Gator

And don't feel too bad about that skunk on board...we suffered the first ever on the "new" boat (3 1/2 yrs old) on Saturday. Not even a release. There were only two of us and the one guy had never fished the lake before and we only fished a couple hours and the sun was high and the wind and...I could whine and make excuses forever. Truth be told, we just didn't figure 'em out. Like Jeremy says, though, most of the time with a little experience you just learn to dial them in. You see certain conditions year after year and you know what to do. Then, when you think you've got it figured out, there's that big fat skunk crawling you-know-where again. The only thing for certain is that it'll all change before the next time. Good luck in the islands. Hope you hammer them snot-rockets...I've got another ten days til I leave for Lac Seul. That's about two more trips on the big pond, by my calendar. Gator, Nothin' but Net

heh, heh, heh...I'm still giggling over the thought that all these little guys will be big guys soon (and a seven lb king is only little in comparison to some of the others out there...Keith H. and I were thinking how they would compare on a fly rod). Nice to keep things in perspective, though. We've got one of the best fisheries on the planet; never know what she's going to give you from one year to the next. Enjoy! Gator

What's with all the cookie cutter kings this year? I lost count of the number of fish/releases we had, but the 150-170 fow range was just littered with 3-6 lb fish. Most of the fish came on the riggers between 55-60 feet down; could just be that the copper wasn't running where the fish were, but they did ocassionally take a hit. In fact, the only teenager came in 70 fow early on the copper, so it was worth running, but after a couple of 2 lb'ers on the copper...shoulders were aching. NBK, frog, "old" blue all produced. Speed was fast 2.5, currents were ripping to the east. Good luck this week. Gator

I'll add my two cents...boat control is key, and it's important to keep your line vertical so you're not "dragging". Also, your best bet is to use a superline (ie Powerpro in 12 lb test break strength...nice and thin!) with a fluorocarbon leader (6'). It really makes a difference in detecting strikes. Start off of the points, like bulletbob said, in 50 fow and look for bait balls or active fish. If you don't see them, they're still there, but more likely to be close to the bottom. Move out as necessary. Last weekend, the biggest fish were suspended, so watch your graph on the drop...the fish may come up to meet the jig. We prefer 1 oz roundheads with plastics or Deady Dick spoons (1 oz, also) unless it's rough. Then we move up to 1.5 oz saltwater type white striper jigs. Keep at it...it is really an art form, and skill shows with this type of fishing. But it is the most productive way to get lakers that I've ever found. Gator

Weak. Very weak. We couldn't find 'em. A few bucketmouths in <10 fow, but no walters, no panfish...weak. Great evening to be out, though. Temp=62F, weeds everywhere out to 20 fow. We could see our jigs in 16 fow. Couple other guys didn't appear to be doing much on the bluegills, either. Empty beds near shore. Gator

pm

Hey Scott, If you need to hop on board with someone, give me a call. We're not doing Olcott, but there'll be room if you want to fish Sandy. Gator

Hey Joe, I figured it had something to do with the new boat Nice looking rig...reminds me of someone else's. I remember when we bought the first "Nothin' but Net", Keith H. and I went through three radios before the dealer installed one that actually worked. I was hoping to find out when I called you if you'd done anything off the boards. It was about all we weren't throwing at them. Good luck off Olcott. We'll be out probably one evening this week, then again over the weekend, weather permitting. We'll stick on channel 72, this time. After four years at Sandy, you'd think I'd remember. Must have been hitting 40 last year put the kibish in my memory. Let us know how you do at Olcott. Gator

There was fish and bait in 30 fow right out of the gate on the Penn Yan arm, in fact, thick enough to hook alewives on my first two drops. The wind made it difficult to hold, though, so we moved closer to some points to block it and found some pods of fish holding in 50-60 fow, as well. Most of the lakers were cookie-cutter fish, 2-3 lbs, until we noticed the streakers around 30' down over 50'...and had a few ravages on the drop. So, the last hour was spent glued to the graph, watching the jig while simultaneously trying to keep the presentation vertical with the electric bow mount, and having a bigger class of fish (5-6 lbs) just CRUSH the jigs. Too much fun watching them on the graph. I wish it hadn't taken us so long to figure them out, but that's fishing. Gator, "Nothin' but Net"

Sounds like everyone else did well today...and our numbers, 11-for-20, weren't too shabby, either. But only three of them were quality silvers, and from the hit/miss ratio, well...frustrating to miss a couple of rips on the wire, then finally hook up with a shaker off the rigger. Not that I'm complaining; beautiful day out there. We had three lakers today, too, which surprised us 'cause we were trying to keep the speed 2.5 at the ball. Overall, same pattern, depth, rigs described above. Most of the fish came on a West troll and the "pack"...maybe eight or ten boats...seemed to get pushed to the West as the day went on, so I'm guessing some surface current. The copper rigs were relatively quiet, though. One question: Rob, which channel have you been sitting on? We stuck to 68 this morning as usual and the only chatter we heard was a couple boats asking for radio checks. Tried to call Joe on Reel Drag a couple of times with no answer, too. Thanks. Gator, "Nothin' but Net"

