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Pete Collin

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  1. Pete Collin
    Seanymph, I actually sympathize with the folks at the pier. They want to fish Sandy, but NYS didn't provide the shorebound any access. I'm polite and friendly to them, launch and take out efficiently, and the process goes smoothly without too many ruffled feathers. Thanks for the planer board tips. Pete
  2. Pete Collin
    I was out at first light and did well for the first 2 hours. Many lost fish and those that I did land were hooked on the hind hook on the tip of their lips. Hooked at least 3 chinooks, only landed one that was 32 inches. I find that walleye boards don't do well with big fish. They pop loose, slide down the line, and knock the fish off or make it very hard to reel them in with the added drag. Will probably fabricate some boards and a mast in my shop eventually to be rid of that problem. The lead core down the chute did pretty well. That was my lightest rod and it was exciting playing the fish on it. Used sticks on the toplines and a Mooslook taped orange on the lead core. Action got very slow by the time it started raining. Little flurry at the creek mouth as I was pondering coming in for the day. Got a laker and missed another nice fish on the lead core before i quit at noon. Ended with 9 netted, another half dozen missed, mixture of browns up to 27 inches, small coho, one 28 inch laker, and the 32 inch chinook. Really enjoyable day on the water. Not even that crowded despite the derby. I was the 3rd or fourth boat to lauch, didn't have to wait at all. Pete Collin
  3. Pete Collin
    sANDY cREEK cAM Link doesn't seem to work anymore.
  4. Pete Collin
    If that is a coho, that is one of the biggest I ever got! May have to go in the woods to examine the carcass. Here's a closeup of the tail. I read somewhere that a coho's tail will collapse when gripped, while a chinook has a more defined "wrist" that makes it easier to grab. This tail looks like it will collapse. Anyone with a verdict?
  5. Pete Collin
    Mortigan, you did a fine job with the camera! Thanks again!
  6. Pete Collin
    Jeremy, did your fish show up on the sonar? I didn't spend a great deal of time searching. It was so calm that jigging would have been perfect had I found them. You were probably further east than I was.
  7. Pete Collin
    One of these days I want to get a nice atlantic like that!
  8. Pete Collin
    Let me get this straight for the last time.....black mouth means which?
  9. Pete Collin
    Hello All, I finally got into a real springtime LO brown trout jamboree like I have read about in these boards for years! I arrived at the launch at sunrise, and a good sized gang had already launched by then. It looked like most guys were circling the creek mouth. Being one to avoid crowds, I trolled eastward in 8-10 foot water. Good color to the water - never less than 3 feet of visibility or so. The bite was steady on stickbaits and never let up. Was getting juvenile salmon mixed with the browns. Lots of little ones, but got a couple gooe 5-6 pounders that fought well. Hooked a nice 8-10 pound chrome fish that jumped and jumped, fought real hard. it came off just behind the boat, so i couldn't see if it was a silvery brown or a salmon. Couldn't get over how placid the whole lake was. I have fished many sunny calm days where you get an hour of action at first light then nothing. I went several miles down the coast, catching fish along the way, then turned around and trolled right across the creek mouth, discovering why there is such a congregation there. Every pass across the creek mouth yeilded at least one bite. It wasn't too hard avoiding everyone's planer boards, just had to pay attention. The floating logs were a little tougher to avoid. Well they bit all day, and were still biting when I quit at 1:00. I went out to 60-80 foot depths to try and find the lakers that somebody else mentioned recently, but could find none. Got to see and hear loons, mergansers, oldsquaw ducks and other waterfowl while out there. When I came back in, I made one more good pass along the shore and got a big whallop. Took me a while to get him in on light tackle, a nice shiny 31 inch chinook salmon. I've caught many twice as heavy, but it was a thrill, having caught only a few chinooks out of my own boat. Different animal than what you get in the streams in the fall. It seemed like everybody else was catching fish out there. What a great day after a long winter. I finished with 16 landed and several drop-offs. Even had a small steelhead in the mix. Will have to tie me over for a couple of weeks. Pete Collin www.pcforestry.com
  10. Pete Collin
    Hello All, I am pleased to say that both the main motor and the kicker started up and ran perfectly today. I had to don chest waders to launch, and by the time I got back, the docks were put in. Now that's what I call service! Went many hours without a strike. I am new to the "shallow spring browns" game, and wondered what I was doing wrong. I kept reminding myself that, in LO, you are always one 10 pound fish away from having a great day. At least it was enjoyable watching the huge flights of migrating waterfowl. One of these days I am going to learn all the different species of duck. There are always ones on LO that I don't see inland. First strike came around 11:00. Then I had about a 2 hour spree of getting many hits. I landed 7 fish. All browns except for a big 29 inch laker. The last fish was a treat. Smashing strike on my outside planer board, follwed by a run. Big silvery jump, made me wonder if I hooked a salmon. Played him carefully and landed a 28 inch male brownie - biggest I ever caught from a boat. Then it got cold and a breeze kicked up. So I quit around 3:00. So great to be fishing again. i guess you all can imagine! Pete Collin www.pcforestry.com
  11. Pete Collin
    There is a Pat McManus short story called "The Claw of the Sea Puss". In it, it mentions bananas being bad luck. I wonder if that is what started the superstition? At the time I first read the story (some 30 years ago), that was the first I heard of it.
