skipper19

Try a pelican on the hook. Took three of us to hold one that grabbed a big piece of bunker being tossed from shore at Cape Hatteras.

I'm on the road away from Point Breeze, but has any one seen or heard of the State Marine Park being taken over by the county? Any launches in yet? I HAVE ASKED THE QUESTION TODAY TO THE PARKS COMMISSION. (will post the answer .....if I get it). http://journal-register.com/local/x1687 ... m-strategy Over a month ago I had written an E-mail to Wayne Hale, the director of parks and tourism for Orleans county viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15608&p=87698#p87698. I have not yet to this date gotten a response as to a solution for the State Launch and park operation on the west side of the river. It is apparent that since the launch ramps are still not open by the state that they intend not to help enhance the fishing tourism in the area. It is going to be hard to have the increase in tourism they talk about if the west side does not open, especially for the upcoming tournaments and derbies this year. I can only guess that as a result of overcrowding at the county park launch that most folks who come from miles away and different states will run into a very unpleasant surprise. What would it take to get the county interested in taking over the management and operation of the state marine park? The launch rate at the state park has been $6.00 in the past years, and although it is an expense I would have otherwise avoided by launching at the County Park on the east side, there are times when I was glad to launch and pay due to overcrowding at the county side. Even though I am local (13 miles) from the Point Breeze "experience" I would be rather disgruntled at the time of arrival to fish on the day and plans made with friends to go boating/fishing and have no place to launch or park. Time spent getting the boat hooked up and money spent at 8 MPG towing it, would be a huge waste and TURN OFF, to the next time planned for this activity. In essence, I would plan to launch elsewhere, probably NOT where I want, and of course the local business's would be lost in Orleans county due to this decision. What can we do? For those who are avid fans of THE OAK/ POINT BREEZE, who travel to this destination on purpose and plan, we need input on this. Write to the park director, if this is a concern and add some constructive ideas to help open the state park in time for the tournaments and derbies and the summer rush of fun seekers who come from all over the country to Point Breeze. I would be happy to pay a little more than 6 bucks if necessary, to avoid driving another 20 miles to Sommerset or to Olcott or Sandy Creek to launch the boat. Any body heard anything IN REALITY, as to a decision to open the State Marine Park yet? I KNOW THERE HAS BEEN TALK BUT I'M NOT SURE THERE IS ACTION, AND IT IS GETTING CLOSE TO DERBY TIME if not we need some ideas sent to the place where it makes some difference http://www.orleanscountytourism.com/con ... ankyou.php, and hopefully we get an answer. http://www.allbusiness.com/government/g ... 693-1.html Article about the "talk" of opening it. http://www.oakorchard.org/announcements ... ssociation Latest post on OONA.ORG March 5th. Mark

http://www.motioneazeworks.com/howitworks.htm This stuff works too!..and you can put it to use even after the queezy stuff starts. My son is always ERCKY..on his first days on the water and this did help him almost immediately. within five minutes he was much better and then was able to take the rest of the day. I have used it too...one day on 6 foot swells, I dropped my plastic box of swivels, snaps, rubber bands, trolling sinkers and all sorts of trinkets all over the deck. After crawling around down there doing 1000 pickup, I was getting green around the gills. Rubbed this stuff right behind the ear lobes in the soft fleshy spot and I was cured. All natural and works on the spot if need be. Mark

Great looking hook jaw. good report for one hour out there Yup....breakfast, gatorade, bumps, too much grease probably Mark

No sliders over spineys..if the slider goes down the main line due to if a fish grabs it or just come unbuttoned..its going to go down the main line and engage the spiney at the swivel and then a major FUBAR is gonna happen. You can stack a rod above the spiney so it's by itself on disengage from the stacker release, but a slider will definitely be a BIG problem since a slider is using the same main line of the rod with the spiney. Mark

Some of it is going on display at the Smithsonian

tick tock tick tock tick tock......hot potato...here catch! CRACKY..so after reading DO NOT HANDLE...I naturally picked it up My kind of guy...adventurous! Oh what nerve ..do not drop...save till July fourth Mark

great pics Nice shot of the painted turtle gettin some sun. Mark

Yeaaahhhh, the old saying.."just because it fits, doesn't mean it looks good"

