Gill-T

Get a green pattern, an orange pattern, and a black on white pattern. Hard to go wrong with NK's, Michigan Stingers, Dreamweaver SS, Northport Nailers, Silver streaks

Will see water next weekend. I probably put 150 hours into this project.

NiiiCCCEEEE! You are loving that bath water lately.

That was because you were making your own "bubbling" sounds. Too much coffee I guess.

If you see underwater footage of Kings striking a flasher/fly you could see how easily it is to loose a fish. I believe the strikevision underwater downrigger camera site has some footage you can watch. Drag tightness with wire or braid divers is crutial to success and changes during the fight. From underwater footage you can see that after a king hits a fly and turns, the hook gets stuck usually in the corner of the mouth. Once the fish feels the hook it's next response is usually universal.....the fish will backpedal while shaking it's head in an attempt the throw the hook. This initial head shaking is denoted by the diver rod violently bouncing up and down and is usually the time the "hit and miss" crap happens. At this point I am pulling the diver rod out of the holder, walking back towards the transom while LOOSENING the drag slightly. During that initial head shake phase I want "give" in the line to keep the fish from tearing out the hooks. Then next response from the fish once it realizes it can't free itself is to RUN. That wonderful, beautiful initial run we all love. Let them go. Let them tire while slowly centering themselves to the rear of the boat away from all other junk lines. I will slowly start to tighten the drag again if I feel I can gain on the fish. When the fish is close to netting you need to be ready to loosen the drag again if you see them turn quick with a tail slap. With the tight connection and no-stretch line, hooks can pull or straighten easily at the end of the battle.

Last year while at Wilson.....in my slip, someone during the spring ESLO derby took my nice canister-type fuel filter and replaced it with a dented cheapo. Could have been dangerous if I had not noticed the swap and if the filter was not put on tight-gas leak. Well this past Niagara Pro/Am "Jason" from LOU was sleeping on my boat and noticed an airbuble sound coming from the hull. This bothered me because there was more than usual water pouring out of the plug hole after I pulled the boat at the end of the tournament. With the nagging question of the water in the hull, and my month-long hardtop project coming to an end, yesterday I started inspecting the hull for possible leaks. When I inspected the transom.......there it was, a screw missing from the bracket on my shallow water transducer! What is disturbing about this discovery is that the screw HAD to removed by someone with ill intent. This spring I reset all my transom screws with 3M 5200. The new screw I install was plenty tight on the threads so I could not have pulled out on its own. Considering Jason who was sleeping on my slowly sinking boat, could have drown. Considering my family will be using the boat. Considering everything bad that could have happened.......this was a CRIMINAL ACT. Luckily my bilge was able to keep up with the weeping hole water influx. Please remember to check all fittings, screws etc. etc. before heading out. Don't assume everything is OK. The boat was drydocked at Boat Doctors this spring so if anyone has info about people messing with boats in Niagara county please PM me. Thank you.

I can't believe I misspelled disciplinarian....Ray you were on my boat.....is your misspelling disease contagious?

Could be a lost antler due to rough-housing. A patient of mine helps to run a deer rehabilitation center in WNY for injured deer. Seeing penned deer interact is facinating. Deer gender tendancies are very similar to human tendancies. Does are the cranky disciplinarians that teach fawns survival, and the bucks just love to play. Bucks love messing/playing with fawns especially.

Wilson Boat Yard or Sunset Bay Marina would be your two choices.

I would start with putting a hook on the rear of the bait!!! Browns are nippers.

Carb problem, water in the gas ......lots of reasons.

If the water is stained...probably an algae bloom. Blooms can deplete the water of oxygen and make the fish sluggish. Just a guess. Probably need a good south or north wind to roil the lake to get the fish snapping again.

Fleas are never bad in Erie. Too much flow in and out. Stagnant water=fleas.

You will love it. Great fish/family platform at a resonable price. Fit and finish.....stinks, but who cares. The amount of cuddy space to fishing space is why I like the layouts of the Trophys. My 23' model can sleep four comfortably and has plenty of fishing space. Not sure of the power on the outboard model, but you can fish year'round with the setup.

Some fish like Tarpon have a primitive lung/swim bladder thingy and will gulp air on occasion to regulate themselves. Maybe Muskies and Pike do it aswell????? Maybe distress from swallowing a perch or blugill the wrong way and the barbs are sticking???

I never can find Mag stickers. I just use two standard ladders per spoon, with the second cut to length as needed.

Anytime you take up a firearm, bow or fishing rod to hunt or fish you except as a predator that you will potentially kill something. Unlike other predators we have morals and often choose to find a creature alive is worth more than one dead. However, nothing lives forever so do your best on CR for muskies and don't beat yourself up over it.......it was the fish's time.

Get Trout Unlimited involved.

That fish does look 30 lbs!! You might have been screwed by a bad scale?

I have been given advise to use Weather.com. I like the real time weather buoy info found on Olcottfishing.com under the Olcott buoy icon at the top.

I thought the policy was to carry over entrance fees to the following year if you cannot make the tournament?

Was down at Lake Erie yesterday and today. NOAA's wave and wind forecast has let me down before......but holy cow! Less than 10 mph NE wind? It was BLOWING 15-25mph steady SW and W both days off the Catt. with 3-6' waves. Good news is there should be a fresh batch of Walleyes that blew over from Ohio, and Penn No fishing for me just beach time with the fam.

Chiropractor.......maybe a quick fix.

Great......now when are you bringing your rig to DeErie?

I have two daughters, and they need to see fish every 15 minutes or they get bored. For numbers, look at the graph and find bait. The bait balls will give you clues what the temp is as they are usually in water in the 50's. Put a bait at the bottom of the bait ball, in the middle, and top. Put a flasher/fly 10-20' below the bait for bigger fish.