times two

I have a set of 7" that are from Walker Downriggers. They are probably over 10 years old, but have sat in a box in the garage of a widow of a former captain.

Had a half day kicking around and the lake was beautiful so....off we went this morning.... Didn't leave the dock until 8:30, quit at 12:30....did 12/15 on the walleye anything from 14" throwbacks to one just over 10lbs; plus 2 steelhead. 65 and 70 foot riggers with a dreamweaver glow frog SS and a yeck watermelon; 1 on a big hatchet watermelon off the 10 color; big slides 175-185 back on 3 on dreamweaver chicken wing; stinger orange glow frog and black/purple hatchet blade and 1 on the small slide off the boards orange/copper hatchet, 195 back. Down speed 1.6-1.8; 2.3 on the GPS. 90-105 fow. John

You have a pm.

My country music pal, Sean Patrick McGraw (www.seanpatrickmcgraw.com) was in town today, so we decided to take a shot this morning to get some 'eyes. Lake looked like it was going to roll, but ended up laying down nicely for us. Did 5 walleye and a steelhead in just over 3 hrs. Copper orange harnesses of the 185 board slide divers; 165-175 on the wire slides (DW chicken wing); and one on a 55 rigger on the DW orange/pink. 1.8-1.9 down speed. 80-85 fow was the best. John

Finally got a chance to get back out on Erie after our Oak trip...wouldn't you know it would have to blow! Set up in 70 fow, trolled the troughs to 90 fow, and turned back. Rolling pretty good, and the crew decided that enough was enough after we had a pretty good wave come aboard to visit! Did 3 'eyes, some sheep/silver bass, and probably missed 3-4 shots in a little under 2 hrs. Tough to hold speeds due to the wind. Got 1 on the small Fishlander orange frog 55 down on the rigger; one a hatchet blade 10 color (watermelon)and 1 on a DW holograw chicken wing 175 on the wire. The Fishlander released several other times.... Shame it was rough as the graph was one of the best pics we've had in some time..... John

Considering putting my boat on the market in the next couple of weeks, and have a line on a slightly larger boat with an outboard. I definitely want to go o/b; but this is a 225 Evinrude Ficht 2 stroke. Anyone know of any issues with trolling extensively with a big 2 stroke, or specifically any other problems? Boat is set up to run a kicker, and I have a 15hp 2 stroke... but not sure I want to go that route.... Boat is sweet..motor is holding me back.... John

Fished the first 2 hour or so with no bites in the 70 fow area. Moved out to 90 fow and it got much better. Ended up with 12 eyes, 2 lakers (released) and 1 steelhead. Easily dropped another 7-8 fish....guys slow on the rods today. Little bit of everything....5 color with a rainbow yo-zuri; watermelon harness and a stinger scorpion monkey puke on the little slides 200-210 back; 185 on the wire, yeck watermelon and watermelon harness. 10 color down the chute with a big hatchet blade. 60-70 rigs stinger purple parrot and gold watermelon and watermelon yeck. 1.7-1.8 at the ball. 9 degree temp break at 60 fow...very unusual for Erie. Off to the Oak for a few days Thursday!

He's been calling the 1-800 #, but I'll have him try the other... John

Friend of mine has been calling the LOC # since last week. Keeps getting the voicemail. Anyone know if there is any problems?

Got out Thursday morning and managed to dodge 99% of the rain and all the forecast T-storms. Boxed 9 walleye and 3 steelhead, and dropped or missed at least another half dozen bites. Guys today were a bit slow on the rods. But we had a great time. Walleye came on orange/copper harnesses on the big slides at 175; and off the boards on little slides at 200; big slide with a black/purple stinger, off the 10 color on a big hatchet harness. Steelhead were on the riggers 52 feet down on a new DW blade. Its is painted very similar to a blueberry muffin on the back, with a flourescent pink cup. We had 2 steelies and several we missed on this blade in a very short time. Other steel came on a watermelon yeck. 90 fow just east of the harbor, 1.6-1.8 at the ball. John

Run Fishlander holders for 5 seasons with wire divers....no problems. John

Looking for dockage at the Oak for a friend of mine.... We have options upstream, but are looking for something a little closer to the mouth of the river. 25 foot i/o Starting 8/17 for 9 nights. Thanks. John

