jigstick

See I think I'm doing it wrong. Because once I tie my loop I have been trimming off the tag ends. So I'm basically left with it at that length. I can't make it longer. Should I not do that? And just make my loop bigger to take up the slack?

When you guys open up a brand new Atomik fly, how long do you leave the leader? I usually double the line over a few inches and tie an overhand knot to make a loop. And attach it to my Spin Doctor by pushing the loop through the eye of the swivel, and pulling the fly through the loop. But how long should I be leaving the leader?

I use my Erie walleye gear for salmon. I use Diawa LCs and Okuma Convectors. 15lb 100% Seaguar flouro main line. 30lb wire on my dipsy rods. Ive landed huge kings with my gear with no problems. I don't find I get any more sealice than guys running 30lb mono. FWIW, I got two new rods 2 weeks ago. Okuma CLassic Pro GLT down rigger rods and Okuma Convector reels. to use as stacker rods. These new Convectors are giving me some issues with the drag adjustment that I am still trying to work out. Im very close to returning them and getting Diawas. I think you will be find with your gear. Set your drags properly. Check your baits often to clear the fleas. And wait for the drag to scream

Im starting to get pumped up. I need to get some more Spindoctors and Flys. I have a good selection of spoons. It seems I'm reading that most people start out in the early morning running glow and UV spoons down deep. And as the sun comes up they get away from the glow baits and switch to greens, blacks, or whatever is hitting. Is that a good strategy? I have green dot, 42nd, pearl glow, wonder bread, and MTN Dew spin doctors. I have a 42nd and Green Hammer fly. Can you guys recommend some other Spindoctor + Fly combos that may be appropriate for this time of year? I want to make to buy the right stuff as money is tight for me at the moment.

How fast are u trolling and how deep are the baits

So that late in August the Kings could be staging inside? Like in 100fow? Would I just drive out and see if I'm marking fish? Try for a bit inside and if not hooking up then motor out to 3-400fow and try outside? This is out of olcott or Wilson. Never fished the Niagara Bar. Where is it, what harbor, and how do I get there on the water? Most likely I would be going mid week to avoid weekend boat traffic. Or won't it make a difference?

My wife loves to go out with me. She is like an eagle watching the dam rod tips. She can see the softest walleye taps on the downrigger rods I **** you not. And I learned not to doubt her. Because When i check the rod, sure enough, there is one on. And I dont have to listen to "I told you so". LOL. I love it when shes on the boat. She keeps everyone in line and boat clean. Best first mate ever....on the boat and off.

I would personally never hire a charter operator who has a "forced gratuity" policy. It's not up for the captain to dictate how much the tip should be. The service should dictate the tip. If the captain wants to make sure the mate gets paid a certain amount, then he should pay him that amount. I work to dam hard for my money. Dam if I'm going to be forced to give it to someone else if they don't earn it. FWIW I've never had a lazy deck hand, and have always tipped well. But I won't be strong armed

I tip only if the service is good. Good fishing can make up for poor service, but only to a point in my eyes. If the overall experience isnt good, then I wont tip. Just like at a restaurant. I wont tip at all if the service is bad

well I did lock up on 2 steelhead out of Barcelona over the weekend. Hit a HogWild spoon and a CedarPoint Bayrat. They came up high, in really warm water.....like 73 degrees. I was shocked. I just dont understand those fish

Spray Round Up

I tow my boat up from Erie one time a year to do some salmon fishing. This year it will be the week before Labor day. Aug 31-Sept 4th. Ive only ever fished out of Olcott, and never that time of year. Should I go to Wilson or Olcott? And when I fish Olcott Im usually in 4-500FOW looking for salmon...east of the harbor towards the smoke stacks. Is that what I should do that late in August? When do they salmon come in and stage? Id be glad to exhange Erie walleye info for some Ontario salmon info. i know the Northeast and Barcelona waters really well. Thanks. Doug

I just can't figure out why the thumb wheel for adjusting the drag has such poor range. Within 1/2 revolution the drag will go from wide open to locked down. Yes I can adjust and get the drag set properly. But the thumb wheel is not securely in place. It is soooooo loose that it almost turns on its own from just manipulating the rod. That is what is annoying me so bad. That thumb wheel should have to make a few complete revolutions in order to go from free spooling to locked down. Not a quarter turn……And when you get it where you want it, the thumb wheel should stay in place. Not spin around just from lifting or lowering the rod.

