LongLine

High water means more erosion and flooding of land owners property. Landowners (farmers) that have fertilized their lawns (fields) for years. Guess where that fertilizer has/is going. Unfortunately that "modern" stuff is going to help the wrong "seaweed" and wrong algae thrive. A few sewer systems/septics were flooded this last year. Guess where the sewage went. High water also means it'll take longer for any ice to form on the lake. It'll form in late Jan early Feb then be gone in late Feb or early March. i.e lake won't have ice on it nearly as long as it used to, hence lake will warm up much faster and higher temp will go much deeper later in summer. Baitfish reproduction is temperature dependent not depth dependent. The spawning runs are affected by temperature. Warmer lake late in year also means a lot more "lake effect" snowfall which means towns will use a lot more road chemicals that will eventually wash into you guess where. The environmentalists argument was that it would be good for the wetlands to be rinsed alternately high & then dry out with low water. The didn't consider wetlands staying high. (where are these wetlands anyway?) The environmentalists should have probably turned their attention to the birds. Anyone see the huge flocks of Canada Geese this year? Tom B. (LongLine)

Tom B. LongLine) -do=add#.url

I don't know much about the decking, but one thing to remember is that 4 riggrs in the water will put a lot of torque/twist/pull on the board brackets. Make sure you have a good solid backer plate under the gunnels. (Much wider and longer that whatever you attach the board to above the gunnels.) As to a metal board, I think a channel would work much better than a solid piece. Also, stainless is liable to get hot on a bright day so I wouldn't want my mono line to touch it late July. Tom B. (LongLine)

No, it's a regular 2x8. Check the end grain before you buy. Get as straight an end grain as you can. Pressure treated will warp bad as those timbers come from center of trees. (They cup, crack & shrink bad over time) . Tom B. (LongLine)

Here's what I did many many years ago, a hinged board & it's still going strong. (note I never leave gear in my boat) I placed two permanent pieces of aluminum bolted to gunnels with backer plate underneath: I use two screws per end to hold the board: (wing nuts locked in place on 1/4x20's) A hinged board allows me to get the riggers out away from the boat. Even tho' I've got extendable booms, I can swivel the riggers parallel to the boat to change lures (forward) & never have to worry about bouncing the weights off the side of the boat and don't have to lift the rigger. Also just hinge it upward to land at dock. Works for me. I would not use aluminum for the board. It will bend over time. Tom B.

Look at your engine when the boat turns. Did the engine turn? Some outboards will turn because of vibration and loose steering. In this case the engine just has to be held securely. Others turn because of the exhaust: The anode tab is usually installed at a little angle to the lower unit to help boat performance at higher speeds. At low speed, the exhaust pushes against it and the difference in water speed/pressure past it causes the boat to turn. In this case you have to "over-steer" a little in the opposite direction and securely hold it there. Anything you hang off to the side won't help if your being steered in one direction or the other

A $2 bungee cord to the steering wheel works great. Tom B. (LongLine)

Pyramid: 1 thru 4 oz Torpedo: 3, 4 & 5 oz Large Bank: 2, 3, 4, & 5 oz (plus those shown previously) Flat: 1/2, 3/4, 1, 1 1/2, 2, 3, 4 & 5 oz

very nice. Tom B. (LongLine)

3 pounds? No can do. Can do 1/2 tru 5 oz regular bank & flat banks; 3- 5 oz torpedoes; 1/2 thru 2 oz Keels; and 1 - 4 oz pyramids, Also do some pinch-ons. Tom B. (LongLine)

The guy with the camp for sale on Chippeway has some interesting water level pix for 2012, 13, 17 & this weekend ("Chippeway Bay seasonal camp for sale") Tom B. (LongLine)

Keel Sinker lot consisting of 2 pc 2 oz, 2 pc 1 1/2 oz, 2 pc 1 oz and 2 pc 5/8 oz. $12.50 per lot. PM for ship charge. Paypal only . 2 lots avail. US only Bank sinker lot. 75 pcs: 15 each size - 1/2oz, 3/4 oz, 7/8 oz, 1 oz, 1 1/2 oz. $15.00 per lot PM for ship charge. Paypal only . 2 lots avail. US only. Yes, I made them myself. Can also make Flats, Torpedos, & Pyramids if interested. Tom B. (LongLine)

Pla-sea boat

At 5 pm the water gage at Olcott was down about 10" and at Cape Vincent up about the same.

Revised this morning: Up to 35's ! Wow!

Tom B. (LongLine)

Remember December 4, 2006? Wait - There's more: Apologies to anyone I missed That's a long membership list! (ReelJerks & KingMe are they only two longer) Tom B. (LongLine)

Happy Turkey to all, Tom B. (LongLine)

Tom B. (LongLine)

Prey-fish data collection is an interesting topic and there are two schools of thought. 1st is the fixed transect which means they trawl in the same areas year after year. 2nd is the random trawl which means today's trawl could be many many miles away and in a different direction & in a different depth than tomorrow's. Both methods pool a lot of data. Fixed transect assumes the prey-fish will be at certain location/depths at certain times of the year and that it is equally likely that they are present and in the same quantity/condition here as they are 1/4, 1/2 or a mile east or west away. These trawls are only a few minutes long. The random trawl method doesn't make those assumptions but unfortunately requires much more time, fuel, effort and money to accomplish. In all practicality, as a fisherman with a sonar unit, let's say your fishing E-W at a certain depth and trolling at 2 mph. When you see a pod of bait, it only lasts 5-10 seconds on your screen. Then it's gone. From my experience, very often you don't see another for a good 15-20 minutes. (sometimes longer) The 2nd pod could be 1/2 mile away from the first. It may be bigger or it may be smaller than the previous. (Sometimes I go back to the exact same GPS coordinates and can't find them again.) The fixed transect assumes an equal distribution of prey-fish about the lake. My experience takes issue with that assumption. Alewives are a tight school type fish. The ball up in pods. These pods vary in size and in location. That location can change from weekend to weekend. Look at the data over the years. A few years back tremendous numbers of alewives were reported off a single trawl yet in other trawls the nets came up empty. Isn't that proof that the prey-fish are not randomly distributed across the lake? My intuition tells me that if on the 4th, 9th, 6th & 14th trawls of the year, they had shifted their longitude to the right by a few degrees instead of the left, the years results might have been different. Don't get me wrong, USGS does a tremendous job out there for which I'm grateful, however there's a lot to be said for the word of the guys that troll with an eye on their fish-finder for 20-25 miles every day.

It was noted well over 5 years ago that the salmon were spawning earlier in their life cycle and that the number of fish surviving to 4 yrs old was diminishing and that 5 yr old's were basically non-existent. (That was discussed in a state-of-the-lake meeting and annual report yrs ago) The Genny was a good reproduction site, however that was 120 yrs ago or better. Deforestation upriver has caused the bottom of the Genny to be silt, not gravel anymore. It's also caused the river to be too darn warm most of the year. There has been some natural repro observed in a couple of south shore tribs but it has not been significant. Lack of spawning grounds has been a driver in the stocking program from the beginning. Pen rearing has been a big help with that. Don't look for any kings from out west. Ain't going to happen. The King stock in Seattle is really hurting. They are very protected and have very short seasons. The limit on salmon is two per person and you have to report that you caught them. (I was just out there; on a charter and talked to a couple of captains) The Sound is divided into zones and when the fisheries people see where the big schools are, they close that zone for Kings pretty fast. As for the message - That was tongue in cheek. There have been two posts from the Rochester area in the last 5 weeks, yet quite a few boats out there on Saturday. .