LongLine

Used to run only green, have been running clear lately. Guess the color of florocarbon leaders tells me something then again maybe not. Actually I think the fish are more interested in the lure than the line. Tom B. (LongLine)

I once found a rapala floating out there.(wood) Dragged it around for a couple hours & couldn't catch squat on it. Got bent & threw it in the bilge. Tried it again the following weekend & it was the hot lure. Go figure... Tom B. (LongLine)

Maybe improbable but not inconceivable: - A bird could catch a small one in the canal then fly over a trib or inland lake & drop it. Really not that far-fetched when you consider that all our lakes were formed by glaciers & at one time had absolutely no fish in them. How’d the 1st fish get in that lake 10-20,000 yrs ago? - Some animal/bird eat some (+eggs) then travel & barf. - Some dumb a$$ fisherman catch one & try to use it’s eggs as bait somewhere else. (No… birds do not carry fish eggs on their feet) Lake Ontario is the state’s largest fishery; twice as many licenses are sold in the counties that border the great lakes than the others. This is an interesting report: http://www.seagrant.sunysb.edu/glsportf ... rt0609.pdf Major drop-offs in license sales happened (1) when snagging was made illegal, (2) whenever contaminant scares happened. They say the major declines in license sales were due to losses in non-resident license sales on Big-O, not resident sales. (Interesting that back in ’06-07, they were predicting a license increase within 5 years) DEC wouldn’t go broke but it’d be in a major funding hurt-locker if anything happened to the Big-O fishery. Big-O is supporting a lot of other fisheries around the state. We use 3? out of 12? hatcheries. (although we have the best with the best staff) Also until this last year, freshwater was paying for saltwater. If carp got into Michigan and tried to spread, there are two natural barriers that I see that may hinder they’re spread: (1) they’d have to go around the northern tip of Michigan where some awful cold water from Superior enters the picture. (2) they’d have to cross Erie & it’s infamous “dead zone.†Tom B. (LongLine) Gad, I hate winter, come on Spring!

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." - Ben Franklin "Go fly a kite." - City of Chicago Tom B. (LongLine)

1. If you bend the tail to use it on one side, you could use it on the other side of the boat without rebending it?????? 2. "oh $hit...." Tom B. (LongLine) p.s. I'd suggest rounding the tail a little bit more.

Nice rig. Little work & you'll have quite a fishing machine. Good luck with her. Tom B. (LongLine)

Keep an eye on the lake temp maps & you'll see thing like this right on top of it. Tom B. (LongLine)

If I were you and worried about the weather, I'd seriously look at: Oswego - Not well protected from winds from either direction but large protected harbor I-Bay - Generally protected from all but direct North winds but large bay (sometimes lots of weekend boat traffic) Niagara - Only an East wind would blow you off but sometimes lots of traffic. I'd be partial to I-Bay Tom B. (LongLine)

It's out there quite a ways I'd need a really calm day. Tom B. (LongLine)

2nd the motion - call Hank. Tom B. (LongLine)

oh great...another bad habit. (just playing) Congratulations. Definitely a keeper. I can hear it now: "Here Gramps, you take it...it's a little one." Tom B. (LongLine)

Atlantic (poorly developed or missing) Brown (well defined) Tom B. (LongLine)

I think we're all getting the itch. Took a ride to Auburn Bass Pro yesterday & they had quite a crowd. Batteries are charged & I've been touching up hooks for a couple days now. Tom B. (LongLine)