Bourbot !

When I set my Diawas on the riggers I just back off the drag while dropping the ball down. Then tighten it back up when I get to depth and take up the slack. I tried doing that with these convectors but u can't...they just pop out of the clips. So I had to set them in free spool with my thumb. this is also annoying. Especially when I'm already at depth with the ball, and just want to drop it down another few feet. These reels are just annoying the **** out of me. I think I'm going to return them and buy Accudepths instead. Reviews I had read said the Convectors where a better real, but I'm not seeing it.

I would have these baits on board as a bare minimum 42nd Spoon 42nd Fly 42nd Spin Doctor Green Crinkle fly Green Hammer Fly Mountain Dew Spin Doctor White spin doctor with green dots Daves Salmon Slapper Spoon Purple Frog Spoon Green Gator Spoon Sea Sick Waddler Spoon Silver Carbon moonshine spoon

The amount of drag I can apply is not the problem. I can set the lever to achieve the proper amount of drag. The problem is it only takes maybe 1/2 a turn of the wheel for the drag to go from "acceptable" to completely locked down. It's hard for me to explain. It's like the adjust wheel doesn't have enough "range" to tweak. For example...I had one of these set on a down rigger and a steelie hit....I started to reel in the fish. The fish went to go on a run so I went to back off the drag. And as soon as I bumped the drag adjustment wheel the drag went wide open and almost free spooled. On my Diawa reels I would have had to make maybe 1-2 complete revolutions of the drag adjustment wheel in order to back off the tension.

That's another thing I noticed. When setting leads with these new convectors...it doesn't seem right. I'll let 50ft of line out on the convector, and then 50ft out on a Diawa Accudepth, and the line out on the convector is no where near as far out as the line on the Accudepth. I'm seriously considering taking these reels back and exchanging them for some Diawa Accudepths

I just picked up two of these reels. I believe the 30D model. To use on my downriggers. I use convectors on my wire dipsy rods with no issues. But on these new reels....the drag is incredibly hard to tune. It seems to be either locked down tight, or too loose. Same with the knob that u turn to adjust the drag. if I get the setting where I want it, the knob is EASILY moved with a slight bump. Is this normal? On my dipsy rod reels, it's easy to get the setting where I want, and the drag knob stays where I set it

Longline That's what I was looking for. Quick and simple explanation. Thanks man.

wear a life jacket. attach an EPIRB to it. Let someone know where you will be fishing and for how long. don't rush when netting. keep your feet flat on the deck….that should prevent you from doing anything dangerous.

from my understanding, from the city of Erie all the way to Buffalo, i.e. the eastern basin…is all much much deeper than the portions of Erie located in Ohio. I can easily get into depths over 110ft out of NorthEast and Barcelona harbor. Where do you consider the deep basin to be? I do a TON of lake trout fishing out of barcelona, and there is definitely a thermocline out in the deep water. If there is water cold enough to hold lake trout then it should be cold enough for steelhead. Im going to try for steelies tomorrow, so please keep any advice flowing my way. I really want to hear my wire dipsy reels scream

quick question for you guys. When you run stackers, is it best to have the bottom bait on a longer lead than the top, or vice versa? Im thinking if my bottom bait is on a shorter lead than the top…when the bottom bait fires off….the fish could potentially swim up and tangle up in the stacker lead. Any ideas of whats best?

So I should troll the drop off side of the ledge? My contour map looks like it goes from 60ft to over 120ft rather quickly, and the ledge stretches for a couple miles in a west - east direction.