Paul Czarnecki

Wind/waves and current are two totally different and separate entities and rarely do they coincide. Don't think because you are going with the waves that you are going "with the current" because that is rarely the case.

You don't. You bunch up the sheath behind the knot and the lead sticking out and give the lead enough room to get back in. Sorry for not being more clear. And Ray........ummmm.........uhhhh......hmmmmmm.........nevermind.

When you peel the sheath back to reveal the lead cut the lead with scissors. A clean cut and careful insertion of the mono will keep the remaining lead intact. If it does stck out again just peel back a little of the sheath and cut it again after the knot is tied.

You can take a 6 inch piece of 20# mono and put two Willis knots to the separate sections of core. Now you just made a "segmented leadcore" which is a whole other topic....

There was bait there?!?!

If it is sticking out it is broken. Try not to break the lead when tying the knot.

Looks like a sketch of a disaster----kinda like the Titanic about to hit the iceberg. All you need now is a 400 copper pulling a spinny to get anywhere near that contraption.

I've been painting prototype spoons for Dreamweaver for several years. Automotive laquers will be your best option but they can be hard to deal with. If you're experienced with an airbrush there are several commercial airbrush laquers that work well. I use Krylon Clear coat and a hair dryer to finish. Keep in mind that unless you are willing to use auto laquers and bake the final product you will get "fish damage" and paint coming off. But, since you only have a few minutes (at most) into each spoon its still cost effective. Have fun and don't be afraid to show your creations.

Any spoon you run off the ball will work on a free slider. Although I don't do it often you can run a mag as a slider with no ill effect.

I'd still take a skin mount on that fish Jerry For what its worth Reproductions are NOT what they used to be. Modern molding methods and materials are producing BETTER reproductions than ever. Some fish, ESPECIALLY spring and early summer steelhead, kings and cohos simply cannot be skin mounted "properly". Soft skin and delicate scales do not make for good skin mounts and it doesn't matter how careful the angler was with the fish. To do a skin mount on Jerry's fish would have been a HUGE injustice to the fish and to Jerry. Steelhead'r......a properly mounted "skin mount" today consists of ONLY the skin of the fish. Most top taxidermists reproduce the head and fins on cold water fish skin mounts.

I disagree wholeheartedly Brian. I keep my Thermacell on the boat for the gnats in the spring and the flies in the summer. On a particularly bad fly day last year the Thermacell worked very well on deck throughout the day. It worked SO well it drove about ten thousand of the little bastards into my cabin. When my charter left the boat I took the Thermacell downstairs and turned it on. Within 10 minutes I had a cabin FULL of fly carcasses! I simply vacuumed them up. I'm sure a Thermacell would not work as well on a very open boat in a wind but if you have a soft or hard top and keep it where it can work there will be NO flies anywhere near it.

I always set my inline boards fixed to NOT trip and slide down to the fish. I run Wille Boards and Church boards and the releases are always set tight enough that they do not trip. Keep the rod tip parallel with the water and "side arm" the board to the boat.

Thanks Wayne. You're a class act!

Wayne, I took your complaints or constructive criticism or venting straight to the Man Himself. Bill Hilts is the Director for Niagara County and he made the decisions on Saturday after recieving input (pro and con) from many sources. He responded via email to your post here but I will not post it without his permission. I will say, after doing my own research, that your "claims" are largely unfounded. There is ample contact info on the website, the entry forms and in the tournament magazine. A better communications network would have alleviated some of the frustration but its not the Tournament's fault if someone had their phone off, had no signal or didn't check their voicemail. You really should volunteer for the Sodus Tournament. It would shed a lot of light on the very things you're complaining about here. BTW....Chris Kenyon is the Director for Wayne County and is listed as such on the website and in the Tournament Magazine. Chris Kenyon | Wayne County Outdoor Recreational Promoter Wayne County Tourism 9 Pearl Street Suite 3 Lyons, NY 14489 1-800- 527-6510 [email protected]

That's my point Wayne. NO ONE likes waiting around. And I can guarantee no one wanted us to fish more than Bill Hilts. However, on the advise of the County Attorneys the "Small Craft Advisory Rule" was put in place and he was basically bound to it. Given the amount of antacid and blood pressure medicine Bill has had to take over the past three days I'm quite sure that policy will be amended although I doubt it will be in the middle of the Series.

Although I came off like I disagreed, I actually think it was a wise decision to not go during the small craft advisory. My point is that it should be clearly stated in the rules and posted prior to the beginning of the event for everyone to see. The decision to postpone it every two hours to wait and see what the coast guard said was a poor one. They should have just cancelled it until 2pm and made it a go if the advisory was lifted and a no go if it was not. That way, guys could have went home or went and did something else other than standing around the marina all day. There's nothing wrong with second guessing I suppose but what if what you suggested was the policy and the lake had calmed down at 9 AM. Would you still want to wait until 2 or would you be one of the ones chirping for a Director hanging?

Many of you will remember Runnin Rebel Jerry's fantastic steelhead from the Orleans ProAm last year. Here is the reproduction of that fish that I just finished for him.

Black helicopters and your tin foil hat, apparently!

Does that mean this guy gets free taxidermy service from me for ten years?!?!?!

For you Rick----your smallest three! And we will only cancel it if NOAA issues a "Small Craft Warning" or "Gale Advisory" or we decide that the fishing is just too tough for us.......

Glad you choose not to particpate Iceman. With your attitude you would just be another PITA for the Directors to deal with and they already have enough of them.

If someone has "placed in 19 different tournaments including three 1st places in Am Division"......they are NOT a charter captain. The rules clearly define that the Am division could not include any professional anglers---past or present. The Open Division is also a "cull tournament" which means you can release fish until you get the three you want to weigh----same as the KOTL events and the Wilson Invitational--events that EVERYONE loves!

27 lbs core is what you want for Lake O. The braid is fine as backing but you will never get enough backing on if you try to put a full 10 colors on a 47 LC. I use my 47's for 5 color cores.

Great synopsis Vince. I too, liked the new format and strongly disliked the new "policy" of a small craft advisory equals no tournament. Having NOAA determine whether or not a tournament goes off is poor judgement on the part of the Directors especially since very few, if any, of us rely on NOAA's determination for ANYTHING! I would like to offer an alternative policy that I feel is much more reliable and "real time". Instead of using a "blanket system" like the small craft advisory the Tournaments should consider setting parameters for "no go's" in wind velocity and wave heights. The 3 or 4 weather buoys on the lake provide real time info as to what is actually happening out there and it is updated constantly. The Committees could use the info from the weather buoy closest to the port hosting the tournament to determine whether or not the water was fishable. I would MUCH rather trust the information coming "real time" from a weather buoy than the opinion of an overeducated, self indulgent, overpaid goverment employee sitting in a room with no windows over 200 miles away from where I'm fishing!

There isn't a better way to learn and get "more time on the water" than by observing in a tournament. If you can read, write and know right from wrong you can be an observer. The amount of knowledge you will gain in two days of observing will dramatically shorten your learning curve. Reconsider.....and become an observer THIS year! Give Mike a call.