Gill-T

Turn at the light in Youngstown and go to the free launch. Brand new and won't hurt your outdrive like the fort launch. Will be a zoo tommorow off the Niagara with the tournament going on.

All my divers have a small pinch-pad release above the foregrip on the rod. Place the wire or braid into the pinch pad to keep it from creeping.

Was down working on my boat yesterday and I noticed just upstream from the marina a huge colony of Cormorants in the trees. Was wondering with the DEC oiling the eggs on colonies in the eastern end of the lake, could we get a similar program started on this end of the lake? Anybody know who we can contact about this. Those baby steelhead don't stand a chance if released.

Pick your poison good man. The sure thing is trolling the shoreline for browns, cohos, with a dabbling of Lakers, Kings or Atlantics as incidental catches. If you see boats deeper......they are probably on Kings/Lakers, in which case you will want your dipsys. You could get away with just spoons this time of year but you might as well bring some Flasher/fly combos. Your biggest challenge this time of year is not IF you will catch fish but CAN you fish due to the weather.

This time of year .......no matter what NOAA says, if weather is coming in, you are going to get NE or E winds. It can be blowing from the south right at the marina, but as that warmer air hits the cold air bank over the lake, the wind curls around the bank like an air foil and will blow across the lake in a completely different direction. Been burnt enough over the years to learn you have to become your own Lake O weather man. Don' t rely on NOAA!!!!!

Apparently there are Kings off Olcott. Nice report.

Gee Tim........seems to me you might be awhile and your slip is empty. Leave the key to the dock lock under my door mat eh buddy? I feel your pain. When you were catching all those Kings in July last year, I was rebuilding my hardtop. Man there was a lot of wood rot. You really should have taken my suggestion to either get a port-a-potty or at least a piss can to prevent that from happening again PS I will stop posting pictures of fish I catch until you finish.........naw

More Pics to crash your computer

Fishing Report Your Name / Boat Name: ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): Time on Water:9:00-1:30 Weather/Temp: Wind Speed/Direction:West, NW, N, NE, then East Waves: Surface Temp: 46 Location: LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: Too many to count Total Boated: Species Breakdown:Kings, Lakers, Cohos Hot Lure: Northport Nailer Blue Mahi-glow, Mag Shoehorn spoon, Capt. Valium SD/A-tom-mik Mirage/glow Trolling Speed: A little over 2 MPH downspeed Down Speed: Boat Depth: 50-70' Lure Depth: 10'-2 color --60' ================= What can I say. THE BEST FISHING I HAVE EVER EXPERIANCED. Started out of the chute with Kings in mind at the bright and early time of 9:00. Hooks everywhere. The rods started snapping as I was putting them down. KINGS, KINGS, KINGS. Nonstop action with no more than 5-10 minutes between bites with doubles, triples and quads. We fininshed with all rods cleared by fish. Two and three year old kings mostly, but we also took probably over 15 Lakers between 12-18 lbs. I had a 2 color out that took two Cohos that I soon pulled because It was a pain to keep in the water with all the other fish hitting. ====================

Olcott has had them since mid-March when the Emerald Shiners came in. Getting them now in the transition colored water between the muddy stuff and the green lake water.....approx. 12-15' FOW. Hitting small sticks with rattles. They taste the same as last year

The Catt. gets stocked pretty heavy with Browns. I often catch them jig fishing during the May trophy smallmouth season. NONE THAT BIG! Nice brown.

Bow rail may not be sturdy enough. You need some serious consideration for backing plates and hardware because these boards soak water and are heavy pullers.

King

Since Coyotes have reclaimed the Southern Tier of NY, I have seen fewer does with two fawns. QDM tactics push for the removal of mature does so not to shoot button bucks. I think this is a mistake. A mature doe knows how to live with coyotes and teach their offspring how to survive. Since they taste better and are less likely to survive the winter, I try to shoot a yearling doe on my antlerless tags. I used to pass on shooting coyotes because I thought they would make the herd stronger. Traditional big-deer provinces and states have always had predators and yet they grow bigger deer. My thinking was flawed. Coyotes are opportunists, indescriminately killing any fawns weak or healthy. If you get a shot take it.

Better chance to get big Kings in evening IMO. Those big kings that spend their day inactive in ice-water get hungry and move inshore and higher in the water.

Glad you had a good day . Not much happening at the Oak yet?

