4/29/06  St. Joe

South Haven 4/29/06

5/3/06   St. Joe

St. Joe   5/6/06

5/17/06 Waukegan, IL 

Recent Results & Comments

East Chicago, Indiana   8/5/06

"John, I got a call today from a member of S.U. and there was a mistake made in calculating the weight of Saturdays S.U tournament. We lost by less than three pounds and ended up in second place instead of 4th. This was my second salmon tournament and first as the captain. I had one first timer and one guy that laid in the front of the boat seasick most of the morning. He had only trolled for salmon a dozen or so times in his life and was not familiar with my setup on my boat. 

We were in 60 to 70 feet of water straight out of Pastrich Marina in East Chicago. We ran all meat, and for a short time we ran 7 BTIs, One on lead 10 colors, Two on dipsys on #3 setting. One 180ft the other 200ft. and four on the down-riggers. The aft two were bouncing the bottom or close too it, And the stern two were 10 and 15 feet from the bottom. But after reeling in a nice king on the lead it was put away because it was hard enough keeping 4 poles in the water. If that's not a testament of your product I don't know what is. 

Thanks for all the help". .................Capt. Tom M. 

7/16/06  Manistee, MI

Capt John here is a picture from Manistee on 7/16/06 Me and Jeff C (uncle rich) took my daughter out fishing for a night fish Friday. This fish came on the full core with the Blue Bubble glow. My Daughter reeled this fish in on the full core all by herself. It was a awesome day fishing when you watch your kids reel in fish like this. This fish also cost me and Jeff 15 bucks we bet my daughter she could not reel in the full core all by herself. 

Thanks for the great products again.........Capt. Mike  aka "Zooby Doo"

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7/15/06 Kewuanee, WI 
Capt. Steve big fish winner

"John, Fished in the Kewaunee Off Shore Challenge today. There were 49 boats with a 6 am shot gun start (perfect for running meat!) With calm water and sunny skies, some came in with zero (skunked) in this weigh your best 10 fish event.
      We finished 4th overall with 10 fish and won the heaviest salmon award. Black Mamba deep, Krystal Killer on a wire dipsey and a pearl BTI were all good.
     Thanks again for a great product! And thank my lucky stars for having 30 pound  test mono on ...it come in handy!".........Capt. Steve S, Green Bay, WI

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"One of those days on the Lake you pray for. The weather was beautiful, the lake was flat and the fishing was great. Went out with my friend Howard, whose boat is next to mine. Set up by 6:30 in 55 fow and had a 10 pound coho as I was letting the rigger down to 45'. He hit a green frog meat rig on a Blue Dolphin flasher. 
        Caught a Steelie next on a purple glow BTI with a purple 2 fly meat rig, back 125 on a wire dipsey set on 1. Trolled east toward your side of the lake and by the time we hit 95' we had a triple on. Purple meat on the Black Mamba took an 18 pound King, 145 back on wire dipsey, white flasher with a blue fly took a Coho down 80' on a rigger and a spoon on a rigger down 65' took another king. 
         Right after we got all three in the boat another rigger went off with another king on. The action was steady all morning until we pulled lines at noon with our 2 man limit of 6 kings 10-18 pounds, 2 Steelies and 2 coho, one nice 10 pounder. All the fish were stuffed with Alewives and very healthy. The hot setups for the day were Purple meat with Black Mamba, 2 fly purple with Purple glow BTI and the yellow canary with yellow meat. The Purple meat with Black Mamba has been my go to combo on a wire dipsey and has been deadly on the Kings over here. The yellow canary down deep on sunny days has also done very well."  Capt. Cliff

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MI City, IN July 1st & July 4th,  2006

7/4/06  Michigan City, IN Capt. John,  Happy Fourth!!! 
I have come to one conclusion, those who enjoy relaxation and long hours spent boating, SHOULD NOT BUY YOUR PRODUCTS. Since I have gone to a total meat spread, my time on the water has been cut in half, and it is now called "Catching" instead of "Fishing", Reel Fact. Thanks to the new BTI, to be the last boat out, and the first boat in with a full cooler is now the norm for me. This morning, I deployed the Yellowtail Reel Flasher with matching 3-fly rig 48' down on the corner rigger. It was hit before I could get three rods out. We continued to pound fish from 52 to 56 feet of water.. I struggled to keep lines in the water. I ran a total meat spread again, and it was another awesome day for your rigs. The hot set-ups today were Blue Double Glow BTI, with matching 2-Fly rig, on 9 colors lead, and Yellowtail Reel Flasher with matching 3-Fly rig. Enclosed please find a couple pictures of a nice fat salmon that couldn't resist your Blue Double Glow BTI, and of "A 20 POUND PLUS MICHIGAN CITY GIANT THAT CRUSHED YOUR YELLOWTAIL REEL FLASHER AND MATCHING 3-FLY RIG", set 5 feet of the bottom on the corner rigger.   Thanks, Capt. Andy 

