Sk8man

John summed it up real well. Past that it boils down to personal preference...there is no right or wrong to it.

With a few months to go with them chowing down it looks as though this may just be the year of the 40 pound kings on Lake O. Beautiful fish!

Gaffs are still allowed in ice fishing though and if you've ever tried to grab a large northern though a hole you could understand why....

I haven't camped there for awhile but used to go there every summer for years. Suggestion: if the boat rental place at/near the store is still there they used to have a very nice free map there of the locality (DJ's Bait Shop put it out) and it shows depths etc. all around that area. They sell bait there too and may be ableto point you in the right direction. We used to do real well on the perch just out from the boat launch ramp at the camp grounds (pike and smallies as well) in the central area of the campground and even from the dock there on bass. Good luck.

The younger kings seem to do better when released if they are brought in fairly quickly and if possible not touched by hand or netted. I've always used single hooks on just about all my stuff and use needle nose pliers to grab the hook turn it upside down and give a small shake and they usually drop back in the water at the back of the boat unharmed. Large kings are a different matter. For one thing it isn't always the depths that gets to them it is the long fight and expended energy...they are pretty much exhausted after fighting their hearts out. They also build up lactic acid in their system during the fight....much like the stuff that gives runners muscle cramps etc. In short...they are usually shot...and go belly up when released. They also do a lot of thrashing around in the net (the previous release method not practical) and in the boat causing injury. It might be possible to release one that isn't badly injured by spending a lot of time re acclimating them slowly but I've never done it.

Congrats!

Does it have a "kill switch"? If so sometimes it can be in the Off position without someone realizing it.....

Sorry to hear it briggsy.....last year I had a $250 camera in a camera bag with a half dozen sd chips either dropped out of my jacket pocket or was taken from the boat while I got my vehicle at the launch ramp (had been fishing alone) and someone took it....it sucks... feels awful. I'm still pizzed off about it.

It is to your credit that you were honest about it and an important thing for the boy to see also. Sometimes "life lessons" canbe more valuable than derby prizes. Lets hope that later on he has absorbed your example. Good luck.

Out in the same area as Bob with jb235 (otherwise known as Jim) but got a later start. Worked the north end and went deep with 3 thermocline rigs and a 6 core leadcore but unlike Bob didn't have my grass detector with me picked up three lakers (all released unharmed) about 80-100 ft down over 148-190 on the rigs. Got into the grass big time and other "unmentionable" problems with one of the rigs creating a nice donation to the fish gods... so we switched it up to 2 downriggers with sliders, a wire dipsey with Spin Doc/fly,and 2 small dipseys off the outriggers all spoons. Picked up two landlocks one of which ( about 3 plus pounds) was hooked bad and bled all over the boat so he ended up at the end of my fillet knife. One other hit that didn't take on the downrigger (all three hits came on slider with the main lure at 55 ft.) and all on the same small unnamed black lure. All three lakers came on the same small home made lure. We packed it in just after Bob did as the fish were on a lunch break or something. Grass was bad fleas were there but tolerable on 20 lb Big Game. They also were a little different than usual as they were more translucent, and seemed to come off the line easier....

Always handy to have no matter how long you've been at it Thanks. Les