Tim Bromund

I like running a thin flutter type spoon about 60-80 feet back and 3-4 feet down on one rigger, clean, no flasher/dodger for browns. The other rigger may have an orange baby spin doctor and peanut fly about 6-8 feet back, right in the propwash for coho's. Tim

Forward from Sean Mahar at Audubon NY Tim and Pat, What is needed right now is calls to New York State Senators and Assembly members urging them to oppose the repeal of the Saltwater fishing license for all the reasons stated in the letter. If you could send out an alert and urge your members to make calls today, that would be really helpful!!!! You can send this info to help your members identify their senator or Assembly member, and those phone numbers will connect them to their reps offices in Albany . Find your Assembly Member: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/ Assembly Switchboard: 518-455-4100 Find your Senator: http://www.nysenate.gov/senators Senate Switchboard: 518-455-2800 Thanks for the help!!!!! Sean Sean Mahar Director of Government Relations and Communications Audubon New York 200 Trillium Lane Albany, NY 12203 518-869-9731 518-869-0737 (Fax) 518-253-7000 (Cell) [email protected]

Guys, the following is text of a letter that has been drafted to Gov Cuomo asking him to oppose the implementation of this. Please feel free to copy/paste this into your word processor (MS Word or whatever you use) and send your own letter to the Gov. encouraging him to oppose this: Governor Andrew Cuomo Executive Chamber State Capitol Albany, New York 12224 March 22, 2011 Dear Governor Cuomo, We are writing to urge you to oppose a provision in the Senate Budget Bill, S. 2810 Part FF, that would repeal the current marine recreational angler license program. It would also create an unfunded mandate for New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation to provide – for free – a saltwater recreational fishing registry. We oppose the provision because it would deprive much-needed marine programs in the State of New York an existing revenue source, as well as make New York ineligible for federal funds under the Wallop-Breaux Sports Fish Restoration Act. New York’s existing saltwater recreational angler registry was designed to meet new federal registry requirements in a manner that benefits New Yorkers. The state’s license costs anglers $10 annually and dedicates the bulk of the funding to the state’s marine account. It provides exemptions for anglers under sixteen, those who are legally blind, and active members of the Armed Forces. Anglers aboard a party or charter boat pay no fee; the companies are charged $400 annually to cover all of their customers. During calendar year 2010, marine license sales generated $1.7 million in revenue to the Marine Resources Account. The revenue generated by this registration fee supports the cost of administering the registration program and the work of the DEC Marine Bureau, which is already underfunded and overstressed because of the state’s fiscal crisis. The Marine Bureau’s programs include: 1) fish surveys to assess the abundance of commercially and recreationally important fish population levels; 2) monitoring of commercial fish landings to provide data used for population assessments and fishery quota management; 3) protection of important marine habitats; and 4) monitoring the health of shellfish beds and the occurrence of and causes of harmful algal blooms. If the fee is revoked and a free registry is established, an important revenue stream that helps support these Marine Bureau programs would be lost. In addition, programs would have to be eliminated or cut in order to pay for the “free†registry. Hunters and freshwater anglers have, for decades, paid a license fee into the state’s conservation fund to help manage and maintain inland habitats and species. They would likely see a reduction in their services as a result of this bill, as their fees may have to be used to register saltwater fishermen who would pay nothing. Not only would a source of state revenues be lost in an incredibly tight budget year, but passage of this bill would also deprive the state of federal funds for which it otherwise would be eligible. If New York doesn’t charge for a license, it would lose its eligibility for federal sport fish restoration funds under the Wallop-Breaux Sports Fish Restoration Act. In order to qualify for these federal funds, the state is required to charge at least a $1 more per license than it costs the state to administer the license. A free registry would clearly not satisfy this requirement and the state would become ineligible for these much-needed federal funds which could amount to millions of dollars. In order to properly manage New York’s valuable marine resources, the state needs to strengthen – not weaken – its marine programs. We ask you to oppose inclusion of the Senate provision in the New York State budget.

