dane

Small world! We live just around the corner from the Coast Guard station on the creek. Pre-COVID, often used their ramp to put my boat in in the spring and take it out in the fall. I was the Commander of Pax from 2003-2005 - lots of friends at NAVAIR. Regarding salmon fishing, never used meat rigs. I assume colors to use are similar to spoons and match the flasher as with flies-- is that correct? Good luck on the cobia!

That's very near our home, Bobfish! We live on St Inigoes Creek just off the St Mary's river by Webster Field. I'm retired Navy - ended my career at Pax and we stayed in the area. Many thanks for information about Oswego area!

Thanks all for the great information - much appreciate! Looks like for this trip we will be out of Oswego and launching out of Wrights Landing. I understand the power plan is east of there - correct? Is there a good bait and tackle shop in Oswego where we can get up-to-date reports and any tackle we might need? Again - very much appreciate the information. It's about a 10 hr drive towing our boat from MD, so I expect your information is going to help make this a great trip for some old friends!

Many thanks! I have been able to move the trip up to fish the lake 3-5 Sep based on what you all have said. Sounds like the mouth of the Salmon River is the area to fish that time of year! What are most fish generally taken on that time of year and what depth do you usually fish? Flasher - fly, j-plugs, spoons? Wire line, dipsy's, flat line? Any information is helpful and much appreciated! Again, many thanks for the information!

We are planning a trip to Lake Ontario to fish for salmon and/or brown trout in the 15-18 September time frame. Will be driving up from Maryland. Would much appreciate any advice on where, from Oswego area to Pulaski, would be the optimum place(s) on the lake to go for Kings at that time of year and a good place to put our boat in (22'). Any information on good choices for rigs would be helpful, e.g., j-plugs, flasher-fly, spoons, etc. both for Kings and browns. Many thanks in advance,

Great information! Thank you- looks like Garmin will be on my boat too.

Good to know Tim, Thanks!

What about performance and reliability? Have you experienced more problems with Lowrance?

Thanks - helpful to know what you all think. What is it about the Garmin products that puts them above Lowrance in your experience? Reliability ? Thanks again - boat electronics are expensive and I don't want to make a choice I'm going to regret.

I need to replace my old chartplotter/fishfinder and I'm looking at the Lowrance HDS7 Gen II with Downscan or the Garmin 741 with CHIRP. Most of my fishing is on the Chesapeake Bay for strippers and Lakes Ontario and Erie for walleye, salmon, and steelhead. It seems the debate between Lowrance and Garmin is like the Ford-Chevy debate -- depends on what you have used in the past. Any thoughts or recommendations would be much appreciated. Lowrance Garmin Thanks in advance--

Okay, you all have my attention. I am getting ready to purchase either the Lowrance HDS7 Gen II touch screen or the Garmin 741xs. My fishing in mostly in the Chesapeake Bay and Lakes Ontario and Erie. Don't know which offers the best capability for my fishing or which will be the most reliable. CHIRP or Downscan? From what I'm reading, it seems the debate between Lowrance v. Garmin is like the Ford-Chevy debate -- depends on what you have used in the past. Any thoughts or recommendations on which way to go would be much appreciated! thanks in advance-

Does anyone have experience with the Fish Hawk TD? Looks like you attach it to your rigger or line and it will record temp and depth- you have to reel it in to see what it recorded on the way down but for the price it seems like a good option. It retails for around $150. I don't have a temp depth probe but am considering it. The TD price looks attractive. I'm interested in what you all with experience think. Thanks in advance.

After all I've been reading about wire line, I want to rig a Penn GTi320 with it. I bought 30# Malin at Cabelas but it only came in 450' spools. I thought I would back it with 30# mono. Will that work? I'm a novice at Lake Ontario and only make it up from Maryland once or twice a year- so trying to learn from what I read here to make the trips productive. Thanks in advance!

Check out the Garmin units. I have heard nothing but good about the GPS, the fish finder, ease of use and reliability. I have a Lowrance LX19c that after 8 seasons is starting to go bad. ... Screen comes on blank, sometimes upside down, and sometimes unreadable. Have to cycle on off several times before it starts working. I think I am going to go with the Garmin 741xs with CHIRP.

Tim, I am going to rig a Penn GTi320 with wire for dipsy. Bought 30# Malin but it only came in 450' spool. I was going to back the Malin with 30# mono. Will that work? Thanks

Great info! In your opinion, apart from CHIRP or Structure Scan, do you consider the Garmin fish finders equal to the Lowrance for great lakes fishing?

Thanks for the info BigBlue- very helpful. I'm curious though why you don't think the CHIRP is worth it for great lakes fishing? No argument- just curious. I'm too new to the technology to know. Would be great to save the $$$ and not get it if not needed. Thanks again

I'm looking to upgrade my chartplotter/fishfinder and am considering the Garmin 741xs with CHIRP or the Lowrance HDS7 with structure scan. A dealer of both advised the CHIRP better for deep water and Structure Scan better if fishing the shallows. Because most of my fishing is in the deeper water, the Garmin seems attractive. But, the Garmin dealer tells me the transducer for the CHIRP is about $1000.00 more than the transducer that includes speed and temp. That makes the system almost double what the HDS7 with Structure Scan costs including the Structure Scan transducer. Seems there must be less expensive transducer for Garmin to be competitive with the HDS7. Any thoughts, recommendations would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Any thoughts or recommendations on most productive scent for salmon? What about foe walleye in Lake Erie?

Thanks all for the great information. I do have one 320 with a line counter- I'll look for another and get the right rod tip for wire. Thanks again! Dane

Just returned to Maryland from a trip to Lake Ontario for brown trout and kings and am considering rigging two of my rods with wire line for future trips. Should I? If I will be using the wire mostly with dipsy's, what is the advantage over braided line? The reels I have to put the wire on are Penn GTI 320s -- will they work? Thanks in advance. Dane

Just returned to Maryland from a trip to Lake Ontario and am considering rigging a couple of rods with wire line. Should I? If I will be using mostly with a dipsy, what is the advantage of using wire over braid? If I do go to wire, I have a couple of Penn GTI 320 reels to put it on -- will they work? Thanks in advance, Dane

I'm looking for a good rod to use on downriggers for salmon- The Lamiglass CG 90 DR was recommended- its sort of expensive but from the discussion on the Ugly Sticks it may be worth the money. Appeciate any advice, recommendations. Thanks

Solved my problem - C.E. Smith does make a rod holder built to withstand the torque/stress from downriggers - however, won't work with the holes already drilled for the factory installed PERKO rod holders and they cost about $70 each. The solution is to fit a stainless steele sleeve over the original rod holder and weld it in place - local metal shop came up with the solution and is charging $30 for two - installed and polished with a welded cross bar at the bottom for the gimbal mount to fit on. Great deal! Read reviews on Cabelas website indicating similar probems with rod holders fitted with downrigger mounts.