Fishtails

We are an Am team, so I guess I have no comment Tom. However, is this taking place of Fridays prefish event.....I'd hope not.

Well....tell them not to worry, it all worked out and I really appreciate their help! But....if they still feel bad about it tell them my tow plate still won't be arriving before I leave ( ) so I'm gonna be in a fix getting the RV and boat and van to Sodus. Maybe helping me again will make them feel better I'm leaving the boat and RV in Sodus till the Sodus Pro Am.....you think you can get the number to that storage facility again Melissa? We're gonna use Janz boat for the Oswego event. Hope you make it out this weekend

Yup....I second that Chad.....$250 greenbacks are awaiting you for the goose egg I think it was the first award they announced? Didn't see ya there Tim....but then I was pretty wiped out and sleep deprived

I asked her to dream big dreams Bob Hey guys....stop picking on me....my cuddy is not a mess!! I've wrecked it before in rough conditions, but this was a new high We hit one wave and the hatch door blew open and busted clean off

Arrived Wednesday to get the boat ready and met our observer (Shade from LOU) to make our prefish plans. Thursday morning I left the dock with Shade and his son with my mind pretty well set to fish the bar. I knew the Sabres tourney was going on in Olcott, so I'd get a feeling on the fishing there through the results and I knew another boat fishing Wilson so It was off to the bar for me! We had an OK morning, nothing stellar but the fish were obviously there. We took a nice rip on the 600 copper, so I handed the rod to Shade's 33 year old son Howie and after about 1 min he handed it back to me wanting nothing to do with that fish. I ended up landing a 19+ lb king and it turned out to be our big fish of the trip. that fish came on a white/blue halo spinny pulling an atomic hammer fly. We took a few small fish before calling it quits around noon. All fish were released to fight another day. Friday....heard no reports that sounded any better than the bar, so I left the dock with a new crew (Todd and Bill from Fishful Thinking) and we made the run down to the bar again searching for some big boys. Well, the big boys eluded us and even though we fished over a fantastic looking screen, all we could manage to do was pick away at the small Coho's and kings. We ended the day with around ten in the boat, with our only "good" fish coming unbuttoned during battle. We released all but three Coho's, with most fish coming 70-90 down on various purple spoons (NK purple frog, Dreamweaver ss bloody death, etc) off the riggers. Wire bite was slow and copper bite was non existent on this day. Sat...day one of the Pro Am. My partner Jeff J and his 13 yr old son Matt had arrived Friday evening and we decided the fishing was good enough to stick with fishing the bar, especially considering the east blow we had on Friday. We knew with the new AM time rules we could never get to the bar in the 15 min. we had from leaving the dock till fishing started, and we couldn't afford to stop and search other areas and loose even more fishing time. So we left the dock at 5:15 am and arrived at the bar by 5:50 and began to set up. We were the second boat to arrive and we were greeted with tons of bait, but not the screen we had the day before. We trolled west and at 6:15 the 300 wire started pulsing....FISH ON!! Jeff jumped on that rod and a rigger fires so I grab that one and hand it to Matt. We are doubled up on kings and boated both by 6:30 (15.2 & 11). We are stoked as we get set up again. It took an hour and 10 Min till our next fish, then another hour till we get #4 (both coho's) Fished from 8:40 till 12 with a several dropped fish but no more in the box. We stuck with our king program to long thanks in part to those two early fish and the coho's had changed from the day before. We never got them figured out so we headed to weigh in with only 4 in our box. Lucky for us, very few kings were taken and the extra weight of those fish helped us out and we were sitting in 11Th place and still in striking distance of the money. Sun....day two and we knew what we had to do! Make the 12 mile run again to the bar and get on a combined king/coho program stat! The east wind was gonna blow and I feared the fish may shut off (they didn't), so we targeted kings early but ran some coho gear right from the start this time. By 6:10 we had fish #1 in the box, and by 6:40 we boxed our 3rd...two coho and a smaller king. That was our last touch on a king (wire rod w/white & green spinny and a green glow fly). We picked away at the coho's all morning, seemingly loosing every other one which was somewhat frustrating but those fish were green and went absolutely ballistic behind the boat! It was a Chinese fire drill on and off all morning....but lots of fun for 5lb fish. Our 35 rigger stayed steady early...then it was the 45 that got hot & by the time we finished it was the 60 & 80 riggers taking coho. We found ourselves with 8 in the box at 11:55 and we knew with the snotty east winds and 3-5 fters we wanted to pull lines and head to port by 12. Jeff and myself were right by the rods, as we were only running 3 rods/riggers at the end. 5 min left....I'm chucking in the last of my change to pay the fish gods and bang....FISH ON the 90 rigger and I run up the front of Jeff and down his back to grab the rod before he even knows we got bit We are pumped thinking this puppy was in the box and as soon as it hits the surface it flips and comes unbuttoned and we watch it swim away. It's 12 now and time to head in...we decide to give it 5 more min. 12:04....60 rigger fires and Jeff, (now keen to my cat like reflexes) boxes me out and jumps on the rod before I can make my break . He does a fine job as usual and we net this one by 12:06 and throw it on the floor, pull the riggers in and throttle down for port with our 9 fish limit We had a BUMPY ride in, with lake Ontario rearranging all the stuff in my cuddy for me. We managed to jump up to 6Th place in the final standings and had a GREAT time! Thanks for being our observer Shade...it was good meeting you and having you aboard on Thursday! Jeff and Matt accepting our awards Looking forward to this week in Orleans....hope the fish cooperate!!! Good luck to all participating in the Orleans Pro Am

