skipper19

Yup...I gotta, because if Cher gets a fillet with any bones in it .....that's the end for her. She will dissect the fillet on her plate. It always drives me nuts to watch her do that to a finely grilled fillet. Oh and I also remove all the skin and dark fatty deposits from the fillet. Grilling, on the gas BBQ (especially with mesquite wood chip smoke ) lets a lot of the other fats dissolve and drip away which helps to reduce the risk of PCB. Mercury is a problem that can't be gotten rid of, but smaller fish with less time in the ecosystem are less likely to have high levels of mercury. Mark

I got a regular butchers block board to do the operations on. It has the quality of holding the fish pretty still after hosing and makes filleting a lot easier without the fish sliding around. Bad part is, so far I haven't gotten around to making a table out of it so I been using the tailgate of the Ford for a table. After I trade it in you'll know by the cats following around behind the truck if you end up with it .....Guts go out in the back creek for the snappin turtles and muskrats....wonder why all the possums and raccoons keep coming up to the back door at nite ....hmmmmm.....maybe Musky Bob has the best idea for gut disposal. Mark

could be the logperch darter, but I can't quite see the double dorsal in the low quality of the pic. Yeah the one pic is of the Maryland discovery of snakehead, but being the other photo of a an adult was undated and probably not documented as a fish from Lake Ontario with witness, I wouldn't put much stock in the fact it was from Lake O. Just hope not true, but given the fact those things can live through freezing and out off water for days it will most probably be a real problem if allowed to get a foothold. Mark

8 o'clock in the morning, and on one of the cams, I think I see Ray, going into a store, I think it was called the incredible inflatables store ...wish he had put more clothes on. Wasn't real sure it was him with all that tie die and bead stuff wrapped all around him...except the bottom half....speedo. Pure give away clue of a tourist there. Mark

Musky baby...first one is Bowfin ,,or Burbot...

What RR said, and if the dipsy is new, it needs break in time. They tend to be too tight out of the package and you need to work them several times in and out of the release to get them to work smoother. Try leaving them latched shut when in storage also. If you need to run mono, use a larger dipsy and the magnum ring, it will pull a lot of the stretch out of the mono before the strike. Don't use a snubber either on mono, and you should have better results from mono dipsies. Mark

I tried the Obama spoon and when it comes time to go back to the store in November, I think I'll go on the 2nd, I'm gonna try to stock up on spoons that actually work. Every time I get the Obama spoon in my program, it keeps running way off to the left, and screwing up everything that was working . No matter how much I try to turn the program to the right it goes further to the left . It just won't run the way the rest of the program wants. I think it has a tendency to ignore any input from the helm as to what the rest of the whole setup is doing . I don't think anyone is going to get it to work, and this spoon should be taken off the market before every spoon in the future becomes tangled with it for generations to come. I say boycott this spoon and go shopping in November for more new spoons that run right . Mark

You can change them out for better quality hooks but I have had no problem with them....just put a few licks on the point and keep em needle sharp Mark

the usual Bead and string double treble that comes with it.

What!!!!!!? You mean the beginning was the end????.....Didn't even make it to Midnite on the eve of his 365 day epic trip??????......Crashed before docking??????.... Maybe Capt Jack Daniels shouldda handed over the helm to Capt. M. ORGAN... Good thing his first "mate" was there then Here....this'll make ya feel better viewtopic.php?f=35&t=14994

Bears Sleepy Hollow campground. Its right on the grindstone creek outlet. I used to camp there all the time with a pickup camper and my boat. http://www.bearssleepyhollow.us/grindst ... creek.html Go further north on rte 3 and I think you can launch at Pine Grove...just a stone throw from the campground on the left going north. Not sure of the facility anymore, have not been there in years, but the launch was gravel into the Salmon river estuary 3 boats wide. Troll the mouth and out to 100 Fow anytime early morning before dawn between grindstone and the river. Use glow spoons and J-plugs during Sept. By the second week of Oct the fish are entering the mouth and running the river pretty heavy anytime after that. Mark

Find him and stick a pin in his coax....fried radio.....oops.....same reason I do not listen to the CB radio in my truck. Worthless scumbags abusing something that could be saving someones life someday.

