Paul Czarnecki

LOL Ray. I'm definitely NOT "the Mayor" Rick is referring to. More like "the referee" in this melee. And its not always a 330----been doing a lot of 30's this year so watch out!

There is very little radio traffic around the Oak any more. Most use cell phones or side channel radios. Next time put in 6, 8 and 10. Most of the recs and a few charters linger there.

Running it on Otter Boards in a crowd???

Carl....you won't find a better copper ANYWHERE. Stop by my boat this Thursday or Friday and we can do a comparison right on the boat. You will not believe the difference!

As long as you're stuck on "research backed advice" look into how the NY and Canadian agencies test for contaminants. While in college I tested fish with the PA Fish Commission and DEC in NY and saw, firsthand, how they are tested. The ENTIRE fish--guts, fat, blood, liver, head and bones-- is ground into a paste and that paste is tested for contaminants. For years, Charter Captains have asked for a separate study on the "edible" portion of the fish and I believe some tests were done on fillets. I don't have the actual numbers in front of me but I'm pretty sure the contaminant levels were considerably below the alarming numbers they list. In fact, I think an independent Michigan study showed that a fillet of Great Lakes Salmon showed contaminants at levels well below "danger" levels --even in that ultra paranoid state....Californ.....something.

If you have more than one day to fish it would be a VERY smart move to book an on the water class with a reputable captain for your first day on lake O. I do several of these classes a year and everyone says it greatly shortens their learning curve. You will get CURRENT info on a spot, baits, depths and rigging techniques as well as a huge amount of other pertinent info. PM me for details. If you don't want to drive the 15 miles to the better fishing off Oak Orchard I can direct you to a captain closer to Golden Hill that could help you. Good luck and be prepared for an addiction like no other. These salmon are NOT the walleyes you're used to catching. Paul 716-390-0085

Is this the same Hawg Master Charters with Capt. Jim Taylor Jim Taylor sold his lake boat and charter business to Jim Gordon several years ago. JT still runs his Niagara charters.

The fishing is "not as good as it once was"...........WOW!

It seems to be generally agreed that, in their final year, kings gain approx 1 pound PER WEEK from May through August. They usually begin their pre-spawn "hunger strike" right around Labor Day, although some fish will continue to feed into September.

I forgot the world was ending. Good excuse to spend more time fishing! .......and hunting, and playing poker and......

OH BOY! Tell your friend to quit worrying. He probably told you that while eating a Big Mac infused with dioxins, botoxins, steroids and insecticides. Lake Ontario is NOT polluted. If it is, so is Lake Erie since Ontario gets almost all of its water from Erie. In fact, ALL of the Great Lakes are cleaner than they have ever been. This is evidenced by the immense presence of the smaller members of the food chain. Alewives, emerald shiners and smelt are thriving in lake Ontario like never before. Look at all the spiny water flea complaints on here----they could not live in a polluted lake. As to the DEC "advisorys"---virtually every doctor I have ever had contact with has said that you could not possibly eat enough salmon in your lifetime to suffer any ill effects. The health benefits of eating salmon FAR outweigh the risks. The "raw sewage smell" you caught at the mouth of the Oak Orchard Harbor was caused by all of the dead and dying algae and seaweed washed up on the beaches to the east and west of the harbor. It is the same in almost every harbor right now. Take a walk along the beach or the rocks and you'll see what I mean. Its exacerbated right now because the lake just came out of transition. During transition the lake "flips over" causing massive amounts of bottom algae and weeds to float to the surface. It floats around for several weeks.....decaying.....until it eventually gets washed up on a beach where it remains for the summer. Feel free to show your friend this post and then remind him that the world is supposed to end in December of this year so he should start worrying about that instead of discouraging you from enjoying everything Lake Ontario has to offer.

West Marine in Buffalo.

Whether King is still in business or not----without LORAN towers your LORAN is useless.

Nice job Jim!

Wunderground. You can get local forecasts for anywhere in the country and they have a marine forecast that is really pretty good.

Have you ever taken an on the water class with a reputable captain? Not for nothing, but if you only have 4 or 5 days a year to fish using one of them on an on the water class would save you an incredible amount of experimentation (and frustration). There are several captains along the south shore that will do on the water instruction. In fact, I have one coming up on Friday July 20th. (Shameless plug) PM or give me a call for more info.

Thanks Mark. I know on the first two I didn't have enough copper inside the hollow core. I used Super glue gel which, I found out, does not work well. I tried regular super glue and it seems to work better but I really like the idea of serving it first with the braid. To attach the leader I simply use back to back Willis knots like I was working with leadcore and have not had a problem there. Thanks for the info. Next time you're at the Oak stop by the boat for a

Mark, are you burning the end of the hollow core to fuse it to the copper? I've tried the hollow core idea and it has cost me THREE copper setups this year alone. In fact, I've got another order of Blood Run Super Copper on the way to replace a 500 that is sitting on the bottom.

I think you "sorta" have it right. Salmon go into a type of hibernation when water temps drop below 40 or so. They head to deep, deep deep water where they "maintain" through the winter months. I'm not sure how much feeding they do down there but its generally accepted that they do eat. They spend the winter in the colder, stable water in the middle of the lake. As temps warm in the spring the feeding instinct becomes stronger and they make their way to the warmest water they can find----the shorelines and especially the western end of the lake. In warm winter/spring years like this past year they disperse all over the lake much quicker than they normally would. Hopefully Capt. Vince will chime in here as well because I'm sure he has some pretty good theories.

Absolutely not. Talking GPS SOG (speed over ground) 2.7- 2.9 is optimal under most conditions--whether pulling spin doctors, spoons or both. Don't overthink it.

Don't ever attach leadcore to any kind of release. Always attach to mono backing.

Times 3. I agreed (wholeheartedly) with the two opinions posted before me. You will not regret running Blood Run copper---very few backlashes and tangles and excellent performance overall.

X3. The best there is!

DOH.........

Not only "acceptable" but most consider it "standard". I run 20# GAMMA.