Nalod

Thanks for the birthday wishes guys! No fishing today, but hopefully I will be out there later this week --joe

Larry, Just so I understand what I am looking for...the rods say on them "Custom Built For Capt Larry D Jones", right? I will keep a lookout for them. Hopefully they will turn up and you can catch who stole them!

Larry, I completely agree with you canceling this tournament and really respect you for making this decision. To me, making the hard decision to cancel a tournament for the safety of the fish shows your great character and respect for the fishery. Thanks, --Joe

Monday, July 2 Lake: Chautauqua Fishing Time: 5:30PM - 7:30PM Weather: Sunny and 80 I had to run down to Chautauqua to check on my boat (I have been having issues with the live well system turning the pump on even though the switch is in the off position). After doing a little cleaning and some more testing, I decided to take the boat out for a couple hours to fish the flats. I ended the day with no fish in the boat but had 1 follow. The temps still seem a little off. The Flats were around 76.5 degrees while I found 80 degree temps in Irwin Bay. Also, boat traffic was not great, but not as bad as I had expected. Still, the few boats that were out in the flats (north winds -- so I the wind was not the issue) caused good waves and made casting an interesting event. I still want to head down to the south end of the lake to give casting a try down there, but knew my time was limited yesterday and wanted to fish as long as I possibly could in the little time I had. --Joe

As excited and determined as I was for the musky season opener, I am now completely humbled by the tough bite at the start of the season. My goal for the year is to keep a close eye on my fishing days and track what was caught and what time was spent not catching. Until I have a better tool to track these, I figured why not use the forum! Saturday, June 16 Lake: Chautauqua Fishing time: 8AM - 8PM Weather: Sunny (bluebird skies) in the 70s I could barely sleep the night before. By the time I got the boat to the lake, I was already exhausted...not good for when you plan on casting all day! The entire day was a struggle just to see a fish let alone catch one. We ended the day with one missed hit and around 8 follows. I threw pretty much every lure in the tackle box just trying to see what looked good in the water and what should be removed for the rest of the season. The majority of my time was spent throwing Lunge Lumber lures. I also threw a bunch of bucktails expecting that fast fur over the weeds would have been the key with such warm water temps. Thursday, June 21 Lake: Chautauqua Fishing time: 2PM - 9PM Weather: Too hot! Sunny, Humid, and upper 80s. I took out a new friend from the Niagara Musky Association to show him some good casting and trolling spots on the lake. This is his first year targeting this species, and I wanted to get him off on the right foot. We spent a little time in the south, but then I took him north to show a couple casting spots and then the rest of the night trolling around the bell tower. We did not see a follow nor have a hit in the little time we casted. We also had nothing on the troll. It was still good to get out and see all of the great looking bait and hooks near the Institute. Friday, June 22 Lake: Chautauqua Fishing time: 7AM-11AM and 4PM-8:30PM Weather: Overcast and 70s We spent the day practicing for the tournament. We hit most of our casting holes looking for what had the best water (not overgrown with weeds, holding good temps, water color, etc). We ended the day with a few follows, but that was it. The lake seemed as if it was dead! Oh, I forgot to mention that we hooked up with a big school of gar pike and had at least 12 follows in about an hour. Chad even caught one on a 6" lure...pretty neat to see one up close. When we got back to the docks, we make a bold decision that this tournament was going to be tough to win on the casting bite, so we set the boat up with our rod holders and trolling gear. Saturday, June 23 Lake: Chautauqua Fishing time: 5:00AM-4:30PM Weather: Sunny and 70s Notes: Chad had already written a great writeup on the Bait Fish Fund Tournament. Please read his also as he gave more information on the entire day. To start the early morning, we setup at the best looking casting spot we saw yesterday and threw around a few lures. It was tough to see if we had any follows because of the time of day, but we did see a bunch of musky surfacing around us. At 6AM, we packed up and drove to the launch to pick up our 3rd team member. He got on the boat and we ran to our trolling grounds around the bell tower. We ended up catching a 43" thick musky at 8:30AM near the center of the lake (37ft of water). The fish hit off of a Baker bait in perch color. We kept trolling until 11:30 where we decided to get away from the pleasure boater traffic and see if the casting bite was getting any better. For the couple hours spent in the flats, we had a couple follows and a missed hit to our name...not enough. The rest of the day was spent back in front of the bell tower trying to get another big fish hit, but no luck. On the fortunate side, it sounded like most of the 121 tournament entries were also struggling to find the fish (especially the big girls). We ended up getting third place. On an even brighter note, my buddy that I took out on Thursday caught a 45" fish which gave him second place! Sunday, June 24 Lake: Chautauqua Fishing time: 6AM - 10:00AM Weather: Sunny and 60s to low 70s To end a fun (and tough) weekend, we decided to spend the morning trolling. There was a small storm that was supposed to come in during the afternoon -- also, the moon rise was during our fishing time...I really thought we had a good chance to hit a window like we saw the day before (we saw about 4 fish caught during a 45 minute window which included our fish). No luck! We spent the morning just burning gas and telling stories. From the tough start, I think it is time to watch the weather forecasts a little closer and also better learn the south end. I was hearing great numbers at the start of last week from the trollers in the south end. They were telling me that their numbers were extremely hot during the warm front, but the cold front that came in at the end of the week just completely shut down their bit. I will be planning another run down to Chautauqua later this week and will probably spend the majority of my day in the south end finding new spots to try. --Joe

