LongLine

You really don't need more of these if one already has control of the checkbook. As I've said before, just buy her a 99 cent candy bar. Tax takes it over a buck. Pay with $2. Save the change in a jar down in the shop. Repeat 100 times & you got enough for a good rod & reel. Look through the tackle section, Musky made a good mast & there's plans in there someplace for bOARds. Welcome to the board, Tom B. (LongLine)

Tree top - It's amazing what's up there between the bridge & the 2nd turn north. Caught a nice walleye in there last year. (same lure) nice fish, Tom B. (LongLine)

It was a season of memories for me, I can't decide between 4: A solo two-banger on light line: Some of these guys: (Natural repro king shakers) Some of these: (Atlantics) And of course the free DW SS from JaVee’s when I told them REELJERKS sent me and it turned out to be the hot lure for me this season. (Thanx again Mark) Tom B. (LongLine)

KG - Ran the 200 Lb for a while because of fear of losing probe. My advice ...don't. 200 has a tremendous blowback difference over the 150. Tom B. (LongLine)

Happ B'Day FT Tom B. (LongLine)

Mine don't need it but when it does.... That really looks nice Bill. Tom B. (LongLine)

Yoda - I agree with Rolmops. A dealer should know better than to store a boat nose down, especially around here this time of year. Much less giving you a too small trailer. What was their explanation for moving the bunks & axle? & not the winch stand? i.e. get them top admit the trailer is too small. I'd definitely be talking to the boat manufacturer about this dealership & let them know they'll be getting some demerits or even a black-eye because of this dealer. Tom B. (LongLine)

So I see some marks on the screen at 70 ft down & I start thinking: Are the fish directly under the boat? Hmmm…They might be at the edge of the cone and really be only at 65 Ft down. Hmmm…But I want the ball just a little higher than the fish. Should I let my weight down till the counter says 62 ft? Hmmm…But I have to let out more due to blowback….But…my cannon ball tracks deeper than my fish weight so I better bring it up a couple feet. On the other hand, I’ve only got 100 ft of cable on the rigger so with the smaller diameter spool; I better let out a couple feet more because I know my counter is going to be off. But if I’m heading East, I’m going into the general current so I may have underwater blowback that I can’t see and so I better let it down a couple feet….Hmmm…on the other hand….. Obviously after I couple hours of this, I start thinking: If only I had changed the angle of the transducer a little so I could see the ball, I could of “bounced the ball†right off the fishes head and concentrated more on lure presentation (color, size, etc) than where I was going to set the rigger. HIH Welcome to the board Tom B. (LongLine)

WARNING: The following picture may be unsuitable for fishermen..... . . . (Boy did I have to look for this one. Knew I had one. Now if I can get that garbage color off of it.....hmmm...) Tom B. (LongLine)

Take care stan. It's been a good season. Do us a favor & keep the snow out there for a couple more months, okay? (or at least only in the woods) Tom B. (LongLine)

Tim - Labor day '84 got a 34 Lb'r flatlining a or/slvr cleo off the genny with 6 Lb, 6'6" Cherrywood and Mitchell 300. Had to chase him almost to Russell. (And I haven't caught anything on a cleo since they took the mermaid off.) Tom B. (LongLine)

WTG Mark. Tom B. (LongLine)

When you find out the cause, please post. I'm guessing one key switch has slight voltage leak. Tom B. (LongLine)

That R&R on the right. Put a splash of metallic red on one side near the butt....hot spoon last year. Tom B. (LongLine)

8 Lb line????? Why so freeking heavy???????? Poor fish ain't got a chance with winch cable like that. Tom B. (LongLine)

DW SS at 2.6-2.7 has been hard to beat for me this year. Tom B. (LongLine)

Sorry I missed it. Happ D'Day +2 Bill. (No computer for two days hurts...) In case anyone is wondering, the statue next to Jerks at the LOU Hq is of BillyV. Tom B. (LongLine)

WTG Adam. Welcome to the board. Tom B. (LongLine)

ST - Welcome to the board. Nice fish. This weather will bring them in. (Also should help with the water flows and spawning success.) Tom B. (LongLine)