Nice fish looks cold Tim

Iceman, is that model a pilothouse or open? Those Hewescrafts are nice looking boats and from everything I've seen, rock solid. Is there a local dealer or did you get it from Calumet Marine? Tim

It's 395 on Dish Network. Tim

I have my dvr programmed to record all of the Angling the Great Lakes shows on Dish. I just got the Niagara Pro Am episode last week and watched it the other day. I've also got one from several weeks ago with them fishing in the fall in 18 mile and the lower niagara for mudsharks. Tim

Yeah, Arima's are really nice boats, but I think a tin can is more along the lines of what he was looking for especially if he plans on doing any winter steelhead drifting on the Lower Niagara. Glass and icebergs don't go well together Tim

Yes, it needs to be both epoxy barrier coated and bottom painted. The epoxy barrier coat is essential. Despite what we intuitively think, fiberglass/gel coat is NOT waterproof. Your boat can gain several hundred pounds of weight from water intrusion over the course of a season and that water also promotes rot in the wood stringers, transom etc. Even in fresh water without bottom paint you'll have a nice thick shag carpet on the bottom of the boat at the end of the season. How often depends on what kind of paint you use. Lots of good info on West Marine's website on bottom painting. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... r-Articles check out the Paint and Maintenance articles. Tim

Hand helds are ok for an emergency backup option but not as a primary radio. The problem is, VHF transmissions are "line of sight" so the taller the antenna and the stronger the transmission, the farther you can transmit a distress signal. Mounted radios are 25W and are typically attached to an 8' antenna. Hand helds are 5W and have a short antenna. They are really only useful IMO in a waterproof ditch bag so that if your boat suffers a catastrophic failure somewhere and sinks so you don't have access to your main radio, you MIGHT be able to raise someone on the handheld that is within direct line of sight to your position . Don't and haven't owned one so I cannot recommend a good one. Tim

Marine tex should do the job. http://www.marinetex.com/ Tim

Sean, That clear coated wire is typically used for steel leaders. I would guess at 120 lb test that would be used in some big game saltwater applications (marlin, tuna etc). IMO 120 lb is too light for probe rigger cable unless you's use it for the lighter wire between the probe and the ball as a breakaway wire. Tim

bump, see the edit/add in bold above. Tim

Richard, if the prices and condition are comparable, get the Penny!!! Tim

Hey, Bob makes a mean Woolly Mammoth Stroganoff. Tim

I have Scotty riggers and I had the Scotty retrievers. Someone on this site pointed me to a place where I could get retrievers that have a pulley on them that will allow the Scotty stop bead to pass thru them. I put one of those on and it worked fine. I also think it would put less wear on the coated cable than the cannon type ones. However, once I got the hang of tipping up my Scotty boom to rig it instead of using the retriever, I discovered I didn't need a retriever. If I can remember where I got it, I'll post it under this thread. This is the one I bought. Not sure if this is where I got it or not. Go to this link. Its the last item on the bottom of the page: http://www.traxstech.com/Planer_Reels_-_Masts.html Interesting, the Scotty auto stop beads fit through that pulley OK??? That's good to know. Tim

Richard, I have the 230HP 5.0 Merc/Alpha 1 (actually its an MR but they are the same, renamed Alpha 1 the next year) in my 86 Thompson and it's ok, the 5.7 would be nice, but I don't feel it is horribly underpowered and that is a considerably heavier boat than the Trophy. As with a lot of Thompsons in that era, I had rotten wood and after having the transom, motor bunks, stringers and floor replaced, it picked up quite a bit of additional weight and I was having problems reaching the recommended WOT with the 14.5X17 prop that was on it, so last season I replaced it with a 16x13 prop and it made a world of difference, now it tops out around 32-33 mph and cruises at a nice comfortable 25-26 mph at 3200-3400 rpms, which is plenty. I think if the survey is OK, that you'll be fine with the 5.0 in that boat. Tim

and regular rigger cable doesn't ever have to be replaced???? You're REALLY stretching there Brian. I'm replacing my DR coated cable this spring after 5 or 6 seasons, hardly the overly burdensome negative you are trying to make it out to be. Tim

