momay4000

Well I've always said - you have to post the bad and the good. My wife and I fished from 6 AM til 8 AM this morning and we posted our first "skunk" of the season. We hooked into a beauty of a king at about 7:30 and fought it for about 15 minutes until it shook. We sure had a nice look at it flicking us the fin and actually it swam at the surface behind the boat for about a minute after it shook. It bent the red single hook on an A-tom-mik Hammer fly, so my guess is that was the only hook that was set. Certainly things are changing day to day, but we marked some nice fish on the surface to 40 feet down (presumably steelhead) at the temp breaks between 69 and 70.4 degrees heading north out of I-Bay around 150-175 fow. The king hit a White/green dot spinny with a Tournament Hammer fly as mentioned above, on the port rigger 60' down over 175 fow, with a sloooooow troll 1.6 mph at the ball. Congrats to everyone who finished or was on the board at some point in the LOC. - Chris

Thanks for the report Bruce - we'll be out tomorrow and Monday AM... Hope to see ya out there - I'll be on Ch. 8 Thx, - Chris

Ditto T-Barb, I got mine in the mail today, too........personally it's still nicer (and a little more exciting) when you get them handed to you in person. - Chris

I don't remember exactly what the steps were but I had to make sure I selected the "DMU application" box at some point during the process (it did not automatically pop up simply by selecting my licenise type). When I ordered the Supersportsman package, it did not automatically prompt me to select the DMU areas either. I think it was after I submitted the credit card info. that the DMU application came up. Then after I selected the two DMU areas, I was logged off. I still haven't received the DMU permits yet in the mail.....I'll keep you all posted, but this might be my first - and last - time using the online DECALS system if this doesn't work out. - Chris

Here's my two cents: 1.) Make it a Pro-Am format with separate divisions - there's a lot of amateur fishermen(women) out of the Rochester area and I think they'd be more willing to participate if they had separate pro and amateur divisions. 2.) Make it 100% payout 3.) Have the weigh in area at a separate location from any boat launches. i.e. at a park such as Durand Eastman Park or Charlotte Beach area (to avoid a last minute boat bottleneck at the Genesee launch from lots of cars and people in the parking lot). 4.) Points for number of fish caught and total weight of the fish, with the fish having to fit NYS DEC minimum length requirements and NYS DEC creel limit for a four man crew on each boat I'd love to participate - I think it would be great and perhaps a chance to get some local sponsorship, maybe even some press coverage, from the Rochester area - Chris

FYI - I received my actual license(s) + tags today after ordering my Supersportsman online when they went on sale last week. It's the first time I did it online using DECALS, and the only problem is I didn't receive my DMU tags. Not to worry - I called the 1-800 number and the agent said that most people receive their DMU permits ("doe tags") in a separate mailing after three or four days. Perhaps some of you had the same reaction I did when the DMU permits weren't in the original mailing. Just an FYI to save any of you a phone call... - Chris

Fished from 5:30 PM til dark, mainly between the Bay and Russell. Fished 80 fow to 130 fow, marked so much bait and fish there was no need to venture out deeper. Best screen was in 110 fow, about a mile west of the Bay. Went 3 for 5 - nice 12# coho and two teen kings. We lost a nice king right at the back of the boat - the fish was as lively as I've ever seen a king and it put on an aerial show like a steelie. We put the boat in neutral to help with landing but lost it 10 feet from the transom. It's tough to judge weight in the water, but it sure seemed to be in that 25# or more class. Best bite was the riggers - 65' and 80' down, with one rip on the wire - 220' out. 42 second, wonderbread and Familiar Bite took fish. Speed - 2.0 to 2.4 mph at the ball. FWIW - Biting flies are back - maybe b/c of lack of wind... Good luck to everyone fishing, and thanks for some nice Rochester reports.... - Chris

