Paul Czarnecki

Quite simply Matthew, as Billy already said, if your grandfather does not have a current license or has not renewed it in the past five years you qualify as an amateur. See you at the meeting! Paul

The mail in deadline for Niagara is May 23rd and the walk in deadline is May 27th. Keep in mind that if you are also fishing Orleans and wish to enter the West End Challenge Cup your CC entry fee must be paid WITH your Niagara entry fee. Everyone "should" have recieved a letter and an application if you have fished either Niagara or Orleans in the past. If you want an application sent to you give Bill Hilts a call at 877-FALLS US or Mike Waterhouse at 585-682-4925. Actually, since all 4 ProAms are linked as a Series now the application is the same for all 4 tournaments so you East end guys can also get applications from either David Turner in Oswego or Chris Kenyon in Sodus. See you at the meeting! Paul

I'll be there the entire month Rich. Last year my trips were concentrated so I didn't see a need to stay but this year they are scattered throughout the month and the week prior to the Niagara will also be very busy with the Sabres event on Thursday and the Olcott/Johannes event on Friday. Looking forward to it! See ya there! Paul

Like Storm said, give Pete Alex a call or give me a call tomorrow only-- 796-6320. Otherwise try my boat phone---716-390-0085. I am running the boat down from Oak Orchard on Thursday to fish the Canadian Scotty tournament this weekend. I fished Olcott for 13 years before moving to Oak Orchard and can give you some tips on early spring fishing there. Storm is right though---you will definitely want to head west--probably west of Wilson to find any salmon numbers that early in May. I will be docked in Wilson as of Sunday and will be fishing the weekend you're in Olcott. Stop by the boat at the Wilson Boat Yard and I'll try to point you in the right direction. Paul Free Spirit PS.....BEWARE---once you catch a Lake O king you will never want to fish for a walleye or steelhead again. If walleyes weren't good to eat no one would fish for them---except for the yuppie tournament guys....LOL

The Klinchers and the Walker Clincher/Releases both work fine with a coated cable like that on a SubTroll or Depth Raider. I believe there was a tutorial complete with photos on here showing how to make the connections for maximum signal strength. I've used a klincher connection on my SubTroll coated cable for two years (80+ trips a year) with no mishaps. Hope I didn't just jinx myself........

Captain's Cove in Oak Orchard carries them. Walker Downriggers also came out with their version of the Klincher which also includes a "Black's-type" release.

Check www.spoonpullers.com and you'll see that some decent numbers of kings were taken over the weekend. A few more days of warm weather and S - SW winds and things will really start happening.

Hi Rod, Keep in mind with the dockage issue that ProAm Rules state that you must leave from and return to the "tournament port" which, in this case is Sodus Bay. Fairhaven is 10 miles to the east so you would not be able to fish the tournament out of there. You would need a dock in Sodus Bay itself for the two days of the tournament.

There is a mandatory meeting Friday night for Captains and Observers. The meeting will be Friday June 6th at 6:30 PM under the bridge at the Marine Park. The mail in entry deadline is May 30th and the walk in entry deadline is June 4th. The ProAm Series website is undergoing a face lift and should be up shortly: www.lakeontarioproam.com If you have any other questions feel free to give me a call at 716-390-0085. See you at the meeting! Paul

HI Clarke, Dawm Wilson at the Newfane Town Marina in Olcott is in charge of Observer lists for the Niagara ProAm. If you contact her she can give you the contact info for an observer. I'm sure there is a list of reliable people still on file from last year as well. It would not hurt to contact the person WELL in advance and do kind of an "interview" before hand. Like you stated, the observer needs to be responsible and reliable---qualities which can be hard to find sometimes....LOL See you at the captain's meeting/ Paul

Howie, you didn't say what ProAm you needed the observer for but there are committee members for all the tournaments that keep lists of potential observers. For Niagara contact Dawn Wilson at the Newfane Town Marina or for Orleans contact Greg or Michelle at Captain's Cove or me. We will get you set with an observer. See you at the meeting. Paul

Its a thirteen foot beam guys! And YES we do have an association and have had one for years. We are planning on taking over ALL the gas right before the ProAms. You guys may get better fuel enconomy with those "little toys" you call boats but starting at the Niagara ProAm you won't be able to buy your 15 gallons of gas. Its all going into the Trojan Fleet! 275 gallons PER BOAT! Its called "eliminating the competition"....LOL! Actually, the fuel economy is not that bad on a 10 Meter. For its size, weight and power plants the 10 Meter Trojan is on par with any other larger sport boat. You really see some fuel consumption when you open the four barrels and do an eighty mile run (2 gallons per mile) but, for normal everyday charters I only burn about 25 gallons a day. SOOOO....watch the water this summer you Pro Amers. The Trojan fleet will be sucking up all the fuel right before the tournaments leaving the rest of you with fumes and forced to fish the pierheads. Paul Trojan Owners Association Vice Chairman PS>...Yankee--the next time you get "blown off" in Wilson we'll take out my 10 Meter gas hog and then YOU can want one TOO....HA!

The Free Spirit is going in the water tomorrow and I'll be fishing the shoreline off the Oak on Sunday. April 24th she's headed for Port Dalhousie, Ont. for the Scotty tournament.

