KIGI

Over the past 2 years, she has probably reeled in 5x as many 20+ lb kings as I have. And its not like I always let her take the screamers. We pretty much alternate who reels/drives when we're fishing but, like you said, she seems to have the magic touch! As far as new friends are concerned, that's been our experience at Olcott just about every time we go. We always seem to meet new friends there who help us out with fishing tactics. Now, they don't always give us 80 lbs of salmon, but we're always amazed how willing people are to share their secret lures, spots, etc.. to help others. Like our neighbor Frank told us, "It's not like we're fishign against you in a million dollar tournament, so why not share what's working?" Its really a great place with really nice fishermen. We plan to be back Labor Day weekend and will hopefully post more pics and update. May also have the boat for sale after that trip as well. We're probably moving and won't need a large boat, so I'll get some pics together and figure out a price, but our Trophy 2052 which in my mind is a perfect Lake O boat and served us well for 2 years may be listed if anyone is interested in looking at it while we're up there. It's going to kill me to sell the boat, because we've spent so much time adding stuff to get her ready for salmon fishing.

I use powerpro braid under the wire connected with an albright knot. Can take a couple tries to get a good knot because of the stiffness of the wire, but it can be done. I also cover the knot with plyobond to make sure it goes through the eyes without snagging. http://www.animatedknots.com/albright/. I let the glue dry over night before spooling the wire over it. So far so good, but haven't had many fish get us into the backing.

We also fished olcott this past weekend. Our report: Friday 7/12: Went out at 7:30 am. Made it out to about 90 fow, but it was too rough for our liking. Our decision to return to harbor was cinched when we saw the 35' Renee Anne coming in and figured our 22' should do the same. The time spent sitting on the boat docked in Newfane Marina waiting on the weather to change was well spent however. We chatted with our slip neighbors, who like us, also hail from Pittsburgh. Their boat, Reel Scream, is a beautiful vessel and Frank was kind enough to share some valuable salmon fishing knowledge with us greenhorns. The lake calmed down a bit around noon and we fished from noon to about 4 pm, but only were able to boat one steelie. Sat 7/13: My wife Caroline and I had my brother and sister-in-law on deck. Again, a bit bumpy out but fishable. We only managed two 8-10 lb kings and 3 keeper steelies, and had a great time out there. Back at the dock, we met some more nice folks, including finally meeting Mr. Trophy from aboard the Salmon Obsession whom we have chatted on the radio with before as he as nearly the same boat as we do. Very nice guy and hope to bump into him again. The LOTSA tournament was today and our slip neighbor, Frank placed 4th. We were admiring his fish when he asked if we wanted them. Umm...yea we do! We absolutely love to eat Salmon and so do plenty of our friends back in Pa. When we told Frank this, he made a few calls and before we knew it, we were given 3 20+ pound kings to clean! What a great guy with awesome friends. My brother and I split the catch and we'll be able to fill several smokers with fish this summer. Frank even showed us some of his fish cleaning tips which worked very well. Great day! Sun 7/14: Caroline and I went out at about 6:30 am. Calm, flat lake. Fishing also started out great when Caroline landed a 22 lb king on flasher/fly on wire dipsy down about 80' before we even had the lines out. I then picked up a 8 lb coho on f/f about 60 ft down a half hour later. She was next up and we knew we had a nice one on when for a full 30 seconds after the wire dipsy with watermelon spinny and fly started singing all she could do was hold on as the fish took her from 180 (3 setting, no ring) to 700 ft out on the line counter. Thank goodness for powerpro backing! After a 30 minute battle, Caroline boated a beautiful 24 pound king.We managed one additional steelhead and called it a day at 3 pm or so. Mon 7/15: Caroline and I had my mother on board, who hasn't fished in over 25 years. I think the main reason she came is that I joked with her a while back that I didnt know if she could reel in a big king anymore. Well, I was proven wrong when the 80' rigger fired 10 minutes into the day and she landed a 15 pound king on f/f. About 1.5 hours later, a wire dipsy fires with what feel like a nice king and then the 40 rigger goes. After a crazy 15 minutes, we landed both fish which turned out to be a nice steelie (which was on the free slider on the rigger) and another 15 pound king. We managed one more 12 lb king and called it a day at 11:30 because Caroline and I had to drive back to pittsburgh. Overall a great trip and once again made new friends in Olcott. We came home with about 80 pounds of Salmon fillets (Thanks Frank!) to share among our friends. What a wonderful place and spectacular fishery. Will probably be back in about a month depending on work schedules. We can't wait!

Wow...awesome fish. Looks like you need a bigger net! What end of the lake?

Nice work! The reports are starting to sound very good. Can't wait to try our luck for a long weekend starting Friday!

I re did an old Starcraft a few years ago and used kiwi grip over sealed 7 layer plywood. It came out great! Way easier to clean than carpet and not slippery at all. Would use again in a heartbeat. Buy the recommended roller and goes on in a snap. You can just throw a bucket of water on your salmon slime and blood while out on the lake. Close second to the high end big boats with fiberglass decks.

Funny you ask. I actually just spoke with the mechanic this AM. After telling me last fall that my shift cable needed replaced, he now actually thinks that it was the IAC valve causing high idle and that the shift cable might be OK. I don't know the financial damage yet...going to pick up boat later today. Hes based in Pittsburgh

I envy all of you fishing this weekend. I'm resigned to checking LOU reports until I have a chance to make it up next weekend. Good luck and be safe! Looking forward to weekend fishing reports.

I have trophy with same 4.3 merc. Have also had trouble with shift cable. In fact mines in shop right now being replaced. Mine didn't get stuck but would stall when going from forward to reverse and would also stick in reverse when put into neutral and I would have to go a bit into forward to actually get neutral.