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7/3/06 Frankfort, MI 

 7/3/06 Frankfort, MI I have done pretty good on the flashers and rigs I got from you. The BTI mountain dews have been killing them.....I got a couple on the black mamba...... I would estimate 85% of my bites in the last three trips out have been on the BTI mountain dews. Great products. I just ordered some more stuff from you. Thanks I'll be watching for it. I'll email a couple catch pictures to you from the weekend. Just haven't downloaded them to the computer yet. My son Kyle who was with me when we stopped at your place caught a 22 lb king on Friday. Maybe you could give me some tips on the big flasher program. I started with them about 25' behind the ball and didn't produce so I tried them closer about 10' behind the ball and the black mamba did get a few but nothing on the big mountain dew. Very happy with your stuff. Had some nice catches for a beginner meat fisherman.   Capt. Kurt K

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6/4/06 Milwaukee

6/4/06 Milwaukee, WI Thanks for the awesome products. We again had a good memorial weekend on Sunday may 28 we went 12 for 19 with 11 of the 12 coming off of Black Mamba, Krystal killer, and Chartreuse dbl glow in the normal size and the BTI doing the damage in the same colors. The biggest fish on Sunday was a 12 lb rainbow that hit the BTI Krystal killer while letting it down. On Monday may 29 we again took 9 fish all on your products. 
     Sunday June 4 we got back to find the fishing had slowed dramatically and the radio reports complained of slow fishing and smaller fish than last week. We ended up taking 6 fish one being the biggest so far this year a 17 lb king that hit the full size Black Mamba 100 feet down in 130 fow. The other fish taken also attest to you saying that your catch will healthier and bigger fish. The boys at the cleaning station were amazed to see our fish at least 2 to 3 lbs heavier than theirs.  Once again thanks for the great products that keep our coolers full!!!!...........Tim, TROUT SNIFFER

5/20/06 North Point, IL  "Fished our first Salmon Unlimited Tournament of the year sat./20th.  I fish on my old boat in these tournaments and we won the tournament.
     Caught several fish on the BTIs. The black mamba being the stud on a wire dipsy #3 setting with 250' out on the counter. I am getting more confidence in the meat program each time I fish.  
      The thing I'm really surprised at is the BTIs have caught coho, lake trout and kings both on the down riggers and the dipsys.  Next weekend is a practice week. I'm going to try the BTIs on lead core copper and lead drops.  
     One last note , I set a mountain dew BTI on the center rigger it went off with in 90 seconds after I shut the rigger switch off."....Capt. Jim "Nail Bender Too"

5/20/06 Port Huron, MI   "Just wanted to drop a quick thank you note for getting me the last minute tackle this week. We were able to pull out the tourney with some big help from the yellowtail bait heads with matching full size flasher and the crystal killer BTI combo. We ended up weighing 116 or so lbs of fish in 2 tough days of fishing, 7 lbs better than second place “Gone Bad”. 12 footers at times this morning, it was a brutal run from Port Sanilac to Port Hope this morning! Anyways, I wanted to let you know for your morning update. Thanks again and I’ll try and fill in with some more details tomorrow. Now its time to get some much needed rest
Btw, not many kings caught this weekend but the size was better than last year, Big king went 11 lbs. I think the weather was a big problem for the king fishing this week. We had five nice kings before we started targeting trout during our Wednesday pre-fish. That was the last stable weather we had this week." Thanks again, .......Capt. Jason...Team Rawhide

5/17/06  Waukegan, IL "Got on the water with my nephew and his friend by 8:00 and we were set up by 8:45 in 140 fow. Started with the Monkey Puke flasher down 80 on the rigger with dark green meat rig. And a spoon on the other rigger down 90. Two wire dipsey's back 80 with Double glow green BTI and green glow meat rig on one side and a Back Mamba with a purple meat rig back 65 on the other side. On the starboard side I have been experimenting with copper, 300' with a green/blue dolphin and similar meat rig on a board. Port side board was a raider bloody death spoon on a half core testing for steelhead in the area. 

