Why cut off the tippet to start with? I fish it until I have changed flies about 6 or so times, and then cut it off and go to the tippet rings.
Whitewater drift boat.
There was a recent boating magazine story about power boat scuppers. It said that you want scuppers big enough for the water to go out as fast as it comes in. Great theory, but I've never seen a power boat with scuppers that big. I had a self bailing whitewater raft, but this is the closest thing I've seen that might match that theory.
fishinphil The short answer is Yup. Although at the time it was more like Yikes! We never saw it, but it was off the Big Island, so it probably was a Tiger. The Mahi was a 4+ footer, and it was gone. if I had been in a kayak I can think of a few other colors I would have been.
White Perch are not a perch. More of a bass. They live in freshwater lakes but they also run in and out of the salt in coastal rivers. Great food fish. We always fished for them with a little spinner ahead of a nightcrawler.
Depends on where you are fishing. If there are big sharks around you might be in for a heck of a Kayak ride. We had a big Mahi tethered on 80 lb line to keep the school around, and wham. I thought the boat was getting pulled under, and that was a 29 ft powered cat. Never even saw what it was.
You definitely do not want to go overboard near the Farralons, with or without a life jacket.
I have both, an all-roller for a 22 ft boat and a bunk trailer for a 18 ft fiberglass center console. I have talked at length with knowledgible people who have many years of experience working on trailer boats, and here's the best advice they have shared. A bunk trailer is better support for a boat, particularly a heavy boat. That's because the bunks support accross multiple stringers (the support structure) inside the hull. Rollers can push on the hull in between the stringers and can cause damage to some boats. As to launching, it all depends on the length of the tongue, the slope of the ramp, the slickness of the bunks and your hull, the bushings on the rollers, the type of hull, etc. etc.
Stainless is good, Monel is even better. Don't use anything else.
Try Sierra Trading Post. A lot of well-tied flys for about 1/3 the price. Selection of tackle is not what you will find at Cabelas and the like, but it keeps changing with some great buys on quality tackle, boots, etc.
Fall is good. A guy next to me caught about a 30 lb King on 4 lb line with a 10 foot long super bendy rod. He was casting a (very) small spoon. This was up in Michigan. You can also fish early spring. We used to fish a slip bobber with a nightcrawler and did very well. The Michigan City breakwater was our spot, but you might check out other similar locations. We mostly caught 2-5 lb Cohos.
Yes it does. And there is no plot out there by "the media" to make Lake Michigan or any big lake with rapidly changing conditions into a monster. Big waves, lightning, frigid water, and big freighters or ore boats are all dangerous, and it does no harm to educate people to those facts. And yes, I have been out in dangerous conditions. I have been out in dangerous conditions on Lake Michigan, the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, have served as bow lookout on a Square Rigger while crossing the Gulf Stream off the tip of Florida on a stormy night and rode a destroyer from Pearl to San Diego. I own guns and am concerned about media fabrications. But the fact that Lake Michigan can be dangerous is NO myth. I lost two friends to hypothermia when they dumped a canoe in the upper Connecticut river in early spring. Was that river dangerous? Yes, it sure was. Did they know what they were doing? Prettty much. I'm sure that has happened in Lake Michigan, too. Most "accidents" don't just happen. So we should not demean people who may recognize their own limitations or demonize the media when it does tell the truth. And again, let me say you did make some very good points.
Your comments about fishing Lake Michigan were very well stated, but would have been better if you had left out the line that "THERE IS NOTHING DANGEROUS ABOUT FISHING LAKE MICHIGAN." You did go on to list some of the dangers and some good common sense practices to stay safe, but we still have a lot of people who just read the headlines. I lived in NW Indiana for 20+ years and fished Lake Michgan from a 16 foot Starcraft, but I always had one eye on the weather. That did not prevent me from being close enough to another boat to see three guys get blown out of a boat when it got hit by lightning. I saw the storm on the horizon but even at 30 MPH did not get back into Manistee in time. Things can happen fast on the big lake. There is a lot dangerous about fishing Lake Michigan.
Chopping off the end will make the problem worse, not better, because the end is thinner and thus lighter for a given length. About the only thing you can do is use less line when you start your cast and then learn how to shoot the head to get the distance you need. Maybe you can trade it with someone who needs a heavier line.
Jim Rizzuto has published some books called Fishing Hawaii Style. You'll find some good tips in them.