Capt Vince Pierleoni

What Dalhousie Tourny? Tom, you should probably just ready your tackle for Perch season. What fun could multiple hookups on overdue cranky mature Kings be anyway? Besides, you are on too much of a hot streak right now, spare the Kings! Tom, don't forget the beloved archery season for that list of yours, for those of us who partake. Just think of all the guys it keeps off your perch.

LMAO, Pete! It must be bad enough being preyed upon by normal Chinooks, but imagine the rage exhibited towards alewives and our tackle by these "homely" Kings with self esteem issues!!!

Thanks for posting the pic. We have seen a higher incidence of these "healed up" Kings. This shows that as long as they are not overplayed and not gushing blood, its always worth carefully returning the first year "skipper" Kings. Today, we had a 4yr old mature that had a huge healed up gap in the tail. Probably netted resulting in splitting the tail, and then returned to the water. The knowledge of the fleets on both shores continues to grow, so we can expect to see more and more of this as anglers "go through" the available population of Salmon each year. Add resiliency to the list of desireable traits this incredible species has.

I have a very serious party looking at just the hull. If anyone wants to see/hear the engines purr, lets do it soon before they get pulled. Rick, something tells me that temptation/decision is gonna come to you eventually in your own boat. I've watched you grow to love the day to day ALMOST as much as the tournys. Good luck the rest of the season.

can't even get the biologists around the North and South shore to agree on what percentage gets missed by that clipping trailer. I had one tell me it's upwards of 30%. No,, you cannot count on natural reproduction, especially if there are low flows and pillaging of the bedding Salmon occuring.

Great thread, Rick. Thanks for jumping on this. I don't think I could stand to see anymore shrugged shoulders like we did in 2007, and like we did after that fall. Absolutely no contingency plan in place despite the outcry of going to just one hatchery. We ended up soliciting volunteers to gather Salmon out of 18mile to help out the DEC, but they told us those eggs didn't "eye up" well because it was such a warm fall and they were stressed.

Thanks Jeff, no they are not fuel injected but offer updated electrionic ignition, new carbs and electric chokes and fuel pumps. There was a noticable increase in performance and efficiency with the Vortechs over the old 350 260hp motors.

45 to 65 feet down depending on speed when you have it all in the water.

Will consider all options, Bull Gator.

Yes, its a sad time but we wanted to give it one last hunt. Thanks for the kind words. Should've said hello , I thought you just fished the fingerlakes. Best of luck the rest of the season.

Low hours on these 2008 Vortech marine engines, new everything purchased complete in crates. The set offers opposite rotation and can be purchased with borg warner velvet drives for 10K, less trannys, 9K.

Tony's repair, Orchard park NY. He is the MAN when it comes to Minn Kota repair. 716-662-5692

I will pm you, Chris.

Congrats Tom, on a very well run event. You cannot fake passion. Congrats to Ritchie Nau and crew also!

Great job! Kudos to all who helped make that a memorable day for our vets.

Amen, crumcake. Not only does "no comm" prevent the results from being skewed, it is a better "team" sport when done as intended. Much more rewarding and prestigious.

Good points, Bruce. Probably because some of the checks were small and underwhelming. This mega-check payout was a heated topic amongst committee volunteers, it looked alot better with the "fantasy" of 70 teams. Perhaps there would have been more teams had it all rolled out at last years end(when people need to plan vacation days) , as it turned out, it was way too late for such huge changes. Alot of things went differently than I hoped, both format-wise and rule-wise. I will say this, much of it was to ease the transition of everyone playing in one division. There was definitely not an agenda to "take the little guys money"-just the opposite. Most of the committee members would have preferred a fatter payout up top, I coined the saying, "our peers are going to want TO WIN, when they win"--not just cover expenses. Ultimately, it was thought that to promote more participation, the prize money should be spread out. With that model of 70 teams, and the help of generous volunteers, it didn't look bad and even those of us with a "winner take all" mindset bought in. Of course, with half as many teams it didn't make sense to pay that many places-but a back up plan was never discussed so it went ahead the way it did. Again, these mistakes were made with the participants best interests in mind, and with the hope that the more newbies that cashed checks the better. Perhaps this just isn't the place(Salmon Tournaments) for "everyone gets a star on their forehead", just for playing. If you look at the events that are filling fields, they are "fat"in payouts at the top with observers and "no comm." The potential big prize allows teams to justify a long boat or trailering trip from out of county, state, or even country. As for the dual format( 12 fish and 5 big fish), I actually think this worked to some degree as intended. Some new teams cashed checks in the 5 fish format, and teams that had great events cashed checks in both formats-thus lessening the "dilution" factor. In hindsight it is a better fit for a better participated Tourny, whereas even a 30 boat Tourny can be exciting when top-loaded. I don't know what the answers are or what motivates different teams to "play", but one things for sure, we have the ultimate fishery for such events. As stated earlier, planning for 2013 needs to start soon.

They are not perfect, nor are the people that shape them. Some retooling needs to take place, and the "comm" thing straightened out, but like Jerry said how many events do we have left during this "hey day" of Lake Ontario? We always have fun and most importantly LEARN, at each event. Jerry--Congrats on a great Eastern run and Sodus Tourny, but you are dead wrong about the trophies, plaques, mementos. In the past when there wasn't enough to go around, my clients have taken it upon themselves to order more. My client at Sodus on Sunday said to me, "this means more to me than the money", as he gazed at etched glass 2nd place plaque. This gentleman is uber successful and has fished all over the world. The memento will help him relive the memories in his home state of NH, and generate interest in future events and trips to Lake Ontario while it is displayed on his office desk. Basement clutter? I don't think so. While I was paying for gas at Krenzers before the trip home, I saw in the case near the register next to the marina awards, a 2nd place Pro Am trophy. Tim earned that one fishing with Billy V. Guess what? Today, Tim fields his own team. He has the fever. I recently learned the original Challenge Cup was retired. When I shared this with an O-town Captain, he was distraught. He stated that he dreamed of one day hoisting it and having his name on it. Tim-- Thanks again for the ride to the weigh in. We boated into town, and that would have been a tough lug down the sidewalk. You guys are right on about Salmon deserving their due in the tourny world, and you are probably inspiring more young sharpshooters to get involved despite boat size. Great job last weekend. Whatever shakes out with these events, we hope there are some viable ones down East because we love to visit.

I concur, most of our fish were within 4 miles of Oswego. Fast? Funny! Dave Turner and wife Veronica are a dedicated pair. Yes big changes are needed, but we decided not to take our toys and go home just yet. Many of us are hoping it gets turned around, visiting O town and Sodus has become a yearly high point for our team members--most of which are very casual anglers.

Hmmm, let me see, 1)Salmon 2)No comm 3) observers 4) Buffet. Should be the Tourny of the year on the Southshore.

I am assuming this is an inexpensive transom mount transducer. On the Niagara in the winter, these succumb to the ice often. I have successfully repaired these with 5 minute 2 part epoxy. Put it in position, tape it tight with masking tape. Whatever doesn't peel off will dissolve.

Freedom wasn't, and isn't free. God bless America.

Thank you Paul C. and Carl B. Well put and accurate. You guys saved me finger cramps, LOL. The only thing I would add is cold water fish and their unique oils are one of the few foods proven to REVERSE heart disease, one our nations largest killers.

You did good job, Paul. I would only add, that the distribution of baitfish in the Spring, is directly related to the type of winter we have. How the bulk of the baitfish distribute has a huge affect on how the Salmon concentrate.