Pete Collin

I love early spring trolling, but never get to go enough each year to get good at it. One thing I don't have a handle on is when the fish want to hit a lure in your prop wash. Last year I was out I'm March with my buddy, and we got 6 browns. Feeling good, we met guys at the launch who had a 25 fish day. They were very nice and tried not to be condescending. Turns out the secret was that they were running long leads off their planer boards, which were let out far from the boat. What I gathered from that was that the fish can be skittish of your boat. Next trip out I used long leads and fdid far better. What I wonder about is that I remember trips where I put a lead core with a snap weight right behind the kicker. In 10 foot of water, it got a lot of the action. What determines that? Why would fish be either spooked by the boat or attracted by the churning propeller,,? I never get to make enough trips to figure it out for myself.

Hence the cheat sheet!

While doing the online boaters' course, I was interested in the section that discussed the horn signals to other boaters of your intentions. Such as, when you troll towards another boat, bow-to-bow, you give a short horn blast to say you intend to pass on the other guy's starboard (left) side. The other boat should signal with a short blast to let you know it is understood. In the past I would do all kinds of pantomimes to communicate this. The horn blasts are simple and efficient. Only thing is, you have to trust that the other boat knows this code, and remembers it. How many of you that have taken the course feel like you'll remember the horn signals on the water? I want to carry a little cheat sheet with me.

Thank you Gill..

Hello All, I have a fishing buddy who was badly hurt in an industrial accident a few years ago. Steve is lucky to be alive. There were a couple of years where he was housebound, a couple of years where he could fish but had to do short days. Steve lawyered up and his claim has finally been settled. He called me today to announce the purchase of a brand new Lund fishing boat. With all he has been through, Steve said that he just wants to enjoy the rest of his life as much as he can. Among all the trips we are scheming to make together, starting next year, is a Canadian pike fishing trip. I don't know that much about trips you might make when departing from Niagara Falls. Can anybody suggest some lakes we might try for pike? Man, it just turned winter and already I'm pining for next fishing season. After years of his pain and uncertainty, I can't wait to help Steve celebrate this triumph.

I went through the rigamarole you're supposed to do with the starter to send oil through the system. Never worked for me. So I fog the cylinders and call it good. By the way, I found a combination of tools that got the offending plug out.

Hello All, I have an odd dilemma with my main motor. I like to fog the cylinders for the winter. But one of the spark plugs (the bottom one) is located in a space where it is incredibly tough to get a wrench down there. All I could manage was to get a crescent wrench in the tight space and do little 1/8 turns at a time. First time I actually broke the ceramic part of the plug. Was never sure if I tightened the replacement properly. Is there some special Evinrude wrench for this task? Pete

I was trolling Canandaigua Lake with a bottom bouncing rig. Got a strike and reeled in. When my lure got near the boat, I could see my colorful lure in the water, and feel the fight of the fish, but saw no fish! Turns out I had snagged somebody's broken-off copper line. A fish bit on the copper-line spoon after my rod gave it a yank, and I brought him all the way in!