  12. Pete Collin
    William, I am a consulting forester, not a logger. The whole saga surrounding my friend's boat is predicated by the fact that I really can't afford a big boat. Not without marital repercussions! Pete
  13. Pete Collin
    http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/outposts/post/enormous-lake-trout-far-heavier-than-world-record-but-theres-a-serious-snag/
  14. Pete Collin
    Hello All, Some of you may remember a post I made about a firend with a nice 21 foot Penn Yan that he never used. I was pondering whether to approach him with the proposition that if he left the boat in my care, I would keep it in good repair and street legal, and let him know when the bite was on. At first I had doubts about doing something like that (which we discussed on this board), but the purchase of a V8 truck and the fact that red oak markets are very good right now made me pull the trigger and approach him. He liked the idea. that was a couple of months ago, since which time I had visions of a wonderful summer spent up on Lake Ontario, trolling and jigging without being as worried about or limited by the weather in my little 16 footer. this would be the summer that I really give myself a case of fishermen's tennis elbow! So i went to visit the boat where he keeps it parked (outside) to see what things it will need. It was covered with snow and ice and was hard to examine. But the blanket of white couldn't conceal the glaring fact that the duellie trailer has been in a bad crash. One side of the wishbone frame was hit and stove in about 2 feet from the tongue. the tongue itself is bent about 25 degrees out of whack. I just felt this big sinking feeling. i don't even know if you could tow it the way it is, in order to bring it to a launch to float it off the old trailer should you buy a new one. With 2 flat tires, you'd need to buy tires just to get it off the old trailer! My friend gave me a budget as to what he'd be willing to spend to get the boat running again (don't think it has been started in 6 years or so), but a new trailer would exhaust that. The way things are, i don't know if I would take it if he gave the boat to me. What a shame. i rode this boat a few times years ago on Lake Erie, and it is a very nice craft. if I had approached him 6 years ago, the boat would be ship shape today. The only fate i see for this once fine boat is to sit under the sun until the fiberglass delaminates. Gonna have to be happy with my humble little 16 footer! Think Spring You All, Pete Collin www.pcforestry.com
  15. Pete Collin
    In this post, it's not clear what you are asking money for. What is a "lift project"?
  16. Pete Collin
    I have been a forester for 24 years and never had a problem with them. For many of those years, I had a dog with me. That will cut down on your wildlife sightings in general! but there have been quite a few times where I would catch a doglike shape out of the corner of my eye, call for my pooch, then get annoyed that he didn't come right away. The coyote would get unnerved by my shouting and take off, sometimes with my dog behind it. I am a large man and doubt that a coyote would have the nerve to come after me. The one time I got a little nervous was one March morning I found the remains of a yearling deer that got eaten the night before. From the tracks you could tell that several coyotes were involved in its capture. the thing was that there was not a scrap of flesh left on the carcass. Those critters were hungry. Maybe they had room for more. That's the only time I ever worked in the woods in NY while looking over my shoulder every so often.
  17. Pete Collin
    Keep'n, You're killing me! We quit precicely when we drove into the south area with all the fish!
  18. Pete Collin
    Nice fish Mike.
  19. Pete Collin
    I've always said that you're too close if you could shoot a clay pigeon tossed from the other boat.
  20. Pete Collin
    Nice job releasing him!
