chowder

Nice fish, the pic say's it all. WTG guys -Andy

I've used the 1" Rockets for years w/ no issues & lots of kills. I got the 1 1/8" STs for this year and they are much easier to put together & I can see they will be easier to replace blades on, etc. Thanks everybody for pointing me towards the STs I really think I'm liking them! -Andy

Nice pics, it sure was a super nice day to be out! P.S. I've got the same attachment for my Vex that I see you have in the first pic -Andy

I've taken numerous turkeys over the years w/ both recurves and compounds and have yet to figure out a fool proof way to keep from losing arrows & birds due to pass thru. This is much more of a problem for me when I stalk the birds and draw on them from a kneeling position. I've used 2 different kinds of older generation 'keepers' or arrow stoppers & not real happy w/ either. Back when I was using a recurve a fair amount I lost very few arrows & birds b/c the considerably lower poundage of the bow greatly decreased pass thru but sadly I really just don't have the time anymore to keep up my instinctive archery skills and I basically just use my compound now days. Anybody got something that's really worked well for them w/ a 55lb compound & carbon arrows that's relatively inexpensive? Thanks, -Andy

I'm guessing that the sub population that was confined by the fence became quite inbred over time which eventually led to the expression of recessive genes for whiteness. From looking at the pix these white deer are not genetic albinos (pink eyes,etc) but merely white hided. These deer also seem to exhibit other signs of inbreeding like diminished size, smaller antlers,etc. Just my 2 cents on this interesting subject & thanks for the pics. -Andy

No pain=No gain. You should be proud of yourself and your determination and it will pay off eventually! Great posts this year, keep at it! -Andy

Real nice day but Owasco was super slow. 1 laker & 1 small mouth, went home & mowed some more 4th cutting...

I drained and mothballed the Islander & I'm switching over to the little boat, gonna give Owasco and Skan a go tomorrow (tired of whacking turkeys w/ my bow). I got an open spot in the boat if anybody wants to get out, shoot me a pm. I'll be launching at Emerson Park at the N.end of Owasco. -Andy

Hey Ed, sorry I couldn't get over there the other day! Keep up the good work & we'll get into those big LLs b4 long! -Andy

Glen, I only run Walker Mags for divers & one time I bounced my flasher/fly thru the Zs w/ 360' out in 150 FOW w/ the diver set set @ 1.5, my speed was 2.5 surface, 1.9 @ the ball (depth raider). Now, I've also run thru the same exact spot w/ the same speed on the surface and did not touch bottom. I'm no expert on the mags but I can say for sure that the dive curve really flattens out as you try to get below 150 and the further out to the side you try to get them to go the more variable they seem to run in terms of depth.When I run them at depths I think are about 80-90 down they seem take 2' of wire to get 1' down, but after that the ratio really seems to fall apart. Most of the time I'm trying to get below 100' down I'm out over 300-400 FOW (Cayuga), so it's a little difficult to say where they are. I guess I have to confess that for a long time I really have not thought of my divers as a precision tool. I run them out to where I think they will work on that day and if they don't I just keep changing them, one at a time. I guess this sounds stupid but it does seem to work. -Andy

Vic , you and your family have been in my thoughts and prayers ever since we talked last week. -Andy

Really my only intention was to set the D/D on 3 to get it off to the side for line seperation and a little more depth without running 500-600 feet of copper to get down to 100' or so. Having marked a lot of fish down 90-100' at Seneca last week and having only 300' of copper brought up this issue. I do have riggers, but my dipsey rigs have been outperforming them all year. Two thoughts/questions for you; 1. If the dipsy diver is a hot rod why do you want to pull it and put a copper in it's place? 2. If the diver is hot & rigger is not then shorten the lead behind the rigger weight to 7' & run the same bait you got on the diver. 3. You will have far fewer tangles w/ copper/diver lines if you run the copper w/ a torpedo out on a planer board tow line & get it away from the boat that way. Copper & wire lines close together are an 'accident waiting to happen'.