As I said, the Atlantics are easy to spot because of the fork in the tail and the metallics on the fleshy part of the tail. Browns have squared off tails with no metallic coloration and "X" shaped spots. Catch a brown or an Atlantic now and they will look almost the same---except for the differences noted above.

Sorry guys but that fish is a brown. July browns are usually chrome in color with very little amber/gold color and the spots are frequently "X" shaped. The tail suggests brown as well. The caudal bones making up the tail structure do not have the steep angle usually associated with Atlantics and there is no fork in it at all. Atlantics have a much deeper fork than a brown. Also, the tail on a summer atlantic would also have the chrome color streaked through the middle of it whereas browns have very little, if any metallic coloration to their tails. I would post pics but my best atlantic pics are 35mm.

Don't get too excited boys--there is still a LOT of ice in Erie. Even with the wind yesterday there was still ice as far out as you could see today in Erie, PA. It will still be a few weeks yet before the Niagara can start pumping anything less than ice chunks into Lake O. Let's hope for LOTS of SW winds over the next two weeks.

Ya know.....I was just tellling my wife the other day how much I thought you looked like a Cabbage Patch Kid. Now we know. Thanks Bob!

FWIW...I have NEVER changed the holes on my Spin Doctors from the way they are set at the factory. Frankly, I've never seen a need to. Like the others have said, though, run the longest leaders you can and then, just for sport.....add six inches! HA! See ya on the water! Paul

Jimski, I was told by US Customs that a passport is not needed until June of 2009. A photo DL and Birth Certificate is all that is needed. If you've heard differently, where did that info come from? I really don't want to see my crew get stuck in Canada---well...maybe a couple of 'em.

No passport needed Bob. Just a Driver's license and birth certificate...you were born, weren't you? Just a little reminder I forgot to mention when we spoke the other day...make sure you or any of your crew does not have a DUI or any other criminal activity on your records. The Canucks will run all your ID's and if you show up as a "Yankee Criminal" you will be swiftly deported. And THAT is no joke! Give me a call if you have any other questions. Paul

Hey rail bird, If you're not getting hits on SDs run on divers out of the Oak you are DEFINITELY doing something wrong. Stop by the boat sometime with one of your rigs and I will look it over for you--I'm sure we can get it figured out for you. I'll be in the water April 5th and headed west for a month on April 24th. I'll be back at Lake Breeze June 2nd. Later, Paul Free Spirit

I did Rich and I really liked them. However, I started to have some motor issues and they were hard on my Sub Troll cable. Big Jon came out with the bigger motors and I've always liked Big Jon so I went back to them. I like the Auto Stops better and they are considerably faster. So that's what I have NOW. This fall it might be Vectors or *shudder* even Scottys. NAH....not Scottys but maybe Vectors...LOL! In the water soon! Paul

The Rules are finalized guys. We are working on some website issues right now so posting them there might take some time but I can give you a preview of what has been done. No major changes for the Pro Division. It worked well for last year so no reason to change things. AM Division changes: --6 fish, one of which may be a lake trout. The first six legal fish boated must be kept. NO CULLING. --AMs may fish with two team members but must buy the observer a license in order to fish 6 rods. --Observers are not "required" to have licenses (except in the case above). General Rule changes: --all ports will have a "departure point". In some ports you may be allowed to leave your dock prior to the start and gather at the "starting point". --the Committee is adopting a "zero tolerance" policy for rule violations. For example, there is no longer a "point penalty" for being late. If you are late you are disqualified for the day. --Competitors should make EVERY EFFORT to ensure that the Observer they use is "competent", literate, and of "reasonable health" to ensure his/her safety on another boat and not put that burden on the other team. We have had some real "winners" in the past and it seems to be becoming a "strategy" of some teams to use observers that weigh 400#, have to use the head 12 times a day, drink or do drugs heavily the night before, etc. TRY TO BE CONSIDERATE OF YOUR FELLOW COMPETITORS! Sponsors: --because of the economy sponsorship is a little weak this year. In the tournaments that have no problem meeting the 38 boat minimums there will be very little change in payouts. However, in the smaller, less supported tournaments the payouts "may" be affected. --the Committee has decided to "spread the wealth" a little further in the AM Division. Cash payouts will be spread further down through the field and will be bigger than in years past. For example, instead of a $5000 prize going to the first place team it "might" be $2500 with more of the money going to 5th through 15th. Of course, all this depends on AM Division support. The more entrants--the bigger the payout but we will see MORE teams get paid than in years before. That's about it in a nutshell guys. The Committees worked REALLY hard to make these changes for YOU in response to YOUR suggestions and comments. Show your appreciation by entering the tournaments and telling your friends to enter as well. The more support the tournaments recieve the better they will be and the more sponsors we will be able to get for next year. See you at the Captain's meeting. Paul

You can change the appearance even more John by using different colored beads. I make them up with green, yellow, glow and blue beads---each one looks different in the water and they all work!

You better check the NYDEC regulations on that chinook. Last report I saw said that ALL Pacific herring was banned unless it was prepared a certain way which the Rys Davis strips are not. Daun at NDsupplies has had lots of posts on the subject on the GLA site. They have even come out with a cut bait alternative as has Big Weenie. The fact is it is VERY difficult to get a straight answer on this issue from anyone in the DEC. Answers vary from office to office so you can imagine how the issue will be interpreted by the Field Officers. Advice for 2008---"Use at your own risk!"