choo-choo

Congrats to you Werner and your outstanding team!!! To win a tournament must feel incredible... but to do it on tough bite,and super tough weather/lake conditions, against the lakes best trollers, has got to feel, well, INCREDIBLY INCREDIBLE !!!!! great job....choo choo steve

Another great report, .......sorry you didn't finish where you would have liked to, .....but at least you guy's always seem to have fun out there ,.......regardless of what is in the box . I'm already looking forward to your report on your next trip.....steve

Wow.....what a dandy!!! Tim, and crew, dynomite job staying on those kings for almost 2 weeks now...You guy's didn't just crack that 30 lb. mark, you blew it away !!!...34.15 LBS !!!! Again i'll say it Tim, Keep on 'em.... and i guess your lookin for a 38 or 40 now !! ....Go Get 'em !!!!.......choo-choo steve

I have never seen a blue northern pike, but i have seen and photographed a Blue walleyed pike.I was fishing on the upper oak orchard river ,in november ,about 12 or 15 years ago,with my buddy, the late, incredibly talented fly tier,and master trib fisherman ,Mark Stouthard. We were catching browns and steelies, when Mark pulls in this pale greyish blue walleye !!!! He called it THE BLUE PIKE !!! We took some pictures and released it .Mark sent some pictures to the DEC ,but nothing was confirmed about it being a true blue pike.None had been documented in the great lakes for decades.They weren't sure what to call it,but i can tell you,it was truly grey/blue, no hint of gold on it anywhere. I will never forget that day, that fish, or that fisherman,Mark Stouthard. choo-choo steve (btw,yes, that is the same Mark S that used to write articles for lake ontario outdoors)

Wow , nice report and great save !!!! I can remember ,"back in the day", "fingering" little native brook trout. No rod and reel , just our bare hands, stalking,chasing, and trapping them in little rock crevices......but man, fingering a mean ,major 28lb KING !, thats something to be proud of !!! Super job Jay !!! ..............steve

Steve, sss ,... sorry about the busted up electronic gear $$$$....expensive trips are no fun(i had one recently too),...but expensive trips$$$, and no fish , is really gotta hurt !!! Oh the pain!!! Well, I,m hopin' you win big $$$ in the LOC to make up for this trip!!! ...choo-choo steve

Awesome job....super bunch of fish...me ,and a lot of other guy's sure hope you're right about the "numbers" showing up!!! Keep on "em .....hope you get that 30 LB plus tomorrow.... (btw with all that big fish toothy action don't forget to check and re-rig them leaders!!!!!)......steve

I talked withe R.A.M. quality control today...about the seperation of the base and "ball", he said that the molds connect there ,and they have had failures at that "joint" , but it happens only occasionally,HmmmmmThey were real nice ,and apologized for the lost rod/reel, tackle and rod holder, and they are gonna' replace the rod tube free of charge. I will be replacing all the Ram's with some heavier duty tubes real soon. I can't fully trust them for lake O fishing now. Good luck to all that have them,and i hope none of you LOU guys don't have a "mold joint failure" like i had......... steve

Wow...sounds like you had a great day....nice job....steve

K gone...thanks for the heads up on the cisco rod holders, i will check them out.....steve

Chowder...if i say PLEASE, could you tell me your secret directions for modifying the slide diver for deeper depths ....it would be greatly appreciated....steve

Big Dave... K gone , i use both the berts ratchets (4) and the ram tubes (4)....i like them both for different reasons,infinate adjustability on the rams i really liked, but i am not liking them much right now!! As far as the tether goes,i usually fasten it to the bottom of the rod holder base,which snapped right off, so i would have lost the rod/reel and tether anyway. I guess i will order a couple more heavier duty berts ratchets. Mickey Finn (luv that name, and luv the streamer too!) I would check out your bases real carefully,right where the ball necks down to the flat base(about 1/8 th inch up from the flat pancake base on the "neck". I would appreciate it if you could let me know how your's look...any paint missing and possibly starting to seperate or crack etc....thanks in advance.......steve

