Nalod

Tcon - With your professional membership to the site, you should see links on the left-hand site of the site that are in a section called Weather Forecast. Looks for a link in that section named NOAA Graphical Waves/Weather. Then you will be able to roll over the expected waves for the given time you are expecting to fish. This will allow you to get a good estimate of how the water will be for your trip! Good luck on your trip --Joe

I am amazed that it is at $100 already!!! I heard over on Larry's website that someone accidentally bid up to 100, but he said he would honor his mistake. With over 5 days left on the auction, I am sure he will not be stuck with his mistake bid. --Joe

Just to help finding the item on Ebay, here is the direct link: http://cgi.ebay.com/2010-Amma-Bamma-10- ... 3cac1f26a4 --Joe

Haha. Thanks Hank and Bob! I will wait until noon to check my updates...I was getting sick of turning my monitor to read. Happy April Fools Day! --Joe

I spent some time this weekend looking at new houses, and fell in love with one that had a nice sized pond in the back yard. The owner was trying to tell me that the pond was stocked with grass carp, pan fish, and bass. I could only think of 2 things when he was telling me all about this: 1. This would be a great meal for a musky 2. Wow, this pond would be a great place to practice casting/retrieving my musky lures Something is wrong with me when I start looking for a house and end up trying to see how the house can benefit my fishing obsession! --Joe

I think the best part of that show is how serious they all were. The newer episodes show a lighter side of Pete and his fishing partners. I was really hoping to see Mike Sperry wearing Maina's Pink Hat! --Joe

Nitro: My thought is that there are few shows on TV that actually do episodes around musky. Dahlberg has shown an obsession that is similar to all of ours, and has really impressed me with his ideas, approaches, and care/safety he has for the fish. It is also nice that he does not throw Double 10s every show! Just my 2 cents --Joe

Thanks Larry...excited to see what colors are in that box! --Joe

Larry, Do you have a Black and Silver and/or the hot perch color? If so, I would buy 1 of each before the Chicago show. Thanks, --Joe

Thanks everyone for their posts. I ended up renting a cottage from an individual on the south end. They are about 2 blocks from Smith Boys Marina (1 block away from the Happy Hooker). I wanted a place a little more north, but this place was perfect for the whole family. I am excited to give casting the south end a try...something I have never attempted. Also, I now need to decide the best approach to get to the north end to do some trolling. It looks like the nearest public launch is in Celeron (more south), so I might just give in and boat to my spots this year instead of putting the boat in and out. It is exciting to know that the season is near Give me a heads up if anyone else is planning to be at Chautauqua the last week of July! Thanks again, --Joe

John, I used to like you! J/k I have known a few friends that had bad luck at those cottages. I made Blueye take a ride with me today and we looked at a bunch of cottages. There are some really nice cottages to rent all over the lake, but they take a lot of time to find. It also does not help to visit the Happy Hooker Bait shop and get into some awesome conversations with Brian and other customers...and then realize that 2 hours have passed! oops. I really cannot wait for the spring/summer fishing season to open up so I can try some of these winter purchases. Also, thanks to everyone that posted suggestions. I appreciate all the help. I have not rented a place yet, so if you have any suggestions, please pass them along. --Joe

I figured I would ask the group on this forum that spends the most time on Chautauqua. My family is looking to take a 1 week vacation down to Chautauqua, but I currently do not have leads to a cottage rental. We will have 7-8 people. We are looking for a single cottage that we can all stay in that is on the lake with a dock. In the past, we have stayed on the south end, but would like to get a little more north so we can get to our musky holes a little quicker Has anyone stayed at a place or know someone that is renting? Any help to find us our vacation spot would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, --Joe

Lance, By any chance, were you watching the Babe Winkelman show? His show was doing the exact same thing on Lake of the Woods. I was hoping they would have switched to other lures, but nope...just kept throwing them. On another note, Hunt for Big Fish had a musky episode last week that was pretty fun to watch. They were messing around with sounds of lures and ended up making a lure (and showed parts of the process) that was top water with a lot of tail action. I enjoyed seeing this different approach (scientific) rather than the standard "Look at us catch a ton of muskies with the same lure"! --Joe

Sounds like it will be a fun event. If only it was just a little closer to home... --Joe

