chinook

Brian congrats to you as well, along with Scott and Rob and the others. We did a number of targets over the weekend, but just couldn't put the big one in the boat. Best of luck to all of the L.O.U. gang with the upcoming L.O.C.- Duane

Walter, you made a huge impression on the group I had with me this past weekend. They are all very experienced fishermen and were all impressed with your service and quality of the bait itself. They all said that they most definitely will be using your product and patronizing you in the future. Wish all customer service was as well to work with. -Again many thanks for making it happen.--Duane

Rick, nice report. I always hear of someone popping a walleye out of the Oak on a rare occasion. That is a nice added bonus to the table fare - I had a crew of 4 this weekend allowing me to run an 8 rod spread of 3 riggers, 3 wire divers, 300' copper, and a full core with an additional 2 oz off an in liner. I noticed early morning that the pattern was for (me anyways) that the inside waters was a clean spoon bite behind the divers, with a long lead- 12'-15'. Obviously with the long leads, we had to finish them off by handlining in, once the diver hit the tip. Made mention of that due to you saying that was one thing you didn't try was the clean spoon approach. Gave you a wave there at the west launch on Sat night. Not sure you made that connection-Duane

I agree with Gambler and Shade about fixing the band. When the fleas are bad that creates another point of collection however. When they are non existent I'll pin. As far as an actual free slider the blades such as stingers and streaks will run higher than say a NK 28 or Pirate 55- Duane

Mick, Happy birhtday. Hope your day is a good one for ya- Duane

35# 6 oz. on cut bait out of the Oak -- Best of luck to all on the L.O.U. board, and hope someone from this site catches it.

Don, we were out of the Oak this past weekend as well. We took 3 matures off the moonshine carbon 14-in 80-105 F.O.W.- Took shots at 55' rigger, and wire diver at 150- We took 2 matures on the cut bait with 20' leads off the riggers @ 75'-The 300' copper-down the chute with a float, with a glow gator accounted for 3 more 3-4 year olds, along with some smaller kings and steelies. We never got deeper than 150 FOW-worked from the park to just west of the flats and ended up with a real nice box of quailty targets- Sunday was close to being the same but traffic was lighter-We simply tried to stay away from the pack and waited til most left for offshore waters and waited it out. Stayed in close looking for a major, but couldn't top 25. Took some quailty steelies as well, on orange crush, bloody death and a mag Get-Er Dun custom tape job among other spoons. There are the smaller kings and steelies as Yankee made mention, but enough matures to make it interesting --Duane

Brian, thanks for your follow up and clarification. I agree with your statement, in that yes there are many more who do fish out of the Oak compared to Sandy. And one would think in theory that would show up in the listings as such. For whatever reason, sometimes it just doesn't happen. I tend to think it plays into the favor of fishing " virgin" waters that aren't pounded ( such as Sandy) in as much as I try to stay away from the pack at the Oak. Having said that, I know at all to many times esp. since I've been involved with youth sports that e-mails and other postings get sent and sometimes they don't come off as intended and sometimes are misconstrued and taken way differently than they way they were suppose to be. So no need to apologize, and as mentioned best of luck the rest of the derby- Duane

Called and talked to Walter today to place an order of the Familiar Bite- I'm an old in the wool cut bait guy, but have used the F.B. as well in the past. After checking the contents and size of the alewife in some of the kings we have taken recently, I have decided to try my hand at it-whole bait- again this coming weekend. To say Walter has went beyond the call of duty to fill my order is an understatement esp. since it was on short notice. This gentleman took plenty of his own time to make sure it happened and for that it is greatly appreciated. Anyone who conducts his business in this manner will surely get my repeat business as well in the future to come. Thanks Walter- Duane

Tim, funny you mention that. I was thinking the same thing I'm not touching the down speed and temp issue however--Best of luck to you the rest of the season-Duane