Ladies and gentlemen, It's not often that I have done business with a company as good as Great Lakes Tackle Supplies - the suppliers of Familiar Bite - but I thought I needed to share my fantastic experience.... Two weeks ago I ordered a case of Red Label FB, but there was no confirmation that they received my online order. Consequently, when I e-mailed them with my concerns, the owner Walt personally responded that there was a problem in their electronic processing. Not to worry, however, as I received my order 36 hours later, complete with dry ice packaging and a free tray of alewives for the hassle. Certainly this wasn't necessary, but more importantly is was a token of outstanding customer service. My second experience occurred this evening, after I inquired about their custom bait heads earlier in the day. Once again, Walt contacted me - however this time is was a personal phone call late tonight after HIS long day. He spent over 30 minutes of his own time discussing how to rig the bait heads properly and he covered everything from appropriate down speed and lead length to the best sized flasher blade. He was more interested in successful fishing of his product, rather than simply making a sale. Even more importantly, he was going to prepare the rigs tonight, after we talked, just so they'd be out in the mail in the morning. As a disclaimer, I have absolutely no financial or personal ties to this company, and I don't want this to sound like free advertisement for GLTS, but in this day and age of the "lost art of customer service", they certainly bucked the trend. - Chris

Thanks Mark... I appreciate the help!! - Chris

Mark, What's your typical leader length from flasher to the bait head? Thx, - Chris

Mark, Way to go - nice fish!!! We fished on Thursday and Friday eve. Lots of marks and lots of bait. We couldn't keep the skippers off on Thursday, but Friday was tougher. Fished mainly 135 to 200 fow on Thurs., but ventured out deeper on Friday (likely was the big mistake, b/c we marked tons of fish on the way back in at 9 PM down 40 feet in 100 fow). Our hottest ticket has been the 42 second spinny/fly combo. and a white on white spinny/purple mirage combo. The rigger and wire bite has been great, although the 10 color core had a couple nice rips as well (NBK mag size spoon). We're running our Familiar Bite (red size) behind a white spinny - I'm curious what your lead length from the flasher to the alewife is.... Thanks and congrats on the nice fish, - Chris

Mark, We'll be out Thurs. and Friday evening in lieu of the weekend. Good luck....hope to see ya out there - Chris

Pretty impressive....glad I wasn't out there... http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story. ... 912bb5e950 - Chris

Legacy, 1.) Take a voltmeter, set it to the D/C setting on the meter to check for voltage in your RCA wire at the back of the receiving unit on your dash - it should read some voltage (although you'll have to put the probe in water to make an electrical contact in the probe). If it reads voltage then you have continuity to the probe and hence it's not a loose wire, bad RCA connection, etc. It sounds like this isn't the case, however, since you have temperature. 2.) Check for water in the probe 3.) Check the white fly wheel which reads the speed. The wheel should be moving freely, i.e. no debris in it, it's not hanging up, etc. 4.) I would highly recommend insulating your removable connector at the probe by wrapping it with rubberized insulation tape. Additionally I would also wrap the RCA connector on your rigger with the same tape 5.) Check your connection where the downrigger cable comes into contact with your removable clip. Out of the package, Moor uses a "U-clip" terminator which permanently attaches to the probe and makes metal to metal contact with the clip on the probe, the U - clip and the downrigger cable. As you know, you have to BURN OFF the coating on the insulated downrigger cable in order to make a good connection at this point. Even a little bit of leftover burnt insulation can mess up the connection. Man, that's about all I can think of, but I would really try and insulate all of your connections with tape. Otherwise, the probe circuitry might be bad. Good luck - Chris

CBish, I think that's the best reply I've ever heard on this site....nice work! - Chris

Andre, I have a Food Saver unit which I purchased four years ago. I have sealed ten or eleven deer over that time frame (including several hundred pounds of processed meats from Tony Costanza), at least 100 pounds of fish each year and my family also uses it for day to day stuff (cheese, chicken, etc.) Never once has it failed, it's easy to clean, and simple to use. I believe I spent $120 for it. It's not overly fast (probably takes 10 seconds to seal a bag), but it's reliable. Unless you do commercial sealing or need speed, the Food Saver works fantastic, and I can find the bags anywhere. - Chris

Bought mine through Cabelas only b/c of free shipping and $20 off a purchase of $150 or more. - Chris

