Steve,
Do you have a sneak peak at the line from Northern King for 2007? I'm ready to buy some new spoons and have not seen anything in stores or on thier website.
For lakers, troll cowbells and peanuts along the bottom at 1.1 -1.7 mph (at the ball). Have the ball so it bumps the bottom every once and a while. My favorite colors are blue glow, green glow, and blue and silver.
I have the same problem with my scuppers. I have tried new scuppers and the problem still exsists. I also had a bilge problem. The float kept sticking. I purchased an electric float switch from West Marine. This switch notices the ionization of water and turns on your pump. I have not had it fail yet. Even if it is covered by oil it will still read through the oil.
Seagar is #1. I have tried every other brand mentioned in this post and nothing tops Seagar. It is a little more money but you pay for what you get. Make sure you get the leader material not the floro for spooling an entire rod. I use Seagar for trolling leaders and also for icefishing leaders. I landed a 41" northern out of Conesus lake in 2005 on 15 lb. without a steel leader. The leader was all chewed up but it was still strong.
I did a little research on those red mysid that are in the lake. To me, they don't sound all that bad. It looks like it will be a food source for bass, perch and browns. If you are bored, do a Google search on Red Mysid.
I use Owner 3x hooks. I used to use gammy's but they would not hold up on the wire rods. I don't use the singles anymore because I noticed that it took some action away from the fly. To prevent lost fish, use 2 part apoxy in the back of the treble at the meeting point of the three hooks. This will keep the line from getting stuck in there and pulling the hook out of that derby winning king.
I would have to say the Fish finder. My luck one of the knuckleheads driving my boat would lead me into shallow water (when I was rigging) and I would hang the ball in the bottom and lose my probe. Sometimes you can tell the fishes mood by the way the fish act when the ball goes by them. With a good fishfinder you can see the fish dive away from the riggers or follow the ball. As you ALL know, those kings will show up in any water temp to feed (especially in late August and September). A good example of fish shying away from the ball was last spring fishing off of I-bay in 140 FOW. I had fish at 40' down and they kept shying away from the ball. I tired longer leads off of the riggers and the SWR rig and nothing would hit. I pulled the riggers and wire dipsys and ran 4 slide divers and boards with drop weights. We ended up with 4 steelies and 1 king in 1 1/2 hours.
Thanks Legacy. I just could not trust the new owners coming in at the Newport House. My buddy Jason moved out to Sandy last season and loved it. It will be fun meeting new people and finding new honey holes. At least most of the guys I talked to on the radio at Irondequoit are on this site.
I have a picture of a 31" Atlantic I caught in the LOC in 1997. I will have to scan it and post it. I caught it between Webster Park and Hedges in 8 F.O.W. I will have to find the paper work from the LOC. I can't remember the weight off hand.
Brian Gambell
Used to keep my boat in Irondequoit Bay. I'm now at Sandy Creek Marina. My boat name is Escape. It is a 22' Starcraft. It is tan with a brown canvas. I also work on the "Advocate" as a first mate.