Rich s

I have been on 68 all season but also set to scan . Hear the regulars over by the stack all the time . Some may be familiar , draggin fly , blue devil and jersey joe , lol sometimes the VHF radio gets a bit chatty so the stereo gets turned way up , lol Good luck and best fishes to all Rich

When you guys talk about Mexico bay , I generally consider outside of 140 fow not really the bay portion . What do most folks consider ( depth wise ) part of the bay . To hit 200 fow from little SR its in the 6-7 mile range . Thanks Rich

I have been fishing that area every week , without much success i might add but Here is what I observed last week. We did our normal buzz from little salmon out to the land of OZ to join the rest of the fleet, passing right over the bay as most all the boats do. We hit a king in 240 fow then nothing for hrs out there. After lunch and beach time break we went out in the evening around 5 pm and fished the Bay Area from 80 fow to 110 fow and the screen was loaded with fish. Salmon I'd presume as they were large hooks and not the usual laker marks on the floor. Now this was the first real sign of fish ( salmon ) in the area we have seen all season so here is my thoughts : I believe the salmon are starting to stage up in the area . I think that they have been getting scattered by the massive amount of boats that buzz through there in the morning heading out. Then once things settle down ( usually nobody fishing in that close ) they return to the staging area in the afternoon . At least that's my thought from last week. I will be there starting today for 7 days trying to figure this fishery out ( hasn't worked in the last 3 months though lol ) . That's going to be my strategy this week , fish just inside the conga line in the am and much shallower in the pm. We are also going to go full on for lake trout by mid morning if nothing is doing in 125-200 fow . Good luck out there and let's hope many rods stay bent from fish and not riggers : Rich

Fishing in 6 footers is not my thing pretty much on any boat , even the Cornelia Marie , lol. We have picked up from 12 miles out when the 4 footers started rolling into 6 and headed to port twice this season. Use good judgment and boating skills and you will get home safe . That said, I recall 2 -221 V sinking last year . I will fish fine in mine in 3 -4 footers, its bumpy and sometimes not much fun but its the way the lake rolls and we have become accustom to it. I'd just like to have a little more comfort on that lake with a wider , heavier boat in my future but my tin boat rocks for us right now . Givin the choice on a tin boat : If all things were equal, I'd prefer a solid welded boat over a riveted one. Starcraft no longer makes the islander . I have see some very nice new ( er) solid Lunds , I'm sure they are quite expensive . Right now its a buyers market , look wisely and look at many , all boats are not the same except B.O.A.T. Lol Good luck : Rich

it all depends are what you are looking for and expect to get out of it (a BOAT) . I bought the 221 for Hudson River stripers , Adk lakes and thankfully the Great Lake Ontario.. It has served all purpose .. Myself and friends stay overnight on the boat every weekend.. It works for us, sadly my wife will not stay on the Islander.. She wants head room and space so I'm long term a fully functional cabin and fly bridge. That's our summer home of the future, a solid stable boat to fish 6 family anglers.. There are a few islanders 19 & 22' listed here also.. The difference between a 22 & 26 ' is just all deck space and towing length.. Towing weight wont be an issue (well maybe a 4cly taco, lol) .. At the point from 22 to 26 , it's going longer but not wider.. Look any boat over carefully.. Islanders are tin boats with hundreds of rivets ( welded lunds are sweet) I have leaks. Check bottom of transom it is prone to rot, foam is over saturated and will rot floors, motor, outdrive issues ... It's that stuff which makes or breaks a boat Good luck Rich

Yea the BRKT islanders are pretty sick but super tough to find. A 26 footer would be sweet too !! I like mine because its easy to tow and put in on other waters but just big enough for the Great Lake . My 5 year plan is to upgrade to a 27-28' 10'beam boat strictly for Lake Ontario and use the islander as a river / adk lakes boat Rich. Ps, since we have struggled so far this year catching, we are hoping for redemption on the 7 day run starting Friday . Fingers crossed the weather plays as nice as its been all summer there

There is quite a bit more deck space on a 221 vs a 19' ( IMO ) We fish 4 comfortably on my 221 I/O but 5 is tough. The extra length also gives some more depth and surface area on the water which also helps a lot. Both are good boats either way but still have limitations such as bobbing on rough water and the doghouse on the I/O takes up a lot of room. Good luck and hope you all enjoy your boats as I do mine Rich

Humm , 15 mins probably , 15 miles probably not. It weighs between 1,700 & 2,000 lbs . Mine is closer to the 2,000 range with the hardtop. You know your truck better then I,can it pull 2,000 lbs ?