Ditto Glen, Job well done as usual. See all you guys this weekend in Orleans

See ya all there...I'm leaving for Wilson in an hour Bob...don't forget that antenna

That's OK Nick....I didn't like fishing them with you anyway..... Just kidding of course. It's good to hear your thinking of entering a team. They're fun aren't they Give me a call on my cell if you have any questions...if I don't know the answer I can get it for you. Send us some good mojo this weekend in Niagara.... we need it

Nice job Del....and everyone else We couldn't fish it being so close to the Pro Am's. See ya all next weekend at Niagara!

We will be staying there Carl. I'd be more than happy to give him a lift each morning. Get me his site #, as I am making reservations this weekend and I'll make sure we are close to him.

Congratulations Howie

Nice report Rick!! I'm making a promise to myself to blow the dust off one of those smartfish and get it wet next week

Wow...Anthony is a real hero They may never know what happened? I know I had a scary encounter a few years back with a raw water line to the wash down pump. If that line fails, water can flow in faster than you can pump it out. Our line was crushed while having work done at the repair shop and we didn't know until we launched and put the boat in the water. Since I have my kids aboard often, I take safety even more seriously than I would normally. Last season I added a ditch bag to the boat. I keep all my safety equipment in it (flares, air horn, whistles, glow sticks, bottled water, power bars, knife, rope, first aid kit, batteries & a handheld vhf radio. I still need to add a handheld gps.) I do feel better knowing If we would ever have to bail out in a hurry, everything is right there and I can just chuck it in the water and go. Hope I'm never in such a situation though. For anyone interested, here is the one I have on my boat. Money very well spent....IMHO. http://www.marineboatsupplies.com/rapid ... -1259.html

Great report Rich!! Sounds like everyone had a great time! From the one pic, it looks like you were parked almost next to me? We just got back from spending Memorial day weekend there, but the fishing was actually pretty tuff for us. HUGE bait balls everywhere and the kings I cleaned were FULL of alewives. Tuff for a dummy like me to compete against so much of the real thing. Some of the bait balls were 75ft from top to bottom. The screen was great though and the fish are there in droves. Glad you got out there to play this spring

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Jellystone park. That's where we stay and keep our boat later in the season. I have an RV I take there, but I've stayed in their cabins also...very nice. It's a great place to stay and they have docks a very short drive down the road on the little salmon...maybe 2 miles. The docks were getting a bit run down last year, but I've heard they were doing repairs this spring so they should be good to go. I'm planing on staying there several times again this season. They also have a large cabin right at the docks if you don't want to drive the two miles 1-800-248-7096 315-963-7096 www.jellystonecny.com 601 cr 16 Mexico NY 13114

I'll keep my eye out for you in your new ride Nick. I'll be there over the weekend taking my kids out. We'll have my nephew along for his first experience at a fish larger than a sunny....can't wait to get him on a big spring king!! I'll make sure his mom puts an extra pair of underpants in his day bag We are at the same slip as last year.

The launch you want to use is at Tuscarora State Park in Wilson. I'm not really qualified to answer the dockage question, but from my understanding of the rules(or lack thereof) in the open division would be that you would be allowed to launch from the ramp. Dockage should not be required, but hopefully someone who knows for sure (Paul) will chime in and clarify this for you. Good luck and enjoy the event!

Damn... that was funny stuff Ray. I know you said you didn't use the towel, but I burned it anyway I couldn't (in good conscience) let my daughter use her Barbie towel again knowing where it may have been. I gotta say....It really was you dude....Even though I probably had 20 man towels, that one screamed Ray to me the second I opened the cabinet door

We are very excited to be fishing the Am division in all four events this year, as well as all four Friday events. Can't wait Don't let another year pass by guys....life is to short!! These are a blast to fish, the camaraderie is great and now there is a division for everyone.

Thanks for all the interest guys....this position has been filled

Hey Bob, I just took 3" off the top of my brand new antenna when I forgot to put it down at the campground , so I'm in the market. Is this price installed I'll be up memorial day weekend, bring one to the marina with you and I'll take it off your hands

Our team is looking for an observer for the Niagara Pro Am on June 6th and 7th. You would be welcome to fish with me during the Pre Fish tournament on Friday the 5th as well. I'd actually prefer someone who can be there all three days. We are looking for someone who is honest and reliable that we can depend on. We will pay you $75 and may have a place for you to stay if you need it. Anyone interested can contact me directly at: [email protected] Thanks!

Not sure Mark...I think I recall there being 67 paid entries. Maybe Ivan with a Y can answer that ? I heard their were 5 or 6 teams with mechanical issues, maybe a couple either never fished or a couple teams got zeroed on Saturday and didn't weigh in ?

Courtesy of www.kingofthelake.com

Nice fish Bill