LongLine

Trip #2: Launched about 6. 3 others already out there. 66F Surface in the river: Obviously overcast. Slight SW wind. Headed out and slightly to the left. A few boats in the 50-60 ft range. Stayed away from them & put the gear in around 90FOW. Headed outward. Water a lot more stable than last weekend. 44F 35 ft down. 2 kings: 8 & 12 Lbs at 130-140 FOW. Both off riggers. Medium leads, moving right along. 2 for 4 - not too bad for flying solo. Lots of junk in the water - weeds, sticks, small pieces of trash. Had to clear the probe about 8 times. "Medium" clear water. Wind shift to NW & clear sky around 8:30. Off at 10, hoping to miss the "nuts". Counted 26 boats on the way in, but looked pretty scattered. 1 king on the 1st trip, 2 kings on the 2nd trip...my arms are going to fall off on the 7th or 8th trip. Very feisty beasties! Luck to all, Tom B. (LongLine)

Finally made it out there! A late start, but what the heck...better late than never! Truck worked, trailer lights worked, boat worked, only one boat at the ramp... heh, heh, heh, what else can you ask for! River 64F. Surface dropped to 45 real quick. Calm bright day. Slow 1/2-1 ft rollers from the west. Straight off the mouth put in at 60, went to 120, back in to 30 then back out to 110 on the east side. Water 20 ft down very unstable from 45-85FOW. Ran into this fine fellow at 20 down over 100: 1st King of the year...YAY! A tad over 15, Real solid hook up on a Bloody Blk & Silvr, 28 size. Short lead, Lots of energy in this beastie! Kind of thin & just starting to feed. One lamprey scar. Off at 10. Looks like it's going to be a pretty good season! Luck to all, Tom B.

RxMan

Hug a tree?

Tom B. (LongLine)

Looks like a 21 ft'r to me. I have an 18 ft Royal line from '84. (same exact windshield) Came with a 75 E-rude with Max rating of 115. You won't find a sturdier aluminum hull than the Blue fins. Tom B. (LongLine)

Word Search - Tom B. (LongLine) (I apologize to the many guys I couldn't get in...puzzle just got way to big!)

You got it. Tom B. (LongLine)

Tom B. (LongLine)

Something to do before football....Happy Turkey! Tom B. (LongLine)

Don't you guys jack the tires off the ground? I find mine develop flat spots if I don't. Tom B. (LongLine)

Sinkers Bank Sinkers $15.00. QTY 75. wts 1/2, 3/4, 7/8, 1 & 1 1/2 oz. 15 each. Great for general fishing. Flat Bank Sinkers: $15.00. QTY 60. wts 1/2, 3/4, 1, 1 1/2 & 2 oz. 12 each. Great for fast moving water. Pryamid sinkers. $15.00 QTY 24. wts 1, 2, & 3 oz. 8 each. Great for sandy or muddy bottom. Pickup in Rochester or $7.25 for USPS small flat rate box. (per lot but will combine) PM if interested. Tom B. (LongLine) p.s. yes, I made them myself.

The only thing the dams did was reduce the year over year variability in the lake level. Since the 50's, levels have fluctuated between 243 & 247 (except for this year). Prior to the 50's & back to the mid 1800's levels bounced between 241 & 248. (do a search on "lake level variability - Lake Ontario") Tom B. (LongLine)

Pete - Hit like a king& ran, then went deep & I couldn't move him. I thought it was a big laker. Couple minutes later about 140-150 ft out, he cleared the surface by about 4 feet. After that he stayed just below the surface and i had to circle and chase him. He did not want to come near the boat. Definitely one that I'll remember for a long time. Tom B. (LongLine)

SK8 - Thanx. KotW - On the west end, I'd agree with you however in the central basin, I've seen Big O change from flat to rolling white caps in 20 minutes. IMO, only a DF would fly solo out to where those charters were. Tom B. (LongLine)

Atlantic. Seems like quite a few are getting caught this year.