Rolmops See if these photos by John Lyons help with ID: Stripper: White bass (We used to call “Silver bassâ€) Typically 9-12†but max is 19-20â€. They will hybrid with the Stripper. Yellow Bass (Not as common as the White): Smaller than White, max about 16â€. White perch: Smaller than the bass. Max about 14†(no stripes) Freshwater Drum (aka “Sheepsheadâ€, and these guys get big – max about 34â€) And one of the invasives – Rudd: No stripes and a very distinctive coloration around tips of fins. Here’s a site that is tremendous help with freshwater fish ID: http://www.wiscfish.org/fishid/frames.aspx I’d suspect you caught a White Bass. Lots of them around. They’re in bays early in the year then move out to the lake. Generally that “Mass of fish†we find in the 50-70 ft range that don’t hit anything, when we’re catching trout & salmon deeper, has a lot of these guys. Tom B. (LongLine)

Ray - Only by classical calculation and if your headed west. GPS would give you a blank spacey stare...like the rest of us. Tom B. (LongLine)

Larry - you mean you don't want to know if a fish swims at 30 mph through the dense water then jumps into the less dense air then back into the water, how high does his splash go???? Chris - Might be algae, might be mold, might be something leaching out of the plastic but I'd bet mold from humidity & temp changes. I would not spray it with WD-40. WD-40 has a solvent component that will attack plastics & rubber over time. A silicone lubricant or even graphite might protect it over the winter though. (I take mine off and store it in the house over the winter) Tom B. (LongLine)

LG - I was one of the 350 boats off the genny in those years. I remember the Rev. Modish winning the 1st one with a 5 Lb salmon that captured a 14ft aluminum boat. It went from being a Monroe county sponsored thing to a private thing then was sold again when the originator passed away. (Dick Schlyer...sp) And I'm still miffed at Monroe County & the City of Rochester for not stepping up to it. Tom B. (LongLine)

Yes, it is true that you don't know exacty what the lure is doing all the time. Sometimes you really need to borrow Ray's mask. The advantage to the probe is that it is down there where your lure is. It's the closest thing we have to measuring & monitoring the speed of the lure and that's what we're trying to catch a fish with. The answer to your last question is "all of the above." I run my probe off the port side rigger. I have my surface paddlewheel mounted on the starboard side. When I'm trolling the bays and turn to port, my probe speed decreases slightly and my surface speed increases slightly. When I turn to starboard the exact opposite happens. I can also see the rigger cable angles change slightly. Out on the lake, where you have currents and sometimes multiple depth currents, IMO, the best way to troll is the old zig-zag type pattern (especially with rigg'rs). Simply becasue one side speeds up & the other slows down. Changes in you boats direction in relation to the current direction out on the lake will add to the effect. I.E. really speed up or really slow down. Through out all of this you have to remember what Einstein said about being relative. Lure action or the way a lure wobbles is always in relation to it's speed relative to the water it is in. It can be standing still but the water flow past it can give it action. If you're standing on the Hamlin State Parkway bridge over Sandy creek after a heavy rain and dangling a flatfish in the creek, chances are that it will wobble like crazy. In relation to you it is not moving at all. In relation to the water it's going a million mph because the water flow over it is traveling at a million mph. (driftboaters do this all the time) Out on the lake, if you change your trolling direction into the current, you lure's action will increase as the speed relationship between the water and the lure increases. If you turn and go with the current, the lures action will decrease as the lure's speed relationship with the water decreases. The easiest way to think of it is that the probe speed is actually a resultant of both the boat speed and the current speed. Larry - But if you're looking at if from the Andromeda galaxy, we're standing still. Good night, Tom B. (LongLine)

Yes, the lure is acting like the speed the probe says it is. Now if both units are calibrated exactly the same, in your example you are trolling with a 0.5 mph current. The way to verify this is simply to turn in another direction, maintain the gps speed and see what the probe now says. i.e turn back to the south & your probe should show 3.5 mph. (note: this won't be as exact with a surface paddlewheel speed indicator as there are surface currents, boat drag, etc, also that there are arguments over the accuracy of GPS, boat bouncing up & down & all that good stuff) No system is going to be perfectly accurate so as has been said, the important thing is to realize what your lure is doing at the speeds that your probe is showing (regardless of the scale or calibration) & be able to repeat that reading when the last fish hit. Tom B. (LongLine)