times two

Ray...saw the truck in the lot on the way home....how did you do? John

Plus like Erbyjoe said....you can't beat a monster run on wire!!

2008 shouldn't be too bad..... Boat I looked at was very nice, but I decided no more i/o's; so that saved a bunch of cash for now.....unless the o/b version pops up! Otherwise, upgrading more of the old rods/reels to the Okuma Blue diamond rods I ran this year. New seat cushions on the 2 cockpit swivel seats. And of course, I'm sure there will be more tackle in there somewhere! John And hopefully a few more clients!

Made the last trip of the year today, and after a few brief light showers, it really was a nice day to end the year. Ended up with 8 walleye and 1 steelhead. 85-95 fow straight out of Dunkirk, 1.7-1.9 at the ball. Little bit of everything....10 color, 1/5 ounces of weight between the 2nd and 3rd color with a watermelon hatchet; couple off the boards 210 back on small slide, watermelon harness; 180 back on 2 on the big slides with a copper yeck; rigs at 65 and 72, copper confusion DW SS; stinger purple parrot and yeck watermelon. Sadly, pull the boat in the morning..... John

Ray: Typically the best walleye is from late June to mid-Sept., but that depends on the weather and water temps. Most of the guys quit by now, mostly due to the usual lack of good weather...this year being an exception. L/y we fished 3 times from 9/1 until I pulled the boat. We had 2 populations of 'eyes...1 is resident, and based upon the 2003 and 2005 spawns, is a pretty good year class. The other is the transient OH fish that come east to escape the ultra warm in Oh. Those fish usually show up from west to east starting in late June or early July. I like the walleye deep fried. Not good for the heart, but good to eat. Trim off any of the "silver" or "red" on the skin side, and soak in ice salt water for 30 mins or so. Makes 'em extra tasty. Try this....take the thick back piece of the fillet, cut into chunks about the size of a good scallop. Take a 1/2 piece of bacon (trim off some of the fat if it is really fatty), wrap the walleye in that and toothpick it. Sprinkle with old bay or your favorite spice, cook on LOW HEAT on a grill until the bacon is done. Err on the side of not so crispy so you don't over cook the walleye. Key is low heat.... John

Thanks Borderline. Been reading up a bit on the Seaswirl owners site...starters/alternators.... I have my heart set on a 4 stroke...want to get back to an O/b.. so I'm going to look at the i/o with an open mind, but I think I'm going to hold out for what I really want.... John

Billy... Don't know if there are any communities up your way or not, but I've had all my stuff done by the Amish down here. We don't have any locals doing it, and they are pretty inexpensive and do great work. Got my mooring covers, top/windows, cabin cushions and even the bags done by them. If you want to figure out how far, its in the Cherry Creek NY area. John

Billy... Hear you...tomorrow's going to be the last shot with the big boat for the year....after which I'm going to do a rain dance to get some H2O in the tribs! Wife had gotten me a pair of new waders that need breakin time!! John

Thanks In the Box (and others)....already carry pretty heavy insurance due to the charters... John

Ray... Glad you got on some. Screen was loaded early 'till it got hot. Must have been by you once or twice as there were only a couple of boats around. Had the radio on 07...must have missed you calling, but it was just me and 1 other and I was in the back a lot. On the rigs, one of the tricks is to "pop" the rigger when you come through a good bunch of marks and let the spoon float up for a few seconds. Many times just the pop-off is enough to trigger them. I'm running blacks releases, and you can set them pretty light. We did have 1 fish that hit the diver that pretty much decided to swim with it...very hard to detect. Got 4 of us going tomorrow for the last ride of the year, so we'll be able to get 8 rods in.... John

Decided to take a ride this morning for a couple of hours with the father of a friend of mine. Tough on the rods today.... Went 1/2 on steelhead...nice 1 around 8lbs. and 1/3 on walleye. LOADS of nice hooks about fish in 70-77 fow, just couldn't get them to go, or keep them on when we did have them go... Watermelon copper yeck, and a copper yeck taped with pink/purple glow tape. 60 foot rigger and 175 big slide. 1.7-1.8 at the ball. BEAUTIFUL LAKE....I hope all of October is like this! Probably 1 more shot on Sunday before we call it a year....

All I have is that it is a volvo GTX 5.0; 2003.

Hey Bill. My CU has some limitations, and there rate was actually higher that what I have seen in limited searches on the net so far. I was really leaning towards doing something next year, but you know how it goes...once you start looking you get the bug. I'm only looking at moving up slightly in part because I still like to roam between LO and LE. Targeting a 23 Seaswirl, with the hardtop. One o/b in Ohio that I think I missed and now an i/o. Little more cockpit room, larger cabin and it will let me take a group of 4 which I can't comfortably do now. Hoping to look at the i/o in the next few days....then there is the matter of selling my current boat....

Looking at moving up slightly in length, and 13 years in age.... so consequently a loan is in my future. WHo have you used? John

Anyone have experiene with a volvo 5.0 i/o?

