Finders Keepers

Ok, I need a clarification. I fished the challange today with my team and I made it to the weigh-in tent at 2:59 and told the woman with the clipboard that I had a cooler to weigh in, as my teamates drove the truck around to that side of the tent to unload the fish. I was told it was past 3:00 and that I was too late (even though my cell phone had just turned to 3:00pm while I was standing infront of her-she confirmed later that I was there before 3:00 when I expressed my disappointment) and my buddy hopped out of his truck and joined me at 3:01. Not to mention I was under the tent trying to distinguish where the weigh-in line was well prior to the 3:00pm deadline. We were told that since the COOLER was not under the tent at 3:00, we could not weigh in. The rules above state: "*You must be in line by 3:00 p.m., absolutely no later". The rules do not state that the COOLER has to be in line or "under the tent" as we were told. We wouldn't have taken first place, but are pretty sure we would have had about 50 lbs, good for 4th. I have a mix of feelings right now towards this tourney, and I appreciate the other teams who came over to say that they should have let us weigh in. I feel we were jipped out of $600 give or take. The rules need to be adjusted and clarified: if the cooler is what needs to be in line the rules need to reflect that (apparently me in line and the cooler just outside the tent on the tailgate of our truck isn't considered in line for weigh-in - we had over 80 lbs of fish in it and were only going to bring over our top 3!!). Also, might I suggest an official clock be displayed at weigh-in if you are going to be so strict on the time that you won't allow someone within a minute of the deadline to weigh-in. I have fished the Fair Haven Challenge for several years now (as well as other tournaments with time deadlines) and they have all been lienient on the time if someone came in that close to the cut-off. I play fair and by no means want to be "that guy" trying to sneak in between the lines and complain. But I feel we played fair and were not dealt with fairly. My team is not happy and I am very disappointed that we were not allowed to weigh in...

Hey Woody, at least I haven't told them about the special sauce we use!

I haven't had any issues with the stuff. However, I quickly learned that you cannot run romer releases for cheaters on it as they will cut you off because of the oval shape of the line. Therefore I run about 75 to 100 feet of fluoro ahead of it and put my cheaters on that.

You guys need to run 30 lb flea flicker with 50 lb fluoro leaders. I've had virtually no fleas on those lines. Everything else - flea city!

That's a great looking king!! Nice job!!

I think you will do well just about anywhere in the 180-220 fow range. Halfway between fair haven and port bay there are the "silos" and that has always been a good spot for us. Good luck when you get out there! Make sure to pack the sunscreen and lots of COLD drinks!

Oh Yeah, forgot to mention what we took fish on: Jim's infamous white hoochie/white fly, green echip/green fly (hottest set-up), green echip/UV green glow fly, glow watermelon NK mag, and 11" flasher/blue glow fly.

Fishing Report Your Name / Boat Name: Finders Keepers ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): 7-5 Time on Water: 6:30-11 Weather/Temp: Warm turning HOT Wind Speed/Direction: light sw becoming calm Waves: 1' to calm Surface Temp: 70 Location: Port Bay LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 12 Total Boated: 5 Species Breakdown: 5 kings, 1 steely Hot Lure: Green Echip/Green Fly Trolling Speed: 2.2-3.0 Down Speed: Boat Depth: 160-220 Lure Depth: 130-160 ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ==================== Fishing in our area is fantastic right now!! It could have been a banner day, but we had a hard time keeping them buttoned today. Started off setting up over 140 fow and before I could rig the 2nd rigger, the first one fired with a small king that we dropped behind the boat. Reset that rigger, got the 2nd one down and the first one fired again-nobody home. As I reset that rigger the other one fired and felt like a decent laker (dead weight), but dropped it before it reached the surface. We then continued a steady pick at 'em through about 9am when the bite died for a bit. Then about 10am, our 450' wire rod got SLAMMED HAAAAAARD and as I grabbed the rod it got slammed again and the line went slack - wire broke!! That hit like a monster king! It then gave us a huge goodbye splash way back behind the boat. Between 10 and 11 the bite picked back up, but it was getting HOT out there and my dad wanted to get back to the air conditioning, so we packed it in for the day. We ended 5 for 12 with 4 kings (3 to 10 lbs) and a beautiful 7 lb steelhead. Will be out for a few hours on Wed morning then planning on going out all day with Coup and Woody on Thursday.

LMAO!! Nick - That's a sweet looking fish! Hopefully that is one of many over 30 lbs swimming through our area!!

Ok, thanks Pat!

Gotcha - we were straight out front when we hooked up with that king and were marking quite a bit of bait down 125 at the time. I would start a little shallower tomorrow if you get out, maybe 120 fow and work out from there.

Ok, I have another question regarding the observer: do they have to be entered in the LOC Derby in order for us to enter any fish caught during the Pro-Am in the LOC?

Hey Jim! Nice job out there today! Looks like we should have stayed in closer by you!

