waterlogged

Ok, I'll finally add my $.02 First I must admit I am a die hard Bills fan - I know many of you will proffer condolences onthat issue but you may be surprised at what I have to say next. Yes, I am pleased that they are 4-0 no matter how ugly it was they are still 4-0. With that said, any realistic person will reserve judgement until they play a quality team. The schedule Gods have been very favorable to Buffalo so far this year. Before I go singing their praises of How great they are - and don't get me wrong - they are an improving team but have a long way to go to get back to the Super Bowl - I am still waiting to play "a reputable, quality" team, which by the way will come when San Diego comes to town on 10/19. Then too you have the division - Jets, Dolphins, and of course as many see it (but not me) the Brady-less Patriots. The verdict is still out in my opinion as to just how good the Bills really are!!

Maybe I better change the boat name to Better Late Than Never as that is what this report is. 8/29 - Just 2 of us in the boat this trip as others had previous engagements. Fished out of Mexico starting in about 80 FOW and looking deeper to 100 FOW. Went 2/2. Hot ticket was a white Spin Doctor - double crush glow with an Atomik hammer fly - 30" fly leader from loop to the head of the fly trolling about off the rigger 65 down going 2.3 -2.6 mph. 8/30 - Decided to hit the same waypoints from Friday but then heard from a friend of my son on the cell that he did fish in front of the nuke plant Friday so decided to head that way. Not knowing this guy well I had doubts listening to his report. So on the way to the plant I decided to look in about 110 FOW. Boy did this cause a ruckus about "My Indecision". Started looking and found the "Mother of All Screens" - bait and as Billy Fucillo would say "HUGE-UH" marks. Entered a waypoint and started a southerly troll while Kevin (son) was setting up. Trolled south until the picture went blank. Turned around and on the track back - same picture but couldn't get anything to go. Turned again and this time "BANG" the same rigger with the same combination from Friday fired. Boated a nice 22# king. Swung around and did nothing. Tracked back on the same troll we took the fish and the same results with a 20# king off the same rigger. That set up was HOT HOT HOT!!! 2 fish in the box by 5:45 a.m. and a "dream screen". By the time we got turned around and set up again there were a number of other boats in the area and as a result the screen went blank. Trolled that area for quite a while with no results. Decided to head west towards the nuke plant. Looked and looked - nothing. Didn't hear of much other action on the radio either. By the time we got to the plant there was an armada of boats (like I didn't know they were going to be there ) but we hung in there anyway. 11 a.m. and still nothing. Starting to wonder why we can't break the 2 fish a day syndrome?? Discussion entailed - go in and come out later or troll through until the afternoon bite. Stayed Out as it turned out and then between 3 and 3:45 just west of the smoke stack at the nuke plant the wire fired. Landed an 11.5# king Trolled east through the same waypoint - nada - turned and within feet of the first waypoint another taker on the wire. We couldn't get anything to go trolling east but each time we passed that waypoint we hooked up. So in 45 minutes 4 fish and had our limit. We have a smaller sized live well and we wound up with the 6th fish laying on the deck due to lack of room in the fish box due to the size of these fish. That's the kind of day you like to have although we worked hard for them it was well worth it. 8/31 - headed for the same place we finished Saturday. A little bumpy and we got a bit of a late start too. Managed 1 fish early on the same setup on the same rigger - a nice 25.5# fish. Couldn't get anything else to go and knew we were having a short day of fishing with having to break cam early that afternoon. Tried deeper water and headed toward the big Salmon to see what was happening there. Decided to forgo a wire dipsey for a 300 foot copper. While putting the 300 foot copper out the same setup on the same rigger fires (white Spin Doctor - double crush glow with an Atomik hammer fly - 30" fly leader from loop to the head of the fly). Kevin is fighting the fish on the mono and the port side wire fires violently. I have not seen a wire dipsey act like that ever. Throb, peel drag, throb, peel drag estimating about 80 feet of wire were pulled on each run. This set up was chrome Luhr Jensen dodger wit fish scale tape and a Hammer fly with a glow frog dipsey out 165 feet over 130 FOW on a 2.5 setting. Kevin handed me the mono rod as the dipsey was on his side of the boat and we began playing the double. While fighting the double the fly leader broke. We landed the fish on the mono - another 23# king and then examined the tackle failure. We had 18" of the 30" leader still attached to the dodger. The end of the 50# floro looked as though it had been heated and pulled forming a pointed end - not a clean break which I would have expected. I have never seen a piece of mono break and leave this type of end. We ended up 2/3 suspecting we lost the biggest fish of the day. That's fishing . All in all a good weekend for us. 10 fish in 3 days smallest 11.5# and biggest 25.5# all weights verified on Yogi Bear's Jellystone campground scales. Hope to make one last trip before putting up the boat before hunting preparations take place. Clarke