Daker: Sunday we ran 5 rods...2 riggers, 2 slide divers and 1 10 color down the chute. That's my base program. Time before we did get a couple of board lines out. We dropped in around 70 foot... not a whole lot on the graph until we got out to the upper 70's. Lots of fish on the bottom ....in the 80's there were fish moving around above that, and once outside of 95 it got pretty blank. Last couple times out its been 60/40 harnesses to spoons. Honestly haven't been running sticks nor did I try high. Have gotten a few popping the riggers of late. Big mix of sizes...everything from dinks to 10lbs.... Ray....nice to chat on the phone, maybe we'll catch you on the lake.... John

Yecks are a hair shorter than the standard stingers....not scorpian sized. They were factory watermelon, no extra tape....just a little smelly jelly. Hatchet off the 10 color was a large size than off the slides. 4 and 6 I believe. The one on the slide was a hammered copper blade with orange tape, stock D & D bought at Gander Mt. The large one was one I just did myself a few days before. Took a hammered copper blade and did the same markings as a chicken wing spoon using sharpies. Black edge with the "fingers" and then some orange. Used 4 black, 4 orange and 4 yellow Fishlander beads from the hook to the blade and one of each on top of that. John

Still pretty good walleye action in Dunkirk when mother nature permits... Did 5/7 on the walleye today, plus a few big sheepies. Lots of fish straight out of Dunkirk, 80-90 fow water was by far the best picture. Lots of fish stacked on the bottom. Had 4 eaters and 1 over 10lbs. DW chicken wing and an orange hatchet off the big slides 180 back on 3. 1 on a homemade chicken wing harness...just made that!!!...on the 10 color, and 1 on a watermelon yeck, 70 down on the rig. Great day to end September...hopefully get a few more nice ones before we pull next week! John

I have a set of 7" that are from Walker Downriggers. They are probably over 10 years old, but have sat in a box in the garage of a widow of a former captain.

Had a half day kicking around and the lake was beautiful so....off we went this morning.... Didn't leave the dock until 8:30, quit at 12:30....did 12/15 on the walleye anything from 14" throwbacks to one just over 10lbs; plus 2 steelhead. 65 and 70 foot riggers with a dreamweaver glow frog SS and a yeck watermelon; 1 on a big hatchet watermelon off the 10 color; big slides 175-185 back on 3 on dreamweaver chicken wing; stinger orange glow frog and black/purple hatchet blade and 1 on the small slide off the boards orange/copper hatchet, 195 back. Down speed 1.6-1.8; 2.3 on the GPS. 90-105 fow. John

You have a pm.

My country music pal, Sean Patrick McGraw (www.seanpatrickmcgraw.com) was in town today, so we decided to take a shot this morning to get some 'eyes. Lake looked like it was going to roll, but ended up laying down nicely for us. Did 5 walleye and a steelhead in just over 3 hrs. Copper orange harnesses of the 185 board slide divers; 165-175 on the wire slides (DW chicken wing); and one on a 55 rigger on the DW orange/pink. 1.8-1.9 down speed. 80-85 fow was the best. John

Finally got a chance to get back out on Erie after our Oak trip...wouldn't you know it would have to blow! Set up in 70 fow, trolled the troughs to 90 fow, and turned back. Rolling pretty good, and the crew decided that enough was enough after we had a pretty good wave come aboard to visit! Did 3 'eyes, some sheep/silver bass, and probably missed 3-4 shots in a little under 2 hrs. Tough to hold speeds due to the wind. Got 1 on the small Fishlander orange frog 55 down on the rigger; one a hatchet blade 10 color (watermelon)and 1 on a DW holograw chicken wing 175 on the wire. The Fishlander released several other times.... Shame it was rough as the graph was one of the best pics we've had in some time..... John

Considering putting my boat on the market in the next couple of weeks, and have a line on a slightly larger boat with an outboard. I definitely want to go o/b; but this is a 225 Evinrude Ficht 2 stroke. Anyone know of any issues with trolling extensively with a big 2 stroke, or specifically any other problems? Boat is set up to run a kicker, and I have a 15hp 2 stroke... but not sure I want to go that route.... Boat is sweet..motor is holding me back.... John

Fished the first 2 hour or so with no bites in the 70 fow area. Moved out to 90 fow and it got much better. Ended up with 12 eyes, 2 lakers (released) and 1 steelhead. Easily dropped another 7-8 fish....guys slow on the rods today. Little bit of everything....5 color with a rainbow yo-zuri; watermelon harness and a stinger scorpion monkey puke on the little slides 200-210 back; 185 on the wire, yeck watermelon and watermelon harness. 10 color down the chute with a big hatchet blade. 60-70 rigs stinger purple parrot and gold watermelon and watermelon yeck. 1.7-1.8 at the ball. 9 degree temp break at 60 fow...very unusual for Erie. Off to the Oak for a few days Thursday!