Happy birthday to a man known to us here on LOU as "Mick". Not his true given name, however after having met him in a golf course bar where regular folks refer to him as "Mick" and having had the honor of fishing with him many times, I truly know why he is referred to as "Mick". His karaoke skills at the bar and his previous rock and roll performances at various venues around Rochester are a testament to his talents. You may also have seen some of his posts on here followed by the phrase "Rock On" . If by now you haven't figured out why he is refered to as "Mick", let me give you one more clue. Now it was unclear even to me at first what was the reason for his namesake until one day we were fishing the Niagara bar (the one in the lake) together with his wife. She said that "Mick" could turn any song into a fishing song . Well it didn't take long before the radio started playing some of our old favorite rock and roll. Suddenly, as we were having a lull in the action (fish hitting) an old song came aboard and "Mick" began to sing along . After what his wife had said It became apparent that she was right! Well the song goes along and we all know it as one of the best classics of all time from the Rolling Stones. The verse of which is the title to the song and repeats often. Our friend "Mick" sings the song and we are rockin to..... "Can't get no... Salmon Action".... So now you know the rest of the story. Some other favorites could be,,, "Goby Tuesday",,,, "that spin doctor...I wanna Paint it Black",,,, "the Drag is...Under my Thumb",,, "I'm gonna catch...A Feast of Burbot",,,, "Jumpin Jack (Salmon) Flash" and many more fun songs. He is a good friend, Charter Captain, Painter, Rock and roll player, and a fellow "Lyntuckian", and all round good LOU member, .....I, you, we,,,,all celebrate his 33rd trip around the sun. Captain Mike "Mick" Grager of Get Hooked Sportfishing http://www.gethookedsportfishing.net/. Now that he has his Charter business, I guess I will have to book a trip so I can hear those songs again. I was so accustomed to hearing WHOA WHOA WHOA! and the pounding of feet sprinting to the back of my boat when a rigger would fire, that even now, I still wonder what would happen if there was no transom back there or if the tuna door was left open as he hit full sprint to the stern. I wish him the happiest birthday a friend could have and may he never, ever, slip, and crash on the wet deck again. Tight lines to Mick and a very wonderful day! Life is simple....eat, sleep, FISH! Mark AKA Skipper19

Nice Rich I don't know if the drool and licking the chops is from meatball and chicken parm sandwiches or the hog kings yuk.... now I gota clean the slobber off the qwerty. Mark

Personally, I would not run a flasher/spin doc or dodger in any part of a cheater set. The spinning attractors will spin up your main lines and leader into a major snafu. Most cases if the fish hits a cheated leader, it will slide down closer to the ball release before actually coming off the ball. Once your main line gets twisted it will be somewhat compromised for strength. The Other case where a screamer takes off with 200 to 300 feet of line from the ball lure before the cheater has a chance to slide down,, it will definitely get your main line somewhere 180 to 280 feet up due to the line going out lateral from the boat at a high rate of bbbbzzzzzzzzz off the drag with the screamer. That will lead to a definite loss of fish and tackle. Simple spoons are your best bet, but match them according to action and speed. I like a set that has a large flashy, bright, attractor spoon 8 foot flouro leader, FIXED 10 to 12 feet above a smaller spoon running 20 to 30 feet behind the ball as the target. It is a killer on fish that are a little interested but don't hit the first attractor spoon but fall back and down and along comes the smaller darker offering over the shoulder and Whamo, that's the easy prey. AKA the "mup" rig. The flouro leader is 15 to 18 dollars for 25 yards (Seaguar). Not something I want to cut up. Unless you have 10 foot rods I would have the cheater leader no more than 8 or 9 feet long. You will have trouble landing a fish if you are alone. Mark

great late season lure. 20 - 30 fow right in front of port early morn before sun gets up bright. long lead, off the riggers down 10 15 feet down, or flat line way back. Use glow patterns in green and ladder back. Rattlers help too. I got new lighted ones that flash now. gonna give them a try this season soon. Hammered lots of staging salmon last year on dark days all day long. Mark

Obama spoon says on its package, "will catch fish in the worst of conditions". When not economically sensible to use gas and troll 12 lures at once, all you need is this one plan (lure). or two or three.....maybe tomorrow the same plan (lure) with a different label. It's a moving target. They said one plan (lure).... but it was just a way to get you to stop being over productive and catch too many fish. It encourages you to become lazy, sit still, beg for something from the plan (lure) to bring you fish all the while the rest of the boats are moving, searching for productivity, and catching fish only to come back to port and find the Obama plan (lure) user holding a sign saying "spread the wealth" and each of the productive boats must give up some of their fish according to the fine print inside the packagethis plan (lure) is backed up by the gov't and depends largely on getting it's benefit from the productive boats in the form of confiscatory fish seizure but it only applies to the most productive boats. You can take all their fish. It is a lie, the most unproductive lure on the market. It causes you to become lazy, complacent, condemn productivity, and just plain fish "stupidly". In the future when all the productive plans (lures) are overburdened with unproductive Obama spoons, we will be forced to find productivity in new waters....hmmmm wonder what the fishing is like in North Korea?

