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Janz, Thanks for having the guts to admit your mistake. We've all made em bud. I'm certainly no exception. Nick

Hate to say it, but it happens every year at Sodus. Not always the whole fish, many times just the guts. But I remember a few years ago when the event was held over by the tackle shop and boat after boat came in with their limits. People piled their fish up at the cleaning station we had there and left. There had to be 50+ fish piled up. My slip was only about 50ft from the cleaning station. A few of us that docked there cut up the fish we could take, then bagged the rest of them and tossed them in the dumpster... man did that thing stink the next couple of days. I think this issue is probably much larger at Oswego and Sodus when boats come in with 9 big fish. Maybe the committee could work something out with a local food bank and people could "donate" their fish? Nick

If it's just a 5 min online course it's not going to make too much of a difference. People can read "5 mph", but they still stay on plane. The only effective course would be an "on the water test" kinda like when you're 16 and going for your driver's license... but what a pain in the butt that would be for those of us who aren't local! Nick

Thanks C3M! Ray, I wanted to put a picture of a girl riding a bull on the side of the boat... but the wife didn't like it Nick

You're right there were a TON of small fish in shallow. But there were a few big guys mixed in. We did a couple over 20 and one over 30 this weekend. The bigger fish still haven't moved into Sodus. Normally in years past, pro-am weekend is when Sodus sees the big fish move in. I'm guessing this coming weekend should be tremendous as everything seems to be a week ahead this year. I still find it very strange how empty the deep water is this year. Normally, I'd be smacking fish in 350-600 fow this time of year... but it's been pretty much barren out there. Nick

I tried flea flicker years ago and hated it! I heard they changed it so it wouldn't kink constantly, but I just never went back to it.

My guesses: King: 39.15 lbs Steelhead: 22lbs Laker: 25lbs Brown: 20 lbs MONSTER FISH!!! Nick

My original guesses from spring would have been way under! Here are my guesses: King: 34 lbs (Sodus Pro Am day 1) Steelhead: 20 lbs (current beast) Laker: 23 lbs Brown: 19 lbs (current beast) I'm STOKED to see what the #s will be in the fall... I'll start a new thread on that though. Nick

I always find it easiest to tell a steelhead by looking for the dashes on the tail instead of spots. Nick

I can't wait to hear the story when your first big king hits that 20lb test wire of yours Nick

Hey Billy... tried calling you out there, not sure what channel you were on? We tried that deeper water the last couple of weekends... there were the few steelies and occasional dink salmon, but the majority of the fish have been sitting in the bathtub around 150-200fow. You're not kidding about the fleas either! I remember when they wouldn't stick to 30lb test Nick

Troy, Yes two big fish out of Sodus this weekend that probably would have been in the money. People join the LOC! It's like the in the ground... you can't win if you don't play... Nick

well Andy is lucky... a 31lber is now the leader and would have knocked us out of first place lol.

haha! I've tried everyone I know already... everyone is either fishing it or not available

Fishing is screaming right now out of Sodus. Not an aweful lot of big fish, but a TON of fish. Fishing was hot anywhere from 120fow to 220fow early this morning. Our big fish weighed just over 24lbs with a teen king and bunch of 5-10lb kings. A few shakers and small steelies still hitting as well. We lost a real big steelie at the side of the boat today Fish are almost all VERY deep. Most of our action came on the 325 and 375 dipseys on a 1 setting. Took a couple on the 135' rigger and a couple steelies off the 150' #3 setting dipsey. We boated double digits today from 6:30-11am which didn't even come close to comparing to the amount we lost. The dispeys were getting hammered, but would scream out for about 5 seconds, then gone. I'm thinking it had to do with the currents as they were RIPPING out there. North East troll was the best troll today... kinda diagnal to the current. Also, the fleas are TERRIBLE... 30#, 50# sticking to everything. Had to use fixed sliders on the riggers just to keep the fleas from gunking up the lures. Headed out again in an hour... Nick

Mark, no problem! I try to be helpful whenever possible! Here are a couple of pics of the fish... maybe Dave Chilson will implement a "shoulda/coulda/woulda award" to show people why the SHOULD get into the derby Nick

Still lookin guys...

Fishing has been great out of Sodus this weekend. A ton of big steelies and small kings. Nothing over 15lbs until today. Our friend at our marina didn't have anyone going out with him today so we told him to hop on with us. We did a few small fish this morning then the 135' rigger pops over 200fow. The wife was too busy reading her book... our friend Andy was too busy yappin on the cell... so sure I'll get it I reeled down and it started screaming! The currents were wicked out there today and I managed to get it tangled in both dipseys and a rigger. Got it off though and then the reel broke and I couldn't reel in anymore. With the fish about 50' beind the boat, I wound hand over hand. Andy slid the net under the fish and it hit the deck... HARD... BIGGGGGGGGG FISH. We didn't know how big it was so we went to weigh it on the spring scale... it broke the needle on it So on to the digital scale... 30.02 The following conversation then takes place: Me: "wow that's the new leader for the LOC!!!" Andy: "oh you guys are in the LOC?" Me: "you're not in the lock" Andy: "No, I didn't realize you were" Me: "how well can you swim?" I could've cried. Not too upset, as I'm pretty sure there will be a bigger fish before the end of the LOC, but it would have been nice to be in the lead for a bit lol. The fish fit the cooler almost perfectly... just as long inside of it with the tail curled up a bit and just as wide around as the cooler. Beauty of a fish. I'll have pictures when I get back home Monday. It was caught on Andy's yellow NBK, so if he HADN'T come I may not have caught it. Besides, even if he had said he didn't have a ticket, we still would have taken him out. But that punch in the gut when you think you've got a shot at the top... ouch A great story though and that's what fishing is all about. Besides, the ammo to make fun of Andy for the rest of his life is almost worth $10k after taxes Nick

bump...

Rod that one line of yours had me cracking up ... "isn't your name dick?" lol. That's like asking a fat lady if she's pregnant! Maybe next time say "isn't your name Richard?" haha. It was me that said if I were a parent I wouldn't really want to see the words "big weenie" on the board. And trust me, Rod and I NEVER agree... so he definitely doesn't think "big weenie" is bad Although, for the pro-am I was thinking of getting my chicken wing eating contest team together and calling our team the "C**K SUCKERS" (yes i'm kidding... I would never be able to get matching rooster tshirts in time). Nick

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Sodus has fireworks on Saturday. Nick

The observer we had lined up got called to duty (military). We need another observer now for the Wayne (Sodus) Pro Am. It is the weekend of July 16-18. There's a meeting Friday night, then fishing from 5-2 Saturday and Sunday. If anyone knows of anyone who is interested, please let me know. We pay the observer $100. They are also more than welcome to prefish with us. Nick

LOL. I wanted to put a donkey on the side of our boat, but the wife wouldn't let me. Nick

Hey Rod, if you're willing I'll help you paint "Big Weenie" on your boat Then when you come to port I can say "hey look here comes the big weenie" haha.