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I called Rod today and he said he blew something out of his ass end on the way home today... but I think it was a bearing not a plug :shock: Nick

Congrats Mark! Nick

First let me say, it was an honor and privilege to fish with Rod, Ray and Mitch (our observer for the two days) aboard LUCKY ENUFF. I got out of work late Thursday and drove up to the lake. The fiance and I got there around 1am only to find that the electric on the docks wasn't working and it was 80 degrees and muggy still. Tried to get a few hours of sleep, but it was just too hot... finally went to the car turned on the AC and fell asleep in the front seat. Not a great start to the weekend! Friday morning it was just Rod and I for the big fish pre fish tournament. We got a bit of a late start due to some trouble getting one of the engines started. Two weeks previous out of Sodus I had been having luck in that 200-300 foot range and that was pretty much where we stayed most of the weekend... from straight out to 6 miles west. We had a good day going 8 for 8. We had a 20lb king, 15lb king, couple of 8-10lb kings and an 11lb brown in the box early and were looking for another 20lb king to put us in contention for the heaviest 3 fish tournament. We managed two more 13-15lb kings that we threw back thinking we really needed that 20lb fish.... it never came and we ended up weighing in the 20lb, 15lb and 10lb king for a total of 76 points. We finished 11th ... out of 10th by half a pound. Had we kept one of those 15lb fish we would have finished at least a few spots higher... live and learn Amateur results: Pro results: Saturday was the start of the pro-am and we felt ready. Friday we had found a few nice lure selections that worked well for us and areas of water that looked decent that we hoped would hold out another day... they did. We started in shallow and couldn't get anything to go, but neither Rod nor myself had been able to get those shallow fish to go in the past weeks on our boats, so we didn't waste much time in turning the boat north. At 7:20 our first fish took a rip on a dipsey. At 7:25 our second fish started taking out the copper line. At 7:35 our third fish popped a rigger. Nice triple! One fish was too small and we got to throw it back, the next was a real nice 21lb king and the third was a king about 10lbs. We were psyched! Then came the lull. Our first fish came 1hr 20mins after we started fishing... it would take another 1hr 20mins almost EXACTLY to get our next fish... which was another 15lb king. 3 in the box... good start. Again a lull and almost EXACTLY 1hr and 20 mins later the dipsey starts screaming, then the copper and THEN THE RIGGER... TRIPLE! :shock: We get all three fish in, one about 10 lbs, one about 15 and unfortunately the 22" steelie on the copper stayed on as I pulled it in.... shame to kill such a small steelie, but rules are rules. So a little after 11am and we were headed back to port with a full box. We had heard reports that other boats had limited, so we were psyched yet nervous that we weren't the only boat with a lot of fish. We got to port a bit after 11:30 to find out we were the first boat in. Now if that doesn't make you smile, nothing will! It was an awesome feeling. We also had the big salmon at the time... although it wouldn't hold I think it was almost an hour before the next boats came in, I believe they had a long run from oswego/mexico and had fished browns. I think we ended up being the only team to limit fishing for kings and not browns.... which to me meant a lot! It was a lot of fun to sit there and watch the other boats come in and weigh in, but man was it nerve racking just waiting for a boat with a heavier cooler. But come 2pm, only two other AMs and a couple of pros had weighed in, mostly all browns... what the heck is going on? Well, I guess a lot of people really struggled on the first day, there were very few kings. We ended the day in 1st place with a score of 126.72 and a 25 point lead over the second place team. We were in good shape! Sunday.... yikes. We struggled... plain and simple. We only had one good rip the entire day and we lost it. The rest of the day we struggled with the dinks. We managed a 4lb steelie and two 3lb kings and a bunch that we threw back... oh and did I mention how much the weather sucked!!! I've never seen it rain that long for that hard ever! So at 1:30 we decided to head back to port and give ourselves enough time to get into the pier heads by 2pm. We were only about 6 miles out, so shouldn't be a problem. Well about 2 miles from the lighthouse up on plane in the mix of the group of boats running in we here BAM! and the boat slows down and makes a sound like the engine is being revved way up! We blew an outdrive Now at 8mph we have to go 2 miles in about 15 mins. You do the math :shock: Rod continues driving and the rest of us go down in the cuddy to the front of the boat.... 10 mins left 1.25 miles to go, 5 mins left 1/2 a mile to go and we can see the pier heads.... 2 mins left... we're not going to make it! #*@#!!!!!! 1 minute left on our observer's cell phone we're 500 yards from the lighthouse.... with no more than 10 seconds left we curl around the pier head and into the chute. We look at the judge on the pier fearing his clock might not read the same... he taps his watch ..... and then gives the thumbs up... we erupt in cheers!!!! At that point, I don't know if we cared what happened the rest of the day, that victory was probably one of the most memorable I'll ever have! We managed to limp the boat painfully into the abandoned docks at carey's cove and carry the cooler over to the weigh in. Rod was much more optimistic than me... I was really thinking that our 10lbs of 3 fish just weren't going to be enough to stay in the top 10. Luckily, a lot of other people struggled too. Screamer had went for kings today and only managed one... a real nice one at 25lbs, but it wasn't enough. The team the day before us with their limit of browns went for browns again and again had their limit and managed to top us. If we could have gotten just one large king or two more kings ... we could have won it all! But hey... we were all unbelievably happy at the 2nd place finish and at my home port none the less!!! Bragging rights for sure back at the marina! There was one last surprise in the works for the evening.... it was time for the East Cup announcement and they announced that there was a tie for 3rd place. Turns out with Rod's finish in Oswego and our excellent finish in Sodus... we caught up to Screamer and managed to tie for third place... SWEET!!!! Just having your name in the same sentence as ATOMIK Screamer you know you should be proud. Way to go guys! Well that's where the fun stopped. We then had to get Rod's boat out of the water so he could have it checked out. We didn't head home until about 8pm and didn't get in the door until about 2am. Tired as all heck today at work, but one thing is for sure... I haven't stopped smiling all day. Nick Slideshow of all my pics from the weekend can be seen at: http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n105 ... 26db68.pbw

