chowder

I launched at Clute Park on the south side of the bridge( east shore of the canal). As far as launching solo I launch my Starcraft Islander alone all the time (about the size of your boat, but aluminum). I have a good bow line which I secure to my bow cleat and I just coil up the line in the back of my pickup and tie w/a simple pull free knot to one of my truck tie downs. lugs. When the boat floats gently free of the trailer I just pull ahead, get out and & get in the truck bed & pull the rope free and secure the boat to the wharf.

Now I have to get the Islander out of hibernation so I've got shakedown no. 2 coming up asap. At least she has an AP so hopefully I won't be doing circles while I'm going thru the rest of the seasonal happiness! -Andy

Started off w/ what must have been fuel problems, get past that then I get my first fish of the season, a decent LL, into the net and lay the net in the motor well so I can grab the wheel and straighten out the boat but when I turn around the fish has released itself, oh well! 2cd fish breaks the rod tip (recently repaired this rod tip guide & must have stressed the glass), then the line gets fowled in the tip & the tip gets fowled around the rod so when the fish makes one last dive - SNAP goes the fluoro! Did finally get my act together somewhat by the end. Got a decent brown in tight and some 3-4lb LLs from just after the Tiki bar to the point past the plant. Got them on 4 & 6 colors on small Yozuri sticks. Got 1 larger Salmon & 2 decent lakers out in 100-130', down 80'+ on ff combos, blue & silver worked best for me.Kind of a rough solo shakedown but at least I'm back in the action ... Forgot to mention that I launched in the canal. It's doable-not great but ok. Do watch out for debris in the flow way out past the bridge, there is some pretty good sized stuff floating around well out into the lake & most of it is very hard to see!

Thanx for the report! I hope to be out on Tues. What were you running for short cores, 5 & 6 colors? -Andy

I'm not a fisheries biologist, but it seems to me that the biggest issue facing the LL population is their vulnerability to high catch rates in the fall/winter/early spring and the aggressive nature of the juvenile fish all season long. From my point of view the critical part of this issue is the large number of the skippers that are caught & 'released (to die later)' or caught & kept on Seneca. I've been stunned numerous times at Watkins by being shown coolers full of juvenile LLs at the launch or at the gas station. I think the standard wisdom is that 'it's put & take, so I'll take em. I'm all for eating fish and I do it on a regular basis but I do think we need to find a way to stop killing all these juvenile LLs because some percentage of them would otherwise survive to be the hard fighters we love to hook up with. Here's what I've taken to doing; 1. use a 'rubber style' C&R style net to corral the skippers and carefully remove the hook w/ the fish still in the water if at all possible. 2. if I'm getting numerous skippers on my sliders I just stop running them. 3. in general I am trying to not run the scorpion size spoons on my high lines on days when I start to hook skips. As far as the lakers go, the small to medium size adults are excellent table fare & we eat them grilled,baked, and fried as fast as we can catch em. The older/bigger fish are best smoked -set a big plate of smoked laker fillets and small bowl of sour cream out when entertaining guests, add cold beer and poof - they vanish!

I just finished ordering the stuff I felt I needed for the upcoming season. Before I get anything new though I do the following; Starting after hunting season I make a list of stuff that needs to be repaired or serviced (reels,rod tip guides,etc). Then I fix that stuff. Then I start retying all my core & copper leaders and backing knots. Then I respool rigger reels that are due and replace all leaders. Then I reorganize all my baits back into their proper pads or files (this reminds me again how much crap I all ready have). When I'm done doing all that drudgery I allow myself to make a list of some new spoons,flies, flashers,etc that I would like to try by visiting various web sites and looking at stuff - I can drag that out for 3 weeks if the weather really sucks!). Then I comparison shop and try to get the list down to something like $150 or so from no more than 2 or 3 sources (that way I minimize shipping to less than I would spend driving to Pulaski). I have found that this is the best way for me to make sure that I get the stuff I all ready got organized & in proper working order b4 I get a bunch of new stuff that I probably don't really need. For me anyway, online shopping w/ a strict list minimizes walking out of a tackle store w a $100 worth of crap purchased on impulse. -Andy

Real nice bunch of spoons you got there Gill T! As far as colors go I think its a bit like a an old guy told me once "The most important thing a spoon has to have going for it is time in the water"

Glen, have you given up on a FLX trip at this point?

I had 2 different plates & neither one was any good. Get a pair of trolling Bags from Amish Outfitters http://www.amishoutfitters.com/ Don't mess w/ the light duty junk that Cabelas & others offer - you will be lucky to get 1 or 2 outings from them. -Andy

Just outstanding work Paul, thanks for sharing the pictures! Strangely enough, good friends of mine live in Currituck, right on the water. -Andy

Snotty weather & good fishing -Andy

I would like to think that one of these would be slick to check in on the running depths of core n' copper setups but the I would think that the probe must create a lot of blow back that would make the readings different than the depths those rigs would run without the probe.

Thanks to all those who have put their time into working on this bill & keeping the rest of us in the loop-let's hope this thing gets passed asap! -Andy

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder! But, I think Cayuga has the edge for most of the traditional fishing season. Like Sean said though, I sure wouldn't put all my cards in the south end of either lake except real late in the season and in the winter (and early BT missions, though Ontario is much better for browns than either Seneca or Cayuga!). I too think you will be happier with the boat on a trailer- mix & match is the way to go!

What Rob said + I like to slip a bead on my main line b4 I tie on my snap swivel - that way when the slider gets down there it doesn't fetch up on the swivel and start to wrap.

I looked this post over again & I guess I'm wondering why the original poster is having 'trouble' with blow back using 12# weights too.I just figured that these weights were very unstreamlined, but now I'm wondering what speeds you are running? I do think Tom's 13# torpedo weights will still produce enough blow back to give you plenty of action using throttle variation unless you are going really slow which does not seem to be the case. Wow, is this winter getting to us or what? -Andy

WTG

Okuma cv45D will handle plenty of Powerpro + the 10, but if you are buying a reel to run 10+ colors I'd get an Okuma cv55 & get/ install the high speed kit from Tuna's Reel troubles or just get a cv55 from him that has been modified. Another option is the Daiwa Saltist 55 which are very highly regarded but pricier.

Here ya go; http://www.atommiktrollingflies.com/ttw.htm Run the 15.5 on the probe rigger and the lighter one on the others. Give your riggers a break though and don't use these heavy weights for trolling for browns in the spring.

Anybody clipping a snap weight to the powerpro backing on 10 color core to get it down another 10'? I use them w/ shorter cores to match another core that's taking hits but haven't tried them w/ long cores. I've got a pair of the large torpedoes but it it would be overkill for what I'm wanting to do & I've got lots of snap weights (yeah, I've got a 300' copper too but still not sure it works the same as the core, (sometimes better & sometimes worse - they just don't seem to do the same thing to me). Thanks, -Andy

for some reason that doesn't surprise me!

Happy Berfday! -Andy

The crows have made several attempts to retake the silage storage area. These are some smart birds! They got so they would look through the barn windows to see me approaching and were even able to see me on the opposite side of the barn through 2 rows of cows giving them plenty of time to get out of shotgun range (the 'normal' movements of the guys milking or feeding gave them no cause for alarm!). Fortunately the sniper activity has driven them away each time. For some reason having one of their ranks just drop dead off a branch when they think they are a safe distance away seems to truly scare the hell out of them.

Happy B-Day dude! -Andy

-Tom is out of the high speed conversion kits at this time.