Genny 08-02-17 Splashed in at the river at 5:30 today. Lots of geese & their young at the launch. Cloud cover to the east & north but clear overhead and to the west. River temp 74F. Red sky in the morning, sailor take… Headed out and to the left again. WSW wind. Maybe a foot, mostly less. Set up in 115 FOW and trolled out.. Surface whole trip bounced between 71 & 73F. Didn’t see anything on the screen till 180FOW then saw small bait pods down 60. Down temperatures really goofy. 45 one minute then 60 the next. Crossed a N-S scum line then temps steadier. Two Cohos around 7:30-8:00, down 68 over 200-210 on R&R watermelon. Larger one around 8 Lbs. Both clean. Lost something much bigger down 84 over 210 around 9am. Stayed in that area for another hour. Decided to pull the rigger & stacker around 10:00. Got that all cleared and the weight off then spent the next 20 minutes battling this guy off the other rigger: Heh, heh, heh….17 Lbs! 84 down over 210. Purple spook mag, trolling fast. Took pix then another 15 minutes reviving him & he finally swam away. Biggest one I’ve ever caught. (Don't ask me why pic came out vertical) Love having the lake all to myself! Not another boat around. Heard some on the radio but they were way out. No way am I taking my 18 ft’r out there. Oh well, out by noon. Little ragboats having another get-together on the river. Couple kayers paddling around. (Great day to paddle the river.) One other trailer in the lot, geese sitting in the shade just relaxing. Luck to all. Tom B. (LongLine)

Keep boat in gear; get fish along side the boat; net the fish headfirst. Do not just hold the net stationary. It should be moving toward the fish and the center of it slightly below the fish. Some say that spooks the fish...to which I say...the fish won't swim backwards to avoid the net, rather he's going to give it a burst of speed and try to go deep...hence right into your net. Did you know that you can "tail" a king? Get him tired enough, right along side of the boat, reach over and grab him in front of his tail. Kings can't collapse their tails. Handy to know if you break, lose or forget you net. (been there...done that) Tom B. (LongLine)

Splashdown - Finally! Well, it’s been quite a while. I’ve never had to wait this long in the year to go fishing before. …high water, lousy weekends, new roof, new stairs, painting, etc, etc, etc… I told myself “I’m going fishing, before the snow flies!” And glad I did! Hit the river solo about 5:30. Had to put the rear axle in the water to launch but water was 74F & docks about 4” out of water so I guess that wasn’t too bad. Only saw one log in the water. Checked out the engine then headed straight out, a little to the left. Heavy clouds and slight wind from the west allowed for cruising speed. Stopped at 125 FOW & said “what the heck.” A couple boats around but not many. So loaded the riggers there and started trolling out. Single rigger fired at 90 down over 135. About 15 minutes into that fight and the second rigger fires at 75 down. Saw that one jump then the stacker fires. A 1st for me, fishing solo with a triple. Netted the 1st one; 2nd one throws the hook back at me and I go after the 3rd. Anyways, ended up with a 24” stlhd and a 22 ½ Lb King. Took some work reviving them but they both swam away. King was FAT! Both fish clean & no lamprey marks. There was a pretty good N-S thermal off Russell. Definite change in water clarity. Not many fleas but a lot of seaweed down a ways. Worked out to 170 & back to 130 a couple times. Went 7 for 9. 2 stlhds, rest small kings in the 17-24” range. (all clean fish) Good day for fishing, Great day for catching! Purple spooks, short leads, trolling fast did the trick Pulled the lines a little after 9 & headed in. Wanted to beat the crowd. Some festival going on at the beach. Stopped at DEC Angler Survey boat on the way in. Maybe 10 trailers in the lot. Luck to all. Tom B. (LongLine)

The ones with the devil face on them are eppinger's. Look like flutter chucks to me. 1st picture: top ones with the red bead are evil eyes. 7th picture: the ones towards the top (green with blk/yellow stripe) look like either southport slammers or northport nailers. Very bottom one in same picture is a Doctor spoon. (Loved that one as you could reverse the ring & the hook & get a completely different action) Tom B. LongLine