Great story and report super diverse outdoorsman RaKo....gotta love that boneless, tender ,sweet cheek meat,in fact it's the ONLY part of an adult bluefish i will eat !!Delicious "silver doller" cheek meat...definately worth the effort gouging it out!!!BTW,this is a south shore report...also, there is a method to your madness, you are way ahead of the game...i know what a private farm lease in the midwest is worth!!(wink wink)Land of the giants...you are the man!!!...... you shall be rewarded "Big time" for your acts of fishy kindness and generousity.....good luck fishin' and huntin'....choo-choo steve

I had a RAM rod tube snap off at the base, while trolling last week at sandy. I heard a sick sounding snap,then splash,as my penn 345 gt,daiwa 9.5 ft heartland , and 600 feet of copper ,ram tube rod holder ,hit the water never to be seen again!!I was in 100 fow with 200 ft of copper out fishin' a flasher/fly....BUMMER. I havn't heard back from them yet if they have had trouble with their metal tube bases. All that was left was the little round pancake base ,with the jagged edge break where the base "ball" used to be . I checked 2 other bases on the same style ram tubes on my boat,and their seems to be some issues with them also . The black paint finish is completely gone, only right there at the bottom of the ball,where it connects to the pancake base. There seems to be a line,or ring around that neck area and possibly starting to crack, or separate. I was wondering if anybody else has had any problems with these rod holders .They are only a couple years old......steve

Nice report Ray K....and great job on those walleyes !!!I talked to a few guy's who were out there too, and did not do half as good as you're crew...i bet you got that deep frier goin' right now,Yummy good tastin' fish those walleye's are ! BTW.do those erie walleyes hit scented plastic worms on those harnesses? I never have tried them,just wondering..steve

Nice report Tom, and nice pictures....That is one tough little fish... I can't believe he/she didn't develop a fungus or something with the gills exposed like that. I've always heard how delicate the gills are ,and how easy it is to kill a fish if their gills are damaged....but i guess exposed gills to the elements does't mean a dead fish.....I hope you catch him/her again in a couple of years as a 30 lber !!! Thanks again for all your reports, info and pictures....steve

Rick i love reading you're tweets....reports...and all you're other posts too ....keep 'em coming...steve

Hey Dave...ICEDD... thanks for posting the atlantic pictures..... what's with the picture of the kings doing in there?...anyway, thanks...and can't wait for you to show me how you did it...steve

Fishing Report

Your Name / Boat Name:choo-choo

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TRIP OVERVIEW

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Date(s):7/31 + 8/1

Time on Water:9am to 2 pm sat. + 6am to 9am sun

Weather/Temp:

Wind Speed/Direction:

Waves:

Surface Temp:

Location:

LAT/LONG (GPS Cords):

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FISHING RESULTS

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Total Hits: 9 sat + 6 sun

Total Boated:8 and 5

Species Breakdown:kings...steelhead...laker..And an ATLANTIC !

Hot Lure: stingray green nbk///sutton 39////dw ss orange

Trolling Speed:

Down Speed: 2.0 to 2.3

Boat Depth: 70 fow to 200 fowsat...50 to 120 fow sunday

Lure Depth: 60ft to 85 ft sat ...40 to 60 sunday

5 steelies sat.6lb to 12 lb,2 skippy kings(unclipped)6lb laker////Sunday 14 lb atlantic ,2steelies6 and 8 lb,2 skippy kings

====================I caught the 14 lb male unclipped atlantic 50 ft down over 80 fow...The fight was truly un -believable!! airborne before i got to the rod,jumping backflips,cartwheels..tail slaps...head slaps...Greyhounding!!!!several long ,fast runs.. more jumps ... then he even sounded,and never gave up ,all the way to the net!!!I will never forget it!! Powerful,lightning fast,plenty of stamina,and super acrobatic !!! One awesome fish!! ...... I've got some good pictures of him on photobucket,but still can't figure out how to get them here...will try to get help tomorrow to get them posted....He has a huge kype,pure white mouth and gums,no teeth on the upper mouth,giant dark adipose fin, jet black markings..blotches along his upper sides and back,oversized monster tail,very slight fork......steve

SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS

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great job out there on a fairly short trip....sounds like there are still lot's of fish around sandy...thanks for the report.

