I agree wholeheartedly Ive.
My mounts are also from fishfinder mounts.com
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Stillwater indicator watchers: What's your approach?
- Thread starter Matt B
- Start date
My mounts are also from fishfinder mounts.com
Another fan of the Stryker 4, been on my last three boats including current. Great bang for the buck.
When indicating, will idle the skiff to a crawl when entering known trout territory, have a small float with 1 oz weight, quietly put it over the side to unwind down after going through a marked pod. Judge the wind, set up 30' away, start casting short for the 'outside' cruisers, slowly work my way out to the pod. Only use flouro, run a micro ring to the tippet. Balanced leeches and chroms set-up up on multiple rods. If some wind usually start with the leechs, if calm start with hand twist chroms.
Last season my go to stillwater fisheries were Crane Prairie, East Lake and Paulina, and they kept me pawing through my fly boxes and changing set-ups. Had an outstanding session wind drifting beetle patterns in 6' of water along the shoreline at Paulina one mid morning, kept the indicator on to keep drag off the beetle patern.. The next day had some bruisers pounding chartruse tungsten bead head leeches over at CP.
Want to frustrate a new flyfisher? Take them river fishing with some bank lined trees.
Want to 'hook' a newbie? Take them to stillwater and put them onto a bruiser.
When indicating, will idle the skiff to a crawl when entering known trout territory, have a small float with 1 oz weight, quietly put it over the side to unwind down after going through a marked pod. Judge the wind, set up 30' away, start casting short for the 'outside' cruisers, slowly work my way out to the pod. Only use flouro, run a micro ring to the tippet. Balanced leeches and chroms set-up up on multiple rods. If some wind usually start with the leechs, if calm start with hand twist chroms.
Last season my go to stillwater fisheries were Crane Prairie, East Lake and Paulina, and they kept me pawing through my fly boxes and changing set-ups. Had an outstanding session wind drifting beetle patterns in 6' of water along the shoreline at Paulina one mid morning, kept the indicator on to keep drag off the beetle patern.. The next day had some bruisers pounding chartruse tungsten bead head leeches over at CP.
Want to frustrate a new flyfisher? Take them river fishing with some bank lined trees.
Want to 'hook' a newbie? Take them to stillwater and put them onto a bruiser.
@iveofione I was checking out a Stryker 4, and a mount from fishfindermounts.com. Seems like a pretty sweet set up for my Outcast Fat Cat! Can I ask what battery you use? And how long does it last when you are out fishing? If it lasts the whole day then I'm assuming you would charge it at home. What charger do you use?
Thanks in advance!
Thanks in advance!
James, I am using 5ah AGM batteries that weigh 3.8 pounds. They measure 4'' x 3.5'' x 2.7''. I have 4 of these that I have used for years, they predate the popularity of lithium. I could buy much smaller, lighter and more powerful batteries but my boats have custom mounts in the pockets that hold these so I stick with them. One of them also powers the water for the sink in the back of my truck so I always have at least 3 with me. They last more than all day with my Striker 4, I have never run one down in a day's fishing. They also power the electric hoist in my barn that raises my boats to the ceiling, they are very useful. They currently sell for $15-$20 , back when I bought mine I probably got 4 for around 50 bucks. They obviously last a long time, I use them every time I go out and have never had a failure, it has been years since I bought them.
To keep them charged I use something called the Accusense X-Citer that is a 5 stage battery charger/maintainer. I have seven 12v batteries in my shop for different things including a trolling motor and riding lawn mower and I maintain them all winter with just the one maintainer. I just rotate through the group whenever I am in the shop and since it is warm in there the batteries all stay up.
Not necessarily relevant to this discussion but if anyone owns a modern car that sits for long periods of time-especially in winter-I would recommend keeping a battery maintainer on it at all times while it is out of use. The parasitic drain of all the electronic bullshit on the new vehicles can completely drain the battery in about a month leaving you stranded. Yeah, you can always start it with jumpers or a lithium battery pack but running a lead acid battery down to zero will probably shorten battery life significantly.