Mark - Don't feel bad - we fished the same water 225 to 375 fow and also only boated three - all steelhead (nothing larger than 5 pounds). All three fish hit the new 42 second Spinny flasher/fly combo. All were on the same rigger 45' down. No spoon bite whatsoever. I think we only marked 1 or two fish all morning. We went in shallow (40-80fow) to try for a few browns, but caught zilch. King Me - nice job today, it's good to hear someone did well... Be back in a week - Chris

Thanks Diesel - the rubber tape job always seemed kind of "cheap" to me. Glad to hear they came up with a better solution. - Chris

SkeinMachine, Sorry to "pummel" you and your pic for details, but I noticed you don't have any of the rubberized electrical tape that Moor recommends on the top connection between the top of the probe and your setup with a coastlock swivel. I wanted to do the same thing you have, so I could easily disconnect the probe, but I wondered if the lack of insulation affects performance. Have you had any loss of signal (specifically at depths over 100ft)? Thanks for the advice, - Chris

Just fishin' - yeah I remember seeing you out there - if I'm not mistaken the sailboat cut right in between us. You might have heard me on Channel 8 ask him for a little courtesy. Boatino - I run a Sub-Troll and went to 12# finned weights and there is still quite a bit of blowback, although it cuts through the water fine. - Chris

Yes, that was probably us - my buddy was fighting a 15# salmon that ripped out about 600 feet of mono. We fought it for quite a while (you would have thought we had a monster on, but it was just tough with the waves and current and that amount of line out) We also had to deal with a sailboat that almost cut us off....go figure Keep working those 42 second spoons - they're guaranteed to fire sooner or later Thanks and good luck, - Chris

Fished 6 - 10 AM, started in shallow in front of Bay - 30-45 fow. Lots of bait and marks, but no takers. Moved out to 160-225 fow, went 4 for 5 - all kings (biggest fish 15#). Moved back in early b/c my mate started "feeling" the 2 foot rollers. Speed typically 2.2 - 2.5 mph at the ball. Rigger bites 60 feet down over 175 fow, 45 feet down over 200 fow, and other three were wire divers - all #2 setting, from 120' out to 160' out, typically in the 160 - 200 fow window. All spoon bite today, but the flashers definitely got their attention as they kept sliding in and out of the Spinny set up on the sonar. Best spoon today was standard watermellon with silver back. First day of the year that we didn't have a hit on the 42 second. Other spoons with hits were DW SS glow frog and NBK. P.S. - Mark, it was nice to meet you today! Thanks for all the info. on Channel 8 See ya next week, - Chris

PH, Those fish and the bait have been in there for weeks - right out in front of the Bay, the river, and as far east as Hedges. We've targeted them the past few weeks on our way in or when the weather looked ominous and we wanted to stay in close. We've seem them hanging on the bottom, typically in 45-65 fow. We've had a good rigger bite - typically near the bottom and some action with 5 and 10 color cores. Typically we switch to stick baits and have done well with the Kaboom green and blue gobies, black/silver rapalas, and the DW SS coyote pattern. Believe it or not we're still using our rods set up for salmon (30# Big Game with 20# Seaguar leaders) and the heavier line doesn't seem to be spooking them. A little slower troll (1.8-2.2 mph at the ball) worked best. We went out yesterday night for a half hour (3-4 foot rollers with thunder so we turned back in) and we were still marking them. Good luck - thanks for the post, - Chris

Gotta bite, This spoon has been our best spoon hands down for the past few years. We make many variations and they all work, and probably everyone has their own variation. Our base spoon is an NK 28 or NK mag size green thunder either with a silver or gold inside cup. My favorite variations are: 1.) simple laser ladder tape 2.) laser ladder tape overlapped by glow ladder tape 3.) glow ladder overlapped with clear bubble ladder tape 4.) glow ladder tape overlapped with black ladder 5.) glow ladder on top of green ladder I always put a small or medium sized eye on the hook end of the spoon, typically with some red in the eye Good luck, - Chris