Big Water

Lake Erie was my home waters for years until I figured out there were actually roads that went to Ontario too! I was so happy to find the more "tranquil" waters of Lake O.

Blow Up!! Is there something we should know?

Last year, I had a day when the salmon were crushing a Carmel Dolphin SD and CD Fly. They tore that fly up so I went with a Crazy B*tch Fly I had and they chewed that up. Out of similar flies, I put on a green fly and the slaughter continued. Might have been the day or the SD, but the fly made no difference that day.

My bet is the line is being cut/frayed as you pull the albright knot tight. The copper can cut into the line.

I use 30' lead and definitely go with inline swivels on BOTH ends!

I'd add that there is also cut ballyhoo being sold that looks almost identical to herring. I think it was Erie Dearie brand, but I'm not sure. It definitely under-performed the real herring and I would stay away from it, from my experience. Some days cut bait worked and some days it didn't. The issue is that there were some days when it was practically the only thing that worked and worked well! It will always be in my spread. Doug

I bought one for my spoons from Wes at Slippery Sinker last year. They're great for keeping spoons organized with quick viewing and access to all of your spoons. They do take up some deck space, but I just move it into the cabin when I'm not rigging. I plan on one for my stick baits soon because those always turn into a mess. Only problem is I quickly filled it with new spoons and need a second box! Be careful not to tip these over because the lures become dislodged from the slots and you end up rearranging them again. Doug

That's a little dance between the Utility Commissions and the Power Companies. The Commissions want more line workers hired for emergencies and the Power Companies "assure" them that they will get all of the assistance they need proactively. The lineworkers often deploy without ever being needed and some of those guys are making $1000/day on double time the entire trip. I see it all of the time.

Don, Thanks for the detailed reply. I'll wait until late January and give it a try. I'm anxious to add another season to my Lake O adventures. Doug

I'm going to make my first ever trip to the lower Niagara River and Bar within the next few weeks. From what I've read, water clarity is a big factor in fishing success there. Is there a site where I can get current and forecasted river conditions, or is it best to just call the local tackle shops? Also, what weight pencil leads are normally required for drift fishing the lower river. Thanks, Doug

PennYan, You hit the nail on the head with this single observation. You recognize this, their neighbors recognize this, co-workers recognize this, but no one does anything! Start tracking and documenting a persons behavior from childhood for signs of Aggression, Psychopathy, Sociopathy, Narcissism, abberant behavior and build a case against individuals that need to be regularly monitored/assessed or committed. You would not only avoid some of these incidents (avoiding all of them is unattainable), but you would provide a great service to society built from all of the less egregious acts these people often commit. We have become too sensitized to a person's rights at the expense of society in general. Doug

Merry Christmas to All!

See GAMBLER's response. http://www.lakeontariounited.com/fishing/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=35328

Something I didn't see mentioned, but wire can be real nasty if you don't keep a slight tension on it AT ALL TIMES. Always keep your clicker turned on so the reel never free spools on you. That stuf will turn into a nightmare with even the slightest slack. You'll often end up cutting it to get the tangles out. Also, you will get curly Qs in wire and that's ok, but if there is ANY kink in it, you need to cut it out. A kink will snap like a peice of 1 lb test.

Almost forgot one of my favorite, and funny points (it's a true story); Hold a Game Trail Camera contest to see who is the first person to capture a spike, 4 pt, 8 pt, 10 pt, squirrel, bobcat, elk, turkey, chipmunk, bear.........etc. You get the idea. These guys guard their camera placements like gold. Then.........find out where one of the guys has placed his camera and rent a clown costume and sneak out there in the middle of the night and walk around in front of the camera. Then don't say a word.

Being originally from the Pittsburgh area and transplanted to central PA, I picked up on a few of the finer points. 1) If you live on, or near, a paved road, take your car (truck) and leave burn out marks within 1/4 mile in any direction from your house. 2) Set a few weekends aside a year to get a case of beer and go driving in your truck while shooting road signs. There should be no signs within 5 miles of your house that haven't been shot. 3) Never avoid hitting an animal on the road if at all possible. Going completely off of the roadway to do this earns you extra points. 4) If you are hunting and see a deer shot that runs your way, immediately run to the deer and claim it is yours. Extreme profanity and threats adds points. 5) Safety Zones don't apply in rural areas and shooting an animal in your, or anyones, yard is acceptable. 6) If you see something moving in the woods, it's ok to shoot it and then go see what it is. 7) At some point in your life go cow tipping. 8.) Have regular WWF parties and make sure you know the names of all of the "wrestlers". 9) It's ok to sneak onto someones property to hunt. When they find you there, jusst say "I have permission from the landowner". 10) Always reload your shells and make sure everyone knows how these are the "best, most powerful, and way better than any store bought ammo". 11) Spotlighting in residential areas at any hour of the night is expected. 12) If you leave the house with a 30 pack, make sure to throw the empties out the window along your drive home that night.

This is the view of the side gunwale showing the downrigger pedestal and Berts Tracks. The back rod holder is positioned so that the holder tilts inward and back at a 45 dgree angle to accommodate my chute rods. You will have more deck space since my boat has the flush toilet option (According to my wife, this wasn't negotiable ). The next picture shows how the fishfinder and X4 are mounted above the rear steering station. I've taken them off for now, but you can see the brackets. This pic shows the side rail and the position of the planer board pulley. I have the planer board reel removed for now, but it is situated close to, and within reach of the deck. Hope this helps. Doug

I guess I already know what I'm going to do (try everything) but I thought I'd pose this question about brining your own bait. I will be brining alewives, smelt and herring, both as whole bait and strips to experiment. Would you add 1) Anise Oil? 2) Garlic Salt? 3) Kosher or pickling salt? 4) Dyes - Red, Green, Blue? 4) Laundry Bluing? 5) Borax? 6) Pre-prepped brines like Pro Cure or Pautze? 7) Run pure frozen bait and only brine those you have left over at the end of the day? 8.) Herring oil? One other unrelated question. Where can I buy thin peices of wire that I can use while tying Sushi Rigs? Thanks, Doug

It's a trade off then; I wish I had your guys skill and knowledge!

