3 Strikes, I'm out

[Flatfish]

Went to N.Fork of Zipper today. Let first DnB out and WAMMO, rod down. Wife sets hook - PRESTO, fish gone. Rigged with Owner hooks, I thought of Madwiz (Really, I did!) Owner hook is sharp, but toss it and tie on old reliable. Everybody misses one once in a while. No big deal, right?
STRIKE ONE!

Float down to the "Never-fail-hole" (where the fish should be.) Let DnB out, go 50 ft. and WAMMO, rod down. Wife grabs rod - set the hook - FISH ON! The fish jumped a monster leap and we get the boat off to the side, the rod is handed off and PRESTO - he's gone. Line comes back with no hook (think words not fit for a family forum.) Using 12# Berley XT leaders- I knew I should've used heavier line. The rod is 6-10# so it's pretty limber and it's an oddball deal to bust the line, but oh well, it's fishin.... stranger things have happened.
STRIKE TWO!

Float down to Scott 'n Lori's hole. We call it Scot 'n Lori's hole cuz we watched them catch a nice steely there a while back. I'm sure this hole has a proper name but I don't know what it is. Besides, the good part of having private names for holes is that you can refer to them openly in front of other anglers and not expect to see them there the next morning. Besides Scott 'n Lori's hole sounds better than "ya, that one hole," or "the hole below 3-Rivers." Anyway, let DnB out, go 70 ft. and WAMMO same rod, same diver goes down for a third time. Same diver that's caught the last 8 fish where a diver was used...even with pink worms. Set the hook - FISH ON! Fish swims around the whole a bit and gives a good fight and PING, line goes slack. Magic diver is gone, fish is gone. I'd pay $100 for the diver. Now I'm cursing out loud.
STRIKE THREE!

For the last 6 weeks I've been fishing light line based on a friends suggestion "You should fish light, you'll hook more fish." (Skip, if you see John, tell him "hi" for me cuz I can't speak to him right now.) Knot didn't come undone. Right now I'm thinking about 30# tough or Power Pro. (I'll take input on this.)

Hope you all had more fish than we did this weekend. Mark

[Trick]

Actually your first strike was using Berkley line. Shoulda' used Maxima line, tough as nails.

I won't beat you up over it, your doing a pretty good job of that already. Just do me one favor. Go buy some 12 lb chameleon and your troubles will be history. :wink:

[Dan Christopher]

50 lbs power pro hi vis
20-25 lbs big game leader and loose the owners..great trebles but for the bait hooks ,,well you know the story,,

just think, if you had 50 lbs power pro on you would still have your lucky diver,and the fish dont care .i know i didnt beleave it eather but i am sold now..

when are you takeing me fishing anyway.i might trade you a fue storm tots for a ride :grin:

[Flatfish]

Gotta tell you.The "original" post was a lot more detailed.My wife started to read it and decided to fix it.She deleted it.So the second time around it has a few details missing.Didn't wanna say much as she lost the diver today.Last spring she lost a flatfish(a winner like the hot-n-tot) and a 20 plus nate.Yeah I know about Max.Been cheating for a long time.Wait til you hear about my new paperweight.It looks exactly like a spool of "Big Game".Big game alright.Landing a good fish on that stuff is a big game.Kinda like trying to pick up the stuffed animals with the crane at Safeway.You knoy the arcade game in the front of the store.A big game where you only lose.But not to worry your pretty little self Trickster, as tuf or power pro and 15# max is on the horizon.We will keep you posted on our progress.
Mark.

[David Johnson]

I always preach heavy line so that a guy don't loose that special diver or plug or loose that fish of a life time.

25# Big Game for this time of year is what I use for leader. For main line 25# Bog Game or 65# Power Pro.

[Flatfish]

Madwiz,I will listen to you about power pro.Do not come cryin(like I am now :wink: )when your big game fails .Have you ever run 30 power pro?50 just seems too heavy.Not necessary.Already have a bunch of 50 tuf on salmon reels, but was looking at something a bit lighter for steelies.
Hotn tots for a trip.OK.E-mail and we can bounce down the zipper.
Mark.

[monoman]

Dave.....Do you side drift with 25# leaders?
Do you use Hiviz line.......Seems to me in summer flows it may be a little heavy.

[Flatfish]

Dave you told me I was messing up 2 months ago.Some people just have to figure it out the hard way.
Mono,
for side drifting I use more traditional stuff.Usually 10 and 8#.Plenty heavy.But for diver and bait I'm goin to the school of remove the opportunity to fail.35 main does not fail.20 max does not fail either.I'm still fishin the standard 6-10 or 8-12 rods.Just cable for line.
Mark.

[jcarufo]

Flatfish,
Try Izor Platinum Green. Small diameter, tough as nails, and no memory. This from a die-hard Maxima fan. Have a Great Day!
jean

[Fishin Magician]

I dont think it really matters what size line you use. Steelhead are biters whether you are using 4# or 25#. I have caught tons of summer steelhead on 12# chameleon and never thought twice. I heard of a few that were caught the other day on straight power pro to the hook............... there are other benefits of going heavier on plugs too..............
John

[Dan Christopher]

50lbs tuff and 50lbs power pro are 2 differant things in my book.tuff line was get but power pro is so much better....ya you can get 30 in the power pro but(dont come crying to me when that stump eats your lucky tot. :wink: )
i havent lost a tot sence i swithed and 50lbs pro. it is like 10 lbs mono so go big.

big game ??ya i have heard the storys but the only fish have broke off so far on the 25lbs leaders was a salmon my son had on that ran under some limbs and down steam in to some fast rappids and he thumbs the drag not to be spooled,the fish shook like mad for 2 min.tell he cut the line on the rocks.so entill i start seeing the owner thing going with the big game i will keep it on the diver/plug leaders but i dont use it on my drift gear

i dont work for the next fue weeks anyway so when ever you have time i would love to get a float and show you the power pro thing.i can run my 50lbs pro and you can run??? and you can see if one out fish's the other.
free tots are always good too. :grin: but you cant have my lucky ones :wink:
just let me know when you want to float and have an open seat