niagara 12/9

[gokudl3]

Nice steelie from the niagara, never seen a fish jump so high, it was awesome :!:

[Diversion]

Nice fish Doug.

What was the water clarity like? Its been over a month since I've been on the river :shock:

[gokudl3]

was not the best, maybe a foot. All fish were on ink egg sacks, they wanted nothing else. Seen a couple other boats get them with pink too.

[Yankee Troller]

How do you hold up there in the river? Do you anchor or back troll? Think my bass boat will work up there? Are there things you have to watch out for when you running like a shoal or underwater island?

I wanna go bad!

[Billy V]

Count me in on your trip YT...I wanna do that too!

[Tim Bromund]

YT, everyone drifts using their bow mounted electric trolling motor to maintain speed and boat control. Not sure how a fiberglass bass boat would handle the occasional icebergs though, most everyone uses outboard powered aluminums.

You could certainly do it with the bass boat, but it might get a little cold as open as they are. also with the low freeboard, you'd have to be selective in the drifts you ran to. I don't think I'd take one up past the power plant to fish the devils hole drift, but Artpark and the drifts below should be fine.

Use the trolling motor to keep your speed the same as or just slightly slower than the current speed and veritically bottom bounce/jig your sacks, glow bugs, kwikfish etc with pencil lead as you drift down stream(similar to drop shotting).

The trolling motor for boat control is the most important thing since there may be 40 other boats doing the same drift as you and they'll be right along side of you (sometimes within 10 feet or less).

Tim

[Yankee Troller]

Does it get rough with the current? Is that why you talked about the low freeboard? I've taken many a wave over the bow but the water is generally warmner when i do that.

I got a 36volt 101 thrust trolling motor......do you thinkthat will work?

[MANIAC]

Hey Bill, YT, I'd love to wash the cobwebs off this one!!

[Diversion]

Yankee,

Tim summarized it really well.

Your boat will be fine right now as there isn't much ice, if any at this point. The river generally is not rough, except for Devils Hole which I would advise against in a Bass Boat. Your trolling motor will work just fine for the rest of the river. There aren't any shoals / reefs etc that you need to avoid. The river is deep and consistent, meaning the farther from shore, the deeper it gets.

This time of year, there will be fish throughout the river, so you just have to hunt them down.

[Yankee Troller]

Maniac - Time and Date? You tell me and I will be there! Lets make plans?

[Billy V]

No Joke Buddy!! Let me know when!!! The weekend before Xmas is open for me....!!!!

[MANIAC]

Sent you 2 pm's

[gokudl3]

Maniac-you have the right boat, Once you guys did one or two drifts you would have it down. If you guys are getting together and your not sure about the conditions let me know, i can help.

YT- If there is o ice on the river your boat would be fine, just dont go seventy. No worry about shoal either its around 180 ft deep in the middle, it gets deep fast.

[Yankee Troller]

[FISHINMAN]

Billy and Rick. Nice web sites you've built. Only thing you might change Rick is to maybe photo shop out that guy in the red hat

[Billy V]

Thanks Tom. I spend a lot of time on it.

Maniac, YT...I sure hope we can pull this off...what a trip with the three of us in the same boat for an entire weekend!!

[Fishtails]

If the three of you get out........Take some pictures for us !!

[MANIAC]

Roger that Bill. I just cleared all the snow from the front of the pole bldg so I can pull her out!!

[Erbyjoe]

I'm jealous I would kill to get out there but my $$ is kind of low right now but it sounds like a great time I have to save my time and $$ for the bar this spring. Maybe next year we can get a couple of boats out there my boat would be perfect for the river.But I'm with you three amigo's in spirit.Like what has been said take pictures and have some fun .

P.S.There is still febuary and march of next year to go so you never know

[Yankee Troller]

If Bill catches a Brown Trout I'm all done with the trip!

[Erbyjoe]

[seasquirrel]

Looks fun! You guys are without a doubt crazier than I am. I am sure your crew will get into some fish! Be extremely careful, that cold water makes me nervous. You cant believe how helpless you become in a minute or two in that cold water! Good luck and stay safe!

[Gill-T]

If this is will be your first trip drifting the Niagara, consider staying below Artpark. The water above Artpark is very dangerous. You may have heard about the guide and clients who lost their life recently on a drift trip. This was a seasoned guide! STAY AWAY FROM anything that looks like a whirlpool. Sometimes these fisherman killers appear out of nowhere, and can suck your transom and you under in seconds if you are not under power. You don't have to worry about whirlpools below Artpark. Fish safe.

[Tim Bromund]

Guys, here's a link to Capt. John DeLorenzo's web site with some basic rigging tips for fishing the Lower.

http://niagarariverguides.com/sys-tmpl/january/

Tim

[MANIAC]

Thanks Tim!!