Oneida's been hot..

[Shane Muckey]

Well only my third summer owning my own boat and I have been having a blast jigging sonars for Oneida waldo's this year. Last year it seemed the bucktail tipped with a crawler worked more often, but lately blades have been hot.. The action reminds me of a fast ice fishin bite.. 20 minute bonanzas, then nothing, then out of control again.. Sunshine and flat conditions have been the best for me, it makes it easier to stay over top of the biters. Been fishing from 5-9pm...Blew my back out 4 days ago and have been stuck on the computer reading all of your great reports, figured I'd make a post... keep the great reports coming, I love reading them.

On the last 4 trips with my buddy Mark Sabia we have put 83 eyes on the boat for 16 hours fishing time. Here's a few pic's...

[johnnywalleye]

very nice!!! ive been usin sonars for 35+yrs..ive always cast them along outside weededges.never really tried jiggin with them.how do you keep the trebles from catchin the line???and so long 4 now;john

[Shane Muckey]

very nice!!! ive been usin sonars for 35+yrs..ive always cast them along outside weededges.never really tried jiggin with them.how do you keep the trebles from catchin the line???and so long 4 now;john

I really haven't found a way to eliminate it completly, some old timers got me into jigging sonars at the Canal years ago and it doesn't seem to be as much a problem there as it is from a boat. It seems the deeper you get and the windier it is , the more than it becomes a problem. Last summer I tied a piece of 25lb mono leader after my braid and tied direct, this did eliminate it , but after about 8 fish or so if you weren't paying attention, the line would get cut from the blade and good bye sonar.. Right now I'm running 15lb leader and the snap that comes with it, put it in the top hole closest to the eye and try to get a nice angle casting forward ahead of the drift... After a while you get a feel for the right angle with the drift conditions, most times when mine gets flipped on it self is after a hit on the drop from a fish, you'll see slack in your line briefly as it's dropping, then the lure is screwed up... it sucks , but it just comes with the territory.. If it's like .9 mph drift or better, it's not a great way to jig deeper than 30 feet and I switch back to bucktails..hope this helps..

[NitroMusky]

Wow, that's off the hook! Great batting average! Sorry to hear about your back...guess after hammering those eyes, the fish gods were looking for any way they could to bench ya!

Best way I've found to keep sonars from tangling themselves is to make sure you don't drop on a slack line...semi slack only, but you're right, can't avoid it completely, especially after a hook set where you change direction and lower the rod tip in a hurry

[Fish Hunter]

Downsize the trebles.

[Shane Muckey]

Downsize the trebles.

Good idea Fish hunter, I tried last year, but I didn't find the right open shank hooks, the ones I tried are the same ones I modify my jigging rapp's with and they have a longer shank which defeated the purpose, I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for a # 6 open short shank.. My Back's mangled, So I think my jigging season is over for this year.. Thanks for the tip, even though I'm not fishing..I'm always thinking about it..

[Gill-T]

Chiropractor.......maybe a quick fix.

[W.W.IV.]

WOW,that's a hell of a thing to happen this early in the year,maybe Gill-T had a good thought or you could lay on the floor and have someone walk on it. . good luck what ever you do.

[muskybob]

Hey Snagger, great to see ya on here with the reports again. Don't try to be a hardass & tough it out, go see a chiropractor & get "back" on the water. Good luck to ya & hoping things go better for ya.

[Shane Muckey]

Hey Snagger, great to see ya on here with the reports again. Don't try to be a hardass & tough it out, go see a chiropractor & get "back" on the water. Good luck to ya & hoping things go better for ya.

Didn't see a chiropractor guys , but did go to the doctors for the first time in 4yrs, had some X-rays done on my back... gonna go from here I guess..kind of confusing.. thanks for your concern.. What a streak the lake guys are having right now for kings on the east end... hope it keeps going for a while...tight line boys

[Fish Hunter]

I hear ya!!

We are changing gears at this point, in our annual migration to the big lake.

Big boat/gear is just about squared away, and pulling the camper up there this weekend.

Can't wait to connect with the first one!!