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Everything posted by Gator
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Almost all waders will eventually leak. The question is whether you can identify where the leaks have occurred and repair them on the spot. I always carry UV-curable patches with me and they are a game changer, as they will even cure under water. I've heard that the Frogg Togg bootfoot are decent for the price, but have myself gone with Simms and Patagonia. All have required some level of repair after years and many hours wading.
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I just got one of these last week, and let me tell you, last night I put it to the test on a doe a buddy had shot in a field (easy recovery and great blood trail), and it worked lights-out (pun intended). It's a bit heavy, but given how well it works it will take up residence in my pack. I will mention that there are several illumination options including a very, very bright white light and three strobing red/white combos at different frequencies. I haven't evaluated how long it will last in the field, and that could impact its usefulness since there's a dedicated Li Ion battery involved. The product manual says 2.5-3 hours fully charged, depending on which mode you use. If correct, that would fit all but the longest tracks. It's USB-C rechargable, so you could potentially carry a power source too...
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Buddy of mine hunting our property with me last night put an arrow in a nice nine. The coolest part was that we got the entire sequence on video! Anyway, we found blood but sporadic and so backed out when the buck went into the thick stuff. It proved to be a wise decision, as we found the deer dead single lung/liver this morning. In the meantime, another buddy arrowed a ten point not 150 yards from where the buck was lying. It's been a sweaty morning hauling deer around. Here's the video; I'll let others post hero pics if they want, but here's a cell pic of the second buck as well, from about two minutes prior to its being shot. 860516063738037-100-4-11082024170714-W1002860.MP4
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What's your opinion of the current state of our fishery?
Gator replied to Yankee Troller's topic in Open Lake Discussion
As per Rolmops, sh$t gets crazy when you starting throwing in endocrine disruptors. There's simply not enough data to say that they're having an effect in Lady O's salmon but we know that trans-generational effects of environment inputs are routine in nature, even disregarding endocrine disruptors. For example, parental starvation can elicit metabolic changes in progeny for several generations. Similarly, one of our recent Alzheimer's models appears to have a sterility phenotype that depends on how much toxic protein the parents expressed and how old they were when giving birth. We don't study BPA, but the idea is the same. Scary stuff. Anyway, lots of variables at play, of which this may be one. I'm still on board with the fishing this past year though! 30 lb fish seem like too much work for me now lol. -
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What's your opinion of the current state of our fishery?
Gator replied to Yankee Troller's topic in Open Lake Discussion
Much as it pains me to side with folks who are doing things I don't agree with, I suspect that in terms of angler involvement, the Pulaski sh$t show draws as many folks to Lady O as the open water fishery. Management needs to occur both to protect the resource as well as to maximize its use by the public. Tough balancing act, but IMHO you can't argue that the fishery is less than stellar for salmon. Yeah, I'd like to see some 30s in the mix. But not at the expense of alienating an entire sector of the fishing community. I do get why others may feel differently. -
What's your opinion of the current state of our fishery?
Gator replied to Yankee Troller's topic in Open Lake Discussion
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Game of inches, as Tommy always says. Any bowhunter who tells you they've never lost one is either a newbie or lying through their teeth. I'd guess it's actually much more common than most of us would like to admit. I went almost ten years without a loss, then had a couple in a row shooting a new bow (not that I should be blaming the equipment; it's a poor dancer who blames his partner). I do hope they find him, for closure at least.
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So, you're going to shoot him in the first couple days...AGAIN? Was it last year you nailed your buck early? There's nothing beats having a big guy patterned, but I just can't bring myself to pull the trigger in the first couple weeks. Every time I've done that, I've missed the excitement of the rut. And then I have to perch fish with Brian lol. We had a bachelor group of big bucks on camera since mid-August that have dispersed now, so exactly the opposite of what you're seeing. I expect that we will start to see migratory animals soon. Last week they all had velvet hanging, just prior to disappearing.
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I have what I think is a reasonable question, but I'm not sure that it's addressable...maybe by touching bottom. How much does a Smart Troll impact your dive curve? In other words, if you are fishing a Smart Troll and find out that 210 feet of line is in the sweet spot, will that apply to your non-Smart Troll divers as well? And have you ever tested this by running out enough line to tick bottom, then removing the unit and seeing how much line you need without it? Thanks!
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Love the idea, but I can't see spending $1000 for the system, then $300 every time a wire line gets busted. Which isn't often, but often enough that I'd surely be pulling out three bills every couple years. If I had infinite resources, then heck yeah, information is power. But with fifteen years experience running wire divers, I'm confident that I can find that sweet spot too, albeit maybe not as quickly. It's great to hear that they worked well for you though! Cool idea, for sure. Thx for sharing.
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Friday morning Sandy run
Gator replied to Tip-sea-tuna's topic in New York Fishing Reports - Lake Ontario (South Shore)
We did half a dozen browns, but nothing for the board. Temp in 30' was 56F down 20 - I suspect she's close to turning over and might flip with this hard South wind today. We didn't go out past 45'. That might be it for us this year. Nothing But Net is clean and ready to be pulled. Squirrel opens tomorrow, and there's lots of other stuff on the docket. He$$ of a year. -
Yes, it was with the ultimate mag kit. No idea why. Currents were bad, but not that bad. We may explore it again next year, but for now, nothing bigger than an 8" SD on the Slide Diver.
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ozone generator to remove rubber smell from hunting boots
Gator replied to dremarquis's topic in Big / Small Game
x3. If you absolutely have to, be sparing. I ruined the rubberized suspenders on one of my bibs the first time I used a commercial unit for 20 minutes in the bed of my pickup, under the cap, and feel lucky I didn't mess up anything on my truck. My boots seemed okay afterwards, but I never added them to the mix again. Those commercial generators are made to de-stinkify houses by realtors, among other things...a plastic tub would concentrate the ozone too much. There are other options for smaller, portable, battery-operated units that you can use in a gear bag by companies including Dead Down Wind and ScentLoc for under $100 -
Has anyone tried PP on Magnum Metalz riggers? I'm concerned because of the way the wire winds neatly onto the smaller spool. PP might not, and it could bind - but it wouldn't jump off the spool when there's no tension like the wire, either. Thx.
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Either set your release above the ball where you can reach it (ie, we use Scotty clamp type releases and they have a long wire lead) or, and I think this is what he's talking about above, don't just bring the ball up and leave it hanging, use your retroease so it's tight and can't bounce. The side of your boat will thank you too. Gelcoat!! Oops, sorry lol...
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Switch downriggers. It seems like most lost probes are due to the jolting from Cannon's - and if you're using the 250 fpm rate, it's even worse. Otherwise, bad batch of wire, kinks, wasn't re-rigged at the terminal end this year (cut off five feet every year and redo the hardware). This is just my 2 cents. We ran Cannon for twenty years and donated four or five probes over that period. The Amish Outfitters rigger snubbers may help.
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Doubtful. The seller's profile is a young lady who's active online and an avid fisherman (lots of pictures with walleye and salmon) - and the boat she fishes is "Hope Your Ready", which has a history in Rochester, placing in the Offshore Classic. This looks to be a legit listing. Good to keep an eye out though.