chowder

I've always used the Albright but took Scott's advice and used the double surgeon's from my 30lb maxi to 15lb FC. I'll probably switch out to 20 in a few weeks but last weekend a lot of the fish including the 'freight train' that busted off were right on top so I'll use 2 of these setups as high flat lines off the boards and compare the 3rd one to my regular spoon rigger setups which are straight 30lb maxi.

For Dan's guys a really big fish is 20lbs ! So break offs are not a daily concern. I think part of my problem is the guides on the Okuma rods. I've got 8lb w/ a spro to 6lb FC on my Eagle Claw light browns rods and no problem getting the line thru the guides. I'll have to experiment w/ the knot & agree w/ all on the fleas although you Ontario guys have no idea how lucky you are not to deal with the sub species of flea present on Cayuga.

I have 3 Okuma rigger rods teamed up w/ 30lb Maxi on 47LC reels that I use for spoons on the riggers. Main line is 'albrighted' to a 15' 20lb FC leader. The knots don't always go thru the guides just right if a fish is on under challenging conditions. Thinking about just respooling these reels with 20lb and eliminating the weak link. Any opinions about 30 vs. 20. I'll be using these for flat lines in early season too for kings.

It's real simple. When the net bag is clipped in the release it cannot flow with the boats current out into the fish and into the hooks in the fish's mouth before the hoop is under it. This isn't rocket science- just a helpful little aid in case you don't get the whole net under the fish at the right moment.

To be honest w/ you I just use old worn out releases.

2 Things about netting: 1. Resist the temptation to reach way far out to net the fish at the first opportunity. 2. Hold the net like a harpoon and when the fish is right there plunge it under and then pull net up & out by the hoop- not the handle (it will eventually break). I like to electric tape a release to my net handle and use it to hold the net bag so it doesn't flow into the fish and get snagged on the hooks, the release will pop off the net as the fish goes into it.

Get some glow for b4 first light, some green combos,some flash for sun, some dark purple,etc for cloudy for cloudy conditions. You should be able to put together 6 combos that will get you going in the right direction and Tom Allen's site is a great place to get them. Don't start reading posts and buying every ff combo that people mention. More fish have probably been caught on a white paddle and a green fly than 2000 people could eat in a lifetime.

Have a good one! -Andy

Anybody got a link or a scannable entry form. Thanx, -Andy

Sounds like a pretty good shakedown. Nice job!

You need to spend more time fishing and less time polishing Hey are you gonna fish Barney's spring fling?

Fishing only Outdoor card is $10, 1 year conservation fishing is $50. 10 day is around $30 so if you are going to cross the line more than 1 time more than 10 days apart in the calendar year you might as well go for the 1 year dose. Very easy to do on line. I wish our system was as simple and I really like the plastic card instead of a limp piece of paper that gets ruined easily.

Great pics! Must have passed by you at some point. -Andy