Paul Czarnecki

No comment Rod....no comment! [ Post made via BlackBerry ]

Or.......you could ignore all that and fish the fish you see on your graph. We are fishing for fish instead of temp....right? The fish don't care about temp NEAR as much as the anglers do. [ Post made via BlackBerry ]

A consistent GPS speed of 2.8 is fine for most situations. However, to slow your boat down in a following sea get yourself a 28 inch trolling bag from Amish Outfitters. [ Post made via BlackBerry ]

60 degrees is the magic number with fleas. That is the temp they like the most and where you will find them in the water column. When we get some ne winds that roll the lake over they will disperse and start to die off. Either way their lifespan only seems to take them to around mid August. [ Post made via BlackBerry ]

The regular sized ladder backs will work just fine on your mag blades----sometimes better than the mag sized tapes.

I've seen just one small piece of impeller cause an overheating problem. It takes a lot less than you would think. I've also seen the old plastic wrappers from cigarette packs overheat motors and "cook" impellers. Check everything.

The rod won't "fall out". The pressure and tension exerted by the diver itself will be enough to keep the rod in the holder. Ever notice how hard it is to get a diver rod out of the holder with a big, ticked off king on the other end?

Yep! It works fine. It also works well for getting them out of your cabin when someone leaves the cabin door open.

It wasn't a snub to Tom at all. The OP asked about the Purple Mirage fly that everyone is talking about and I explained what it was and how to make it. And also where to find it. It actually has nothing to do with Tom at all because the ORIGINAL "purple mirage" is actually an Action Fly from Dreamweaver that was modified with purple beads. Jeremy.....I think the "purple mirage" that Tom (and everyone else) makes is different from the one being talked about. Correct me if I"m wrong but I think the OP asked about the "Stevens Purple Mirage" that Tom sells which is nothing more than a standard Mirage with lavender beads. Let's not turn a simple question and answer into a war boys.

I know the feeling. How about this feeling? .....Three days to go in the Fall LOC 2010 and I net a 39#12oz king for a 19 year old girl that didn't bother buying a derby ticket "...'cause we're only fishing one day!" I gotta agree with Tim.......although kings can be sparsely spotted on the tail the anal fin, the spot pattern on the back and the lack of spots on the dorsal suggest coho----and a giant at that. Congrats on what is probably the best hybrid of the year.....so far!

A "purple mirage" is nothing more than a mirage fly with purple/lavender beads. Personally, I like Siggs Mirage, Mirage Crinkle and the Siggs No-See-Um with the lavender beads. Captains Cove stocks bulk Lavender beads from Howie---just saw them yesterday.

A lot of graphs will mark thick flea concentrations. They show up on mine as a band of "gray area". You will notice that they are most concentrated where the water is around 60-63 degrees.

DO NOT tie your mono directly to your wire.....it will cut right thru it. You either need to use a small spro swivel or a 4 inch piece of leadcore sheath and then simply Willis knot the wire and the mono to the leadcore piece. [ Post made via BlackBerry ]

You're not the first to feel that way guys. I've been involved with it from the beginning and I tend to agree with you. I will be speaking with rick about it tomorrow and with bill as soon as the series ends. But, please understand it is VERY hard to get an accurate tweet in when trying to run a charter. Personally, the fishing has been so good out of the oak so far I didn't see the need for dispensing much more info but I will try to be more specific in the future. [ Post made via BlackBerry ]

I use them and LOVE them. They're not needed for cores but for anyrhing over a 300 copper they are perfect. They are no harder to bring on than the walleye boards and they pull the heavier lines much better. [ Post made via BlackBerry ]

What you have going on there is an "upwelling". Some fish will stay where they originally were--just higher in the water column----but most will move offshore to where the warmer water is. Run south until you see the temp climbing several degrees and then start fishing south. Kings like a little water above and below them.

For what its worth the walleye fishing out of Erie, PA has been nothing short of phenominal this year. Here's a 33" 12.6 walleye I took two weeks ago and our limit catch from yesterday. 18 tasty eyes in the boat by 11 AM.

You can also use Klinchers---every tackle shop carries them and they take seconds to install with no crimps, kinks or knots.

The best time is right now! Out of Oak Orchard though---26 miles to the east of Olcott. The kings are eating everything in site right now in preparation for spawning. They usually stop feeding around Labor Day and usually get very moody about two weeks before that. IMHO August can be very good but it can also be a crap shoot with unstable weather and finicky fish. A caveman could catch kings out of the Oak right now----in fact, I think he boxed out this morning by 10AM!

Don't let my wife hear you say that Rick. She is a spoon designing fanatic. In fact, a "few" of your favorite DW patterns are Christie's original creations. I won't tell you which ones because I don't want you to get all macho and mess up your tournament performance. Sometimes we "men" get so caught up in trying to outsmart the fish that we outthink ourselves. Women, usually have the right approach of "Try anything 'cause.....ya never know". Now...change the fly on that rig and catch some salmon on it!

They were higher in the water column because the NW wind pushed all the warm water south leaving only cold water on your north shore. Given enough time it will come back and with a south wind it will come back VERY quickly. [ Post made via BlackBerry ]

Paul, I'd love to take you up on the "long version" sometime! I'm a geek like that. Thanks for the info. I think you misunderstood though. I was not referring only to surface temp, but cross-sectional subsurface temp as given for lake O. Graphic "B" in the link above. It shows you isobars of the temperatures vertically as if you were to look at a cross sectional "cut" of the lake. The "long version" requires a few "Adult beverages" at the Black North. However, I do have an on-the-water class coming up on Sunday July 17th where will be covering all that stuff. How's that for a shameless plug?? I realized after I wrote all that that you were probably referring to graphic B but the Lat Lon lines you referred to threw me off. Like I said, you're on the right track. The most important thing to remember with Lake Ontario is cold water is heavier than warm water. Everything else is usually a function of the wind acting on the water.

You're reading it all wrong. What you are calling "thermocline" is, in fact, surface temp and is vastly different from thermocline. Thermocline is "SUB surface" temp stratification that occurs in the summer as the water warms up. To make a long story short it happens a little like this.... Cold water is denser than warm water. As the water warms in the summer the cold water sinks deeper (because of its density). The "thermocline" is established when the lake has finished "the transition period" and the warm water is sitting atop the cold water. Typically, fishermen refer to the "thermocline" as where the cold water and warm water meet----although, technically, that is wrong. With regard to the effect of the west winds on the lake you are on the right track. Wind acts on the warm water first because it is the easiest to move. The NW winds we had this week pushed the warm water away from the Canadian shore and onto the American side. The warm water that was on the Canadian shore is now gone and was replaced by the cold water---an upwelling. On the American side we have just the opposite results. The cold water moving to Canada has allowed the warmer water to move in and our "down temps" have warmed considerably. In short, right now you are going to have to go out further, or fish deeper, to find cold water. Hope that makes things a little clearer as you defintiely don't want me to give you the longer version....LOL. Good luck!

Here's a novel idea......use your DRAG to make sure you don't break ANYTHING! 98% of all breakoffs are "Angler Error". Use a good reel with a good drag and you won't have any problem.

Or how about ALL WINTER on the Niagara Tim? With the exception of Artpark and part of Devil's Hole most of the good Niagara drifts are on the Canadian side. This could get ugly!