Had Fishlanders for 3 seasons, no problems, and very happy with them. Sure wish they had auto stop, though. John

Unlike LO, the SW winds can really roll Erie quick. Thats the most favorable wind, so you just need to trust (yeah, right) the forecast and go by wave/winds. I have always found a NE wind to be less productive. John

Fished the 3rd Annual Conservation Club Walleye Tournament in Dunkirk Fri-Sun. 100 boat field, already 30+ boats on a waiting list to get in next year. Day 1-Friday Looked like it was going to roll again, so we decided to try a north-south troll. Goal was to hit the border eventually, unless we did some fish. Ended up 6/7 on the walleye, with 2 steelhead. Three fish weighed in at 17.97lbs, good enough for 13th out of 100 for day 1. Steelhead came on the rigs, 52 and 60 down on a stinger confusion and a stinger chicken wing. Walleye...4 on a 10 color, watermelon hatchet harness. 2 on the big slides..1 on an orange harness, the other on a DW ss chicken wing. 1 on the boards, little slide, 200 back. I felt pretty good about the fish I saw, and thought Day 2 would be ok. Day 2: 8/4 I had previously booked a charter for the morning, so you know what happened next.....we went 14/14 on the 'eyes..big box, including 1 10lber, and 2 9's, and probably another 3 over 8. One of the best boxes I've had in a long time. Awesome. 10 color with a big hatchet; 5 color with dave kabooms on the boards, wire big slides at 155 and 175 back...DW ckicken wing and harnesses, and little slides on the boards with harnesses. 1.6-1.8 at the ball. Went back in the afternoon with my derby crew, did 8 'eyes and 2 steelies in 2.5 hrs. No real size, but good eaters...same stuff as the am, plus 2 on a watermelon yeck off the 55 rigger. Slide a bit in the standings since we couldn't post the weight we had in the morning...but still in 28th out of 100..going into day 3. Day 3: 8/5 Loads slower today for everyone. Did 4 eyes early, then it died out. Mix...1 on wire 175 on 3 on a harness; 1 on a 52 rigger on a DW confusion; 1 on 5 color on a gold daves kaboom and 1 on a 200 little side, orange/copper harness. Weighed in just under 12 lbs...good enough for 20th place out of 100 teams. Would of, Could of's...... If we could have weighed in the Saturday morning box, we would have had the 2 largest 'eyes for the day, probably the 1st or 2nd heaviest box for the day, the 2 heaviest fish for the derby, and would have been in 2nd or 3rd overall..... I kind of had a feeling it would stack up that way! Food Club did a massive fish fry at the end. Deep fried, oven baked, and grilled walleye! Winner by far, though was a bacon wrapped walleye. Scallop size walleye nuggets, wrapped in bacon,toothpicked, and sprinkled with Old Bay. Put right on the grill until the bacon was crispy. Delicious! John

This boat is still for sale. It would be a perfect boat for someone looking to upgrade a charter boat, or to simply have a very plush fishing/family boat. Boat is in the water in Dunkirk, and available for on the water testing. Owner is willing to consider delivery. Price reduced to $32,000. Call Dan at 716-672-5868 or 716-672-9188 Pics available via email upon request.

Hey Gambler....I'm another French River lodger! Boats are still lunds, but they have upgraded to 4 stroke electric start hondas. We've went a bunch of times in the 80's with my father's group, and have now gone every May since 1995. They are figuring on tearing down Cabin 3 (closet to the lodge) due to Ontario water/septic regs. Crombie Bay is pretty good some years for pike, but this year it was up in the Fraser Bay area that was the best. Boated over 250 northerns, 6 guys, 3.5 days. My brother got a 48" muskie in Thompson Bay in one of the cuts that connects to the run to Crombie Bay, and he got a 9lb 'eye casting on the edge of the S turns. With all the great fishing that I get to do here on Erie, on western LO and in South Carolina, I'd have to say that the French River is my favorite. John

Mickey Finn: I have not used the fireline, but am using the Power Pro...that has been very durable and I am very happy with that for here on 'erie. John

Considering strongly the possibility of moving up this fall. Currently have a 22' Larson walkaround i/o. Really like and would lean strongly towards the 23 Seaswirl WA, but in an outboard. Does anyone have any information regarding how some of these big outboards are with extensive trollling? One of the ones I have found has a 200 OMC ocean pro, and the other a 175 Johnson. Thanks. John

