J.D.

Clear Trilene Big Game

First thing that came to mind. During a boat turn, the rods on the inside of the turn slow down, outside speed up. A diver on the inside will drop like a rock if the turn is too sharp, and it doesn't take much. That's not a big deal in open water, but you don't have a lot of room for error fishing shallow. I have performed many "dry run simulations" with tackle components in the driveway looking for sharp spots, burrs, failures, weak knots, etc. before hitting the water. It's amazing what you can find. I once found a bit of "flash" on the edge of a plastic molded bead hole that was bad enough to fray the line...

https://www.lakeontariounited.com/fishing-hunting/topic/96286-braddocks-45/

This might help with your battery choice. https://www.batterystuff.com/kb/tools/calculator-sizing-a-battery-to-a-load.html

Jeff, another possible option is a move to Sodus Bay. There is a bait shop and marina at the South end of the bay that has "fisherman's apartments" they rent out by the day or week. Docks available a few feet away. If the big lake acts up, there is plenty of fishing in the bay for a number of species. A few years back, a member of this site pulled his 17 footer up from Mass. and stayed at Catfish Creek. A great place for lake access, but they were blown off the big lake for 2 days. The next trip up they stayed at Sodus Bay and were able to fish every day regardless of wind. Just something to think about... https://baybridgesportshop.com/

I've been fishing out of a 17 foot tin boat since 1996. Both wind speed and direction play into my decision to head out or not. I assume approx. 1 foot wave per 5 mph. of wind, so a forecast for 5 to 15 mph. winds equals 1 to 3 foot waves. Wind direction matters also. 5 to 15 mph. from the East is pushing against the natural lake current, so I expect more like 2 to 4 foot waves. Fishing close to shore in the spring, 5 to 15 winds from the South may only produce 1 footers near shore.... the farther out you go, the worse it gets. Consider what I believe is called "fetch", the distance a wave travels before it gets to you. With a NE wind blowing out of Canada, a wave has approx. 60 miles to pick up speed and height before it hits the South shore. A South wind doesn't have the time or distance to build like that, so wave heights are usually less. For me, as an old retired guy, once the waves start pushing 3 footers I'm back to the dock. The boat can handle the waves fine, but boat control becomes difficult and it's tough to keep your footing in a small tin boat bouncing around like a cork. I have the luxury of picking my days so I don't have to lock in to just the weekends...... being old and retired does have some perks.

Try this site out. Drag the map with your mouse, and use your mouse wheel to zoom into the area you're going to fish, then pick the day and time from the bottom menu.. Next, click anywhere on the open water, the area of the lake you plan to fish. A wind forecast for that exact spot will pop up. https://www.windfinder.com/#10/43.3761/-77.1556/2022-03-27T06:00Z

Clip a big bobber on your line and put the rest of the money back in your pocket....

Looking good so far..... https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/wlevels/data/ontarioLevelsFeet.png

Firefox has an add on for Duck Duck Go ( which I use ) It forces sites to use an encrypted (HTTPS) connection where available, and one called "Ghostery Privacy Add blocker". With both of them running, Pretty much every tracker gets stopped. Here's the link for the add on for Ghostery https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ghostery/?utm_source=addons.mozilla.org&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=search

I get 7 or 8 every login. My add blocker in Firefox stops them all.

I use these....multiple sizes available.

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Check out the "Tangled Tackle Fishing" videos on You Tube. They have tutorials on making flys, teasers and meat rigs.

The epic story of the 9/11 boatlift that evacuated half a million people from the stricken piers and seawalls of Lower Manhattan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18lsxFcDrjo