Rod, Don't worry man, I have a few spots saved on my GPS for us this weekend. I KNOW I lost some that big two weekends ago, so they should be even bigger by now Oswego is known for their big fish simply because us sodus guys just don't tell when we find the big ones The really big ones get too tired to keep swimming to Oswego and just stop out front of sodus hehe. Nick

Sorry for your loss Bob... our first fish this weekend will be in his honor. Nick

Sounds like things are still slow out of Sodus. We saw those bottom fish last weekend and threw everything at them we could... nothing would go. There was also a lot of bait hanging on the bottom, so maybe that's why. Hopefully more fish will move in soon! Nick

Well it wasn't meant to be a secret... everyone should feel free to send wedding gifts whenever they want! The kicker ran well, didn't blow up after I changed the oils which is always a good thing! Looks like Rod and I will be teaming up for the Sodus pro am, so bring your A game Nick

Friday Evening: Got out around 6pm and fished from 100' to 200'... nada zilch, nothing. Not even a release. Ton of biting flies and cottonwood made a mess of the lines. Saturday Morning: Overslept! Got out around 8:30 and setup in 100fow. Five mins later the cheater on the 50' rigger started bouncing, I popped it to find a king the same size as the spoon. While setting that back up the 75' rigger with a firetiger fires and starts screaming. Landed a nice 15lb king. That was it for the rest of the morning. Saturday Evening: Fished 100' to 150'. Had quite a few releases with no one home, very weird... small fish maybe. Then the 50' rigger's glow chicken wing slider fires and starts screaming... landed a 17lb king. Start heading towards port and the 325' #2 wire takes off with a green protroll green fly. It's just zipping out, I mean headed towards canada. The fiance fought it for quite a while and got it back in from 600'. Turns out the protroll got tangled and was sideways creating a ton of drag. A nice 15lb king though. Had the planer board with two splitshot on it take off also, but no hookup. Sunday Morning: Fished from 80' to 300'. Very slow. Managed a 7lb king over 120', down 40' and had a few realeases, but that was it. All in all... considering it's june... I was pretty happy. Past years we weren't hitting kings until July. Now if I could figure out how to keep the flies off I'd be happy. There were times where I thought I was going to lose it and jump in the water :shock: Nick