Copper is used as a stealth presentation, for running baits well back of the rest of your spread with no delivery device (i.e. rigger weight or diver) directly in front of the bait to tip off fussy or inactive fish. A wireline or super braid dipsy diver is an aggressive presentation designed to catch the attention of active fish. Super braid and stainless wire is very thin which, in conjunction with a diver, enables the angler to reach great depths. Copper is very fat and very heavy and requires a large heavy reel (and lots of reeling) to use. If you want to extend the depth range you can reach w/ shorter copper or lead core setups look at the torpedo weights http://www.torpedodivers.com/

An Okuma 55 will hold 450' copper w/ 300yds powerpro backing, so I would guess you might get 300' + backing on the 45? Remember the line guide is relatively small on those Okuma reels and you will have problems getting the backing to copper and copper to leader junctions in and out unless you modify (open up) the line guide. To be perfectly honest w/ you I have not had good luck w/ these reels. I bought a bunch of them 3 years ago for core,copper, rigger, and diver rods because they were relatively inexpensive & had a lot of line capacity and I liked the handle, but several have failed and I've had some problems w/ the drags too. I've got all my copper on Penn reels now and I'm much happier w/ them.

Ray, you're like me at Ag seminars, always willing to be the irreverent jokester who steers people who take everything so seriously back into the reality that we all share! Back to the main thread; My vex has never runout on me b4 I've run out on it! Another thought I'll throw out is I do think you are gonna be able to get an FL18 for a whole lot less $ than some of these newer generation machines and if you will not be doing major, major ice time, the $ might be better off in your pocket (unless they happen to be really deep). I've used my FL18 to successfully target every thing from crappies & gills in 10' ponds to lakers in 110 FOW, and I would have to say that the machine has considerably more unexplored capacity than I as a 'casual' weekend ice fisherman could ever use. Just my 2 cents.

Happy Birthday Sean, see ya on the water maybe if you haven't yanked that fish killing machine of yours! -Andy

Laker taker, I've worked that stretch some this fall w/ a program similar to the one you describe, though I'm not sure what you are running for cores (I alternate between 6,7,8 and 10 colors). I can't say I've had near the success that you have had,especially w/ the bows,salmon and browns(most of the ones I get are 3lbs or a little better- I'd love to see some pics of those 7 and 8 lbers! What down speed are you running and what temps seem to be working?. Perhaps I'll see you out there, I'll be on 68. -Andy (Blue/White Starcraft Islander)

Elliot has made a pretty full recovery and is actually in the kitchen helping cook his first fall turkey of the season (taken Sun. w/ his new to him 20 gauge Remington 870 youth model early Birthday present) It is wonderful to see him back to his usual 'fierce' self! Thanks again for the support everybody! -Andy

Nice job Mike, sounds like you found yourself some active fish! -Andy

Nice looking fish! That ought to keep the smoker going for a bit.

'Aruba, Bahamas, come on pretty...' (oh darn it , how does the rest of that old Beach Boys song go...?)

Welcome aboard Larry! I fished in Yellowstone, and the Tetons (Jackson lake & outflow,etc) as a kid back in the 70s and 80s & thought the fish and the scenery were pretty darn spectacular! -Andy

Staged and spawning lakers can be pretty frustrating and for some reason Cayuga's seem to be more vexing than those in other lakes. It seems to me that you simply have to accept that you need to find pods of 'active' fish, and when you do, don't leave them. This can be a pretty frustrating way to spend a day and that's why a lot of people just tend to fish elsewhere in the fall. It's not that there won't be some good days, or a good moment or 2 for somebody on any day, but I do think that overall Cayuga's lakers are pretty negative from late Sept thru Oct compared w/ those in Seneca,Owasco and, judging from other people's reports, those in Candy and Keuka. Just my 2 cents...

I've got a Vexilar FL-18 that's worked well for me. I got the 'aluma ducer' for it and run it in the summer for jigging in my boat as well. You need to accept that you will have to spend some time learning how to 'read' whatever you get and it helps a lot if you can fish somewhere where the water under the ice is super clear (north end of Cayuga for example)so you can compare the flasher w/ what you see and get a sense of what the screen means.-Andy

Good to see you stayed on it till the bitter end . Hey, I'll be back at doing the winter thing here b4 long Glen so if you get a hankering for some FLX action give me a shout! That way even if ya gotta drive home in a blizzard at least you wouldn't have to have a boat fish tailing around behind you! -Andy