Sluggo / NY

Andre.. While I agree with Ron about a possible axle problem, the "major cupping" would make me suspect severe balance problems or defective tires. I had Carlisle tires on my similar size rig and blew one on the way to Lake Erie...blew the other on the way back! I'm not their biggest fan. I went up a size to 215-14 Goodyear Marathons but also replaced my axle with a higher rated one as I needed the end plates to install brakes. Still can't believe they can sell a rig that size without brakes! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Dave.. No permit required, boat just needs to be legally registered and have all the normal safety stuff. Oh.. in NY you have to actually wear a life jacket until I believe May? I wear the inflatable suspenders.. hardly notice they're on. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

I've been pounding it hard lately. Limits most days, but the past few days were tough.. freakin' wind! I did get limits, but it was work! There were whitecaps on the river yesterday! I'll be out there tomorrow, but my weekend is screwed up.. out of town company.. last weekend of walleye? They should know better! Oh well.. six weeks coming up to get my chores done.. then back to walleye fishing. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

My Lund is older and doesn't have the SportTrac, but my buddy has a new Lund and just got his triple holders for each side from Cisco. Insanely expensive, but wow.. are they built! It takes about 30 seconds to mount them.. and at the price, I'd take them with me if I wasn't sitting in the boat. They do offer just the bracket for the trac that's drilled and tapped to accept several makes of holders. He said they're great to deal with. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Did the afternoon session yesterday. Aside from the rain and snow, it wasn't too bad out there. Not an awful lot of open water and lots of ice flowing. I didn't fare well.. only three fish caught, but they were all decent. Three guys in a boat fifty yards away sat there and gave me a lesson. They were getting doubles and even triples while I sat there drowning minnows! Right place at the right time I guess. Couple cold days and then a bit warmer. Maybe by the weekend... Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Got back out this past Friday after being iced off for a spell. Wind was brutal til about 4 but the temp made it bareable. No big fish, but kept five nice eaters. Five other boats out there.. one guy dropped a big female back in. Not hardly fast and furious, but it sure felt good to get back on the water! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

You guys have fun out there.. tell Walt to give my son a call. As for Walt's keg.. ask him about the last time! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Yep.. I generally fish Murphy's. I was also hoping the ice would move out, but it doesn't look good. I just took a ride down to check it out. Lots of ice flowing and still solid ice above and below the island on the Vestal side. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Jeff.. I'd suggest wiring the riggers through a switch if possible so they can be disabled when not in use. I have Walkers, which just use a three way toggle switch and are prone to getting bumped. Several times I've found the battery dead with the switch in the "up" position. Since the riggers have a built in thermal overload.. they just keep turning on and off til they run the battery down. By the way.. I'm a friend of your buddy Walt's. Can't wait to start drilling more holes in his boat when he gets the auto pilot he just ordered. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Good Point.. Just trying to get out of a bunch of reeling.. plus get an idea of how much 20# mono will fit with 10 colors of core. Thanks These rigs will be strictly for walleye on Erie or N/E Ontario. It's doubtful well be getting into any real screamers on them, so we shouldn't need too much backing. I just like mono better for clipping onto the boards. Thanks

Here's our plan.. We want to put 10 colors of leadcore on Daiwa 57's segmented in 2 five color sections with 50' of 20# mono between them. Any ideas on how much 20# mono we can put on under the leadcore? Thanks.. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

The launch was clear and most of the ice is gone.. so it seemed like a good day to hit the river. It took a while to find them, but I managed to get a limit of nice eater size walleyes.. the last one came on my last drift just before dark. I don't know where the big girls are hiding.. but maybe I can figure it out tomorrow. A couple of fatheads on an 1/8 oz. jig dirfted slowly was what worked for me. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Put a full day in on the river yesterday. Water level was perfect and just a tad off-color. I did manage a limit of nice eaters.. plus a bonus 8# female that went back.. but I really worked for them. After last night's heavy rain.. I found the river almost unfishable this morning. It shot up about five feet and looked like chocolate milk covered with floating debris. I gave it four fishless hours (unless you count carp) and called it quits. They're calling for more rain and predicting another five foot rise by the weekend. That's probably it for me for a while. The little boat will stay ready though.. just in case. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

