TyeeTanic

Hey JBoock. In the first set of numbers, that range for Rainbows (60 - 70F) looks way too high. The range under steelies for the charter targets looks more realistic. Also they say big kings (tyees) will be in the 42 - 45F, but there aren't many, so it will be about size vs. quantity of hits.

You will know why we want the lead the length of the rod and D what fleas are all about and why use wire by the end of the season.

Just throw rocks at his boat next time ... And then take pictures of his reaction with your camera.

I couldn't have said it better myself. 2 wire lines on dipseys and 2 mono's on downriggers. I also like to put spoons on two lines and flies on two lines with Spin Doctors. Colors - blue/silvers, greens are good. Monkey Puke and Hawg Wild are also awsome producing colors. BTW why are you going out only for BTs? What about kings?

I have to disagree here. If people didn't have to take tests to get their driver's licenses are you saying there wouldn't be as many accidents, or even the same amount of accidents??? People learn a lot studying and taking their driver's examination. Yes it isn't perfect - there are still idiots out there. But, look at the masses, it does make better and safer drivers out of us. Without a licensing system there would be complete chaos and carnage on the roads. Now I agree, there fewer boating accidents than car accidents, but will this mean anything to you if your wife or child is killed in a boating accident because some idiot didn't know or care to learn about the rules of boating safety? I don't think so ... licensing boat operation is a very good thing. And it actually doesn't take much effort or money to do. We are talking about a week or two out of a person's life, and less money than it takes to fill our car up with gas. Mark

There's another common solution amongst experienced fishermen. I was fortunate enough to learn this early on. Basically take a thick drinking straw (like you get at McDonalds) and cut it in half. Then roll the leader around your hand loose enough that you can eventually get it off. Once looped together take it off your hand and squeeze it together to a pinch so you have the middle together and the ends looped out. Now feed one end of the looped line into the middle of the straw. Push it through until the straw is in the middle of the looped line. Now you have a leader line all nice and neat in a 4 inch x 1/4" gathering, and it won't kink. Mark

Here's my new ride - 2011 Rinker 260 EC. The shop is doing the bottom paint right now. Fishing gear all installed at the stern.

Nice! How heavy do you think she was? And the others, bigger fish, or about the same? - obviously a guess based on the run.

Flies - greens, blues, purples Spin Doctors MC Rockets Watermelon and monkey puke lures and finally ... lots of patience and a good sense of humor!

Make sure you get a rod with good roller guides or ceramic line guides or you will end up spending money twice.

I used a live well last year and all the fish were dead within 20 minutes. I think unless you have a massive live well with crazy aeration, then they are basically useless. This year I am going to just kill them and put them in a cooler box on ice, if I'm planning to keep them.

I think I read in the "Up to the Gills'" report that the fish samples are actually a slice of meet taken from the fillet - and not the entire fish.

I wear oversized waders (my foot is a size 8, I got an 11 boot for my waders). I put winter boot inserts (its a grey wool type insert about 1/2" thick). My foot then fits snug in the oversized waders. I have never come close to being cold with this method. And I fished on below freezing days!

I run 3 or 4 dipsey's most of the times. Don't want to put riggers on my boat. Anyhow, generally it is fine while trolling. But you have to be very aware of your setup. The deep divers (1 or mag) on setting 3 on outside, and then shallow dispeys (0 or 1, on short line) in the middle, with setting 1. I normally keep one middle a bit closer to the boat, but deeper (so say a #1 dipsey around 40-50 feet deep) and then the other middle rod farther out and shallower (say a #0 dipsey at around 30 feet deep). This means the two middle lines never actually cross each other - which is the main risk while trolling. Remember, the Lake O currents are high, as mentioned further up in this post. So you end up with times where all the dipseys are bunched together due to current and it takes a while to correct. If you stagger the middle two dipseys right, it is not an issue. Lastly, and this is important, everything is fine until a fish hits. The worst is when an outside dipsey takes a hit. The dipsey pops open and then the line travels straight towards the middle lines. If you don't reel these lines in, it can sometimes cause a complete mess. So you need extra hands on deck to help. Using 3 rods on a boat like that should be a lot simpler.