Hey everyone, I have not seen Larry yet to ask those questions. If I see him at a launch, I will ask him about the tiebreaker for the most fish award along with how we should report multiple fish...but time is running out and I am not sure if I will see him before the tourney. Joe

Also a good question...I will post Larry's response when I see him in the next couple days. --Joe

I am not sure if Larry will be able to answer these via the forum since he is already at the lake (and I am thinking has limited Internet access). 1. Yes, the release form is the fishing contest entry blank. 2. I am not sure if my explanation will have a final answer, but let me explain how I read it... ...The most muskies caught will be based on how many muskies (over 40") were caught by 1 person. If someone has 3 and another has 2, then the person with 3 automatically wins. If there is a tie (your example: 2 people have 2 fish), then it will go to the point system. To be honest, scrap the points system and go with the total length of the fish (the math will always work out that the person with the most length of combined fish will be the winner since we are only going to this factor for a tie in amount of fish caught). So if someone catches a 41" and 40" and another catches a 41" and a 45", the person with the 41 and 45 will be the winner...but what happens if your example actually happens..and the total length is the same at 90"? Then would it just be a tie and the money is split -- or would there be another tiebreaker (like largest fish)? Great questions! If I see Larry before the tourney, I will be sure to ask him and will then post his reply here. --Joe

Nice fish indeed. Where were you fishing? --Joe

Great post Mike. The only thing I would add is that braid is very thin and strong, but is horrible when sharp things get on it. If a musky, tiger, or pike get any of the braid near their teeth, it is more than likely going to break off. That is why a leader is so important. --Joe

I have always used a uni knot for my braid. I know there are better knots out there, but this one has not failed me yet. --Joe

I just wanted to congratulate Bob (solgrande) on a really nice picture in the June/July 2012 Musky Hunter magazine -- Trophy Tails section. Great looking fish, Bob! --Joe

Great looking fish, Dan. I am kicking myself for not taking a quick trip to Ohio before the pike and tiger season opened up here in NY. It would have been fun to go for pures early...especially when the bite has been as good as it has! --Joe

That is crazy...I saw Chad's sister-in-law catch that pike this weekend while we were at Conesus Lake --Joe

That kills the skunk...now get some teeth!

I just heard from Chad...they have had a bunch of follows so far and missed one right at the boat. --Joe

Good luck guys! Do well tomorrow

Wow. That would be a minefield if the water was ever a little high...kind of reminds me of boating around Braddock's Bay! --Joe

Chad: If time is tight out there, please feel free to send me any texts/photos/videos/etc and I will immediately post them on this thread. Best of luck to you and Mike! --Joe

Walleye Season is closed in New York, but is open year round on Lake Erie in Ohio. Mark: Great fishing!