Ranger – welcome to the board. You’ve got some interesting points there but I’d like to mention a few more. Lake Ontario is a very fragile ecosystem. We’ve lost a lot of phyto & zooplankton already. Invasives have hurt it a lot in the last 20 years. The warmer nearshore areas (within 2 miles) are very key to the survival of all aquatic life in Big-O, especially the salmonoids. Gobys have put a real hurt on the bass populations. Gobies are now a large percentage of the biomass. (We really don’t need to give them another food source.) Lake Trout spawning beds are now threatened because of the Gobies & mussel infestations. A lot of money has been spent to restore the fisheries over the past 40 yrs and Sports fishing is bringing in major dollars to our local economies. Variable Trout & Salmon reproduction is now an established fact. Even sturgeon are beginning to come back. They need the rivers and we do not need to have them sharing the rivers with carp. The Niagara and the Salmon River have the best flows and these are the major grounds of the Salmon & Trout. The lake has many underwater currents in it. Oft times they are stronger than the outflow currents of the tribs. Some sediment from the Genesee River gets carried all the way to the thousand islands. During the 7 month fishing season, of the trout & salmon, Browns are rarely deeper than 100 FOW and generally less than 1 1/2 mile offshore. They’re often caught in 8 FOW or less for the 1st half of the season. Salmon are caught shallow for at least ½ the season. We find them around the tribs and bays early then again late in the season. I can’t imagine the havoc these invaders would cause during the start of the Pro/Ams when 50-100 boats leave port at top speed to get out there. Also while we’re fishing we often see many other non-fishing boats zipping around out there around us. The boat launch at the Genesee River is approximately ¼ mile away from the lake with a speed limit of 6 mph. How many people will have to turn around due to injury? How many will be scared away? How many will sell their boats & take up golf? Trolling for Salmon & Trout is not like trolling for other specie. We troll with main engines or some hefty kickers, not the electrics that bass guys use. Although the normal speed most use is in the 2.5 mph range, many guys are finding that up to 5 mph is effective. The videos I’m seeing of the DNR’s show they’re not traveling much faster than typical trolling speeds. As for commercial fishing, that’s what ruined our Fishery in the first place. Nets don’t discriminate and incidental kills would be frequent. You’ll find the stationary nets are the nemesis of sportsfishermen in both Michigan and Canada. They’re banned here in NYS. I understand that canning factory on the Illinois River is having a lot of trouble marketing carp as even dog food plants don’t want them. (They may be popular in Asia as a food source but Americans have different diets and generally don’t eat dog.) Brown trout are beginning to eat Gobies but that’s because it’s taken 10 years and some are hard pressed to find other food. Salmon won’t touch them as they eat alewives and the alewife population is more in balance today with what the lake can sustain than ever. Northerns may eat them; however, their population seems stressed right now. (VHS, etc) As for the other 26 routes, if asked by the governments, I’m sure many Great Lakes Trollers would be happy to volunteer to help deliver plenty of Rotenone. Tom B. (LongLine)

Happy B'day LS Tom B. (LongLine)

Happy B'day Stan. Better tell the better half to put 1 candle on the cake for every 5 yrs - California has had enough wildfires. Tom B. (LongLine)

Did you try RAS? On Ridge Rd - out Spencerport way? Tom B. (LongLine)

Offended??? You better post a whole bunch of pictures! Tom B. (LongLine)

Make sure the surface is real clean. Very few coatings will stick to lead after it turns dull gray. Tom B. (LongLine)

Red - When not spawning they hang out near the bait. Bait like the warmest water they can find in the winter and that happens to be very deep right now. Tom B. (LongLine)

No question the Canadian gov't favors commercial fishing and tribal interests also. Just look at the urbanization on the west end of the lake. To bad they don't do that much about pollution. My hat's off to all the S&T volunteers on the North side of the fence. I wouldn't be suprised if they're the ones really pushing for the Burbot & Whitefish too. I don't see us raising Eels for them. My Dad caught one many years ago out in the lake. (had to be in the early 60's) Can you say UGLY? He gave it to the "old dutchman" on the bay who loved it. In fact the old guy bought us some fishing gear the next weekend. Never saw another one. Tom B. (LongLine)

Here's what I've found on the Eel question (asked in another thread) Looks like the Canadians are pushing it. (Also found out the great lakes have the females - Males go to Europe) http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Newsroom/La ... 04285.html Tom B. (LongLine)

You have some great pictures there. They tried putting some pinks in Lake Ontario at one time but it was very short lived. Tom B. (LongLine)