Sk8man

R Gahagan - good tip about marking the spots with the magic marker and about the other releases. Thanks.

I hear you Fleet but I used big boards from 1975 or so until a few years ago when I switched to the inlines and braid and I still prefer my outriggers to both. For whatever reason I don't lose fish on them and I don't have to dick around with the mast and all the other space taking stuff and they are easier to transport. As you mention the stretch component...I used to lose fish because of it with the big boards and mono. At the end of the day it is whatever works for you and you feel most comfortable with. I will say I have learned to keep my TX 44 boards closer to the boat and run the Walleye boards and yellow birds at the extreme outside and with the 44's I don't stop reeling close to the boat as they can dive and that can be a problem if it happens. I run mostly spoons and sticks off my boards anyway and run my flashers spinneys and meat "clean" with dipseys and coppers and leadcores clean most of the time so I don't have the high degree of pull on the boards like some folks either.

Good point....all my offshores have been the standard ones with the little thin plastic "pins" at the back of the jaw and I always figured they would be "sawed" through by the braid sliding back and forth

Nice for those particular boards but you could lose a board if the offshore releases too. With the Church TX or Walleye boards you don't need multiple releases just crank down the original release and have the braid way back in the release jaw and take the board off on the way in. I don't let the board slide down the back pin and I also use roller tips on my rods so they aren't much to reel in anyway and haven't lost any fish this way either because the tension is pretty constant. Well done clearly presented video

The south end has had ice longer than the north end (as usual) if you go I'd try going out (carefully and testing along the way) from the launch at the south end. Be aware that the Trident Marine has had a bubbler going the last few years and it erodes the ice underneath where you can't see it for many many yards away from the bubbler itself. There are also numerous gas pockets at the north end as well as stream input which also create problems you often can't see. There is also stream input just north of the south end launch ramp that needs to be avoided.

My son was at the south end yesterday and said that it looked about between 1-2 inches. It should be good to go there this weekend with these temps. Maybe before hand but is it worth chancing that is the question. There also may be running water under the ice near where the streams connect too.

Sounds like just a difference in phrasing to me. I use the 91 octane non ethanol gas but still use the triple strength marine stabilizer in it and keep my tank full (60 gal.) throughout the season and into storage to lessen the chance of condensation build up. A buddy who is a cracker jack auto mechanic says the stabilizer is BS but being the superstitious guy that I am I continue to use it .

Some real good information there. One additional thing I didn't see mentioned is the presence of gas pockets coming up from the bottom and on lakes such as Honeoye they can be a real danger because the surrounding ice may be fine and then all of a sudden you are in the water. They can be covered by snow and hard to impossible to detect. Another thing is where birds such as geese and ducks keep an area open for a time and it subsequently freezes over much thinner than the surrounding areas and may be then covered by snow so again hard to detect.

In my view the light stuff is OK as it is easier to walk on than the glare ice and quite as "spooky" as the clear stuff If it is safe I'll be trying Honeoye.

Hope to see you out there Dave.

My son called this morning from Honeoye and said that it is now completely frozen over and the south end has had some ice for awhile so I'm hoping soon.

I have a pair of redtail hawks that frequently sit on the roof of my house (one at a time) and they prey on the field mice and especially the voles that destroy a lot of things on my property. I've watched them often diving and coming up with nothing too...they don't have the easiest time of it finding food around here anyway. The Yotes however can be heard a lot of the time at night feeding/chasing what must be deer or rabbits out back. Last summer it was pretty eerie when I noticed the redtail sitting over the patio eyeballing my terrier perhaps just out of curiosity but I wasn't totally sure the way he was looking

Pelthunter

When I first joined LOU (Admiral Byrd kept at me to do it) I thought to myself....I'm maybe at the advanced level but not the "professional" level thinking it was just for charter captains etc. but once I started posting and understanding the site a little better I realized that the professional category wasn't some elitist title but rather a way to benefit from the site with additional resources available as well as to help ensure that it continues. It is a very inexpensive way of thanking the LOU community and Chad for providing a great website that takes a lot of time and effort to design and maintain properly. I have designed personal and commercial websites in the past and I fully understand what is involved so it is my way of saying "thanks". I would encourage any of you folks out there (who may be on the fence) to do the same and "lurkers" to become members as this website is one of the most beneficial to our sports that I have ever seen.