Offshore IV

So sorry to hear Charlie. Being one of the more younger posters here, your post reminds me of what my grandfather used to say all the time which is that time flies by and before you know it you're physically declining. I've been blessed with good health and I pray that you find the proper treatment, and that it is not serious, to get you back on track, or should I say, the lake!

I'm more of a weekend warrior- scottys manual riggers have worked well for me. Someday i'll get the fancy electric ones. At least i get a good arm workout... In any event, i have a few things from Cannon and like their designs most times, so when i do upgrade, i will probably go Cannon. But i would also like to hear what some of the charter capts have to say as they use them far more than i do.

Hm. When i got stopped in PG by an ENCON officer, we just had our six fish (1 brown, 5 salmon) laying in the boat at the front in a pile lol he didn't give me grief, only that the fish belonged in a cooler, not out in the sun. I think the law is that if you fish with three guys, limit out with 9 fish, then drop the other two guys off and are caught with 9 fish aboard with only the one licensed person on the boat, you're illegal. It's a good lesson but doesn't apply to me as I am with the guys i fish with from the time i leave my house to the time i come back home.

The reg says that a live fish in the livewell does not count toward the limit. I read that on the DEC statewide regulations. I'm sure someone with more experience can chime in. I'm glad the discussion is happening though because I would hate to see someone get a ticket with no ill-intent. Which, let's be honest, there are a ton of laws so the more education the better. Edit- this is for bass only apparently. page 50 in the NYS fishing guide.

Wow, thank you. That is pretty clear I suppose.

We had the pleasure of catching our 4-man limit of browns last week and one of my crew brought up an interesting point. I should point out that I strictly follow the laws and have no intention of changing that behavior. His question: If we filleted these 12 fish right now, how would a DEC officer know we did not over catch our limit? I've only been stopped once on the lake, at pine grove during the run in Sept.. But let's just say you had a cooler full of fillet's with no proof of only having your legal limit. Could they ticket you or do you think they would judge by the amount of fillets you have? I know if you cross the canadian border you have to have some skin/scales on your fillets to identify the species of the fish. Not sure if the same would apply here. Be curious to know what you all think or have experienced.

I actually ended up with a 90 merc 4 stroke for various reasons, and i love the engine for sure. zero problems, designed really well and with a DIY maintainer in mind. I'm sure the Yami engine would be superb as well. Not to get off the topic of the post. I see very few opti's on the lake. Most run yamaha's. I was under the impression they were made more for bass boats..

Excellent, nicely done. Your report looks a lot like mine. I saw a bunch of guys out by Oz yesterday. Didn't make it down that far from Mexico Point though.

Wow, Mercury's getting some hate here lol When i was looking for a repower on my boat, i was torn between the merc and the yami, albeit 2017 model 4 strokes. The mechanic who had over 30 years in dealing with both brands told me that the older mercs were problematic but he reallly liked the new 4 strokes. One thing that stuck with me: he said that he had a guy come in with a blown lower unit on his yami. turns out he forgot to add gear oil after removing the old gear oil, so he ran it dry. The mechanic called yamaha and told them the story, they laughed and paid for the new LU for the guy. He said the Merc guys never would have paid. That's a big difference to me. There are tons of 2016, 17 and 18 year model motors that can be had brand new for deep discounts. Ask around. That's the way i would go (and is the way i did go). Two places i never want to be stranded: in the air and on the water.

You'll be fine with 15lb main line on your boards. For me, that's probably as light as I would go. I know some charter capts that go as light as 8lb flouro on their leaders. I think I saw someone on here in a different thread make a great point: Flourocarbon is supposed to be invisible in the water at any line weight; why not go bigger. I would have gone with a 20lb flouro if they had it at my local store.

Welcome back- i hope your health issues are resolved so you can partake in the fun on the lake!