LongLine

You made a good choice. I've been running Heartlands for a long time. Tom B. (LongLine)

Bait fish come up in the cover of darkness and start settling back down into the depths after sunrise. At 100 FOW, its hard to really see what's going on in the top 20 ft and it's been my experience on Big-O to very easily be fishing under the fish. Tom B. (LongLine)

Snow will be gone in a couple weeks so now is the time to make sure you renewed your trailer registration. Can be done online & you can get a ten day temp instantly OR do it at your local DMV office (and you locality gets to keep some of it) Tom B. (LongLine)

Ditto ace, in the central areas. Tom B. (LongLine)

About 2 hours before the 4 ft'rs, my boat is back on the trailer. Ain't no fish out there worth the issues you can run into. The fishing was better yesterday anyways and they'll be out there next time. Tom B. (LongLine)

Anything "long & slender." Sharks are good, torpedoes are good. Round ball is about the worst. The best shape for least blowback is streamlined to cut through the water. Also watch the size of your cable. There's a big difference between the 150 Lb and the 200 Lb. Tom B. (LongLine)

Welcome to the site Rick. Lot of good people on here and we're all getting the itch to go fishing. Make sure you post some pics of the fish you catch this year. Tom B. (LongLine)

Whichever way you go, make sure you have a chain on that kicker! Bouncing, prop dragging, whatever, make sure you can't lose that little beast. Tom B. (LongLine)

Yes. They have some for plastic & some for metal. Tom B. (LongLine)

Tried it years ago & found it was a pain. storage, retrieval etc. Actually, I think white shows up a lot better on Lake Ontario during spring/summer. I never could figure out why solid orange was the color of choice of the CG. Guess they're thinking snow & ice.... Tom B. (LongLine)

Clear acrylic, non-yellowing kind usually works well. Tom B. (LongLine)

Maybe it's superstition, but I've always believed that specie of any given kind tend to school together. Mine are not perfect matches, but if I put a blk/glow flasher down then it'll have a fly with some blk & glow it in. Same with greens - if the main color of the flasher is green then the main color of the fly will be green. One thing I do know from experience is whatever my flasher/fly combo is, I always put out a clean spoon of near exact color to the flasher on another line somewhere near it. Usually below & beyond. Tom B. (LongLine)

Just to complicate matters more...size of you line can also greatly affect your lure action. A Bomber Long A being dragged behind straight 30 LB mono at 2.2 mph won't wobble nearly as well as if being dragged behind straight 10 Lb Co-poly at same speed. Tom B. (LongLine)

Mark - I think we see it the same way. I have a down probe, 2 GPS units and a surface speed indicator. None ever agree how fast I'm going. I've paced myself with other boats who've said they're going 2.2 and when I'm set at that speed, see that they are out-running me. Therefore, to me, knowing the exact/actual/precise speed is not critical. I've known some guys waste a lot of time trying to calibrate their speed indicators and worry about what some other boat is doing. I also watch angle of the rigg'r cable; pull on the planners; bend in the rods; bubbles from the cable as well as the pitch/hum of the cable. I also note the current direction trends on the NOAA sites before I head out and make sure that I note if I'm heading N,S, E or west. Also of interest is whether I'm going straight or making a turn. I also see how my lures are running near the surface. These are all clues as to what speed I set my rig at. i.e. faster or slower. IMO, what's important is to find out what works for you. It's great to have a starting point but adjustments always have to be made. You'll often hear on the radio or on the web that 2.2 mph is the magic speed, BUT what direction was that in? Was it down speed or GPS? They don't always tell you they were heading into a 2 mph current hence their lure was going a lot faster. My point is that once you catch a fish then note your indicators and come as best as you can to repeat it. If you're marking fish but no hits then change your speed. IMO, if you set out at 2.2 and maintain that all day, you're going to have many fishless hours. 2.2 on the fingers or in a bay produces a much different lure action than 2.2 heading N on Big-O. Down speed is probably the easiest to gauge speed by, however it as inherent inaccuracies induced by blowback (angle of the probe) and whether the current hits it from the paddle side or if you're in an upwelling. Tom B. (LongLine)

Actual speed is not important. What is important is whether you can repeat it or not after you catch the first one. Always note your direction (getting an idea of underwater currents) and whether the outside or inside line gets the hit. (outside = faster; inside = slower) Tom B. (LongLine)