Gray, Nice new ride!!! Gald you finally found a new home for the Seaswirl! Clarke

Gray, Are you up both days?? We may make one more trip this weekend but not sure which day but most likely Saturday. Will give you and Pete a shout if we get up. What channel on the VHF - we usually monitor 72. Clarke

Briefly - to run cut bait you need the cut bait and matching cut bait head OR whole bait and whole bait head. You can buy the bait heads pre-rigged just remember to use a round-square (not flat or just round) toothpick to secure the mono running through the bait head and the cut bait in place. Round-square picks are best but the round will work too.

The year we won the $1000/day derby that we didn't get our money for it was a team effort as the 29# 9 oz. king threw fits in and out of the wire and rigger cables. At one time all 3 of us - Smitty, Kevin and I handled the rod with Smitty doing the bulk of the work adn Kevin netting the fish. We inquired of Dave if this was a fish that would have made top 20 if it was a legal entry and he said yes because all on the boat are/(must be) registered and it is a "team" thingy (as Scott so eloquently put it) not an individual thingy. So unless the tides have turned I guess it's a legal fish to enter. Only faIr that the guy who did the majority of the get the kudos FOR THE ENTRY as was Smitty's case. Kevin and I merely wove the rod around and through and over the wire and downrigger cables.

Boy am I going to get bashed for this one!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: The LOC begins 08/15/08 right? So that means at 12:01 a.m. or 0001 hrs. military time? So if you hook a fish at 11:50 p.m. on 08/14/08 and you net it and it is in the boat at 12:05 a.m. that fish is leagl to be registered for 08/15/08? OR You hook the fish at 12:05 a.m. 08/15/08 and in the net and boat at 12:20a.m. 08/15/08 is a leagal fish to be entered of course at 9:00 a.m. when the weigh stations can legally weigh a derby fish??? Have at it gang!!!

As of 11 a.m. there is a 28.03 grand prize leader with a 26.03 division leader - only 2 salmon registered currently - waiting for the onslaught of entries!!! :shock:

Scott, Well put!!!!

Big Red, Mine says didgi-trol II right on the keypad I believe. Haven't really looked at it in a while. You know it's like trying to give directions by street name?? You know how to get there because you've been there 1,000 times but try to tell someone the street names and it's difficult. Realized the manual is on the boat and I will pick it up tonight. Sounds like your keypad is bad and if it's an older digi-trol that can't be replaced by Cannon - no longer available. Only two other possibilities is that a local repair shop might have one or repair it for you or find one for parts. They can convert it to a Mag 10 I believe for a substantial price. Try calling Cannon customer support in Idaho @ 208-846-9000 Duane has been very helpful to me in the past (if he's still there). Clarke

Totally agree with Traveling Man. But we use a snap swivel not just a snap to prevent line twist. Also if you tie dircctly to the spoon with no split ring you always run the chance of losing the fish because of the sharp edged hole in the spoon in my opinion. Clarke

Fishgill, Opinions will vary all over the board on this one. Some guys change them out others don't. I think it is a personal preference. Billy V has run the factory tips for over a season I believe and changed when they wear out. My personal feeling is if the tip should fail especiall during derby time and it's "THE FISH" I would regret not putting the twili-tip on fromthe get go. I am one that changes to the twili-tip right away. Clarke

please send pics to [email protected]

We used Blacks with the FF - just remember three to four twists before placing in the release as it is larger diameter (20# 30#).