In my case, there is no connection between my kicker and main motor. The kicker works solely off of the Garmin with no tie connection. They do make a larger unit capable of steering the large outboards, but I didn't see a need since I would be trolling with the kicker 99% of the time.

As info, I ordered my boat from Tom and Jerrys Boats in Mount Vernon Washington and even with the additional freight charge, it was several thousand dollars cheaper than the price quoted by the guy in Illinois. I gave him a chance to lower his price, but it was non-negotiable. Tom and Jerrys also provides a lot of buyer support and answered all of my questions promptly and resolved a few small issues I had after the sale (couldn't figure out where the all of the valves were for the plumbing system and the tie down straps were slightly cut during transport).

DB The options that I wouldn't hesitate on are (Your boat may already contain many of these): Autopilot - Don't Think Twice about this. This is way more than a convenience and I wouldn't own a boat without it going forward. You will lose the ability to steer the kicker with the rear wheel, but thats not necessary. Diamond plate deck floor - With this, every exposed surface is weatherproof and you won't need to worry about tears in the vinyl deck or rotting floors. Fishing deck flood light - You'll need this for early morning and late evening excursions. Side-of-cabin rod holders - You'll need these for rod storage while fishing. The overhead rocket launcher extends rods too far over the deck area to be useful when rigging or fighting fish. Roof top Rocket Launchers - If you're like most people, you have far more rods along than you can fish at one time. This is a good location for them while travelling but they need to be moved from there while fishing as noted above. Cutting Board and Washdown System - While this isn't an absolute necessity, cleaning fish while onboard beats bringing them to the dock, carrying them to the cutting station and waiting in line. You can also get the fillets on ice sooner by cleaning them onboard. Two Fishfinder configuration (One at Captioans Chair and one at the rear deck area) - The dealer felt that a single larger fishfinder in the cabin would suffice, but it would be a reel nuisance to constantly peer through the cabin to see the screen. Options I chose, but aren't necessities; Livewell Configuration - I release a lot of the fish I catch and this option has allowed me to put them in aerated water and revive fish that would never had survived if I had just released them. Manual Anchor pulpit - I rarely anchor, but if you do any type of fishing requiring anchoring, this makes for easy anchor deployment and storage. Sharkhide Aluminum Hull Protector - I really can't say that this has provided additional protection against oxidation because I don't know what it would have been like without it. As it is, there has been no signs of oxidation or scuffing on my hull. Lowrance Radar - I was chased off of the lake a couple of times in 2011 because of fog and not having radar. This didn't happen at all in 2012, but it will be great when it's too thick to see out there. Other considerations My boat came with two raised downrigger pedestals permanently mounted about half way back the deck. This made the last 18-20" of the gunwale somewhat unusable, but I had short Berts Tracks installed there anyway. What I will do is place a Berts ratcheting rod holder there on a 45 degree angle that tilts IN towards the center of the deck and rearward. From that I often run a long copper down the chute and this configuration places the line about dead center on the transom. You could also use one of the rocket launchers for this, but they're positioned such that they point slightly outward toward each side and put the copper closer to the other lines. I had Berts Tracks installed on almost all of the exposured gunwale along the deck and it allows for multiple rod holder configurations for all of your wires, copper, leadcore and planer board lines. The railing along the top sides of these boats is a perfect configuration for the Planer board reels and pulleys. I mounted the pulleys about 5' from the deck toward the bow and mounted the reels near the back of the rails, within reach from the deck. This places the line going to the boards well in front of, and out of the way of, your other lines. Eventually, I'm going to install some sort of electric retrieval system, but I expect the pulleys will stay just as configured. I aslo had the dealer install the cabling, transducer and base mount for my Fishhawk X4 on the boat so that I could move the unit between my 18' Lowe and this boat without buying a second X4. The mount is installed on a gimbale bracket over the rear steering station and above my second fishfinder. My fishfinder units are Lowrance HDS-7 and HDS-8. The 7" is in the cabin and the 8" mounted above the rear steering station. I'm not an expert of fishfinders, but I can't find fault with these units. They are both GPS capable and are wired such that they communicate with each other i.e. if I mark a waypoint on one, it also displays on the other. They both also display data from the Lowrance radar unit. The rear driving station is only used in those rare instances when I'm not using the kicker on autopilot. You'll find that once waves reach 4+ feet, that the kicker can't maintain consistent speed or dirction unless trolling directly with the waves. In those rare instances, I turn one of my dual 135hp engines on and steer with the rear station wheel. The boat came with Scotty Downriggers with extendable 5' booms and I'm very pleased with them, but everyone has their own thoughts on downriggers. Overall, I'm very pleased with this boat and, like I said above, it's built like a tank and Hewscraft puts out a very high quality product. If you have any other questions or want some pics, let me know. Doug

DB, I ordered a new 26' Pacific Cruiser this spring that has the full dinette, gally, head options and had it moored at Wilson this year. These are fantastic boats and built like a tank. I've got some definite opinions about the various options and I'll post them when I get a chance. Which cabin configuration did you select? Doug