That's your choice to clean the hull.. Mine got pulled from a month in the Might Muddy Hudson, washed, scrubbed & wax then went to Ontario in June and hasn't been outta water since.. Yea she is algae up but no barnacles yet, lol Make sure your grounds are all to a buss bar, pull your rigger plugs and have a zinc anode on the motor and boat for electrical corrosion , you are good to go.. I will pressure wash/scrub/wax and winterize once she is pulled in sept.. Been a great time on the Great Lake Islander this summer indeed. Rich

I've had my 221 4.3 hardtop for 2 years now and really like the boat. It has been at dock on Ontario since June and has been out fishing every weekend !! we stay on the boat to sleep. We have come in from 12 miles out twice now in 6' waves, fun ? No but we felt safe enough to get back . Always fish in 2-4' chop . I also use that boat on my home water for stripers and adk lakes, its easy tow easy work on if needed. Some things that make me only want a bigger boat in 27' glass range is width, weight and room. The 22'islander fishes 3 well, 4 its a bit if a dance in rough weather. My wife wants more head, cabin room. I want a larger deck space, the doghouse is our cook station but takes up deck space. Width, wider 10' beam would give lots more comfort in 2-4' chop. Lots more deck space and weight of a glass boat would keep it less bobbing like a tin boat. Givin that said , my ideal Great Lakes boat would be just that, docked at the lake, stored at the lake. If you want a versitle boat , the 221 islander is just that. IMO , a 19' is a tad small . A 221 4 cyl is just a tad underpowered but that's just me and I'm sure their owners love their boats as I do mine . Good luck Rich

Come on , ain't no fish on this lake . 250 fow - 100 fow . Fired one out at 250 where the traffic was. It's getting very busy with traffic out there now. Dragged the ball again through 120 fow and skunk . Seems shades of 2014 for a river run. Good luck out there. Rich S

Nice boat As to your question , I think the PM's are getting back . Sometimes eyes are bigger then the pockets, lots of tire kickers and location can be an issue Good luck and again nice boat ..

That's all great advice and much thanks folks. It's really not how much we spend , it's the enjoyment we make of our investments. Believe me ,We are not crying the blues just trying to get a good lesson from experienced folks . As for the probe : I'm pretty confident we have enough right now to put fish on the boat. I don't think it's for a lack of equipment or effort right now but mor so knowledge & experience out there in the big pond. I'm familiar with current, some of the big lakes in the adk's have plenty ( lake George , schroon to name a few . Granted not as much but its definitely a factor on them . The Hudson River is my home water for stripers and there is some wicked current going on there . Hate to keep referring to knowledge but we fish many places that take time to understand & figure out , when we do its pretty much money in the bank when the lines go out , lol This past Sunday there was very little currents going on where we were ( we swim a lot out there too ) and I think we were doing the right things correctly, it just wasn't to be. Wrong area , wrong lures , time of day ? I don't know but we will not be detoured and will keep trying until things come together Expensive :? ah that's life .. I have many toys and hobbies , this ain't that bad when we share the fun. Dirt modified's , now that was expensive , lol. My kids and grandkids are going to have one heck of a outdoors sports collection when I'm dead and gone. Lmao . Keep the good info coming, it's certainly not going to waste as the only time I stop learning is when I'm gone Thank You folks : Rich

A down speed-temp probe is not really in the cards this year, maybe next season . We have invested a lot of upgrades to the boat this season for the Great Lake and always very supportive to the local area while we are there every week.. Honestly we are probably nearing the double G-note to the area and having the times of our lives.. We know its possible to catch fish with what we bring to the table and things should get "easier" very soon so we will roll with our current set up to finish out this year.. My thought is, If we can catch lakers on the ADK waters with our set up we have now, we should be able to catch them out there but as always its fishing.. Over the winter I will look long and hard at the probe set up because we want to dial in a summer program more then anything next season.. Without a doubt, the help here has much improved our efforts.. At least this Goliath put a few smiles and laughs on board Sunday:

No probe . Trolling plate and we were in the 1.5 range on GPS . Taking wife and 4 year old grandson out this weekend so we will mostly target lakers just to try and get some action. No worries, everyone here has helped a lot as much as possible without actually hooking fish for us . Lol I'm pretty sure we will do ok on salmon soon. Next year I need to learn the summer program better .

We did the normal king program all day sat towards oswego from 120-435 fow with not even a sniff. Started at SR north to sandy pond from 120-150 fow on a laker set up dragging bottom with hammerheads and spin n glows set 2' up from ball. We were definitely dragging bottom . Got a giant sheepshead off the dipsy - spoon on way back in 80 fow. Thanks for the advice everyone has given , its just something is off for us but we will be back at it in 4 more days . All we can do is smile , smile , smile

Well we tried a laker program today from SR to sandy pond . Can say there was no boat load for us . Got a Goliath sheepshead in 80 fow dragging bottom. Ain't no fish in that lake .

I had an old riuinti ( sp) wooden wine box from the 70's lying around. I made some dividers from 1/4" plywood and slotted them to fit flashers and spin docs. Gave it a good coat of spar varnish and its my storage for them now. I can fit about 2 dozen flashers and spin docs in there and I like the look . Basically you just got to think outside of the box ( pun intended ) and you will find all kinds of things to use as storage. I agree , the leaders on the flies do coil pretty good but on the flip side , they are pretty easy to straighten them back out

Yea I think I know that guy .