Bill, Thanks for the update. I think we are all waiting for that one day when they show up and we can tear up to the Big O and start hammering them. Clarke

Here is the basic drop and retrieve of the Digi-trol II that we run. First thing you have to do it bring your rigger ball all the way up to the boom and turn the power off then on. You should see a -02 reading and thins will then place you at the water when you drop the ball to that position. Then to set your depth - press repeatedly or press and hold the units and tens (1 and 10) buttons until you get the depth you want to fish. Then immediately hit the M1 or M2 button. This will store the selected depth at that M1 or M2 location. When you are rigged and ready to fish drop the rigger by simply pressing either M1 or M2 (where you stored the depth)and press the "RUN" button. The rigger will descend to that depth. If any malfunction occurs any button will stop the descent. To retrieve the ball to the top of the water press Auto Up. The oscillation feature is similar for depth and time except that after you set the depth osciaaltion and time between changes the rigger will move up after the selected time automatically - no extra run button to press or anything. I also have a hard copy of the digi-trol II instruction booklet I can send in word format if you like.

First I believe that is a Walker release. Does it look like the photo in this link?? Then it is a Walker. I believe there is another style that look similar but can't remember who the manufacturer is. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/store ... -829233505 As for the 840 probe/triducer relationship - we ran ours on the opposite side of the boat as that is the way the guy had it set up when we bought the boat and he showed us the set up and how to operate all the gear. My friend runs his off a port side manual rigger - about halfway between the bow and stern with triducer on the port side. He claims he rarely loses his signal. Clarke

Thank God everything turned out ok. That is a scary situation. Clarke

My deepest sympathy ni the loss of your father. I realized that several years ago. Clarke

Rodney, Sorry to hear about the misfortune. As you said "chit happens" and that's why Smitty and I sprung for the original derby ticket for you and Dave last season, because you never know. I know you are an upstanding guy and would never doubt you would do other than the right thing. I learned that much about you through our fishing experiences. Sorry to hear about the engine problems...as yopu said ...you and the Oswego Pro AM... hmmmmm. what's up with that.??? Clarke

Congrats on your salmon division frst place fish. Like Rich said you may have had th egrand prize and $6K more had you weighed earlier. But what the heck $1500 isn't a sharp stick in the eye!! Clarke

I forgot some advice some wise old fisherman gave me once. It doesn't matter which radio you buy - it's all about the antenna!!! Don't skimp on a cheap-o antenna and any model will perform like the top of the line radio.

Check out the ICom brand. I have the IC-M402 and it is a great radio, ICOM M304 Submersible Marine VHF Radio: On Sale until July 31, 2008(Black) SKU: M304 01 ICOM M304 Submersible Marine VHF Radio Icom America announces the new ICOM M304, a compact- sized fixed mount that offers top-end performance, durability, and value in a basic package. The ICOM M304 marine VHF radio is built using a one-piece, die- cast aluminum chassis for ruggedness, signal clarity, and durability. The chassis and its precision-mounted components are well protected by a watertight, tough polycarbonate housing. The ICOM M304 marine VHF radio is rugged enough to pass military specifications. The ICOM M304 also carries many of the features that boaters have come to expect in an Icom: Large LCD with highly readable channel numbers and scrolling channel names; One-touch channel selection; TAG scanning; One-touch channel 16 and easy access to channel 9 selection; Normal/priority scan selections; And dual/tri watch. NMEA input wires on the rear panel allows for simple, third party GPS connections (SC-101 DSC) for position request and position reports. The ICOM M304 offers a front-facing speaker for loud output, and Icom?s Force 5 Audio? for crisp, clear communications. Icom?s unique AquaQuake feature is built-in, using low frequency sound to remove water from the speaker, and allowing better audio. The hand mic comes with channel up/down buttons and a high/low power selection button. And the M304 survives IPX7 submersion tests ? under 3 feet of water for 30 minutes without damage to the radio. Of course, all U.S., Canadian and international channels are built-in, and there?s easy access to weather channels to monitor for impending storms or national crisis reports. $130 on sale at anchor express but if you look you can get an IC-M402 for about the same or less. Clarke

Go to www.amishoutfitters.com

I can't access it either. Get some message about owning the domain.