I made Blue Eye take a trip with me this weekend to fish the Bass Pro Ice Tournament on Owasco Lake. We fished the north end of the lake. The ice was not pleasant with a lot of soft spots and even a little open water by the shoreline. We decided to fish a little more shallow than everyone else (around 7.5 FOW), but had no luck. The beauty of the trip was the clarity of the water. Inside the hut, we were able to see straight to the bottom of the lake and every detail on the bottom. At one point of the day, I was able to watch a nice sized pike swim up to my jigging rod and look at the bait before he swam away. I have never seen such detail of a fish in water like that! I think I was shaking from the excitement of the experience for at least an hour after it occurred. After the tournament, we spoke to a couple guys that did well. They were fishing a little deeper than us and were able to land a 11.7lb laker, a 10lb pike, and a 7.5lb pike. I left before the awards, but it sounded like they were going to win the trout, pike, and lunker division...great fishing guys! It was a fun experience to fish a lake I have never been on, but I am not sure if I want to fish it again (when there is ice). I do, however, want to try out some spring pike fishing on it! --Joe

Jr, I think those look pretty awesome. When will you be able to give them a try on the ice? Keep us updated with how well they work for you...and maybe a picture or two of a few of your first fish on them! --Joe

I was reading last night a great forum topic over at Mostly Muskies (Larry Jone's site). It was all about if we should have a musky season that is open all year. The topic was created to see how many people would be interested in a season like this and what it would take to get it to happen. The interest was very high, but it sounds like NY is not for it because of the costs associated with the change. I learned a ton about Chautauqua Musky through the posts in the topic...like no natural reproduction, how PA and OH has already adopted to a style like this, that the hatchery at pendergrast gathers the musky eggs from other lakes, and the associated costs to making changes. After reading the article, I started to think of my thoughts on something like this. I personally would expect another 5-10 trips down to Chautauqua if the season was extended. If I would calculate costs of gas, tolls, food, purchases from the Happy Hooker, and more, it would be a good sum of money brought to NYS businesses. This is just for 1 person. I figured I would carry over the conversation to this board (even though the final verdict sounds like Albany has no interest in this idea) to get another set of opinions from many guys that fish Chautauqua. --Joe

Thanks for sharing your experience catching some awesome looking fish. It just makes me that much more anxious for the spring/summer seasons to start back up --Joe

Larry, You should be back in buffalo by now...how was the trip south? Could you tell us a little more about the Butler Show? I am trying to talk Chad (BlueEye) into taking the ride with me to the show. How many vendors are usually there? Does it get a good turn out? ... Thanks! --Joe

Awesome sled Mick. Along with the rod holders, you might want to add a holder for...lets say your beer! I am not sure if you guys get this show in Rochester, but we (Buffalo) get a TV show on a Canadian channel called the Red Green show. During the show, he has a segment called the Handyman's corner. If we add a little duct tape to your sled, I can see this on his segment. --Joe

Welcome to the board Lance! Chad: Will you be going to the show in Butler? I was thinking about taking the trip to see it, but not sure yet. I know Sperry will be there along with Larry. Might be a fun time! --Joe

Old Man, Sadly, I do not think this will work. Musky season on Waneta is currently closed, and you still get people like this that still keep them! It is crazy that some people could care less about the fishing regulations that were put in place to help fishing for years to come. I wish I had alternative thoughts on how to solve people not releasing them, but nothing comes to mind... --Joe

Happy Birthday Larry! Will you try to smoke your age in cigarettes today? --Joe

I know I am a day late, but I wanted to wish everyone a very happy new year! Last year was my first year targeting Musky, and it was my favorite year of fishing yet. A goal for this new year is to try out and learn a few different lakes. I spent all of last year on Chautauqua. I know the majority of my fishing will still be at Chautauqua, but it will be fun seeing the other lakes and learning what they have to offer. Also, I spent a lot of time diversifying my fishing style between casting and trolling. I am hooked on both styles, and I would love to learn more about both. I cannot wait for the season to start back up and hope everyone here is just as excited as I am! Does anyone else want to share their goals for 2010? Here is to the new year, and seeing you all back on the lake! --Joe

Zach, Make sure to take before and after pictures of the lures you do. It will be fun to see all the differences! --Joe