times two

Come to Lake Erie. Closer to 2 hrs, but the bite is good now, and they are big!

I agree with Capt. Vince. On Lake Erie, we generally figure 5 ft drop for each color, with the variable being speed, waves and what you are running on the core. And we are running slower for the walleye than you might for salmon. John

Mark: Regarding the power pro as backing on the core. I haven't made that change yet, but its coming. My reasoning... I runner the clipper board releases, and have them set nicely for my braid lines for jets and small slides. If I change over to core, with the mono backing, I have to mess around readjusting the releases. Couple of other Capt.s here have switched. Seems to make sense to me. Jimski: With the double divers, do you find the inside or outside goes more, or no difference? Do you find adding the second slows down the first at all? Curious, we had that discussion on the boat the other day. John

Fishkiller: Heard it's been good that way. If you don't mind sharing, in general, what's been your most productive water depth? Most productive harness color? John Team 24 NCCC Derby

Mark: There is a way to do it so you can "pop" the jets, like the tripz that are on the market. I haven't got that set yet. However, heres another way. We and an OR-16 (the red one with the center pin) to the jet. I run 40 foot or so of 30lb flouro between the braid and the lure end. Can clip the jet anywhere you want. Only drawback is you have to unclip it as it comes in, but with a bit of practice it doesn't impede the angler at all. John

Mark: We have had loads of silver bass this way this year, and running harnesses its sometimes tough to keep them off. Seems like the chatters have helped. We have been tipping some of them with a piece of worm. Last two years the 5" has been killer off the core...can't get that to go, but the 3" is going good. Some of the guys have gone back to the regular crytallina renoskys (non chatter) and have been doing good with that. Also, rigger bite has been poor at best. Waiting for September though...I think the perch fishing is going to be smoking! John

We ran for fun today out of Dunkirk. Got 4 in dropped 3 plus a steelhead and a laker, in about 3.5 hrs of fishing. Most reports we got seemed 5-6 fish was doing good. Hangover from the NE winds of last week, plus the near full moon. 3" chattersticks were good for us today. 90 fow.

Chris: Same conditions Saturday out of Dunkirk. Actually got a few walleye in 52 degree water. We moved east and out, ended up pretty good and a 13lb steelie! Sunday was a whole different story. We went 3/4 before we called it quits. Still bad temps. Hoping it levels out...we go Fri/Sat. ** Did have an interesting occurence Saturday....was on my phone standing in the back of the boat, saw something out of the corner of my eye. First thought was big snake, but it dove around the cable, went across the prop wash then I lost sight of it. Thinking in may have been a big lamprey,and wondering if the cold water pushed it up..... And I was working, so you can't say it was cuz I had a beer!

I've always used a mono backer on my leadcore setups. Always has worked fine. Problem I'm having is that I have to re-adjust my board releases when I switch between core rigs and braid rigs. So, I'm wondering if any of you use braid as the backer on your leadcore setups, and if so, what knot do you use to tie them together? Thanks. John

Sunday was pretty good out of Dunkirk too. Fished west towards Van Buren Point. 40 jets with copper orange harnesses and chattersticks was the best. Did take a few on the slide divers too. Boated 4 that were in the 14-15" range that we had to kick. Good sign! Heard several others report the same..... John

Slow out of Dunkirk today on a beautiful lake. We boxed 4 walleye, 60 fow. Most of the guys seemed to be in the 1-2 fish range. Not a lot of good screens, and the water temps in my mind are a touch on the cool side yet.

Back from pike trip up north, and weather permitting hoping to be in this weekend at Dunkirk. Marina is under renovation so we have to work out a dock issue too....but that's the plan. Hear they got a few this past weekend....

I have a black canvas motor cover for sale. It's in very good condition. Came off my 225 Evinrude 2 stroke the blew up last year. I thinking $25 shipped. John

I am one of the part-timers now, and there are a couple of things I've learned..... When people ask me if I make money, I have to pause for a minute..... Do the "charters" cover my costs that I might have anyway...insurance, docking, etc. Yeah, probably. Could I live off what I make doing it now? Not unless I really like macaroni and cheese. In my opinion, and the veteran full time guys can correct me if I'm wrong, I think you need to have way more days than I can fish now to truly make a liveable profit. Am I having fun now? You bet. I have met some really, really great people and had some unbelievable days. The side the clients don't see is the hour and a half that I'm at the boat before hand getting rods ready, the first lures rigged, etc, etc.....and they don't see the time afterwards to get every thing ship shape, retied, put away, cleaned, etc. I run a clean boat, and that takes time. For an 8 hours charter, it easily turns into a 10-12 hr day.....and don't forget the stress when you have the klunker days...that hopefully are far between..... John

You didn't say what you wanted to spend, or the length you would stay..... I'm heading up to Wilson for a few days and did the full internet search to try to find a cottage. Found all of the places mentioned, and all seemed nice. Ended up that my brother found a place in Olcott, pretty reasonable, so we decided to do that. More choices if that is the way you want to go.

Congrats Mark....wanted to see it but couldn't pospone carolina...... John

Wow! Very nice. Does it have a trailer? John

You're welcome, Capt.Bob. You guys (and all the pen sites) do a great job for the fishery. I was glad to be able to come up today and be a part of it. Thank you!

I know a guy that has an older baha, lots of stuff. Stringers redone, in that range, I think. Was a charter boat. PM me if you want the phone #. John

I've been running the Convector 30's for 5 seasons now. Really like them, and they have held up really well. Only complaint, which really isn't much of one, is I find the "clicker" to be a bit loud. John

In the 1990's, I owned a sea nymph with a 70hp evinrude. Had the same problem. Recall that the mechanice told me the only real way to try to prevent it was to disconnect the hose, elevate it for the winter so the fuel drained back into the tank. That was more hassle then it was worth, so I just kept an extra bulb on board, and changed it out about every other year. John

Thanks Tim! You guys did another great job. I don't know if it was the weather, but it sure did seem like there were alot more people interested in talking fishing this year! Count me in for the next one! John

In my area, I made arrangement with the chef at Ellicottville Brew Pub to do that for any of my clients that want to. Same kind of deal....cook it, with sides for some fair rate. No one has yet, as often it seems as though they would stay the night before the charter, but not the night of. Honestly, I keep meaning to take some over myself....but haven't yet. Also heard that the Barcelona Harbor House in Barcelona has done that from time to time..... John

Looking forward to seeing all of our Lake Ontario friends! Tim, Joe and the LOTSA guys do an awesome job! A great way to spend a February Sunday......come on out and say hello! John

Still Available. I will have these with me at the LOTSA show if you wish to look at them. John