Couldn't fish Saturday but heard some good reports from the border, so was ready to roll for Sunday....Forecast called for 1-3; 5-15 NE....so of course it blew like crazy! Rolling pretty good all day, but the guys hung in there. Could not troll effectively into the waves, and boards were not much of an option.....still did 7/10 on the eyes...right tight to the border... down speed 1.6-1.8 (except on waves!). Wire with harnesses..175-190 on slides, no rings....also did one on that on a DW chicken wing....did 2 fish off the rigs, 1 on a orange/copper blade harness 50 down and 1 on a stinger chicken wing 60 down. Couple on 10 color on big hatchet blades.... John

Definitely worth it. Dennis does a great job, you'll enjoy it. I took it with my brother in law, so we shared the 40 mile ride up to Buffalo, and went out for wings after class each week.... John

Lake was really rolling Friday at 6 am, so we decided to go to work for a while..... ended up heading out at 2 pm. Did 8 'eyes and dropped a couple more. 80-100 fow from Dunkirk west to off Shorewood. 10 color with a big watermelon hatchet harness was good, also 65-75 riggers....couple on a copper confusion super slim DW; 1 on a purple dolphin stinger. Only 1 off the wire..200 back on 3, no ring (slide diver). Nice box... probably close to a 5lb average.... Went back Saturday morning to same spot....what a difference 11 hours makes! Down temp was 5-7 degrees colder, no fish on the graph....so searching we went... Ended up off Vanburen Point (west of Dunkirk) in 100 fow, so we decided to head north and did 5 eyes and a brown in a little over 45 minutes. Ended up with 9 walleye, 1 brown, 2/3 on steelies (around 7lbs) and 3 lakers, the biggest was pushing 20lbs... Little bit of everything again...10 color with large hatchet harness, stinger scorpion monkey puke; stinger chicken wing off the rigs; watermelon yeck off the big slides, 150-165 back on 3, and harnesses 175 and 225 back on the small slides off the boards. No one color hotter than the rest. Down speed was best 1.6-1.8 on the depth raider. Didn't fish Sunday, but based on some reports, took a ride out to the border Monday. Marked some good spots of bait/fish. Had to really work for them today. Went 8/10 on the walleye....dropped our best fish right behind the boat. Biggest boated was 28". Did a couple on the 10color...big hatchet...1 on the rig on a fishlander(silver with pink/purple/glow); the rest came off the big boards running slide divers...200-225 back on harnesses. 1.6-1.8 at the ball. Off now for a few days.... John

To be honest, I have never seen the results posted. I have asked via letter on a couple of occasions, and in the years we have done it, I think we got a list once. It is set up through the scotty series, so I don't see why they couldn't do something. Most of the winners ran well east, if that helps.

Fished the NY Walleye Association Derby Sat/Sun. 5 fish per day max, 2 day total weight. 93 boats this year. Saturday was Lake Erie at her finest. Capping early, 5 footers by early afternoon, 20+ winds. A very tough day to be on the lake. Fished well west of Dunkirk...almost to Barcelona....plan was to have room for a long east troll if it got too rough.....We ended up with 6 walleye and a 10lb king....and worked very hard to get that. Sunday...another rock and roll day on the lake. Very rough to start, before it laid down some. Fished 80-105 fow just west of Dunkirk. Did 8'eyes, 1 steelhead, and really unbelievably, another 10lb king! I haven't taken a king out here in several years, then to get 2 in 2 days..... We finished up pretty much in the middle of the pack over the 2 days. Got enough fish to be alright, but had no weight. Biggest was just over 5lbs. Best sets were a 10 color down the chute with a watermelon renosky; big slide diver on 3...175 back with a black and silver junior thunderstick. Only 2 fish off the riggers for the weekend.....60 down on a copper purple/pink/glow yeck, and 71 down, watermelon harness. Had a few off the boards on little slides, 200 back, watermelon harness. Down speed of 1.9-2.1 was our best. Winning boats all had traveled 13-15 miles east of Dunkirk. Top boat was 10 fish for just over 70lbs. I give those guys their due....they got pounded by the waves coming back...especially Saturday.....1 guy told me it took them 2 hours to make their way in. John

Riggers are sold. Thank you.