Sluggo / NY

Hey Guys.. Count me in too! I plan on hitting it much harder this year than in the past! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris) ps.. Mike.. There was a boat in one of my favorite river spots today. I checked the launch and they must have dragged a small car-topper down the ramp. No way to launch. I'll let you know if it opens up!

WM.. I'm pretty sure that the 69.50 includes the 9.00 fee for their new Outdoors Card, which is good for three years. Seems like a kind of goofy way to increase revenues. You can still get them through the TI Bait Store. Either call in your info ahead or fax/e-mail it to them. The form is on their website. Now.. as for the fishing.. how far of run is it to the shoals from the tip of Mud Bay? I'm still fairly new to fishing that area and have yet to venture out very far. Have the boat and equipment for it, just haven't tried it yet! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Here's one out of the BPS catalog http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/store ... 00_100-8-2 This one's called a crawler harness, but there's lots of names for them.. drift rigs, lindy rigs.. etc. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Hi Don.. and welcome aboard. Like you.. we fish from Mud Bay down to Point Penn. in spring and early summer with decent results. Then we move to eastern Lake Erie and do well from July till Sept. I've tried the Mud Bay area a few times in the fall with pretty poor results. I do know guys who do well there then, but I just haven't figured out the fall pattern yet. Late fall till ice-in I pound my local river from the "little" boat. If I do get the fall bite up there I'll let you know. Stick around.. lots of good guys and great info here! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

My brother.. a Nam Vet like myself.. just forwarded this to me. In light of the anniversary of the Tet offensive.. I thought it appropriate to post it... A Thankyou to all Vietnam Vets from a Marine in Iraq A guy gets time to think over here and I was thinking about all the support we get from home. Sometimes it's overwhelming. We get care packages at times faster than we can use them. There are boxes and boxes of toiletries and snacks lining the center of every tent; the generosity has been amazing. So, I was pondering the question: "Why do we have so much support?" In my opinion, it all came down to one thing: Vietnam Veterans. I think we learned a lesson, as a nation, that no matter what, you have to support the troops who are on the line, who are risking everything. We treated them so poorly back then. When they returned was even worse. The stories are nightmarish of what our returning warriors were subjected to. It is a national scar, a blemish on our country, an embarrassment to all of us. After Vietnam , it had time to sink in. The guilt in our collective consciousness grew. It shamed us. However, we learned from our mistake. Somewhere during the late 1970's and on into the 80's, we realized that we can't treat our warriors that way. So ... starting during the Gulf War, when the first real opportunity arose to stand up and support the troops, we did. We did it to support our friends and family going off to war. But we also did it to right the wrongs from the Vietnam era. We treat our troops of today like the heroes they were, and are, acknowledge and celebrate their sacrifice, and rejoice at their homecoming ... instead of spitting on them. And that support continues today for those of us in Iraq . Our country knows that it must support us and it does. The lesson was learned in Vietnam and we are all better because of it. Everyone who has gone before is a hero. They are celebrated in my heart. I think admirably of all those who have gone before me. From those who fought to establish this country in the late 1770's to those I serve with here in Iraq.They have all sacrificed to ensure our freedom. But when I get back home, I'm going to make it a personal mission to specifically thank every Vietnam Vet I encounter for THEIR sacrifice. Because if nothing else good came from that terrible war, one thing did. It was the lesson learned on how we treat our warriors. We as a country learned from our mistake and now we treat our warriors as heroes, as we should have all along. I am the beneficiary of their sacrifice. Not only for the freedom they, like veterans from other wars, ensured, but for how well our country now treats my fellow Marines and I. We are the beneficiaries of their sacrifice. Semper Fidelis, Major Brian P. Bresnahan United States Marine Corps

Capt. Larry.. Yep.. That's Fred! He's nuts.. actually, we're usually the only one's out there when he heads back in! Jock thinks we're a bit crazy! Thanks for the generous lodging offer, but I'm normally out there with several boats and a few guys. Claudette at the motel takes good care of us. We even take a grill along and have evening cookouts. I'll let you know when we're heading out so you can come over and join us. We're a pretty mild crew.. heck.. Fred even brings his wife over! Thanks again.. and Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Capt. Larry.. Thanks for the offer! I think that's the campground my charter buddy's Fred and Don are both in as well. I'm sure you know them both. Fred and I started fishing Erie about the same time and still fish together when he doesn't have a charter. What a great fishery! We always stay at the Theater in Westfield. Makes for a quick trip over the hill if the big lake's rolling! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris) ps.. Just heard from Fred.. he's in Florida soaking his foot in salt water per doctor's orders after having part of a toe removed!

