Yankee Troller

Last weekend in April 2019. We fished the King of the Lake and won it so we stayed back to collect our winnings while all the other US teams headed back. I got a call from Paul Czarnicki (damn I miss that guy) about the ice pack coming out of the river. We left St. Catherines marina and got within a few miles of the river and had to go North to get around the ice pack. We found ourselves 7-8mi offshore in over 300+' of water and the ice field went West to about 4 mile state park. Boy was that eerie!

Sore subject! I run 10lb McCoy Flouro 100, and it's bring discontinued. Been running it since I was 18. I'm told Seaguar AbrasX is a close comparison. I will be testing out a few options in the future.

I wish I could get that Smithwick in Hot Steel to go.

They're filling orders before they list them on their website. They started with the short shallow series and you can get those at FishUSA right now. They plan on doing more baits in the future, but it comes down to resources and labor availability.

Yup, click the link ~~~> Chinook Diver

Jerry F always says no captain on Lake O has ever limited out becasue of this.

You give these Lake Ontario charter captains a lot of credit. Take away the cake fishery we've had the last few years and a third of the fleet would be out of business. Sometimes that 20" fish is needed to fill the box. Also, Lake Erie ruined clients from PA and OH. Those greedy bastards are only interested in a limit catch and often ask for the captains and mates limit. If you don't limit with them they find someone else. Just my $.02

I stick to 2.0 in the GPS for the most part. Sometimes I'll slow it down to 1.8. Sometimes I'll kick it up to 2.2.

Ya, it's special alright! Special to the lowest bidding company that can supply the feed. Thank god some anglers had that stuff tested a few years back.

Yup, he's real personable, and he seems to get irritated when you bring it up.

Like Rob mentioned torpedo's or sharks. We run these torpedo's, and they track as good as anything I've used.

You're not allowed to say that . Our biologist say there's no proof that breading large Salmon with large Salmon make large Salmon. They reference one study out West. God forbid they tried their own study. With Salmon sizes declining, and referencing the chart I posted earlier in this thread, I'd be curious if the sizes started declining faster when the hatchery started using jack Salmon in the breeding process.

I thought the whole debacle during covid (where streams weren't treated) was blamed on the Canadians not being able to cross the boarder? Am I wrong?

So, the intent was to have them last Winter along with the regular size (I really wanted the short ones). When I went out to gather content with them we found they didn't swim. They went through the water like a pencil. FishUSA canceled going live with them, gathered up all the small ones, and Smithwick took them back. That project started back up a few weeks ago, and the intent is to have the small versions this upcoming Winter for sale through FishUSA IF Smithwick figures out the issue.

Sea Grant sent this out this morning to a friend in Jefferson county. I wanted to share a couple links about things going on that might have an impact on our fishery, so you could perhaps share with the Jefferson County Fishery Advisory Board. If you'd like more info, let me know, and I'd be glad to set up a time to discuss. The USGS office in Oswego that runs the preyfish/alewife surveys (and many other things) is currently on a list of federal buildings that might be closed. They lease the space (offices, labs, and a dock for the large research vessel) from the Port Authority (address is 17 Lake St Oswego, as seen on this list: https://democrats-naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/GSA_Lease_Terminations.pdf). They provide an immense amount of scientific support that NY and Ontario use to manage the Lake. 14 federal workers associated with the Sea Lamprey control program have been fired, which may impact the control efforts in NY (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/sea-lamprey-program-cuts-1.7468338) Sea Grant is hoping we continue to receive federal funding, but there is concern that the second Trump administration may propose the total elimination of federal funding for Sea Grant. I will keep you posted. Our colleagues in Maine recently had their support pulled. https://www.pressherald.com/2025/03/04/king-and-pingree-urge-trump-administration-to-reinstate-maine-sea-grant-funding/ Great Lakes Fisheries & Ecosystem Health Specialist New York Sea Grant (NYSG) SUNY Oswego [email protected] | Office: 315.234.1329 Social Media, Resources, and Events: NYSG Great Lakes >>>>>>>> End of NY Sea Grant message <<<<<<<<< If you believe we should continue receiving federal funding for these kinds of programs, that manage our waterways and fisheries for future generations, I encourage you to contact your congressional representatives and let them know.

I'm fairly certain the angling community (mostly charter captains) have taken samples for the DEC over the last few years, and we still have no data back from that. The DEC biologists frequent most major tournaments on the South shore collecting samples. What is being done with that? Would it be difficult to go the LOC banquet that's centrally located and grab samples off fish 1, 2, and 3 since they are there? Maybe I'm simple minded, but most of this is being done already. Let's not forget the LOC and Greater Ontario Salmon derby put a lot of people on the water that are looking for 1 big fish. There are far more people chasing that dream than lazy charter captains who are fine cleaning 10lb Salmon and heading back to the dock early. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy good fishing. I just want SOMEONE to give a **** about why these things keep getting smaller.