Todd in NY

Their web site now shows the Helix 5, Helix 7, Helix 9, Helix 10, and Helix 12 series but not the 800and 900 series (and some of the other higher end models). It looks like the new Helix 9, 10, and 12 have some really good features. I have the 859ci HD DI and the Helix 5 DI GPS and they are great fish finders. The stores are still selling the "soon to be discontinued?" models but not the new Helix 9, 10, or 12 yet. The only other high end models still listed on their web site is the ONIX series, which far exceed my price range and need.

Thanks for the link!

I was out near Albany NY from Thursday morning until Friday evening so I wasn't able to drive to Lake O to check on the wave action. Did anyone happen to get any pictures of the lake during the peak wave action? I'm sure Henderson Harbor and Chaumont Bay were pretty choppy as well. I've been in 2-3ft waves (some occasional 4ft rollers) on Chaumont Bay in 15-20+ MPH winds from the SW so I can imagine it was pretty bad out there on Thursday.

The web cams I've looked at earlier are all located in bays or along protected shorelines. Even the cam in Toronto isn't showing much wave action. The forecast I posted above is the offshore forecast, more than 5 miles from shore. The near shore forecast for Thursday is 7-11ft. I've been in 7-10ft seas in the gulf of Mexico on a 43ft boat and it wasn't any fun at all. We went about a mile past the jetty's and turned around to head back to port when we started looking at waves that were as tall as the wheelhouse. The captain had to plan his turnaround between the swells just right, and those were some tense minutes.

That's true. I guess this time it will be the Canadian shore line that takes a beating instead of the NY shore line.

Not that anyone is planning to go out on Lake O during the gale force winds this week, but 16ft seas would be impressive to see from shore. If anyone can safely take pictures it would make for some great weather pictures. http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/data/raw/fz/fzus61.kbuf.glf.lo.txt

Creekrun, That does raise the cost quite a bit. But it sounds like a great time. Wahoo are wicked fighters, as are tuna. I haven't fished salt water since the summer of 96. My Army career (now retired) kept me near fresh water fisheries ever since then, so now I stick to fresh water in NY.

That's way above the $800 it cost to charter a 6 pack boat where I was living. We caught tuna (out of shear luck being in the right place at the right time) and dorado dolphin and king mackerel along floating weed lines , but our primary target was red snapper, other snapper varieties, amber jack, the occasional grouper and the always accidental sharks that we kept, but didn't fish for. We even caught a sail fish once while trolling for king mackerel. That was back in the early to mid 1990's when you could still keep 7 red snapper. I think the limit is just 2 per day now, which almost shut down the snapper fishery for the average recreational anglers.

I started going out on charters back in the 1990's in the Gulf of Mexico, out of Texas. None of those captains or deck hands owned their own boats, so we always tipped the captain, who in turn split it with the deck hand 50/50. Those salt water captains are dropping anchor over a rock or other structure, and many of these spots are saved in their private record books after decades of fishing out there. Those were always 12 hour trips because we had to go out 30 to 50 miles, depending on what we were fishing for. Like some of you said, the tip is dictated by how hard they try to put fish in the box. I've been out enough times on the inland lakes in my own boat, marking fish like crazy, and can't get them to bite. 5 hours later, and multiple lure changes, etc and not a fish in the boat. So I think we all know the pain and frustration with seeing fish under the boat (on our fish finders) and not being able to get them to play. I started this thread because all but one of my charter trips have been great. So hats off to you captains and deck hands who work your butts off to put fish on the boat!

A waitress serves your food and refills your drinks and she/he expects a 15% tip or more. A charter captain trolls for salmon and trout in varying conditions for up to 8 hours, trying different lures, depths and setups, and basically works tirelessly to get you a limit of fish in an environment completely out of his control, when the odds are usually against him. So I believe that kind of hard work deserves at least a 15% tip. I am not a charter captain, I am not related to a charter captain, I don't work for a charter captain, and I am in no way associated with any charter service. I've only been on one charter where the fish were being caught in deeper water but the boat captain chose to stay in shallower water and catch only a few fish (gas prices were extremely high that year). The other charters I have been on were amazing. I've only caught my limit once, and it took more than 8 hours to do that, on a 6 hour trip, no salmon were biting, so we went after lake trout. The captain and I agreed before the trip that if the salmon weren't biting I would be ok with fishing for lakers. It paid off for me and the captain. He and his deck hand worked their butts off and I showed my appreciation with a great tip. I am posting this because running a charter boat can be tough business, and I have talked to some customers who don't think a tip is needed because of the cost of the charter. Figure in the cost of equipment, fishing lures, tackle, fuel and boat maintenance and the cost of a charter trip makes a little more sense. I hope all charter boat captains are earning their tips, and that the customers are taking notice on how hard the captain and deck hand are working to catch your fish.

Well, I fished there this afternoon for about 3 to 4 hours. Didn't catch anything, fished with natural colored rapala type lures. There were a handful of other fishermen and women and no one appeared to be catching anything. They are jumping quite a bit between the dam and the bridge, saw a bunch of good size salmon come completely out of the water, but they weren't interested in anything we put in the water.

Thanks!

Looking for a report for any recent fishing/catching activity for Dexter in the Black River. I plan on fishing from shore today with my wife, and we have never fished for salmon from shore. I'll be upstream from the bridge. Any tips or advise would be greatly appreciated.

I think youtube has several good videos on how to use the Helix 5. I just got one this year and have only used it 3 times, so I am still learning its features too.

Thanks Moog5050!

Landshark, thanks for the tips. I fish a wide variety of lakes, from Lake O to small 500 acre lakes that are deep and cold. My downriggers are the Cannon Mag 10A2's from the late 1980's, and I don't know how many more years I will get out of them. I either use 10 lb cannon balls (or 6 pounders on the small inland lakes) as a way to not make my old riggers work too hard. I think these wingers you have might be better for my old riggers than going to a heavier ball or weight (just my opinion). I have one more fishing trip planned this year before I winterize my boat, so anything I get now is for next season anyway. I'll be fishing a small lake next weekend where I won't be using my downriggers. With newer downriggers, I wouldn't hesitate to try the heavier shark weights. In other words, I'm still interested in taking those off your hands. Thanks!

To all who replied, thanks! I figured someone was still producing them and selling them. My beam is 89", so I don't run more than 3 lines with my current setup. With something like these I might be able to run two DD set out to the right and left, way back behind the downriggers. I won't add any more downriggers, 2 is plenty on my boat.

Landshark, those are what I was talking about. Send me a PM and let me know how much the shipping is. I live close to Watertown, NY. I can either pay the shipping in person or I can send you a money order. Next question... how easy is it to remove them and put them back on for different fishing conditions? Does current affect them much?

I saw these once and don't know what they are called or where to get them. If I remember correctly, it looks like a stainless steel dodger, but it pulls the outside downrigger cables to the left or right so they don't get crossed as easily with the 2 inside downrigger cables. They work like a side planer, but they attach directly to the downrigger cables. I have 2 downriggers on my boat that I run out to the left and right. I like to run a third line right down the middle on a dipsy, but I'd like to have those "planers" on each of the rigger cables to separate the cables a little better. Can anyone tell me what these are?