chowder

Hey Chris, I'm looking forward to checking this stuff out. -Andy

Green horn here, gonna try & get educated for a walleye mission on Erie. Need to learn a whole new language I guess! Anyway, I'm hoping to give things a go Sun 7/30 thru Wens 8/3. Need info on stuff like how far out to go, down speed, depth of baits,etc I got a fair amount of experience using inlines (Church) and big boards, snap weights,slide divers, riggers & core. Got stingers/stix /cranks - (No clue on crawler harness stuff, need major help on this if this is the way to go) I'll be staying in Lockport,NY and trailering down to Dunkirk/Barcelona w/ my Starcraft Islander. I have the Fishing Chip in my Lowrance Global Map 5200 GPS. Any Help is appreciated! Thanks, -Andy

Me and my crew really appreciate the congrats guys but once again let's all give the biggest round of applause to Scott & Barney who so selflessly put so much into all these tournaments that we have so much fun at all year long. Here's a toast to you

I'm gonna copy a reply I made to some one asking what the 'right temp to look for was' that I made last week w/ a couple add ons cuz I think it would be useful for guys looking at getting their first speed & temp unit and there seems to be a lot of interest in this right now. Here's my 2 cents: Speed & temp units are great but let's all remember that we are not fundamentally looking for the 'right temp' or the 'right speed' but rather we are looking to hook up fish. A couple examples will help clarify what I'm saying: On Tues 7/19 we took Kings,cohos, and browns on Ontario in 60-65 degree water. All these fish were 'out of temp' for mid summer except maybe the browns and the Kings were mature adults 27-30lbs. Marked very, very few fish that day so I fished the bait and once the pattern was established we just worked the water where the fish were coming from using down speed to help us fish both East & West trolls w/ current at the same productive speed at the ball and just ignored the temp side of the equation. On Sunday 7/24 we caught big lakers & salmon on Cayuga down in cold water (43-47) down 90'+ over 300-400FOW. On this outing we did use the temp side of the equation as well as down speed once we had the pattern established. I like to get as much info about my fishing grounds as possible (down temp, structure, water clarity etc) but the most important thing to find out is where the 'active' fish are and what kind of presentation and down speed is gonna get em to go. Here's my advice for what it's worth ,which is probably not a lot, but anyway; 1.)Get some down temp & down speed technology & play around with it and learn the basic temp parameters for the fish you are chasing. 2.)When you start fishing just get the probe rigger down, raise & lower your probe rigger while you're looking at the sonar screen and see if you can establish ;a.) do you have fish and or bait on the sonar. b.) do you have temps that fish like if you don't have bait and or fish. 3.) If you have bait & fish prioritize your spread towards that zone & don't focus too hard on the temp (speed is probably gonna be more important) but keep a line or so above and below where you are marking fish too (remember you haven't gotten any yet so you really don't know where the 'active' fish are!) If you don't at least have bait n temp, it might pay to look elsewhere. 4.) If you do at least have bait and temp then troll at an avg speed (2.0-2.5 surface or so) & do a zig zag troll and see if you can get the fish to go. A zig zag tells you a lot cuz outside lines are relatively faster & inside lines are relatively slower.Change speed up and then down, make sure you are giving them a balance of spoons and FFs and if you still can't get em to go then start changing colors,etc. In summary: A speed n' temp(snt) unit can be a fun toy but finding the actual pattern that catches fish is obviously the real goal cuz that makes a fishing trip a bit more fun! The snt is just another tool. Have a good time, -Andy

I'd get a depth raider if $ is tighter/X-4 if not (got both in separate boats; pros & cons to each) I'm gonna copy a reply to a similar post that I made last week w/ a couple add ons cuz I think it would be useful for guys looking a getting their first speed & temp unit. Speed & temp units are great but let's all remember that we are not fundamentally looking for the 'right temp' or the 'right speed' but rather we are looking to hook up fish. A couple examples will help clarify what I'm saying: On Tues 7/19 we took Kings,cohos, and browns in 60-65 degree water. All these fish were out of temp except maybe the browns and the Kings were mature adults 27-30lbs. Marked very, very few fish that day so I fished the bait and once the pattern was established we just worked the water where the fish were coming from using down speed to help us fish both East & West trolls w/ current at the same productive speed at the ball. On Sunday 7/24 we caught big lakers & salmon on Cayuga down in cold water (43-47) down 90'+ over 300-400FOW. On this outing we did use the temp side of the equation as well as down speed once we had the pattern established. I like to get as much info about my fishing grounds as possible (down temp, structure, water clarity etc) but the most important thing to find out is where the 'active'fish are and what down speed is gonna get em to go. Here's my advice for what it's worth ,which is probably not a lot, but anyway; 1.)Get some down temp & down speed technology & play around with it and learn the basic temp parameters for the fish you are chasing. 2.)When you start fishing just get the probe rigger down, raise & lower your probe rigger while you're looking at the sonar screen and see if you can establish ;a.) do you have fish and or bait on the sonar. b.) do you have temps that fish like if you don't have bait and or fish. 3.) If you have bait & fish prioritize your spread towards that zone & don't focus too hard on the temp (speed is probably gonna be more important) but keep a line or so above and below where you are marking fish too (remember you haven't gotten any yet so you really don't know where the 'active' fish are!) 4.) Stay at an avg speed (2.0-2.5 surface or so) & do a zig zag troll and see if you can get the fish to go. A zig zag tells you a lot cuz outside lines are relatively faster & inside lines are relatively slower.Change speed up and then down if you still can't get em to go and then start changing colors,etc. In summary: A speed n' temp(snt) unit can be a fun toy but finding the actual pattern that catches fish is obviously the real goal. The snt is just another tool.

