What's the worst a Rookie (like me) could do??

[CBish]

Dave,

The worst thing you could do would be to not contact me and swap some trout and salmon time on the south shore with some pike and walleye time on N/E side. Only stipulation would be that you have to bring several of your 10th mt. boys from the desert with you when you come to fish with me.

Other than that just go fishing, don’t over think it, put down black and silver with some glo spoons or white and green/glo flasher with a green/glo fly and catch fish!! Catching fish really is that easy – it’s the catching MORE fish that challenges us!!

CC

[stan]

I think your question was, what is the worst a rookie like me could do, Now I have given this a lot of thought and have read each reply two times. There is a lot of great advise here. But I think the worst thing that could happen is , sink your boat , it will put a damper on the whole day as you watch your Tuna fish sandwich and chips float away, now that is not counting on all that tackle sinking to the bottom of the lake. Then there is the humiliation of one having to swim to shore and walking to your truck all wet. So with that in mind , have a great day on the water and rip some lips when you get back home and thanks for your service

[Big Dave]

The worst thing you could do is not give it a try!!!! Mistakes happen and make great posts when you get back. I like the guy that was trolling next to us one day with his new boat. He was marking all kinds of fish and dam if he didn't catch a few. We had a blank screen!! Come to find out he had the fishfinder on simulator. He was telling us depths and such that we knew wern't right.

[Gotta Bite]

Thanks for your service to our country! The worst thing to do is to not respect the lake. Like a few people listed before me it can get hairy,real quick. I have been on the lake in a 14' aluminum boat with a 9.9 and hugged the coast line. I only did that one time. I fished on the lake for many years after in an 18' fiberglass open bow run about that I had. It was good but always had to worry about the waves and the wakes from the large boats. I had a few close calls where I had the run the bilge for quite some time because I got some serious water over the bow. I have since upgraded to a 23' closed bow and even in that you have to be careful. I have seen the guys in the smaller aluminum boats out there when the salmon bite is on but I believe it was Clint Eastwood who said "A man's got to know his limitations". You can do it! Just have to be careful.

[walteye]

Having mono or fireline around the prop is bad enough-my son and I were on Erie trolling with dipseys and downriggers for eyes in 4 footers- we hooked up and I was netting my son's fish-the boat got turned around (no one steering) and the downrigger cable wrapped the 9.9 prop-stopped that engine cold! In rough water I now use my electric bowmount with the autopilot on in conjunction with the 9.9 and never had the problem again. BTW-had to pull the prop to get the cable off-and that did not happen until we got to the trailer!

Walteye

[on the lam]

I didn't read all the responses, so if its been mentioned, Sor E.

I only did it once and it was very expensive.

Don't ever put the boat in neutral in a head wind in order to net a fish.

Because if you miss him on the first try or maybe the second , then maybe again the boat will by that time have done a 180 and your copper, wire and everything else will be

wrapped into one another as well as your rigger cable. Done that! then missed the fish. which came unhooked. but the good new was he also went belly up. (12# test and a 30 ish lb salmon, it took a while) any way after cutting my way out of a 150$ mess i regrouped and went after that F' in fish. as i got close he appeared dead on the surface. so my partner was takin me to him. Just we approached, and i mean 10' away, Yup, a big snap of the tail.... GONE, and I thought I heard him say F/U as he went. .

[Big Dave]

Another thing I just thought of is not letting your fingers or thumb get into the reel between the sideplate and the level wind. A Kid that was camping next to us one yeat at 4 mile st pk did that. He was checking the lure action next to the boat on a dipsie rod and a steelhead came up and wacked it. The drag ran out crushing the end of his thumb between the sideplate and the lineguide They got the fish, but he had quite a sore thumb.

[FREEMAN77]

ok I got one. the first boat I bought was a old starcraft holiday it had old an cannon rigger on it I had never been my salmonfishing buddy had gone a few times with his old man...so off we go we soon relized we had no rigger ball so we swing by his house on the way to the lake to use his dads the last words out of his pops mouth was do not loose it theyre not cheep well thats all it took we were out on the big O and I get ready to put our one and only down rigger out when I see a braid on the cable is a little broke......... but we both agree it is only one or two out of how many so I drop the 8lb ball over and it now lays in 85 fow right N of sandy creek but the kicker is it was a tru track and they no longer made them and we did not want to have to tell him what we have done so we drive all over rochester trying to find one at last we did we later told him and he lol and said I knew something was up when I got my ball back it looked newer than ever oh yeah that was the shortest fishing trip ever in my book

[10thMTNDAVE]

Excellent last three posts!!

That is the kind of stuff I am looking for. I can see myself doing these things...just not knowing any better. Having read about it, I hope to "have learned" the lesson. I have found from experience that the "Best learned" lessons are those that are experienced first hand, and usually very painfully, but hopefully some of these will sink in.

Appreciate all!! Hope to see some of you over the salmon this coming year. If you see my very professional looking G3 Team boat, don't assume the owner knows more than the boat stays above the water and the fish are below. I got most of the gear, and have plenty of experience on the lake between Black River Bay down to North Pond and out to the Galloo's, My Grandpa schooled me early to know when the west wind starts to blow I am heading for the Harbor. Seems like I have read many threads with people on VHF 68, so think I will be monitoring that. My past fishing experiences were in the days before the Fleas and Mussels and regard mostly Perch, Bass, Pike, and Steelhead, using spinning gear and lighter lines and flat line trolling. New to heavier lines, fishfinders, downriggers and the line counter reels. Eagerly waiting to put my first Brown, Laker, Salmon, and Walleye in the boat...All in good time.

The adventure starts just before Memorial Day and you can bet I will be filling you all in on the details with the "Newby Diaries" posts to the forum, with pictures of course. Maybe I can pick up a few avid readers who will point me in the right direction if I am not hooking up or just to poke me in the ribs and say "I told you so" when I repeat the adventures I have read about here.

Thanks again all!