Lessons for the day:
Monkey puke and green ruled with eight fish and the largest of the day, a 14 pound king 80' down over 175 fow. 3 other kings and 5 very spirited coho.
     By moving the high dipsey with the Black Mamba and purple meat rig back to 285' on the line counter, it got hit right away and took two kings and a coho.
    The BTI double glow green, took a steelhead 8 pounds back 80' as well as a number of coho and a king.
    Fish are still deep and around structure, the south reef for us. Meat out fishes any other presentation by at least 5 to one and always takes the biggest fish.
    We had our 3 man limit of a mixed bag of 5 King, 2 Steelhead and 8 Coho by noon, which left us some time to go catch 10 perch and in before 2 pm. Thanks for sending my last order so promptly, the double glow BTI's and green glow meat heads already have scored"................Capt. Cliff

5/7/06  Milwaukee, WI: "Thanks for the great product!!! Krystal Killer and Green Doub L Glo helped us take 9 Coho and 1 King in just 1 hour and 39 minutes for our two man limit out of Milwaukee on May 7. 
     We set lines at 6:00am and put the tenth fish in the box at 7:39am. Thanks again and can't wait to get my hands on the BTI' s!!!".....Capt. Tim (aka) "TROUT SNIFFER"

5/6/06 Seneca Lake, New York:  "Went out with Wildman (Kirk from NAFC, not the one that had the bait shop) this morning at the launch by 6:30 am. Rain clouds showing up but we had our rain gear. Set up by 6:45 am boated 7th laker at 9:45am. Rained 85% of the time wind was out of the SW and light and switched over to the NW with a good chop. We had 11 releases and only had to use pliers to remove one hook all the rest came out it the net. Fish had moved into the 116' to 100' range for a steady bite. Still deep with 2 at 90' down the rest 100' down. 
       The new BTI came into it's own today with the first fish and the most. Ran three riggers two with dodger peanut and the 10" BTI with a peanut. The north troll was the best bite with only one fish coming on the south. I had to switch back to the north troll after a long dry spell to pick up the limit fish at 9:45 am.".............Capt. Ed C.

5/6/06 St. Joe, MI: "Fished in the mornings on Friday thru Saturday. Got 10 on Friday, 15 Saturday and 6 on Sunday morning in about three hours. Ran mostly cutbait on the riggers, dipseys and copper wire. Started with the large flashers off the riggers and the BTIs off dipseys and copper and ended up switching to BTIs on the riggers as well.
Best fishing was in 100-160 fow 60 to 100 down. Biggest fish was over 15# with several others to 12#. Most were in the 7-8# range. Kept the speed slow, about 2.0-2.2 in the Fish Hawk."   Joe, aka "Sloppy Joe"

4/28/06 Michigan City, IN: Capt. John,
"Just came off the lake. Fishing was good again today, 12 miles out, at a 330 heading. Which is towards Chicago from MC. Lots of nice coho, and took one nice steelhead. Coho are coming from 80 to 120 down, which is kinda deep for them in this area. No kings at all to speak of.   Love your BTI's"..........Capt. Andy

4/15/06 North Point IL: "We fished out of North Point, IL yesterday (sat.) 4/15. The fish were down 100 to 120'. We fished a spoon presentation for an hour with just a couple of fish. Switched over to meat rigs, the new black mamba on the port dipsy with green head and frog flies and a Krystal Killer on the starboard dipsy with a red meat rig. 
     The starboard wire dipsy on a 1 1/2 setting with 220 feet on the counter went off with in 3 minuets after we set it. The port dipsy set on 1 1/2 190 on the counter went next . The new flashers are Awesome and they will catch Cohos. We started at 8am returned at noon with 15 Cohos. Once we went to a meat rig presentation the action was steady.  
     This is the first time I have fished an all meat rig presentation!"....Capt. Jim M.   "Nail Bender Too"

2006 Tournament Trail Results

1. 1st Place, Detroit Steelheader's St. Joe 5/6/06 tournament  "Sloppy Joe" winner (all of his fish)

2. 2nd Place Flint Steelheader's Port Sanilac tournament "Zoobydoo" (8 of his 11 fish)

3. 1st Place Michigan City amateur division Coho Classic  "Nail Bender Too" (a few of his fish)

4. 3rd Place Michigan City amateur division Coho Classic  "Silver Addiction" (some of his catch)

5. Winner of the 333 Event Michigan City Coho Classic "Fishwhore" (3 largest fish, 2 of the 3)

6. Winner Salmon Unlimited 5/20/06 Tournament, "Nail Bender Too"

7. 3rd Place Detroit Steelheaders 5/20/06 Grand Haven Tournament "Silver Addiction"

8. Winner of the 2006 Blue Water Classic "Rawhide"  (8th place to "Bandit")

Note:  "Personally, I believe all tournament stuff is an over-rated way to judge a products performance.  This subject was only included, because all manufacturers tend to toot their own horn about tournament results with highly skilled pro/semi-pro tourney teams using their merchandize.
      To me?....how a product works day-in and day-out, with ease of use is far more important.  90% of the fleet does not fish tourneys, nor plan to.  The majority of big water fishermen just care about action and a full box. This is the arena where my products were built to shine!".......Capt. John King

Click here to see all the colors/patterns of the new 2006 BTI flasher