NEVER let any slack when dealing with wire. ALWAYS keep pressure on that wire to maintain itself so it wont coil or kink. A lot of people new to wire break off rigs because they aren't anal enough about this. Also use 7 strand wire, it is far more foregiving and easy to manage than single strand wire.

July is a good time and your boat is fine for Lake O, but use caution please. Weather can turn ugly and quicker than you think (it caught a few of us last year). Largest waves I've seen not too far from shore were 8 foot rollers. Was a bit scary. But I've had some absolutely awsome days in July, water like a mirror. My best day went 12 for 16 or something like that in mid-July. Also caught a nice 25 lb chinook around that time too.

I'm pretty sure when you are here you can get the license at a Canadian Tire (non-residents permit) or day fishing license or something like that - and you have it right away. Best thing to do is to look online for a Canadian tire close to where you are going and call them to find out if they have the non-resident or day fishing licenses for sale. Better yet - call MNR, they are very helpful.

Hawg Wild Spin Doctor with Hawg Wild Fly.

Ya, as said above, it is to be able to quicly change out flies. When you see one color is working, then I normally pull the other lines in and change to similar colors on the back of the attractors using the quick release swivels.

Well, it happened this summer. Me and my 9 year old son were out fishing on Lake O (Canadian side) for Kings. We get a hit, he takes the rod as I steer the boat. Too big for him, so he hands me the rod. I start pulling the fish in and he grabs the net to land it. The second rod fires, so I ask him to drop the net and grab the other rod. He drops the net alright, into Lake Ontario. So here I am trying to keep the blood from blowing up my head, while I watch my only net sink to the bottom. He's now figured he's done something stupid and starts crying his head off. Third rod fires. Tighten up the drag and let it be in the holster. My son's going nuts now and not steering the fish. I get my fish in and pick it up with my hands and release. I grab the third rod, and it is tangled with my son's rod!! Spend next 30 mins untangling lines (one wire, one mono). One fish broke off, other fish landed around 22 lbs. After we both cooled off, we had a huge laugh about it. Went out and bought a much better net... just needed a good excuse.

I have one unit with both GPS and fishfinding. I operate on split screen all the time, and find that it works well. The only thing I wish is the screen was bigger on the GPS side so that I can better track my planned routes or courses that I know I strike fish better on. This is where 2 units will come in handy - you get two full screens dedicated to each task. The other thing is with combo units sometimes you lose functionality - like my Lowrance Elite 5 Gold cannot tell me trip distance. A dedicated GPS unit will likely give you some of that very good information. Lastly, you want a unit that is DSC compliant - so you can connect the GPS to a DSC Radio. A stand alone GPS again will be easier to find with that functionality than a combo unit.

I switch between fluoro and ultra green. The ultra green is tough as nails. Man if I had to guess I'd say the 8 lb is as tough as a 12 lb floro. The only thing about the ultra green that I've noticed is that it has a tough time sinking down. It's basically the reason and only reason I have switched to fluorocarbon. In fast water I find the ultra green doesn get down fast enough. But really a great line.

Spin Doctors with A-tom-mic flies have produced the most fish for me this year. I start with selecting the fly color and then choose a spin doctor to match up. Colors that have produced: -bloody death -hawg wild -green crinkle glow Mark

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends in the USA! From Canada.

I like Lowrance, but pay careful attention to the features. I have a Lowrance Elite 5 Gold - it has everything except a critical feature, and that is a trip tacometer. There's no way for me to extract the distance travelled on a trip. This feature obviously would help me determine some interesting parameters like fuel consumption. There are obviously other features you will want - good charts, number of radar sensers and angle of beam, strength, variability of beam strength, etc. Also, would be good to have a GPS, and it would be even better if the unit is compatible with your DSC VHF/MHF radio so you have auto position indication. I'm not sure if some units will also have interfaces for down speed and down temperature indication. Other than that, I think it generates a lot of accurate information, and the automatic tuning is great. However, I wouldn't be suprised if there isn't a better unit out there.