GAMBLER

Good luck. A guy I work with has been down there on vacation all week and the pike fishing has been slow. Try trolling deep diving cranks on points. That is the best way I have found to get them when the water is warm. They will also suspend on alewives. Look for bait schools and troll them with sticks and large spoons.

I use a Stren Scale and it has been really accurate. The 2 lakers we weighed in during the summer LOC were 1oz. off on my Stren scale from the LOC scales. I don't weigh fish unless they are going in the cooler. Boga Grips and scales are not good for fish going back in the lake. There is a good read on handling pike in the DEC handbook. You should support the belly off all fish going to be released. If pike and larger trout are held by the Boga or by the gills straight up and down, all the organs shift to the bottom of the fish causing internal injuries to the organs and spine.

Large spoons

Spinners

Spinner baits

Tom,

I owe you guys for that one. I will get you back.

Current Orleans County Derby Leaders:

Grand Prize: 31 lb. 9 oz.

Salmon: 26 lb. 3 oz....5th place - 24 lb. 2 oz.

Rainbow: 15 lb. 3 oz....5th place - 11 lb. 7 oz.

Brown Trout: 12 lb. 12 oz....(one fish entered)

Lake Trout: 19 lb. 12 oz....2nd place - 13 lb. 4 oz. (2 fish entered)

Nice fish Mick. Thats the way it always happens. A couple days before or after you catch the big one. Oh well. Congrats on your personal best.

Fish Hawk X-4. No coated cable, reads to 300', small probe, runs on 4 AA batteries that last a long time, Probe electronics are sealed so it will not get ruined if it fills with water, compact monitor. It is all personal preferance. Depth Raider, Fishhawk, Subtroll or Cannon.

Malin 7 strand. Expensive but the best IMO.

Thanks Mark.

Chowder,

I believe A-tom-mik sells torpeda shaped rigger weights.

Is there a youth division in the Orleans Derby? If so, what is the youngest that can enter? My 7 year old nephew wants to fish a derby. How much is the registration for adults / youths? I can't remember from last year.

Carl,

Nice report. It sounds like the entire lake is on fire right now. A lot better than last year at this time for sure. Hopefully it holds up for the weekend.

Stan,

Check out this site. This is a real eye opener about BC's salmon problem.

The Sealine Diawas have been awesome for me for 16 years. I have 8 27 lc's (all 8 are 16 years old), and 10 47lc's (2 - 10 years old) and the only problems I ever had was the drag clicker wearing out on 4 of the 27's. I called Diawa and they sent me new drag clickers as they broke free of charge. How can you beat that? I had the old Great Lakes 47lc's and like Tim said, the drags were choppy. They are long gone.

Pops,

Nice brown. Too bad it was not caught during one of the derbies.

Sliders = cheaters that are not fixed. Clip it on the line and just let it sink down to the bow in the main line. It is hard to duplicate the same depth after a release but they work good when the fish are spread out in the water column.

Any pics of the tents?

Electric Fly swater from Harbor Freight Tools. It works great. It is also is very entertaining. Nice report.

Me Too!

I tried a spool of it and was not that impressed. It does not kink as easy but still kinks. It is no better with the fleas. The only positive (over to the Malin 7 strand) I have found with it is the price. A lot cheaper.

Damn, the expenses add up. They aren't sending the responses to our wives, are they?

That would not work out in there favor or ours!

Congrats Spoonfed. That picture does not do that fish justice. Good luck in the fall LOC.

I was wondering why the past derby stats have not been posted since 2007? I like looking back to see what the bottom of the board was the previous year to give me a ballpark figure of what goes in the cooler and what swims to catch next year.

Seagar. The best. It is pricey but worth every penny. When buying florocarbon, make sure you buy leader material not florocarbon for stringing up a spinning rod. There is a big difference in quality. The leader material is also more abrasion resistant.

It is all personal preference. If you do not want to change out your rigger cable, go with the X4. If you don't mind changing the cable and worring about fraying the cable, go with the Depth Raider. Both units work great. I have the X4 probe with my old 840 unit and it has not hick-uped yet. Same 4 AA batteries since the begining of the season.