Nice Must be Brown trout paradise in Mexico. Did they eat alot of gobies? Mark

Great looking fish there, That smile is all that needs to be. Good luck next weekend Mark

As for tow vehicles, in particular, pickups, I can speak highly of Ford. I have owned four of them since 1987. All were F350 one tons except for the one I have now (F250) with single wheel 4 x4 axles. The 87 was the last year of the carburated models and that is a good thing I can say. I still have the 87, a strong truck and rides well compared to the newer ones I've had. the last three 02, 05 and 08 were powered by the 6.8 V-10 gas motor. This engine runs like a sewing machine soooo smooth and very quiet with power to spare. The transmission is automatic with tow/haul enhancement which gives you a lot more useful engine power dynamics when pulling heavy loads such as the automatic gear reduction on slowing and decent on hills and lets the engine run at a higher RPM while pulling for excellent response. I also have the integral trailer braking controller built in the dash, a very convenient option with the tow package. As Ray said the fuel mileage is really a non point to chase if you want a good heavy platform with power to pull something with. A large capable vehicle will pay dividends in reliability and safety when pulling. The best MPG was the 2002 but it was geared too high for towing 3.55 gears, but the MPG was 16 on the open hyway empty. The truck I have now has larger wheels than the previous models and I believe this 2008 I have is 3.73 ratio. It gets 13.5 open hyway, 9.5 hauling 34 foot fifth wheel camper (10,000lbs + gear). the worst it does is with the boat 8 MPG, 6000lbs T-Top in the wind. As for family carry in a pickup, the crew cab is the only way unless the rear passengers are small children. extended super cabs are really not suited for long travel comfortably. You will save a little on gas power vs diesel as far as cost per gallon of the two fuels. The gas V-10 is a much less expensive option than the diesel and has less noise along with great pulling power. Bottom line....Go test drive all the ones you think about on your list....I would consider the use of the vehicle over price since if it is going to be new ( $40,000 and up) and you might have a five year payment plan for it the payments are all going to be about the same on comparable vehicles. Options are things to compare too. As mentioned above by "Jet Boat Bill" a one or two year old model is a very good choice to keep the payment book down in this galaxy. I turn in lease pickups after 39 months and they never have more than 25,000 miles on them. The dealer I return it to takes it in wholesale for 18 to 19 thousand even though I know it is probably worth more like 27 to 30 thousand sitting for sale on a retail lot. Lot of things to consider and I am in no way saying a Ford is better than a Toyota but I have extensive experience with Ford and can't complain. Mark

That diagram posted above looks kinda familiar....Yes the #1 dipsy..WITHOUT RING...less drag for the stacker release to deal with. I have run that #1 dipsy on the outboard riggers setting #3 to plane out and down. I set back 50 feet on the diver on #3 without ring and that usually will achieve 20 ft down give or take a foot or two due to line diameter and speed up to about 3mph. after that the diver will place a lot of pressure on the rigger stacker release. The diver rod line is clipped to the stacker at 20 feet above the ball. The drag of the dipsy will have an effect of pulling the rigger ball slightly outward and away from the middle rigger sets, thereby helping with the separation of the rigger cables. The diver lure will be at the approximate same level as the rigger ball lure, but further back and out from it offering the second chance at the buffet. This is OK as long as you keep forward progress and do not stop or slow too much or turn too quickly or FUBAR! So having said that, it is best to run this setup when deep water is below and no chance of hooking bottom and when boat traffic is very light where you can control your destination to eliminate short turns and such. Of course thd main choice of diver rod line in my case is 30lb ande since it holds well in scotty releases set tight and the no collection of fleas. The rigger ball and cable provide the depth of entry for the diver, similar to as if you were able to place the rod tip under the water at say 40 or 50 feet below the surface. Low resistance baits such as spoons run naked behind the diver work well for me. Here is some more fun with dipsy I will try this summer in the deep water. I have a center rigger that is really not useful except for shallow presentations. The beam is only 8.5 ft on my boat and is too crowded for 4 riggers running deep without snafu. So I plan to try the center rigger shallow and rig a dipsy directly to the ball release on a 0 setting set back 150 to 200 ft straight back behind the boat. The drag of the dipsy should have the effect of pulling the ball back slightly from the rest of the set and help the ball track more straight, eliminating some of the "Weave" that round balls exhibit. More diagrams again CLICK TO EXPAND