I won't be up this weekend as the boat is having some motor repair being done... new stator... $500... ouch. But I'm up throughout the summer on weekends. From what I've heard, the browns have been non-existant this year, but steelies have been pretty plentiful. The kings haven't shown up yet, with a few exceptions. If you're headed out soon, I would keep a surface programs going with red/orange spoons for steelies. But always keep at least one rod deeper for some kings Nick

I'll be there! Ch 68 works for me, sometimes listening to it is the only action we get Nick

oooh you should add a hairy back too

Actually, I agree, that would be a good name! If you don't name it that, I might have to make you a spoon when I'm up there this weekend and call it the silver croc Hmmmm... actually I think you like the blue crocs though, maybe an entire croc spoon line.... Nick

actually... a LOU barbecue would probably be a lot of fun... I'm just not sure how many of you would drive all the way down to my house here in Philadelphia! Nick

HAHA good to know! Nick

Yeah I might have to buy a board. Right now all I have are two inline planers (one for each side). I've been hesitant to run my leadcore (don't have copper) off of it simply because I can only imagine how much "fun" it would be to reel in. In your video I see you have a planer that you just clip onto so you don't have to fight the planer when the fish hits.... that makes a lot more sense. Nick

This year we have noticed almost every trip at least one fish has a lamprey on it or that drops off when we get it close to the boat (and we don't catch that many fish!!! ). Out of wilson last week, there were days where I thought I must have had a fish on a flat line, or it broke me off without releasing a rigger rod, because we'd see salmon and steelies jumping out of the water behind the boat, to the side of the boat, in front of the boat, etc, just jumping like mad men... I'm guessing trying to get rid of lampreys? Nick

Yeah I saw the guys name from Douglassville on the LOC site, but do you know him? I'd feel kinda funny showing up at his house with a basket of hand tied flies welcoming him to the neighborhood Nick

Not sure the exact beam of my boat, but it's only 19'. Actually, if you're still up at Wilson, it's the white trophy in the parking lot next to the cleaning station I'll check out some of your videos and see if I can figure out how you cram 10 rods into there I'd be happy with 6 (not including boards) Nick

Anyone know the winner of the LOC? He was fishing with a guy that literally lives down the street from me in Douglassville, PA. It'd be nice to meet another LO fisherman in my neighborhood. Nick

Mark, I'm trying to get into running more than just 4 rods this year, any chance you can jot down a quick diagram of how you run that many rods without tangling? I'm trying to imagine it, but all I see are tangles and lines crossing, and when a fish hits... well I might have nightmares about it tonight. Nick

Yeah as long as the weather cooperates, we plan to fish Saturday and Sunday. Nick

Rod, Nice meeting you up there! You didn't miss much leaving when you did. We went double digits the next few days but nothing only one or two over 10lbs out of all of them! A lot of people had almost no luck. The weather wasn't all that great either. Looking forward to memorial day weekend, hopefully the fishing will pick up by then! Nick

DB, Sorry to hear about the bad luck, we're headed up tonight and should be on Ch68 most of the time. Good luck out there! Nick

Del, I think a 23' and under class would be awesome... I'm just not sure there's enough "little guys" out there to make it happen? I guess when you get good enough, you get worried about the problem of catching 6 small fish.... I can only wish that I get good enough one day to worry about the size of the fish I catch as opposed to being worried I won't even catch 6 fish :shock: Nick

Rod, Ok cool, I'll look for you. We'll probably be monitoring ch68. We're driving up Friday evening and will probably launch from the state park early saturday morning and start fishing right away, then come in around noon to check in at the marina. We're in a grey topped 19' white trophy... I'll be the guy not catching anything and driving in circles Nick