Fishing Report Your Name / Boat Name: Finders Keepers ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): 7-2 Time on Water: 6-1 Weather/Temp: cool Wind Speed/Direction: nnw 5-10 Waves: 2-3 laying down Surface Temp: 64 Location: West of Port Bay LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 6 Total Boated: 3 Species Breakdown: 2 kings, 1 steelhead Hot Lure: green echip/green fly Trolling Speed: 3.1 Down Speed: Boat Depth: 160 - 360 Lure Depth: 105 ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ==================== Hit the water at 6am and motored out to 200 fow. Set lines (two riggers, two wires, and our first crack at running 450' of copper) and worked all the way out to 420 fow boating a small king over 360 fow and missing two others. Washed lures for awhile and decided to slide back in to the 220 fow range and boated a nice 8 lb steelhead. Before calling it a day we trolled in to 160 fow and just before pulling lines, the 105 rigger bounced and started singing. After a good 15 minute fight, we landed a beautiful 20 lb king. Hits came on the 105' rigger with green echip/green crinkle fly and either green or purple spoons cheated above it, and on the 450' copper. Couldn't find a decent picture anywhere and only marked a few fish all morning. Have to take the day off tomorrow, but will be back at 'em Sunday and Monday.

Thanks Unsub for the info - good to know!!

We're team "Finders Keepers" and we'll be fishing on Coup's boat "Hide & Seek". We're definitely looking forward to the Pro-Am!!

He knew he had no chance!

Fishing Report Your Name / Boat Name: Finders Keepers on Hide -N- Seek ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): 6-28 Time on Water: 7-10 Weather/Temp: cloudy warm Wind Speed/Direction: SW 15 becoming calm Waves: 2-3's laying down Surface Temp: 60's Location: Hughes LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 9 Total Boated: 5 Species Breakdown: (2) Browns, atlantic, steely, king Hot Lure: DW Purple NBK Trolling Speed: 2.5-3.0 Down Speed: 2.8 Boat Depth: 110-160 Lure Depth: 90-102 ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ==================== Got out with Coup today in hopes that the forecast was going to be wrong - it was. Started off a little iffy but layed down nice as the morning wore on. Set-up about 7am over 100 fow with a good screen of bait and fish and worked the 100-120 fow range for a while picking up a steady pick of smaller fish (missed several). That dried up and we slid out a bit and hooked into our first major of the year on his boat. Landed a beautiful 24.10 king (currently 20th place in LOC): We decided to fish back to Hughes and call it a day (we were both running on 2 hours sleep). Wish we could have stayed out longer, the fishing continues to be fantastic!! Today we had a better bire on the riggers set 90 and 102 down with sliders or cheaters all with purple spoons, and we took a few shots on the 360' wire pulling a black with green dot spin doc/green glow fly. Hopefully tomorrow the lake will be as nice as today and I'll be back out there...

I acquired my first copper set-up this week too and will be getting it wet for the first time this upcoming week. I'm looking forward to trying a new tactic!!

Yeah, we worked the same area from 6:15 until 10:30 and finished with a nice 8 lb steelhead to make our final count 13 for 19 today (3 steelhead, 1 laker, the rest small kings up to 8 lbs). We started off 0 for 4 before we landed the first small king. All the other fish we lost were small, so I won't be crying in my soup at dinner tonight! Wires out 330 and 360 on a #2 setting pulling black/green dots spin docs with green glow flies, riggers from 82 to 102 with purple NBK's and 42 2nd spin doc/42 2nd fly - long leads worked better (75 ft or so). Surprisingly we never doubled up, but there was one stretch from about 7:30 until 9:30 that I never sat down - I was either re-rigging the lines, fighting fish, or netting my brother's fish. What a great day on the big pond, I wish we could have stayed longer today!! I also wish we could have found some more fish that were bigger than our spin docs!! Starting on Monday I will be getting out virtually every day (waves/weather permitting) through the end of the LOC. Hopefully I can hear one of our reels singing that high pitched song soon and put as pig on the board!

Ray - Yeah, if a 40+ lb king comes over our stern, that will be a tough decision!! Especially when that fish limits us out for the day!! Shadster - Understandably we'll be covering the whole spread and boxing steelies if we can. If fishing is like this past weekend, boxing out might not be an issue, it will be finding the bigger fish! But by the time the Pro-Am rolls around, there should be plenty of big fish around to target!! Thanks again for all the input fellas!

Ok, but what about when we put the 42lb king in the boat at 8am? Can we run that in to register it in the LOC or would we have to leave it in the cooler until after the Pro-Am weigh in? Also, I was wondering what the general payout breakdown is for the Pro and Am sides of the tourney. I know it is somewhat determined by the number of teams entered, but in general, what are the amounts, and how many places are awarded? Also, is the deadline for Sodus next Friday? Thanks again for all the info! I am really getting psyched up for this king slayin' mayhem!!

Ok, now I think I have a pretty good handle on the observer deal. Also, just as an FYI for everyone, if you are registered in the Pay Every Day Derby (PEDD), the observer does not count and does not have to be registered in the derby for you to enter a fish. Ok, another question for those of you who have fished the Pro-Ams: Let's say it's close to quitting time and you land a monster shark. Can you weigh this in for the LOC prior to submitting your cooler for the Pro-Am or does it have to be after the Pro-Am weigh-in or is it the same weigh-in usually and doesn't matter? Also, is it ok to run a fish in to be weighed for the LOC, then return to the lake to fish some more before returning for the Pro-Am weigh-in? I just want to make sure we don't do something that will get us DQ'ed first time out!!

Yeah, I know how much he loves observing on other boats because he's sooo into getting the fish on my boat! He's going to be part of my team this year, so he'll have a little more to do than just observe what's going on!!

Thanks Glen! I appreciate the info. Good luck between now and then and we'll see ya in Sodus!!