Capt. Larry.. I'm fishing the NY section of the Susquehanna between Binghamton and Owego. As for the seasons.. I had to look, since I don't target muskies. The tiger musky season is the same as walleye.. 1st Sat. of May thru Mar. 15th. Regular Musky season is the same as bass.. 3rd Sat. of June thru Nov. 30th. I know you fish Chautauqua from your posts.. we fish it as a backup for "blow" days on Erie out of Barcelona. I must be a musky magnet.. boated 2 huge muskies on Chautauqua trolling for walleyes and even got a monster while fishing a walleye tourney out of Dunkirk. Wish I did as well on the walleye! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

BP.. Yes.. they wre all on 1/8 oz. bucktails tipped with a fathead. Earlier this week I played "tug-o-war" with a huge musky that wouldn't let go of an 18" walleye I was bringing in that he grabbed. I slowly pulled him right next to the boat before he let go! It's fairly common for them to hit a fish on the way in, but they don't usually hold on so long. There are some huge muskies down there.. my biggest landed was 54", 38#.. but I've had bigger ones on! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Fished our stretch of the Susky for walleyes a week or so back.. I did get some decent walleyes, but the muskies were driving me nuts! In one small area.. I caught four tiger muskies in the thirty inch range plus a natural in the low forties.. all within a half hour! I've gotten plenty of them down there, but never like this. They sure make a mess of an 1/8th oz. jig! Do these things commonly school? Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Geeze.. you guys make me feel young! I'm only 61... Sluggo (Chris)

Nice going Mike! Couldn't find the big ones.. huh? ... Only those 12+ pounders? Well.. the big boat's put away and I didn't make it up there again. Next year for sure! The little boat's rigged and ready though.. See you down on the river! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Walker just came out with a new reel that looks kind of neat.. love to have someone else buy them and let me know how they work! here's a link.. http://www.walkerdownriggers.com/wtd-300.html Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Muskychef.. I'll PM you my marinade recipe that I use on baby bald eagles.. I found that it works great on Muskies as well! Sluggo (Chris)

Spent five days trolling for walleye out of Bacelona over the past weekend. Fishing was a bit slower than the previous weekend, but we expected that of course! We did average eight to ten walleye per day, but most of them were "schoolies" in the 3 to 5 pound range. Perfect eater's though! For numbers we were doing best in the 65 to 75' range between Barcelona and Dunkirk. We moved out off Brocton shoal for the big fish, but found it pretty slow out there. We did manage a few over 8 from the deeper water. Sat. and Sun. we stayed off the shoal as many of the MWC tourney guys were targeting it. The weathermen out there need to go outside and look around once in a while. We're crashing through four footers and they're saying the lake is one foot or less? We got caught by a nasty storm on Friday and spent two hours working back to the harbor.. couldn't keep the fizz in my beer! As usual.. had a great time. Hope to get in one more trip out there before it's over! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

John.. Thanks for the great report! Glad to hear that things are picking up out there. We'll be heading out to Barcelona on the 20th for another five day shot. Hope to get in more that 2 half-days like the last trip! My buddy told me a charter brought in a 40+ pound laker at Dunkirk last week just missing a new state record! Leave a few eyes for me... please. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Walt.. Glad to hear that you did well out there! As you know.. we didn't fare so well in the four days prior. We did see the neatest waterspout that I've ever seen.. and up close too! My golf game really improved while we were there also. Hopefully, next trip out we'll spend a bit more time on the water! Probably be late August before we can make it back out. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

John.. I sure appreciate your reports! We'll be out there this coming Thursday thru Monday. We launch out of Barcelona, but usually troll to Dunkirk.. really looking forward to it! My buddy out there has some "doctored" chattersticks for me. He takes the hooks off and tosses them.. put two coats of clear laquer on them.. then decent hooks. Says they last much longer that way. Joe make some fantastic baits.. not sure why he doesn't put a better hook and finish on them. Thanks again. maybe we'll catch you out there! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Of the two choices.. I prefer catching on riggers, but do much better on the boards. But.. I do better yet on the dipsies! This is trolling deep open water (usually 50 feet down over 80/90). For shallower water I'd vote for the boards! By the way.. none of the programs worked this weekend for us on Mud Bay! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Snagger.. We fish out of a 19' Deep-V Lund but launched out of South Shore and stayed on the lee side of the island.. except for once. It really was nasty out there in the open water! We fish Erie a lot and are used to big "stuff", but the waves are much tighter on Oneida so a three foot chop there feels like five's on Erie! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Weather forecast said "breezy" so I looked forward to a nice walleye chop. It should have said " Hurricane Force Winds"! We watched a big tree blow over near my truck in the parking lot! The lake was solid three footers with the occassional "rogue" biggie thrown in for kicks. We actually tried it for a few hours and did pick up a couple small walleyes, but it was virtually unfishable. I'm working this coming weekend, so you guys should plan on getting out.. it'll be perfect weather.. guaranteed! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Great looking fish! We fished Owasco last Monday out of Emerson.. spoke with a guy while launching with a white Lund..Slimjim?.. we had the Black/White Lund. Trolled the northwest stretch in 60-80 feet and picked up 8 lakers in the 20-23 inch range. All on the downriggers with purple or watermellon spoons. May hit it again this weekend. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Nice going Mike! Can I get your autograph? Hoping to be up there next weekend.. just got the big boat wet yesterday finally. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

Mike.. I know several guys who have switched back to mono like yourself. If I start having hook up problems I'll probably do the same.. but.. I still love the feel of the braid. I did go to longer, softer rods and adjusted my "rip their face off" hooksets. As for trolling.. I think the stuff's perfect (except for fleas). Just watch them hook themselves and drag them in! TC.. Thanks for the great feedback (and interesting reading).. plus.. welcome aboard! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

I'm a huge advocate of braided line.. but I hate knots! I prefer to put a single wrap of surgical tape around the spool to prevent slipping. I use a standard "arbor" knot to attach to the spool. I know the mono backing will save a few bucks, but for Oneida.. you'll probably be using fairly light gear that doesn't hold a ton of line anyways. For really clear water or trolling I add a section of floro "leader material", but generally, I tie directly to the braid. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)