LongLine

I hate to admit that I'm older school... Ever hear of Mac-Jac releases? The releases weren't very good but the clips were fantastic. Just clip a clip between the legs of the the Black's release and your all set. Unfortunately they're hard to find nowdays. Tom B. (LongLine)

Happy B'day there youngster. Tom B. (LongLine)

SH - I'd go straight out & get a good idea of the mud line. (Brown turns to green/blue water) Flip a coin & follow it in & out for a while, zig-zag fashion. I'd get one flasher fly combo down plus a couple clean spoons - one close & 1 way back. Cloudy - I'd try purples, blacks, reds, golds, Clear sky - I'd brighten things up a bit - silver/blk, whites, bright greens, etc Good luck, Tom B. (LongLine)

SH - Welcome to the site. The Genny is a warm & muddy river. BTs & LTs rare catch up-river. Try trolling in lake 30-60 FOW real early. Lake is in transition right now. Thermocline just beginning to try to set up. In a couple weeks you'll find them 60-100 FOW right on the bottom. As for the river, there's a deep channel right in the middle. Lots of warm water fish in there. Bass, Pike, walleyes, cats, etc. Remember, if you happen to snag a sturgeon - let it go. Good luck, Tom B. (LongLine)

P-Line on rigg'rs & flats. (It doesn't stretch like mono) Tom B. (LongLine)

Welcome to the site. Wish I could help ya but the only Fort Frances I know of is on the west end of Lake Superior. Good luck on your venture. Tom B. (LongLine)

Ditto lyteline. Southport. Tom B. (LongLine)

Not necessarily the carbs...more likely the prop. Dragging a 5 gal bucket can be a very effective way to slow you down. However, it can introduce other problems. What I found that works well is to make a harness that is clipped onto both rear eyebolts in the transom. The harness has a pulley. Replace the bucket handle with a rope and then tie a rope from bucket to pulley. (This is the same principle as water skiers use) Adjust the length of the harness so that the pulley cannot fall below the cavitation plate on your motor. The motor will then always throw its propwash into the bucket. Turning the motor just a little will always clear the riggers and this has no effect on the steering whatsoever. The 75 on my 18 ft’r will do 2.0 at idle but will go down to 0.5 with this setup. (slow enough to pull X5 & U20 flatfish) Tom B. (LongLine)

Craft stores have a sticker removal product called "Un-Do". It's good stuff. Will disolve the old glue & will not touch the paint job. Tom B. (LongLine)

Yes, Canadian side you need a license. U.S. side you don't. Tom B. (LongLine)

Sorry guys I just went thru the sites posted and this one: http://www.ijc.org/loslr/en/solution/ They're talking 2 1/2" higher in April and 2" higher in October, nowhere near 18" overall level. The water level is still regulated. It's not going back to the unregulated era. I agree that storms can cause a lot of damage, but come on...2" on top of 14-17 ft waves??? i would think that any house that survived the 70-90's high water eras and those storms will also survive this. I would think that Sodus especially would favor this proposal as it looks like it might help do something with that blue algea problem that has creeped up on them in the last couple years. Tom B. (LongLine)

Welcome to the board. I'm sure it'll help you. It's helped all of us. Tom B. (LongLine)

This is the average annual water level for Lake Ontario since way back in the 1800’s: Remember this is an average. High water is typically in June & low water in Dec/Jan. The variation during these periods can be 3 ft - VERTICAL. i.e 3 ft lower in Dec/Jan than it was back in June. The variation from yr to yr has definitely been reduced since they started controlling the outflow. Also remember that a good westerly gale can raise the east end a good 2 ft above the rest of the lake and lower the east end the same amount. (Which we typically have twice a year) I seriously doubt whether that "raise the lake 18in vertically" prediction is accurate as that would take it higher than it's ever been. The scale on the RHS is in feet. As I understand the DEC proposal, they want to allow a little greater natural variation than we've seen in the last 10-15 yrs to help "cleanse" the wetlands. Tom B. (LongLine)

Back in the 70's hurricane Agnes hit NY & Big-O. I remember it well as quite a few houses that were on the East side of Port Bay sandbar were lifted off their foundations by the first freeze from the spray of large waves & then came crashing down. Tom B. (LongLine)

HB - 18" is a big lamprey for this time of year. Tom B. (LongLine)

I've seen deer in the water but never that deep. Someone once suggested that they may get chased into the water...dogs...coyotes...etc. Good for you in getting him back. Tom B. (LongLine)

The general current on the southern shore is from west to east. However Big-O is know as a "two-gere" lake. i.e two currents. The west to east current on the northern shore doubles back then goes east again. However, regarding your question, there are many factors contributing to the jumbled mess of currents we see. Yes, winds do affect local currents that we fishermen experience. Upwellings due to temp changes also affect local currents. You'll sometimes find a current mid-way in the water column going in a different direction than the current in the lower section of the water column. If I were you, I'd study the bathymetric map of your area. I think you'll find some subtle structure that your sonar isn't picking up. Tom B. (LongLine)

ditto - Happy Birthday. Tom B. (LongLine)

Anybody notice: 1. The number of Kings going arial this year? I think we had at least five jumpers so far. Normally those guys dig for the bottom. 2. Where you're catching lakers? Ours have come off the surface this year. 3. Where the steelhead are? Very few reports this year. I've only seen two & they were little guys. 4. The number of Browns with Lamprey scars? ????????? Tom B. (LongLine)

WTG Tom. Tom B. (LongLine)

Welcome to the site. Tom B. (LongLine)

Happy B'day Chad, Tom B. (LongLine)

Photoshopped 6 yrs ago

They've been around a long time & are very dependable, if you know how to properly adjust tension for your spread. Tom B. (LongLine)

Fishing Report LongLine On the water at sunup. Had a scare in that dash light was left on since Wed. Luckily she started & charged right up. Anyways - Clear, calm, slight SWS wind. River temp 59F. So off we go, flying blind again. Seemed kind of strange having that big full moon last weekend then seeing this ½ one so high in the sky. Headed out to where we thought we left off the other day & put in. Had to wait a couple hours before anything happened. Actually what happened was my stacker brought up my bottom line & as I was straightening it out, a small laker (5#) hit the bottom line on the surface. A little while later, did the same again but this time a small steelhd (3#) hit it. Once is dumb-luck, twice is a pattern, so put an orange crush about 50 ft back of a board. We’d found a temp break of 51-47F on the surface and some lakers were hanging around near the surface on the warm side. Here’s bro’ with one: Interestingly, he had a lamprey attached to his top side. For anyone who doesn’t know, here’s the officially recognized method of releasing lamprey’s: Soon after, another laker (11#) hits the Crush right on the surface: This last one had a lamprey scar on it. Interesting that it looked like two of the lakers had clipped adipose fins. Temp break disappeared & wind came up a little out of the SW. So with sun burnt ears we called it a day a little after 12. No salmon today & nothing huge but with 1 stlhd & 3 Lakers & a boat that started right up…I’m not complaining. It was a fun derby. Sleeping in tomorrow & doing some chores for mama. Luck to all, Tom B. (LongLine)