Rob, beautiful king- Good job- Brian, I've got the utmost respect for you and in all of your past postings- But I whole heartedly agree with Yankee in your insinuation of your one post on this thread- Maybe you didn't mean it as such, but the way it is conveyed, comes across in not so much of the manner of what many of us expect from you and/ or others of L.O.U. I.M.O. -I could never find myself suggesting or conveying that one port has better fisher persons over another. For each and every one ( port) has many fine individuals who are not only willing to share any and all knowledge ( as you have willing done) with others, but can put targets in the boat on a regular basis-Thanks for allowing me and Capt.Rich to point this out, and take this for the way it is intended- That being a constructive suggestion-Best of luck in the remainder of the derby-Duane

Agree with Yankee, patronize local if at all possible. Esp with either of the 2 Pike Hunter made mention of- Not that I haven't patronized gloutdoors myself in the past. But whenever possible I always buy from the locals. May spend an extra buck, but the loyalty and the info you will receive will more than offset that many times over-Duane

I agree with Capt. Carl and Moto, I have owned both and have friends who have as well. They mostly all say that once you fish out of a glass boat you won't go back to aluminum. Don't get me wrong for there are many good metal boats, but for my money I'll go with glass every day. I currently fish out of a 24' Penn Yan, small enough to tow easily, yet large enough that if it is to rough to fish out of it then, I don't care to be fishing on that particular day, due to current back and neck problems esp. As mentioned there are plenty of good deals out there, just do your home work-Best of luck in whatever you choose- Duane

Wow- I came home yesterday for the Oak and saw the Catt- Raging is an understatement- I knew there had to be extensive damage down below-Thoughts and prayers to those who were effected- Duane

Eric, hope your day is a good one for you. May you be blessed with a 30#er this weekend at the Oak - Duane

Bill, good going, for your son's smile says it all. Cherish those memories for they sure grow up all to fast. -Duane

Happy birthday Ray- I hope your day is a great one for ya- Duane

Matthew- being in the manufacturing business for over 35 years I would like to think I know a thing or 2 about stress in material and machined induced stress. Having said that, before any of the local tackle shops out of the Oak had the 19 strand, I ordered 2 spools from Michigan Angler over this past winter- On my last trip, a couple weeks back, I noticed the same things that Capt. Carl touched on, and actually noticed that on the wire spool itself ( from Mich. Angler) coming off I noticed some frays before it even went on the reel-Bottom line is that one of the tackle shops out of the Oak inquired about this back to your Co., and from what I saw -I read your response to them ( this was app 6 weeks ago) is that the initial batch ( small dia. spools if memory serves me right) that went out had flaws in it. Could you please clarify this or explain? Going to give you the benefit of doubt here, but if there is a defective batch out circulating, what are you, the manufacturer going to do about this other than post on how to spool? I have to agree with SH 4, in that most who are probably trying this wire, know how to go about and respool- Thank you for your time and follow up- Duane

Troy, Nice pics and glad to hear you had a good time, esp spending it with your father and such- Maybe sometime as I made mention you could hop on board my boat, that is if you can ever free up any of your time - Best of luck to you with the football- Duane

Chad, as others have mentioned congrats and thanks for keeping this site top notch-It is much appreciated by many- Duane

Mick, congrats on a beautiful king- Duane

Chris, good job and thanks for sharing that report- That is a beautiful king- May it bless your walls for years to come- I'm sure that your dad would be very proud of you.- Best of luck to you as well-Duane

Pops, beautiful brownie. May you be blessed with a 30# king now -Duane

Mark, thank you for the pics you posted-Much appreciated.Ray you got me on that one -Duane

Thank you -you just confirmed my suspicion on another post regarding cut bait of a week or 2 ago .I made mention that T.T had agenda when he slammed another product as being "junk" I have no problem with some of these staffers promoting their sponsors products.None what so ever- But when they come off as slamming someone else's product and says how great his program is, but yet won't reveal any details about it, doesn't take a rocket scientist to see it for what it is-I know of some who use the Famliar Bite and have had success with it. But I also know many who will continue to use the cutbait, and put plenty of targets in the boat. To each his own, but being a business man myself, I will garner all the respect for another competitor when their reps are not afraid to say a good word or 2 about an individual or particular item-But when they bad mouth something or someone else,and offer no explanation-Sorry don't agree with that,for your reps are a voice piece your product itself-Just giving you my opinion-Duane