Finders Keepers

I just scored a pair of Tekota 600LC's (as suggested by many of you) to match with my Blue Diamond rods and now all I need is the wire to complete my salmon slayers! That'll have to wait a bit though, since I will be hitting up Bass Pro's sale this weekend to top off the arsenal for this coming season. First day of spring and I've got the itch REEEAAL BAD!! I'll be doing my rain dance over the next few days!!

I've got a few for ya: #1: While casting scum frogs in Port Bay I caught a 1lb bullfrog!! :shock: Too bad I don't like froglegs! #2: Caught the largest sunfish I have ever seen a couple summers back - wouldn't fit in my hand. I know that doesn't sound odd, but it came on an NK spoon down 70' over 80 fow on the riggers!!! :shock: #3: While spring trolling for browns with stickbaits, I've had several times when a seagull nailed one and got hooked! :?

Anyone know how to rip that song as an MP3 or have an MP3 of that song and is willing to share it?? I would love to add it to my boat collection to listen to when reelin' in this year's LOC winner!!

Yup, huge difference!! Didn't lose a single fish last season on the flies! More than half of the time the single hook is the one lodged in their jaw. The problem with trebles is that the longer you fight the fish, the more each of the prongs work against the others to open the holes in the fish and allow a loss. I use the "Tournament" rig: Fly head followed by the single hook (4/0) followed by 3 or 4 beads, followed by the Treble hook. I use 18" - 24" leads with 50lb Fluoro and large barrel swivels.

Last 12 years out of Port Bay, before that Sodus. Usually fish the Sodus to Oswego area focusing mostly between Sodus and Fair Haven. Can't wait to get the first kign on!!

I'm looking to get out on the ice this Sat am and was wondering if anyone has been out lately that can report how the fishing has been - good or bad. Looking for Port Bay or Sodus action, perch or pike reports. Thanx!

At first ice-out I head up the swamp to nail the bullhead at night and tool around the bays for perch during the day. Once the channel is clear in Port Bay we're huggin' the shoreline for browns and stealies early then venture deeper for whatever we can find. I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting pretty ancy!! :?

Sharks!!! I used to use 12lb canon's, but had a lot of blow-back, so I read up on the Sharks and decided to try 'em out. They did help with the blow-back, they track quite a bit better, and helped to land us fish every trip thereafter. With the Canon's we would occasionally have skunked trips, but after using the sharks, that seems to be a trait of the past - we have caught fish every trip since switching.

Ok, I'll check that out! Thanx!

Hey fellas, I have usually run spoons just the way the come out of the box, but I have heard many others "tuning" their spoons to run a certain way. Would you be willing to share some of the ways in which a spoon is tuned and what the desired outcome is?

We do the same - never leave fish to find fish. Sometimes (usually) there is a magical combination of speed, direction, depth, leader length, lure color, lure size, etc. that is affected by the ever changing weather conditions and down currents. Changing one of the above can give you the combo that turns the silvers on. One of the easiest can be direction, pending wind & waves. Typically when we find fish we try to create a flower-pattern with a series of figure-8's until we find the magic direction (and combo of the other parameters).

I would say that I run mostly dodger/flies now and have had great luck on the riggers. I run them as close as 5' off the ball to as much as about 40' back, depends what the silvers want any particular day. We also stack spoons 8-10' above the dodgers or run free sliders. This set-up did very well for us this past summer.

Meteorologist & Earth Science Teacher for North Rose - Wolcott High School. I also coach the Boys' Varsity Volleyball and JV Tennis Teams, chase tornadoes, and own the Excellerator DJ Service in Rochester. I guess you could call me a man of many trades.

Well, let's see... 10 Rigger rods 2 Wire rods 18 Spinner rods 2 fly rods 6 Icefishing sets 16 Tip-ups (?) Other older rods no longer used It is amazing how much one acquires over the years!!

Hit Sodus Saturday morning at 7:30am and set-up on the west side of Leroy Island along with a dozen or so other anglers. there was a good 4-6 inched of ice. SLOWWWW was the result of several hours of fishing and moving around - only 3 keepers. No one in my view was cathcing much of anything there. Picked up at noon and headed over to Port Bay and tried the north end of the bay for an hour or so until the wind really kicked up and landed 4 keeper perch around 10", but nothing great. There was 3-6 inches of ice there. I think if I had hit Port Bay first thing in the morning, I could have made out ok with a decent catch. If we don't get a ton of snow from this winter blast, there should be plenty of safe ice on both bays by next weekend, although I won't be able to get out. Anyone fishing elsewhere on the bays have any luck??

Anyone know the status of Sodus Bay after receiving 1+ ft of snow? Is the ice still decent? Any spots getting good action? I am looking to head out and brave the cold this Saturday AM - any info would be appreciated!

Anyone get out on the ice for some perch or pike on Sodus or Port Bay lately? I'm looking to head to one or the other this Saturday AM and was wondering where they're hitting the hardest.... I have to get a line in the water.....

Just turned 30 a couple months back. It's amazing how fast the years fly by when the summer's are packed with fishin'!! Been on the big pond ever since I could walk...

Yeah, I would have to agree with Billy V, it depends on the fishin' situation: -Spring Brown fishing = Quiet time -Summer Kings = A good mix: Dave Matthews, Rusted Root, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, etc. - whatever the kings will bite to! -Fall Combat = Metal & Hard Rock (Metallica, Disturbed, Motley Crue, etc.) One summer we were out in the middle of the lake and hadn't done anything all morning. Drum Trip by Rusted Root starts to play and a rod pops and starts screamin'. After that, nothing. So just for giggles we play drum trip again...Fish on! :shock: It worked like 5 or 6 times! It didn't seem to matter how long in between each play of the song, or where we were located, it seemed to trigger a hit. True story. Hasn't happened since. :evil:

That Berkley wire looks pretty good. I wonder how kink resistant it really is? Anyone have any experience with this versus the McMaster? The Berkley is more expensive, that's for sure. I also wonder if the coating would be better or worse for the fleas? :roll: What do you guys think? I think I am still leaning towards the McMaster and putting the $$ saved towards the Tekotas!

Hey Chris, I am also new to the wire rods, however I was able to get some experience this past summer. From what I have heard and learned so far, the 7 strand braided seems to be a favorite wire to use with little troubles, and for rods, I have heard that you can use the Heartlands, but you need to keep an eye on the eyelets for wear and replace as necessary. You will also have to replace the tips on the rods with "twilly" tips. I went with the Blue Diamond rods right off the bat which are made for wire line to avoid the eyelet issue. Either way, they definately produced when we ran them last year!

Thanx for the info! Although I cannot guarantee the 40+ lb'er won't end up on Finders Keepers this fall! We run 11' Heartland downrigger rods, so the Blue Diamonds should be no problem, and we have stainless rod holders bolted to our rigger board (my dad used to be a system admin for a stainless manufacturing company). I am hoping to get the Dekotas if I can swing the $300+ for them this spring. Maybe I can get my dad to pitch in half. I just can't wait to get back out on the big pond!!

Same here, have used the same scents with out any noticable difference in # fish caught. As with most things, find what works and stick with it. $0.02 in the jar.

Hank: Yeah, looks like winter is getting ready to set-in. Saturday could be a bit nippy, especially if it rains! Highs in the low 20's next week are going to feel mighty cold!!

Sounds good, I'll probaboy be in touch later this week. I can also go out saturday afternoon too if you'll be back (I have the whole free), but Sunday I have to work. Monday is a possibility too - I have the day off for MLK Day!