Do a search back thru the FLX forum for posts on jigging. I and others have made some very detailed posts about the technique and tackle that is required. -Andy Again, this technique has been honed to perfection on the FLX for years now . On the FLX we've had plenty of 20+ fish days, mostly lakers but browns respond well too w/ an occasional Atlantic. Do a LOU search, tons of good, practical info right here or get in touch w/ John Gaulke if you want an expert tutorial at http://www.fingerlakesanglingzone.com/

Do a search back thru the FLX forum for posts on jigging. I and others have made some very detailed posts about the technique and tackle that is required. -Andy

I cook a lot of Seneca lakers that way in the winter, glad you enjoyed it Ed! -Andy

Really good looking steaks you got there Stan! -Andy

A great read as usual! Good to see the father & son program creating more memories! -Andy P.S. We gonna chase Waldo now or is the plumber worn out?

Nice finish & WTG on that big old nasty looking laker! -Andy

Big smile,nice fish, happy wife, you got it all man! -Andy

Had the pleasure of fishing Cayuga with Tom (tcon) and his son Dustin on Cayuga today.We had a good time busting on each other and working together to put a bunch of nice fish in the box. We found a lot of active fish from the plant on north about 1.5 miles in 200 to 400 FOW. Hottest rig was the 92' rigger w/ FF combos. Mag wire divers out 200-250 also took a bunch of fish w/ FFs. Only one fish came off the boards on a 400' copper but it was a real slob. Thanks again for a great time guys & hopefully we can get together out on Hemlock some time. -Andy P.S. As always a big thank you to Splitshot for all the work on the derby, and also want to thank Sean & Jason for helping us get thru the zoo at the launch, much obliged guys!

Sounds good, might be back in Lockport at the end of the week! -Andy

Great pic of the youngster and congrats on the 'work' (maybe we could move the LOU-ALL a little further north?) -Andy

You earned those fish man! Nice going & thanks for the sweet shark pics! -Andy

Couple great pics there of people enjoying fish! That's what it's all about!

On Tues 7/19 we took Kings,cohos, and browns in 60-65 degree water. All these fish were out of temp except maybe the browns and the Kings were mature adults 27-30lbs(we did get a couple lakers down in the cold water but that's to be expected). Marked very few fish so I fished the bait and once the pattern was established we just worked the water where the fish were coming from. I like to get as much info about my fishing grounds as possible (down temp, structure, water clarity etc) but the most important thing to find out is where the fish are and what down speed is gonna get em to go. Here's my advice for what it's worth ,which is probably not a lot, but anyway; 1.)Get some down temp & down speed technology & play around with it 2.)When you start fishing just get the probe rigger down, raise & lower your probe rigger while you're looking at the sonar screen and see if you can establish ;a.) do you have fish and or bait on the sonar. b.) do you have temps that fish like if you don't have bait and or fish. 3.) If you have bait & fish prioritize your spread towards that zone & don't focus too hard on the temp (speed is probably gonna be more important) but keep a line or so above and below where you are marking fish too (remember you haven't gotten any yet so you really don't know where the 'active' fish are!) 4.) Stay at an avg speed (2.5 surface or so) & do a zig zag troll and see if you can get the fish to go. A zig zag tells you a lot cuz outside lines are relatively faster & inside lines are relatively slower.Change speed up and then down if you still can't get em to go and then start changing colors,etc.

NICE!

As Wes pointed out carp are very line/drag & weight shy. I used to have pretty good success with a float rod setup.We used to use a crude (by today's standards) fly rod & reel spooled w/ 6lb test mono back in the 80s to catch some real monsters in the Ct. river. The bait they want seemed somewhat dependent on location to me. A centre pin setup w/ a float seems like it would be the bomb!

Looking pretty thin around here for Sun. Anybody want to go for a boat ride? Shoot me a PM. (Warning: may not be getting over there at the crack of dawn but might be willing to share smoked fish & venison sausage ) -Andy

Hey Mark is the dog in too? -Andy

Yo Bro, you jumped in the time machine

I just order the Yecks 'zipper spoons' direct (or you can order them from Fish 307 & they get them sent to you ). That green thunder glow always takes fish out of PB for me when it's a spoon bite. -Andy

Fishing Report Your Name / Boat Name:Bartlett Posse aboard Emily ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): Time on Water:7:00-11:30 am Weather/Temp: Wind Speed/Direction:NE Waves: rollers Surface Temp: 74 Location:Port Bay/Sodus LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 8 Total Boated:6 Species Breakdown:2 Kings,Coho,Brown,2 Lakers Hot Lure: Yecks 'Green Thunder Glow' took em all Trolling Speed: 1.8-2.2down Down Speed: Boat Depth: 100-230 Lure Depth: 42' rigger took all hits ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ==================== Nice sunny day on the water w/ a beach picnic, a swim & a nap. Took a friend who quickly caught the Ontario 'bug'. Caught fish around bait pods but marked very few fish. Overall the fish mood seemed kind of neutral , all fish hooked while feeding in the soup on Yeck spoon even though we had FFs in the same zone on riggers & divers. Nothing on board lines (300 copper & 8 & 10 colors) Nice mixed bag of Fish and a chance to catch up on the scuttle but with Hank. Also scored the seasons first Sweet Corn on the way home! If you click on this you can see the Yeck 'green thunder glow' spoon T-Bone with the fish that won the ice cream bet