  21. Pete Collin
    Thanks for all the help guys. I bought a new axle and put it in myself. We'll see how this one works. Was a bit annoyed that I also had to buy new hubs. The old ones didn't fit. you'd think something like that would be standardized. Pete
  22. Pete Collin
    A friend of mine foul-hooked a walleye that was blue in the Oak Orchard years ago while steelhead fishing. It was so blue that I called the DEC and spoke to a fisheries guy. He flatly said that all the blue pike are dead, and it was just a variation in color. He was so uninterested in my question that he must have gotten calls like that all the time. Years later, I was up in Canada and caught many walleye that were just as blue as a windex bottle. i should look for the old print pictures, since you may find them interesting.
  23. Pete Collin
    Mike, That would be great if we could get out this fall. I'll bring the bananas!
  24. Pete Collin
    Hello All, My game plan was to slow-troll for lake trout until I found a jiggable population of them, then go after them with the light tackle. Well it took me a while to find their depth, and I burbled my way downwind in 90 FOW until I reached the Devil's Nose. It's funny how the Nose is such a slight bump, it wouldn't deserve a name in the Southern Tier where I live. But on the vast featureless LO shoreline, it looks like the Matterhorn out there, visible for miles. It was right in front of it that I got a massive strike. Lakers have a signature style of battle, with big, slow headshakes and boring down to the bottom. Well my Seth Green rod had a big deep bend in it, but the tip was quivering fast. By the time I got the rod in my hands, I saw a big crashing leap out behind the boat, cartwheeling and swapping ends. i couldn't even finish saying "HOLY S-" before it broke me off. Reel in, and discovered that the line didn't break. The actual spoon broke. My leader was still firmly tied onto the brazed O-ring of a Sutton spoon. That thin metal can't withstand the twist and tug of a 10 pound steelhead! So lakers like a slow troll, steelhead like it fast. When they hit while you are doing it "wrong", that means they are hungry! I backed up and made another pass. Next fish was another steelie. i played it so carefully, lightening the drag for the inevitable rips. He gave me more of the dazzling jumps that you go to bed dreaming about. I din't lose him - 27 inches long. Another pass and I got a 4 or 5 pound steelhead and laker, both which shook off at the boat. (the steelhead did so with another stylish jump) After that, the bite died and I couldn't get any of the many bottom blips to strike. Sunday I went back and trolled the same stretch. 3 lakers and one steelhead, all in the first hour and a half. Then the bite died and no amount of goading could get them to play. Seth Green rigs aren't ideal for a fish that wants to run around, jump and charge the boat. But when you set out for lakers and get screeched instead, that's a nice suprise! Pete Collin www.pcforestry.com
  25. Pete Collin
    Hello All, Been a while since I've gotten out. Had my trailer all fixed up with fresh wiring and a new axle that hopefully won't chew up my tires anymore. There was a forecast of nice flat calm conditions so I was up at 4:00 AM for a trip. Was pulling out of the garage and discovered that the lights weren't working. No way am i going to drive an hour and a half in the dark without lights. So I fiddled and poked all morning with the trailer, eventually pulling out the entire harness that I so painstakingly strung through the frame. What I discovered that the ground connection, which is attached to the tongue, wasn't reaching the rear part. Either the rust or the coating on the tongue kept there from being a good connection with the rest of the frame. Took me all morning to figure that out. Joined front and back with a short piece of wire, and everything was glowing again. I launched at 1:30 PM. Bright and sunny - not best conditions of a good bite but at least it was calm enough for me to get out there. What is it with the wind often coming out of the exact opposite direction as forecast? I was expecting outgoing winds, but the breeze came from the NE, with some 2 foot rollers. Plenty safe for small craft, but a very bouncy ride and tough steering for trolling. Ran a shallow program, seeing plenty of marks from 20-50 FOW. No hits. I wanted to check on the lakers to see if they were where I left them. Went out to 100 FOW, and there they were on the bottom just like before. Trolled and jigged for a few hours, catching one and losing one. For the last hour of daylight I wanted to run shallow again, trying for a king or brown. With 2 lead cores and one downrigger, I worked from 30 - 50 foot depths. I could see marks peeling off the bottom to look at the rigger ball, so I was poised for something to happen. The rigger fired, and I fought both the fish and the steering wheel as I fan into the wind. It looked like a fat brown, and I patted myself on the back as I went to net what turned out to be a great big sheepshead! Oh well. I was expecting to see kings jumping at sundown the way I had seen them do out in the lake before. Nothing happened. The surface temp was 67 degrees. Looks like that wind blew in some warm water. I pondered trolling past sundown, but it was enough of a struggle trolling by myself by daylight! So i bagged it and wove my way through the pier fishermen on the way out. Not a great trip, but at least I got to play with my boat. Pete Collin www.pcforestry.com
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