Gator

It is hysterical that decisions were made "based on fishing pressure and the survey" following two years where the Sandy ramp was closed due to the high water situation. That's like kicking a dog when it's down.

I will add that since ice melts from the bottom, having snow pack add phantom inches to the ice thickness can give a false sense of security, particularly as spring approaches, when in fact you're standing on mainly honeycombed crap. This is not shaping up to be a great late ice bite.

Must have been the day...we passed three youths who were fishing with open water poles and using a chisel to open their holes, about fifty yards off the end of Vitale point. I wanted to ask them what they had and if they'd share lol. But yeah, good for you LS to drill that guy a couple holes. I get frustrated this year with all the newbies who have decided that Nature is worth acknowledging, after years of ignoring it. Everywhere we go, everything we do, it seems like there are mobs. The ADK was a zoo last summer. The summit stewards were beside themselves trying to educate new hikers on the fragility of the ecosystem. I feel like it's this way all over. IMHO, the newbies haven't had enough experience yet with Mother Nature for her to have earned their respect. And so I try to be patient. But the googans don't make it easy.

Holy crap. That sounds really dangerous. I simply can't believe folks anymore. Tommy showed me a video of that shooting in PA last week, and it's unreal. And disturbing. Frankly, if the guys who moved in on us had simply said a few words, there wouldn't have been any issue. We're friendly. Mostly. We caught some perch on Conesus yesterday, but today was a complete bust. We figured that nobody did much yesterday when we were the only trucks in the lot at 6 am - yesterday at that time, it was full. Now, onto the snow. 9 inches tomorrow and the same on Thursday is going to add up to a very tough time. It won't help our late season ice, either. Anybody else notice that the ice hasn't really gotten much thicker over the past two weeks, despite the temperatures. Some white stuff mushed up crap air water frozen slush on top makes it seem thicker than it is, but when the melt happens, it happens from the bottom. That stuff that's on top now ain't gonna hold nobody for long.

So, with all the talk about folks setting up too close to you, I had a chuckle today on Conesus when a guy towing three shanties stopped his ATV between one of my buddies and his tip ups, right in the middle of where we were fishing. My buddy had to move his tent to see his flags! This guy on the ATV didn't even ask whether there was room or if we minded or even said boo. Not that we gave two craps (well, Scotty could have given them a crap, in a bag packaged nice nonetheless), but it would have been decent to acknowledge that there were other guys there. And it wasn't like we were fishing near other folks, just five of us in a group way the hell away from the crowd. Go figure.

We had the ATV on Honeoye this week, and I'm not sure that I would do it again. Simply put, the ride sucked. I don't think that we were unsafe, but I was surprised that these temperatures haven't built more ice There was still only 5-6" of black ice mid-lake with white ice, slush, and then snow on top. The ATV didn't get stuck...but the million gallons of icy slush that came over the handlebars when we hit a deep pocket at 15 mph was a real waker-upper lol. I'd like to think that the past few days since Tuesday have put some more backbone into the top layer, but I wouldn't count on it. Make sure that you have chains and a good way to get your ATV out of the slush if you give it a try. The bottom-line: it's doable.

Very nice!! That's some new, new ice - spud indeed. But good to know it's starting.

Scotty is, after all, the king of chit

I was going to fish this evening, but ended up putting the chains on my ATV. Won't be long now. I hope.

I've fished my Frabill F4 Gale in all day rain without issue, and BPS 100 mph+ stuff works great, as well. But I only paid 1/3 of retail when I bought them, and there's no way I'd pony up for a new set given my current needs. The East Coast commercial guys and sailor types swear by Grunden.

We were out deep yesterday evening, all alone, ~24 fow where I'd done a walleye the evening before. No luck looking for the repeat though. I've seen a few more walleye this year than years past, which makes me wonder whether the program they've been running at the field station may be starting to pay dividends.

But the masks stay on! We are very, very safe.

Don't let Dave get his hands on that. It sounds like it could lose 8" lol.

I suggest that if the goal is truly to restore lake trout, then the largest impact could be realized by outlawing Gambler Rigs

Hey Devo, good running into you this week. We hammered them after you left, bunch of slabs, all still hanging out there. One kamikaze eye that tried to jump through the hole like a tarpon, busted my line and laughed at me.

I do build rods, but I don't sell rods. Sorry, man, Honestly, custom rods don't save you any money either, once you're done outfitting them. The upside is that you get exactly what you want, though :). John Powell on here builds professionally. And I know a guy who has a new 44" lake trout rod that could be cut down to size .

Ditto. Let's all get along. We're a community, no reason to poke the bear.

I will arm wrestle him for it, Scotty. KIdding.

LS- read your pms! Your rod is done. Come and get it.

Shazam!

I've read all his books, and I want to know - how old is that picture on the cover? Not saying nothing, though. I'd take a few years and a pound of gray off the top too if I published a book. Lol. Looking forward to the new read.

Ok, that last one got me. LOL.

Man, that hurts. But when your middle school girlfriend broke up with you (not that I'd know much about that lol), what came next? Rebound!! So you have that to look forward to. I'm confident that you will find a way forward. One door closes, another opens, right?

It's funny how this thread just lingers. I'd guess that 95% of the time, those Rage broadheads work perfectly - otherwise, they wouldn't sell. It's the other 5% that concerns me. It seems like shots with a steeper entry angle are prone to mishap, particularly around the shoulder. It could be that this is all just an urban myth and that Rage are no worse than any other brand out there...maybe there are so many folks that use Rage, it's inevitable that there will be more horror stories. But I know I've had some Rage fails in the past, switched to Slick Trick, and haven't looked back. Maybe I've become a better hunter and choose better shots in my age...I mean wisdom. Regardless, IMHO the only difference between a bowhunter who hasn't experienced an issue with mechanical broadheads and one who has is time.

All of our wire diver rods have always used Twili tips. We love them.