of the DBL to match the slope of my bow. Then I continued winching until the latch snapped closed on the bow ring and snugged down the bolt to hold the Drotto to that exact position.

I once tried a similar devise with a similar purpose. I’d drive my boat onto the trailer until the bow loop entered a slot, something would go snap and the boat would be fastened to the winch assembly.   The “earlier version” quickly went on my scrap heap of useless junk. It didn’t hold the boat tight to the front roller, I had to hit the slot perfectly (an inch too far port or starboard wouldn’t cut it) and I could tell from the heft and workmanship, something would break on it – sooner or later – for me, I guessed sooner and at an inconvenient time.

Not so the Drotto. It’s heavy and the metal parts are made of hardened, heavy gauge steel. When loading the boat my approach doesn’t have to be perfect since there’s a vee notch to slide the bow ring a few inches left or right as needed and when the “grabbers” snap closed, the bow is snug on the winch stand.

I have a bunk-type trailer so when launching I can use the lever-action release to un-grab the bow ring while I’m positioned at the top of the ramp. There’s a lever extension included for boaters with roller trailers so the ring can be freed after the boat is backed sufficiently into the water and the lever can be pulled either from a dock or while sitting in the boat.

A video is worth a thousand words so go to the website and watch the short vids posted there. You’ll soon be ready to plunk down $240 to make your launching and loading easier. Leave the muck boots at home.

 

Reviewed by Capt. Mike Schoonveld

            Hard-bodied crankbaits are the go-to lure for most fish, at least some of the time. They only work, however, when they are running true and an out-of-whack crank is a disaster when it’s being trolled.

Some crankbaits almost always need a slight adjustment to the nose ring to get it running perfectly, some hardly ever need a tweak and all of them can be bent or mangled by a strong salmon or walleye during the fight or in the landing net. Top anglers check every body-bait they tie on when it first goes into the lake and after every fish is caught with it.

Tuning is a simple process. If the lure swims or rolls to left, bend the line-tie-eyelet to the right. The concept is easy, doing it is tougher.

Most of the time, a pair of needle nose pliers is the tool of choice and though those skinny tipped pliers are multi-taskers, they aren’t the best tool for the job. The perfect tool is now available from Offshore Tackle – the EZ Crankbait Tuner.

It’s a pliers-like tool with one long and one short end. The short plier pinches against the line-tie, the long plier lays along side the crankbait’s body. It’s made from a super hard plastic strong enough to bend the nose wire, but it’s gentle on the plastic and paint on the lure itself.

As much as I like tools that can perform a variety of tasks, sometimes the right tool for a specific job makes the chore easier, quicker and more precise. The EZ Crankbait Tuner is one of those tools.   The tuner is widely available in tackle stores and on-line. Check them out at http://www.offshoretackle.com.

 

 

   Reviewed by:  Capt. Mike Schoonveld

Sadly, thieves have an easy time of it in many areas where us fishermen park our vehicles and trailers while we are on the lake. Double sadly, we actually make it extra easy, at times. Fishermen are often the only boaters out at some times of the year and we are predictable, leaving at dawn and are not usually coming back until noon or later. Triple sadly, security in many of the parking areas is all but non-existent.

Locks are the simplest precaution we can take. You’ll need at least two and three is better. Put one lock in the latch that holds the trailer’s coupler to the ball hitch. Then lock the receiver insert into the vehicle’s hitch assembly and for one more measure of security, lock the spare tire for the trailer to the spare tire carrier. If you need more security than that, either don’t park there or hire a security guard.

Several companies make locks specifically for these locations, but you buy them “ala carte” – one for the hitch, one for the receiver, etc. Each is keyed differently so you have to carry around a full ring of keys and remember which key fits which lock.

Bolt Lock to the rescue. For about the same price as one of the competing brands, purchase what you need from Bolt Lock – available at many retail outlets around the Great Lakes or on-line at www. boltlock.com.

Why Bolt Lock locks? They don’t come with a key. Instead, insert the ignition key from your tow vehicle into the lock, give the key one twist and the key to lock on your receiver, hitch, spare tire or other device you need to secure is instantly keyed to the pattern on your vehicle key. The same key that secures the vehicle, secures the valuable gear behind it.

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.