My much lighter NOCQUA lithium battery lasts several days of fishing powering my Stryker 4.
Good advice about electronic onboard stuff draining an auto battery in modern vehicles...and idling a vehicle periodically or a running a few short hops about town is not sufficient to provide an adequate charge after a start in cold weather...which draws a lot of amps. Battery manufacturers recommend at least 30 minutes at highway speed about every 4 days to do so. The use of a smart charger to keep the battery topped off is obviously a better alternative.
Contrary to what many think, the really bad stuff happens to batteries sitting unused during hot weather, so the use of smart chargers during such conditions will drastically improve battery life as well.
I keep all of my motorcycles on smart chargers all year...at the end of each ride they're plugged into the charger, and I've had some incredible results with MC battery longevity. As an example, my 1999 Honda Valkyrie (I am the first owner of the bike, which has been ridden all over the western US and Canada), with the original OEM battery lasting 17 years. That's not a typo. It has a big 6 cylinder engine. And I only replaced the battery because its very advanced age was making me nervous despite the fact that it was still able to crank the engine over with absolutely no difficulty.
I'm convinced most vehicle batteries die prematurely due to neglect/abuse, not age or proper use.
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Thanks for the info Ive! I appreciate it. Trying to get my oldest son (14 years old) into the stillwater game with me. Thinking a fish finder might help our success.
Here is a picture of my MacGyver set up for my Stryker. It fits under the oar holder on my Gigbob or in the side pocket of my Fat Cat. I have also used it in a 12 foot boat, but will not carry it much more that a mile. I have found this finder to be better than my fishin buddy was at identifying fish and what depth they are holding at.
If you park your second vehicle outside like I do, this is the perfect thing:
Amazon product ASIN B01MYVUSRH
Old406Kid
Life of the Party
I use one of those to keep my backup generator battery up to full snuff...works like a champ!
wanderingrichard
Life of the Party
Ok, what's the secret? I've tried that on 2 different vehicles and actually had discharge instead of charge / sustainment.
I switched to the NOCO Genius 3500 and had better success.
Old406Kid
Life of the Party
My guess it might be the lack of a blocking diode that stops reverse current flow during darkness...or perhaps a bum unit from the get go.
Mine has beeen hanging on the garage wall for at least 15 years and is still working.
Just wondering if you could share a couple more pictures of your "MacGyver" setup? Maybe on your boat?
If you want you could PM me
Thanks
wanderingrichard
Life of the Party
Makes sense, thanks.My guess it might be the lack of a blocking diode that stops reverse current flow during darkness...or perhaps a bum unit from the get go.
Mine has beeen hanging on the garage wall for at least 15 years and is still working.
I learned a lesson today. FYI, I'm rather new to the indicator strategy game. Was placing my bloodworm right near the bottom and was doing okay. Both it and a zebra pattern, the top fly, were seeing some action. There was a lot of midge flying around all day. After lunch the bite went off and I noticed some fish sipping the surface as the was lake had turned mirror like. Changed to a blob, still down low. Nada. Then a chrome. Zilch. I was wishing I brought my dry fly box. So, I figured fish were looking up so I kept on the chrome and reset my bobber to five feet. Game on! The lesson? If the midge are flying and the fish are feeding up top, get your fly off the bottom...
Same here, good deep early under a float, then later I switched rods to dabblers and muddled bumbles fished on a dry line in the film as the fish came up.
Fun to hit a winter midge hatch. If I take a throat sample and see midges, especially chrome specimens, when the bite slows, I keep moving my depth up to find where the bugs are in their migration and where the fish are intercepting them. Good call in your depth change.
Likely a dumb question but......
Would one work in the doom and gloom of a wet side Washington winter?
Engee
Steelhead
Like this??
Now I know why they flee from the yellow boat!
Engee
Steelhead
Buzzy and I figure either he was rabid or psychotic. Wouldn't leave us alone!