Good Idea Ray, I'll take one or two, but I think the ..and... should be a higher echelon sticker for further identification...Buffy class of fishermen steer clear no cussin or feel the love Mark

Thanks Ray, Your advice is priceless. I wish I knew more about snap swivels, but I just started using them instead of clevis pins. Lyntucky has lots of farm equipment around for pullin stuff like big fish and those clevis pins never let me down. Ahhh windburn, I was sure that you were an LOU fan after talking with you there at the park. Thanks for the chat! Was good meeting you. Hope to see you there in the boat next time, take care. Mark

Fishing Report Your Name / Boat Name: ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s):4/16 Time on Water:9:30 am to 3 pm Weather/Temp:rain showers...warn morning cooler afternoon Wind Speed/Direction: west south west light morn then 15 mph afternoon Waves: 1- 3 offshore less than 1 inshore Surface Temp: 47.5 to 48 .5 Location:Point Breeze west LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 6 Total Boated:4 Species Breakdown:Browns , Lakers Hot Lure: Chrome and Pearl white Pro troll and Atomic Hammer Fly Trolling Speed:1.9 up to 2.3 Down Speed: Boat Depth: 8 ft to 90ft Lure Depth: 7 ft to 50ft ==================== Started out solo at the break wall and made a couple rounds in front of port. Didn't do anything there and Buckaroo was working the area also so I left the skinny water up to them and their paying customers. Went west to Johnsons and set up a SS NBK on the down rigger at 7 ft and ran a stick off the outrigger on the other side. Picked a nice brown on the NBK and lost one on the same lure. Made a few passes in front of there and moved out to deeper water. Came into 60 feet of water and the screen lit up. The NBK was the first to get smacked and I mean SMACKED. Something very large and fast took it from 48 feet down over 60 feet. The rod went straight down to the water and as I grabbed it and just started to thumb back the drag, the line went slack. Brought back a bent swivel and no lure . Well I had the drag set right but what ever had that thing was really going west as I was going east. The Hammer fly was real hot with the pro troll flasher on a dipsey with ring set on 2 out 150 on braid. Made a few loops around the 70 to 90 FOW area just out from the pump house and down to Lakeside Park. Managed three more lakers 9-12 lbs to the boat and released. Mark ====================

Not as of Monday.

Electricity is too weird....like the bulb and the rest of the wiring was not enough resistance....hmmmm

Was a great time out there Mick....er... I mean Captain. Was nice to get out since my tub was still in prep for the season. The new boat ran great Mick, and was roomy enough for all five of us to fish comfortably. Dan's first laker was a treat for him, he never even seen one before. Amanda was happy with her sore arm the next day, her laker was a real bulldog on the wire diver. Both lakers were 13 to 14 lb class, and real healthy. They were both on the line at the same time, Mick scrambling with the net, sliding around on wet fishy deck and crashing on the engine house was a special treat. Any one looking for a trip out of the Oak, Mick can get the fish and has a great boat to do it from. I will see if maybe my daughter has a way of emailing me the pics and I can maybe post them from here. Mark

hmmmmm......wonder if I knew 'THAT" was coming. Mark

I've seen that look before .... Mark

Ray, nice pics, but somebody stole the lobsters claws now there's a bunch of one armed stone crabs and no arm lobsters Better go to New England again and get lobstahhs wit claws. Mark

Nice Pete You can see the leader lengths too threads keep the hooks in place so they don't slide around. Wish I had room under my hard top, I would do exactly that Plastic boxes is all I got and now I am playing a circus act juggling them all around looking for the specific bait. Mark