quality time

Happy birthday Rabbit!

Any Pics?

Great job Kad. I think he has more wins than anyone!

They will start getting fall spawning colors soon. They are members of the char family and the fins will almost look like a brook trout when they are ready to spawn. Fall offers some real good fishing on the fingers. Wes

Bobber, PM sent. Wes

Good to meet you as well Hermit. I enjoy talking to all the people after the derby. When you chat with people you find how many different ways there are to catch a fish. Each style has its days.If the weeds stay the way they have been I might have to spool up an old zebco with power pro buy some of your jigs and bounce some lead on the heads of some of those pigs Catch you next time! Wes

Rainbow took fiirst. The lake trout was not in lunker pool. No matter these are alll nice fish. Just like the lottery you have to be in it to win it Myself I do these derbys for fun not money. If I had to win enough money to break even I would never have fun. Wes

I would like to thank everyone involved in the Salvation army derby. It was for a good cause and I hope this becomes an annual event. It was good to see all the sponsors who stepped up. Had fun playing in the waves on Saturday and got two short salmon for the efforts, Sunday got 4 lakers but none big enough for the board. It was tough fishing but we still had a good time. Wes

Tell kade that I will be pumping him for info on how to get the big ones! Hope to see you guys to swap stories. Hope Kades fish stay "on" for this one. Wes

Could that be as much fun as dredging up a big pig on 600' copper Almost time to go back to work? Wes

Guys run wire because of fleas! Wes

And to think people swim in that lake

Ed, both of our dogs are better looking than we are All kidding aside you are getting some real nice fish this year. Nice color on the brown. I'm ready for a fish for the grill. I should get out soon.

You should be able to see planer boards but many of us run dipsy wire rods. I run mag rings on my dipsys and I would guess on #3 setting they would be 50 to 75" beside the boat. Wes

Kinger looks good in that tie. Seems to be bringing you some good luck Ishould get one before the next derby! Wes

They sell handheld vhf for around 100 bucks good thing to have if you get in trouble. From a trollers view it is hard to tell which way a jigger is going, are they on drift with wind , moving with trolling motor? I am more than happy to go around but sometimes can not tell which way to do that. I agree jerks will always be out there. Last year I had a bass boat run 50 behind my boat at 60 mph. Not sure how he did not cut my copper off but I got lucky. Two years ago I was fishing Senaca derby and we had a guy trolling copper at a 1 mph slower than we were going . Each time I tried to go around him he would pull in front me blocking me. I would make a big loop and would soon catch up to him again. Tried to hail him on the radio, nothing, First time he blocked me on the deep side next time I raised my riggers and went shallow he blocked me again. I made 4 loops and had to resort to doing the same thing as his him being an *** hole I started to go around deep , he blocked so we set course right up his tail. He got the message and let us by after he reeled his copper in real fast. Mind you I am not that kind of guy and hated to do that. I myself was trolling around a point going south another boat was doing the same heading north and we could not see each other untill we came around the point. We both made a loop called each other on the radio and said we were sorry and went on our way. As long as the intent was not to cause a problem most people will understand. I always hail on the radio when I am crossing behind another boat to see if the other boat is running long lines. I find most the guys are great and have had few problems but you remember the jerks. Wes

Trollers use vhf to keep from getting in each others way. If you guys have a radio just call us and tell us which way you are headed. When we are pulling 600' copper we have to make our decisions to turn 1/4 mile before we get to a spot. I am for all types of fishing and I am sure these other guys are as well. The jig fisherman has advantage of staying right on top of the hot spots, we only pass through. This is why we like to fish right down the middle so we don't tick anyone off even though we give up some of the best spots. You guys should try fishing the middle. You will find lots of room and some fish as well. Wes

Kyle, It looks like you need a bigger boat or carry 3 buckets onboard, One for Kads little feet and one for each your feet My boy likes going when it gets bumpy. We have had waves over the bow of the Quality time a few times. Water rolls around the walkaround like a water fall but then dumps out the scuppers ready for the next one. Myself ,I like it a little calmer Wes

We have released many hundrads of lake trout over the years and never had to poke a hole in them. I could count on one hand how many that would not go down. I am not an expert on fish anatomy and would end up hitting some sort of vital and killing the fish long after he swims to the depths. Using pliers along side the boat would be best and we do that often as well. If we need to take a pic we boga grip them. We have the camera ready before the fish is at the boat, land, take pic and release in way less than a minute. The fish that we keep for the grill are fish that are hooked in the gills. Studies show that these fish do not make it. Keeping the fish from banging around, not removing protective slim, minimal time out of the water, and a steady retrieve from the depths all help in a good release. There is nothig wrong with keeping fish to eat. I have just been sharing what has worked very well for us the fish that we let go. Wes

Nice job again Ed. I wish I could get as much time on the water as you do! The boga style grip or Berkly lip gripper have worked well for us. I think keeping the fish off the floor of the boat is the biggest part of the good release. We released a bunch of 8+ pounders last year in surface temps as warm as 89 deg and they went down like a rocket. We are careful not to bring them up to fast as well. Nice and steady. If we have a big fish on light leader we still net but you could still use the boga grip to take them out of the net while leaving the net in the water. I've taken guys on the boat that think it is a race to get them to the top and that was the only time we had blown up swim bladders. Keep posting those pics so I can remember what they look like Wes

Do we weigh-in at the end of the derby or do we weigh the fish all day? Wes

Nice fish Ed! I thought you had one of those dang lampreys around your neck Wes

Are they going to save a spot for us to park like they did last year? Wes

You did not say how long a lead to ball you had. We had the same problem when we first started. Cut lead to the ball down to 10 or less feet. Problem was much better but still had a few problems switched to plain mono and never had another twist off unless the swival was fouled. Wes

Would that be ginger?