Glen look at the Chinook Marking Study text which starts on Page 1 of Section 9 (before the graphs) and continues on Page 4 after the graphs. Chinook Marking Study In 2008, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) purchased an automated fish marking trailer (Autofish) from Northwest Marine Technology Inc.. Funding for the purchase came from the natural resources damage settlement with the Occidental Chemical Corporation. This is the first Autofish system in the Great Lakes Basin, and is capable of adipose clipping and/or applying coded wire tags to salmon and trout at a rate of approximately 6,000 fish per hour. DEC received the system in mid-March 2008, and marked all 1.27 million of the 2008 year class of Chinook salmon stocked by both New York and Ontario. The fish were reared and marked at New York’s Salmon River Hatchery and Ontario’s Ringwood Fish Culture Station. Stockings for future broodstock for both agencies (NY-Salmon River, Ontario-Credit River) received both adipose clips and coded wire tags. Fish destined for other stocking sites in NY and Ontario were marked with an adipose clip only. All stocked Chinook salmon (2.3 million) were marked similarly in 2009. This study will allow us to evaluate various aspects of the contributions of naturally reproduced and hatchery reared Chinook salmon to the fishery, improving the fisheries management decision process. Tim

Glen, Clipped or tagged? All Kings were clipped on both sides of the lake in 2008, 2009 and 2010, 2008 and 2009 only Salmon River and Credit River Kings got the coded Wire Tags. All kings got tags starting 2010, which was after this report. Tim

Glen, Here is the 2009 Lake Ontario Annual Report, the 2010 Annual Report hasn't been issued yet. http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/fish_marine_pdf/lorpt09.pdf Check out the last paragraph on Page 4 of Section 9 where they talk about the efficiency of the marking trailer. Tim

Glen, I'm not estimating anything, those numbers came directly from the presentation at the DEC State of the Lake Meeting last night from the actual hatchery/fisheries staff. Quite honestly, I'd trust their numbers more than a creel census technician who wasn't there when the marking trailer was actually doing the marking. I'm sorry, but I think you got bad info from the tech you talked to. Previous to last springs stocking, the only fish that received coded wire tags in 2008 and 2009 were those planted in the Salmon River in NY and the Credit River in Ontario as those were the two agencies brood stock locations, but EVERY king stocked by both NYS and Ontario in 2008, 2009 and 2010 were adipose clipped. Starting in 2010 all of the various lots of stocked fish were ALSO coded wire tagged with each group of fish receiving a tag with a different lot number to identify where and how they were stocked. For example, Olcott Pen Reared Kings got coded wire tags implanted in their snout with one set of numbers, Olcott Direct Stocked Kings got a tag with a different number, etc. This is part of a 5 year study to analyze and determine the effectiveness of the various stocking strategies at each stocking site so they can fine tune their approach to get the best return for the effort. According to the folks from the DEC presenting last night, each group of fish that went through the trailer were checked both by the trailer imaging software and metal detectors to confirm clips and tags and those that were rejected were clipped/tagged manually and then there was also a manual QC check on top of that. With all of those controls in place, if any hatchery kings made it through the system unclipped and/or untagged, it wasn't more than a handful. I think it really is a safe bet that if you catch a 1, 2 OR 3 YO king on the lake this year, that has it's adipose fin intact, that is a wild fish. Yes they have been estimating wild fish numbers for longer than the trailer has been in operation, but in the past those were absolute WAG's on their part. They knew approximately how many wild fry the SR was producing a year from their annual test nettings, but had no real idea to what extent those fish contributed to the fisher or if they just became fish food. Now they are working with real and valid data. Tim

No, they had to get the Canadian fish that were going in their pen projects marked earlier in the spring than they could get the trailer up there, so those fish had to be clipped and marked by hand. A lot of tedious manual work like they had to do before the trailer, but those fish all got marked as well. Tim

Glen from what I saw at the SOTL meeting last night, they have a better than 99.5% marking and tagging rate with the trailer, so if there are a lot of non clipped kings going into the lake, those would be the wild ones. For all intents and purposes, every king stocked in the lake from both NYS and Ontario ARE clipped and tagged. Tim