"Citation",the boat which lost the $912,000.00 dollar first prize due to a rules violation,has filed suit to have their disqualification overturned........the Big Rock Tournament has countersued to have their decision supported in court. By the way,the disqualification of Citation moved "Carnivore" and their much smaller 528 lb.blue marlin into first place,and the boat"Wet and Wild" with a 460lb blue marlin into 2nd place.They were the onlyblue marlin landed and brought to the scales....the reconfigured prize money was $999,453.00 for "Carnivore" !!!!!!!and $275,322.00 for "Wet and Wild"!!!!!!!! On the same weekend at the jolly mon kingfish tournament,the winning 36.15 lb. kingfish caught by the Just Dozin' team was disqualified by a rules violation and had to forfeit the $12,000.00 first prize money!!!You've got to know the rules!!!Both of these incidents were rules violations,but neither was classified as "cheating". ....steve

Fishing Report

Your Name / Boat Name:Choo-choo

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TRIP OVERVIEW

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Date(s):sat.7/17

Time on Water:8am to noon

Weather/Temp:warm

Wind Speed/Direction:west, north/ west...

Waves: 2 feet

Surface Temp: 72ish

Location:sandy creek /wautoma shoals/bogus point

LAT/LONG (GPS Cords):

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FISHING RESULTS

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Total Hits: 10

Total Boated:8

Species Breakdown:steelies,brown,small kings

Hot Lure: dreamweaver SS green-glow-silver-orange eye

Trolling Speed:

Down Speed: 2.0to 2.5 mph

Boat Depth: 150ft to 220ft

Lure Depth: 55 feet to 85 feet

=================== I was all set to pick up my buddy and head north to the big pond,for the final weekend of the loc derby ,phone rings,buddy can't go....so solo i go. I decide to fish sandy creek for the first time,good launch,free,and nice people around.I get a late start(8am),find good water 52deg.down around 65ft.I catch a 4lb. brown to start,thennext hit is sreamin,before ican pick up the rod a BIG steely is 3ft out ofthe water,and after 2 great runs and 2 more jumps i net a 14 1/2 pound beauty !!! I land 3 more steelies,8lb and 2 6lbers,3 small kings(2clipped,1un-clipped) and call it a day at noon.Great time,, with all fish on the same lure,40 feet back off the ball.Nothing on sliders or wire.Only bummer was not being able to enter my steely in the loc derby 'cause they said i was fishing solo . ....and had trouble reviving the little kings after they fought so hard ,and seem to go into thermal shock when being released in that 72/73 degree surface water.All in all a good morning on the lake,and will definately head back to sand creek in the future..... steve

SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS

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Thanks for such a great report,with lot's of detail.....and thanks for all your great reports this year,they are much appreciated...and i hope they continue for the rest of the year.Great job on the tourney trail this year,you guy's have done a real good job....keep up the good work...and keep them reports comin'!!! .......(steve)

Great report...and great finish in the tournament....just think, if you would have caught the bulk of your fish a half hour later in the morning,they would have eaten a bunch more alewives,and that additional alewife weight would have given you the win!!!If only,if only if only.....once again, great job !!!!!

.....how about a few well placed surveilance cameras ,or trail cams ,to catch the dirty dogs...we all work to darn hard to get the money to buy our tackle and fishing equipment....i don't mind losing gear out on the lake,but losing stuff on land, in a marina ,is not even remotely acceptable...i hope they get caught this week..... choo-choo