Sk8man

Not sure where you are fishing or how deep but you may want to consider heavier weights for your riggers. Black releases are good general purpose releases.If you fish for Walleyes you may want to consider Chamberlains as they allow for lighter releases. Try a mixture of stick baits and spoons right now to assess what they want. There are many posts on here as far as suggestions of specific spoons are favorites etc. As far as depths it is always a puzzle to figure out on a nearly daily basis depending on where you are fishing (e.g. Lake O or Erie or Finger Lakes etc.) and it depends on specific fish you're after and time of season. Browns are close in toward shore right around now on Ontario but it varies from day to day and with changes in water temps, currents and wind direction etc. but today on one of the Fingers I caught a couple 70 ft down near the middle of the lake so you need to experiment.

Try one of the Gambler rigs (he is here on Lou) http://www.lakeontariounited.com/fishing-hunting/topic/56147-custom-spin-n-glow-rigs/

The only time I ever experienced anything like that was when I had just got my boat and I filled the 60 gal tank too full and the heat of the day caused the gas to expand a lot and it overflowed from the pressure build up.

Congrats Rick!

That is another "depends" answer . Most of the time I don't hand line in fish such as kings so I keep the entire setup length to 8 ft or less which is less than the length most of of my rods. My wire rods are shorter so I keep the setups for them at about six ft. max. However in the summer months the fish may want considerably longer leads between the flasher or dipsey and the fly or spoon so I adjust accordingly knowing I will have to hand line the fish in. Another way around this problem is to use slider dipseys.

Some of it also related to water temperature. They release better in colder water. Hold them by grasping around and under the tail section and under but behind the gill section. Most of the time I release them without ever bringing them into the net or boat unless very large. I use needle nose pliers and invert the single hook with a twist and they usually release quickly and take off immediately. When the water is warm at the surface they may require a little more time to "come around".

Sean Zack gave you good advice. There are a lot of "variables" involved so specific info relating to that particular situation and place will be critical for success. Best of luck bud.

Thanks John. Bob I figured I got my moneys worth out of the 2 stroke 9.9 after 29 years and it still runs fine but I did want less noise and not have to screw mixing the gas. No new jewelry Hop I guess she may have got tired of hearing me talking about the new motor We found the fish bottom oriented like you Fishstix with only a few located about 5-10 ft up from bottom but not much bait noted where we were.

Purred like a kitten Mike. Very happy camper.

The following is something I received today from a very reliable friend and source of good information: Les, This is straight from the Finger Lake Region Parks Director about Sampson. You can copy and paste the message below if you want to share. It will come as no news to the folks who use the launch and marina that they need a lot of work including extensive dredging, all to the tune of $7.5 million. Parks doesn't have that kind of money so they are pursuing an investor in the form of a private entity to upgrade and operate the sites (perhaps just the marina?). This is a business model that has been used successfully in other locations. Parks would put $2.5 million towards the expenses. A request for proposals (RFP) to upgrade and operate the site, including the 100 plus slips, went out last year with no responses. On contacting potential bidders the consistent response was that the original contract duration proposed was too short for a vendor to recoup their investment. A longer term RFP is in the works and due to current policies that may actually need legislative action to allow enough time for such an investment to be reasonable (perhaps as long as 40 years). A bill to enable an appropriate timeframe is in the works and if I get a bill number I'll pass it on. So, no one is completely sure how or when this will all play out but the launch and marina will be staying. Please let me know if you have any further questions

My son and I fished the north end as well but mostly to break-in and test out my new kicker. We ended up 5 for 5 on lakers and all survived to fight another day but couldn't find any silver action. Lakers were all deep as noted in the above post. the new kicker broke in beautifully and it was pleasurable being able to hear each other talk over the minimal motor noise (vs. my 2 stroke).

If you have the Walleye version of the boards you should be OK with 6 or 7 colors running "normal" stuff but the Runners I'd go with 5 colors

Might be worth trying the new Revolution spoons for something very different in terms of action from the same old standard blanks anyway. FLT does an incredible job with paint but the spoons themselves are nothing special.

Lets hope the silvers wake up soon out there Bob as the temps start moving up

Yeah but..... Emperor Cuomo needs all the states money for the Tappan Zee bridge rebuild. He is probably hoping they will rename it in his honor to give him free publicity for his future run for the Presidency