Big Water

500 mile round trip for me from State College PA and I'm up there almost every weekend from May until mid-September. I made the mistake of bringing the boat up in early April this year and now I'm hooked on the Brown Trout fishing so my season just got extended by a month.

The good temps disappeared on Saturday and we were getting low 40s 50' down. Checked them from 200-450 FOW. Wind will determine how this weekend plays out. The up side is that it was a steelhead slaughter regardless of temps on Saturday.

Yeah. My next move is to try recalibrating, which requires a flat lake. Then I'll bleed the hydraulics and maybe replace the hydraulic motor, I have pm'd Kevin, but haven't heard back yet. I spent last weekend trolling the big motors and steering manually. What a pain! I'm spoiled too!

Thanks, I did contact Garmin and they recommended the same thing. The ball is oriented as it should be with ball wires hanging straight down and no ferrous materials near it. It is in a compartment by itself and nothing has changed in that regard. Any other thoughts?

As of last week, I started having issues with the TR1 on my boat. It controls only my 9.9 Honda kicker. Recently, I noticed that the unit seemed to have issues with steering the boat to the port. I checked the hydraulic fluid and it was low so I refilled it. It seemed a little better for a 1/2 day and now it seems completely unable to hold a course. when sitting at the dock and activating the unit, it seems to adjust course both port and starboard, but on open water it just steers in large circles either port or starboard. Any ideas? Do you know of anyone in the Wilson area that could troubleshoot the unit? I'm assuming the boat wouldn't need to be trailered to repair since all of the components except the hydraulic cylinder on the motor are in the boat and that can be accessed by raising the kicker. Thanks for any suggestions, Doug

My experience is that a full moon makes for a bad morning bite. Better to fish after noon. The only conditions I like less are bluebird skies and north wind. Maybe some more experienced members can add their thoughts.

Good read. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/09/shipwreck-hunters-make-rare-find-on-lake-ontario-air-force-plane-that-went-down/

I'm sorry, but this just sounds like a bad idea. The lake can turn more quickly than you can get to shore and even the wakes from a boat could be an issue. Unless you're planning to fish in a sheltered bay, I'd never venture out there in a canoe.

I was going to say that but figured it was a moot point.

I'm with you on the bait. From 100 to 450 FOW as one bait ball went off of the sonar, the next showed up. They aren't going hungry for sure.

I'm marking enough nice sized fish, they just aren't hitting. I think things will change shortly.

Some fleas will accumulate on wire, but not even close to braid and the wire cuts right through them. If you get a wire setup, NEVER let the line go slack because it will tangle on the reel like you've never experienced. Always keep your clicker on so that doesn't happen. Like said previously, if you get a kink, it will break like a piece of thread, so cut kinks out immediately. A little curling of the wire is OK.

Tie the braid to a large quality swivel like a Sampo and attach the swivel to the dipsey. You are going to have real problems with braid come flea season though. They'll hang on to it and ball up at you guides to the point you won't be able to reel in the line without removing them. That's not easy either.

Coming up to Wilson Friday. You guys aren't making me feel very optimistic. Guess I need to learn to fish lakers.

Last year it was just my wife and I out one weekend. I got a nice mid 20s king which she nets and then proceeds to set the net down on the motor platform (swim platform) before the fish is in the boat. The fish flops against the platform and takes off ripping the hook free in the net. She said it was too heavy to lift!