Rod, sorry for misinterpreting your involvement with the change. I took litterally. I also know you and EVERYONE is trying to do the right thing. DON'T TAKE ANYTHING personal. The committee had a chance to sit around a round table or computer and debate the changes. Did anyone take THAT banter personal? LOU is our only outlet to discuss and hopefully shape the tournament future. I think it is remarkable that we even have a voice......but it was the commitee that opened the door of discussion last year on THIS forum. So I would not call it crying Rod. Rod, I have not forgotten how you and your wife helped to get me into my first event, and as a fellow competitor I have tried to do similar acts to get other teams involved. Look the last thing we need is MORE tournaments springing up. So lets get it right! More tournaments means the talent pool gets dilluted as teams can't do them all and must choose. Think about the Masters golf tournament that just fininshed. Having four tournament venues where ALL the top teams and players are present makes for a more prestigous event. Nobody likes to be dismissed. When people feel dismissed they go off and start a new tournament.

Rod, I DON'T think the open division is misunderstood. This is not rocket science. You had an AM format that was the mirror image of the Pro division. A good measuring stick for the weekend warrior to compare themselves to the Pro teams. A level of prestige developed for the AM event because it was run with the same rules and required an observer. Any whiff of the ability to cheat in an event reduces the prestige of that event. To be able to start at any time and fish during the night, out of any port, with no observer........you are asking for trouble. If the Open division format was so great, why was there zero shift from the AM division into the Open division? I like the idea of offering the open format but not at the expense of the AM division. With all due respect Rod, if this was your baby, why did you push the change and then promptly depart to a bigger boat in the Pro division? Given the state of the economy all tournaments have seen a downturn.......unless the format gives anglers the best chance, best value for their time and money (see also WHI with no open communication). I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND the need to change the Pro format. Lets face it, a team with a large vessel that eats gas is not going to enjoy competing on day 2 after a poor day 1 leaves them with no chance to place in the money. I bet there were a ton of captains driving around on day 2 of the Orleans Co. event wondering "what the hell are we doing out here", when every fiber of competiveness in those captains would have loved to make the run to the bar or I-Bay to win something on day 2, many realized the futility and decided to stay close to port and save on the gas bill. I think the LOU effect was also discounted. Think about the power this site has to reach out, educate and develop future teams (don't get a big head Chad). I know the tournament has been around a long time with diminished returns but there are comparatively less anglers fishing for salmon since the 80's. Population has moved south. Cost of gas. Lots of reasons. The AM division had probably 100% satisfaction with the format among contestants.........SO WHY CHANGE? Do you remember when Coke Cola decided to change it's formula? Perhaps, the committee could reach out to other charter captains and find a way to make it easier to involve their clients' paid-for charter with tournament play to lessen the burden of missing a pay day? Or.........say close communication so Charter Captains will be more inclined to compete if they know the deck will not be stacked against them. Why would any Charter Captain knowingly give up a pay day with clients, pay entry fees, acrue a large gas bill if they know groups of teams are sharing intel. How daunting! Now you want AM teams to do the same? I know small boats can get into good boxes, but please don't tell me it is a level playing field. With a big transom, doubles and triples are no problem. An eight foot transom with a dog box......one good fish on and everything stops. Lines have to be pulled. Yelling insues. Some like the stress. Some of the older contestant regulars who compete as much for the good times and friendships as the thought of winning see the light and probably will not make the jump. Myself and others feel sad, like saying goodbye to a college friend that you know you will never see again.

Thanks for the memories. R.I.P.

Hope your garage home improvement project went swell Adam . Man, you have got to get your priorities straight . Could have used you today, too hard to work planer board tactics with two guys in waves.

Fishing Report Your Name / Boat Name:Gill-T Hooker ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): Time on Water:9:30-2:00 Weather/Temp: Wind Speed/Direction: Waves: 1-3' Surface Temp: 46 degrees Location: LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 18? Total Boated:15? Species Breakdown: Hot Lure: Trolling Speed: 2 mph Down Speed: Boat Depth: 12-18 Lure Depth: ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS Great fishing continues along Niagara County. Great thing is you don't have to get out there at the crack o'dawn, as fish bite all day. Fished the stained water in 12-14' FOW and managed a mixed bag of cohos, lakers and a ton of really quality Browns. UV- firetiger thunderstick jr.'s, Northport Nailer Orange/Ice/Glow-gold, RR UV-coated spooks, and a demo plug I am testing. Lost a GIANT Brown in the high teens as it jumped into my chute leadcore All lines took fish ....clean plugs, plugs and spoons with split shot, riggers, 1.5 color core. ====================

You need a thru-hull transducer.

A technique that has been used since at least the 80's is to put various split shot weights ahead of the spoon. Deeper depths can be achieved with rubbercore sinkers. Go high in the water column early and then drop your baits deeper, later in the day is a good rule of thumb. Lighter weights on the outside lines, heavier weights on the inside lines when using planer boards.

Measurement is from the knot at the the base of the loop attachment, back to where the tow line enters the holes in the board.