Hey wow Tom you should be a DR. of PSYCHOLOGY.....I think you just figured out what is wrong let'see .....what was that song? .....Don't worry...be happy .....yeah that's it Wait a minute ....Didn't that guy off himself .......uh oh

500 feet of water and further.....hmmmm....isn't that getting kinda close to the border?....don't know what they might be checking for there....gosh....maybe a stray fellow without credentials for fishing on one side of the fence or the other? Registration issues? Just whatever? Don't worry about what the DEC is wasting their time or our money on. They are doing their job, which is a lot more than I can say about the fools in Albany.....Now there is a waste of taxpayer dollars. Let the DEC do their job but make sure the Big guys in Albany appropriate the money and put it where it belongs. Vote in November to bring sensible management to fund the necessary stuff and not the useless crap like the study done with no answer as to why we pay more for fuel in NY than anywhere else in the country. I think we all know what is wrong there without much help from a politicians study. The DEC is real and necessary and should be funded appropriately IMHO. Mark

Nice report Rick...checkin up on the port from the Georgia office right now, can't wait to get back to the home office.....the one that floats. 9 days and counting... Mark

One SACAFRACHABARARACKIN GREAT SITE!!!!WTG MATIES....ARRRRRR......WE BE SWIMMIN' WITH FISHES Mark

As far as any time? I guess if it floats it is good... However in all seriousness, I would have to say it depends on what day you fish out of which port and the direction and force of the wind, and your level of tolerance to bumpy fishing. Looks like you are coming from Pa. so I would say you are safe on a day that the predictions are for a south wind Oswego to Fort Niagara. west and east are usually OK if the wind speeds are less than 10 - 15 Mph but can cause waves of 2 to 3 feet or more in some areas. Lake O is fickle on any day. Early morning is best for a few hours on most any day as long as the wind was calm at nite, but by mid day it can pickup and develop a white cap chop that may make fishing a chore or at least not as comfortable. Keep an eye on the weather conditions ahead of fishing. There are several links on the left side of this site you can check the wind wave and weather forecasts. !8 ft boats are ok as long as you keep an eye on the weather. You won't want to be too far from port if the wind picks up or thunder storms come around, but that is the case with most anybody in a boat of any size, It depends on your level of skippering and whats comfortable to fish. All said, the lake can be a mirror all day long and it also can be riled and small craft advisories put up on another. As a rule I would definitely go by the advisories. If there is one or a predicted one, choose a different time. Most of the south shore is good if the wind is south, south west or south east. If I was to choose a port that had more chance to get out on wind day I would stick to Oswego to Fort Niagara. The east ports are usually more rough the farther north you go unless the wind is from the east, but that is usually a wind not favorable for fishing results. Hope this helps. Don't be afraid to try it. The more time you spend on Lake O the more confident you will become with big water boating. Lots of boats out there are 18 ft or less. Even Kayaks are trolling. Mark

The pen rearing projects are great.....but the eggs and fry still come from the Salmon river hatchery. The very place where the cutbacks, if any, would affect. All the expense of running the pen rearing projects are not entirely on the backs of the volunteers. There are countless things that are still funded by tax payer money, all the way down to the fuel to run the trucks to transport the fish, food for the fish, and the folks who run them to all the designated ports. I might be wrong on how much of the process that the DEC spends of tax payer money on the pen rearing projects in cooperation with the volunteers. Maybe someone knows more about the amount of expense handled by the volunteers could elaborate. The trucks show up and the people that run them I would believe,,, are on the state payroll somewhere. It's all in jeopardy if anything is cut back anywhere that involves the hatchery egg take. Mark

Well I guess the politicians and DEC management have forgotten the other benefits of having the Pacifics in the lakes besides the sport fishing industry. I was sure that at first when the salmon were introduced to the lake they were meant as a means to "clean" up the overpopulation of Alewife and other invasive species that spoiled the lake front and water quality. Huge die offs of stinking alewife washing up on shore were a real turnoff and didn't help the tourism at all. Rick, I will help in any way possible to bring light on this subject. Keep us informed gentlemen. There IS something we ALL can do. Hopefully we can vote in a responsible administration this year who will carry positive DEC development on their ballot, along with a reasonable plan for a balanced budget IN THE BLACK THIS TIME. I am studying the agenda of the ones who have tossed their hat in and I will ask the questions that need an answer to our concerns. With what is in Albany right now there is no hope......vote the deadwood out for many reasons to save NY. Mark

OMGANOTHERSHORTFATBALDONE has passed another annual ritual of life by becoming buffy once again on his journey into life. many years ago (53) the legend began as he was born among many great hunters and fishers buffy to the world. He fears no bare (bear), no hair (hare), and fish fear him for his astounding prowess with the snoopy pole and Musky bobbers. His skills revealed here to all on LOU, are an invaluable resource of knowledge, especially spelling, and are forever archived within the halls of electron storage known as the internet. A postaholic worthy of a celebration fit for a king.... or in his case a Chief of the tribe of shortfatbaldones. May he live another 53 to chase deer and bear and fish across this great land, and bring stories of great hunts and fishes back to the LOU tribe. Go forth oh ye great buffy one and may you have your way with the beasts of this land as they have had with you. A grand SALUTE! to you on your revered day Ray!!...oops.. I mean Bald Eagle. A A A for Ray Have a great day ....Mark