TC.. It's sure refreshing to see some walleye reports here! A few of us are still fishing the river down here near Binghamton. The recent rains brought the level back up from low/clear to about normal.. the fishing's picked back up as well. Tons of small walleyes in the deeper holes, but plenty of good fish spread through the shallower water. I haven't been down for a week, but with ten days off starting Monday.. I'll be hitting it hard! I'll post some results. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Had the last week off so I got the little boat out and hit my local river (the Susky). The action wasn't fast and furious yet, but I did manage limits of nice eater sized walleyes each of the five days I fished. I only caught (and released) 2 obvious females.. a 24 and 27 incher. I did wrestle a mid-forty inch musky up next to the boat to get my 1/8 oz. jig back. They're kinda fun on light tackle! It should just keep getting better from now til the ice keeps me off! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Hey Bob.. I resent that remark! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Just spent a few days at the brother-in-law's near Cape Vincent. Although we had to entertain the wives.. we did sneak out for a quick troll from the tip of Carlton Island toward the lake. Picked up a nice 6ish # walleye on a chatterstick behind a dipsy. Then had something huge on that straightened hooks.. probably a musky. At least the fleas are gone! Be back up in a few weeks for some serious fishing and will hopefully give a better report. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

We were up a few weeks back and picked up a couple of nice eyes trolling the mouth of Mud Bay. We were pulling stickbaits down about 30' over 70' of water. We also ran out to the shipping lane and tried the 100+ depths for lakers.. got some big browns instead! Make sure you're rigged to fight off the fleas.. they're really bad this year! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

I'm running a new Raymarine spx-5r Smartpilot and am very pleased with it so far. It replaced my old Sportpilot that died last year. I wasn't real happy that the 6 year old unit was discontinued and deemed unrepairable, but it's tough to be without one once you've had one. I had no problem holding a course into two footers on Erie. It does move the steering wheel out a few inches, but that's not an issue since I rarely sit behind it . Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Nice job Greg.. I'm hoping to be up there this coming weekend. Leave me a couple! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Larry.. Sorry to hear this. Seems to be happening a lot more often than it used to. We were out your way the weekend before last fishing out of Barcelona (heard you on the radio). We thought nothing of leaving out gear in the boat at the motel. No more! I'll keep a look out in our area for you just in case. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Nice job Kevin! I'm hoping to be back up in a couple of weeks. We may shoot up the river a bit this time. I'll start pumping for info shortly. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Fished out of Barcelona Friday thru Monday. We picked the wrong time to hit it.. that area of the lake had just gone through an inversion. There were dead and dieing fish all over from the sudden change in water temp. We had to run out to 140' to find fish. We did catch fish each day, but not the numbers we're used to. 4 and 6 color leadcore behind boards pulling Renosky's and Chattersticks caught most of the walleye. Pulled a few lakers out of the depths for the smoker and got the ocassional steelie just to make things exciting with eight lines running! Of course the winds picked up a last few days to add to the excitement. I believe we were the only boat out there yesterday! Hopefully make it back out after things stabilize. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Hoping to head out to Barcelona in a couple of weeks.. haven't made it out yet this year. Last year we had no problem with fleas.. a few now and then.. but nothing like Ontario. Just want to make sure I don't need to reline a bunch of rigs before heading out. Thanks.. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

The fleas were terrible! We had a couple outfits rigged with 30# mono just in case, but that didn't work very well. put some 20# Fleaflicker on and that worked much better. They sure love the 30# PowerPro! I was told that you can run 50# braid, but haven't tried it.. anyone know? I do know it's a pain to run dipsies on mono.. it's like the snubber's in front instead of behind it! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)