Gator

So, I asked myself, "If Montreal were to be swept into the sea, would this be such a horrible thing?" Actually, It's not a bad place...for a city. We're going to get a break this week from the rain. Maybe we'll have a dock to put the boat by next weekend.

I couldn't believe the size of the crowd. I'd just finished a herculean effort of planting 300 bare root shrubs, so I stopped by, paid my respects, dropped some $$, and gimped home. Would have liked to have stayed longer, but I was totally fried...kept bumping into people like I was drunk . I hope everyone had a great time! Tommy looked and sounded good. What a beautiful day, too..

You gotta respect a guy who doesn't know how to hold back . Redneck Yot Club. I nearly died.

When I came to Rochester thirty years ago as a graduate student I bought my first boat and kept it at the Marina on the West side of Braddocks. I can't even remember what it was called in that short lived iteration but at one point it was Skinners. I recall that Vic Mason ran it and helped me out greatly as a newbie on Lady O. Chewed me a new a-hole too one time for taking some kids out and not having a functioning bilge--and rightfully so. Anyway, the only way to get out in August was to blast through the "channel" on plane. If there was a hard east wind blowing, you weren't getting out period.

It's official, all right. I got the call last night. He's either selling or "paying it off over the next three years and fixing it up". Hmmm....good luck with that. There's going to be lots of guys who are ticked off at the late notice, me included. Getting them back is going to be a tough sell. I ended up talking to Frank and he has a dock for me at Sleepy Hollow..

I can't imagine trailering 5 hrs each way on weekends to fish, particularly now with kids. Even as a young sport I would have had trouble. And if you leave the boat up here it's awful tough to work on it when the inevitable happens. I respect the desire to own a big boat. Logistically, though it seems to make sense as Carl said to charter, particularly on those occasions when you have 4-5 guys to share the cost. You've got to ask yourself where you're going to be in five or ten years and whether a big boat will still be getting used. My buddy and I bought a 24' Wellcraft with a 200 hp Yamaha4S together 12 years ago. The last couple of years it's been late July before he fished on it, and it's in the water twenty minutes from his house. Have kids reprioritizes your life. Don't get me wrong, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. But things change, and 5 hours is a long trip. If you decide to take the plunge, I'll echo the folks above who recommend a mid-size outboard. Our boat has an 8' 6" beam, fishes four, easily trailers, launches and loads, and handles more than I can from L.O. We dock it, and it's great to just step on the boat and roll. It'd be nice to have a wide open dance platform in the back, but not justifiable. Just my 2 cents.

My seven year old niece just had (successful) heart surgery this morning and it got me to thinking about Tommy. His luck has to break better soon. I hope to be able to attend; regardless, I will be contributing to the cause.

Hey Mike, Yes, we are, to prevent it from spinning on the reel if a king rips off 700+ feet. Single wrap and we've never had an issue. XX2 on John's suggestion to demo the reel. Put it on a rod in store and pump away. I have no problem with the Saltist, but one of my friends complains he gets a bruise when fighting a king on them. It all depends on how you position your fighting arm, I guess.

x2 on the reels. We run Daiwa Saltists because the drags are unbeatable, but some folks don't like the way the line counters project out from the reel. You'd want to try one before deciding, if you haven't already. Saltist 30 reels get paired with Shimano Talora rods. We use a 9 foot diver rod TLA90MH2 for the outside diver and an 8' rod TLA80MH2 for the inside diver. If you're only running a pair of wires, I'd go with the longer rods. 1000' of wire spooled directly, with a simple overhand loop to attach a large swivel to the end of the wire, as stated above. Hence, no mono and no other knots. Check the last few feet and retie as necessary, mainly due to kinks. The Walker Deeper divers worked great for us in sizes 4 and 5...I think they've been rebranded "Disco divers" now...and we ran Chinook divers last year. The Chinooks are all metal, great construction, and they work well once they're dialed in, but the release settings are somewhat tricky to hit that perfect sweet spot. Unfortunately, they don't fit in Die-ver docks for storage, so we'll probably go back to the other brand this year. Tips on running them: let them pull out on their own. I even let them spool slowly under drag pressure while I'm rigging the rest of the set. If you simply drop them or allow them to go out in free spool, they will tangle. Wire-copper tangles are a nightmare. Run your copper either down the shoot or well to the outside off big boards. Don't set the hook when a fish strikes. They'll hook themselves. You'll just rip it out of their mouth. Those are the big things.

Hard work never made a steak taste so good . My mom told me they were at 43" south of Utica yesterday. Her husband got the tractor stuck trying to clear the driveway. I think we might have 18". It's going to make outdoor activities a challenge for awhile.