Gambell and I made an evening trip down for bluegills/walleye. We didn't set the world on fire, but it was a beautiful evening to fish. Wish the fish had thought so, too. The water temp was 62, the weeds were popping up all over, even to the point of seeing their tops out in 16 fow. Still, it wasn't a complete jungle in tight, so that's where we started for panfish. I'm not sure if we were early or late, but nothing much on beds; a few crappie and some small 'gills. Anyone have any insights into whether they've spawned yet or not? Right now was prime last year, but it was a cold spring last year, too. Jigged 14-18fow and trolled for awhile. Gambell caught one on a deep diver off the board and we missed a few strikes on the harnesses. That's it. Typical transition time...boom or bust. Anyone else doing it down there? Gator

Very predictable, I said...and we couldn't find them last year the week prior to the Perchmaster, either:) Sunday was a beautiful day on the water with the new rig (17' Mr. Pike), but other than half-a-dozen Kobes, we didn't do much. It sounds like they're in transition, as most of the big schools that folks were on the past few weeks are gone. It's a fresh playing field, now. Good luck. Gator

Jax, Nice job! Our rig is still buried in the back of a barn (miscommunication on when we needed it out) and it has to go to Ras for a pump before hitting the water. Soon, though... Billy, I might list a few Spiderman poles on the classified page, if you're interested:) My girl's six now, and it's "Barbie" or nothing. Get on 'em! Gator

We've been hitting Seneca the past three weekends with good results. Up til a week ago, most of the fish have been off deep drops on small presentations, and most of them were males up to 14". Last weekend, more big females were showing up, but we still didn't do much in 17-22 fow on the flats. The fish are moving though, and as remarked here, they do similar things every year. Very predictable. So get on them! Good luck. Gator

I'm no expert, but the fish seem to be deeper/further south early, then move North as April approaches. We've done well off the lee side of points in the current break; the steeper the dropoff, the better. In March last year we caught our biggest perch in 18-23 fow on the flats dragging plastics rigged Carolina style, but not as many as on the drops. The guys who perenially place high in the Perchmaster seem to like the plastics, too...they're not really perch when they hit two pounds, more like smallmouth. Our top five fish weight was 8.4 lbs last year, only it came a week before the derby. Of course, the winning weight was over 9.5, so it wouldn't have mattered... I've heard that teardrops work, but how do you get them down with no weight? Gator

Thanks for the advice guys...keep it coming. Gator

Hi Guys, I'm hoping that the LOU community might be able to help with an off-topic question. I'm soliciting some advice on a Canadian fly-in lodge for a (gasp) soft-water trip this summer. We'd like to do the traditional walleye/pike thing, but with a chance to jig for lakers, as well. There's no way to pick a decent place using the web; everywhere's the best...just looking for any advice based on personal experience, either positive or negative. Please feel free to pm me. Location and cost aren't as important as good service and decent fishing. Thanks. Gator

Jax, Keith and I thought we saw you pulling out around 10 pm...and you post after midnight?!? What's the matter with you...does it take that long to get home? Or did you stop to put the boat away first! Just yankin' your chain. We did one fish in the creek below the bridge out of Keith's smaller boat on sacs, saw a few others caught, but our days of trolling are over for this year. The final wipedown was last night, and she gets pulled for maintenance this week. Sad days. On a brighter note, only a few weeks til bowseason. Good luck out there. Gator, Nothin' but Net.

How much did you reduce it by?

That sounds like a great deal; wish I was in the market. Gator

We fished from 300-400 fow tonight and found a good downtemp break from 61F to 54F, 35' on the riggers in around 350 fow to start; it had moved into 300 fow by the end of the evening. The final tally was two majors, two steelhead, one coho and a large steelie lost just behind the boat. Love it when they hit at 30' and skyrocket behind the boat. The temp is so close to the surface now that this little bit of North wind over the next few days may really cause some upwelling. Good thing for satellite temp maps. Almost no bait and very few hooks, even on the break. We stopped in 60 fow on the way in at dark to watch all the fish come off the bottom. Amazing. The screen was like demo mode. When this full moon is gone, it could be gangbusters. BTW, anybody try it after dark yet? Gator, N'BN

Scott, Here's your pm report. We fished from 4:30-8:30 primarily in <90 fow and managed three kings, all in the low twenties. There were very few marks around and almost no bait, but we hit a school of 6-8 fish and scored a double...thought we'd turn them on from there, but the next two hours were slow, slow, slow. Finally managed one more half-an-hour before dark. Then the marks started showing up, coming up off the bottom maybe, and the screen lit up like crazy. Keith and I were busting at the chops waiting for a rod to go, but nothing. Really frustrating. Thought for sure that as the moon came up, they'd start to feed. Everything was on spoons (we were trying for browns, hit kings instead) run around 60' down, or 180' on the wire. Maybe someone has some info on how it's been in that 300-400' range off Sandy? Gator, N'BN

The good news is that a great temp break developed with the East wind last week around 200 ft of water off of Braddocks. Friday night and Saturday morning were unbelievable. We went something like 29/35 from 6-11:30 on Saturday with numerous doubles and a triple (for four rods) and mostly quality fish. All were around 45 ft down on the riggers, 140 on the wire, with NBK Stingers and green SpinDocs working. The current was absolutely wicked. The bad news is that the West wind on Saturday nite scattered it, as well as the fish. We fished the same area on Sunday evening and only went 2/3, and that was on the bottom in 75 fow...where the temp break currently resides. There was a lot of funky currents, and the direction has switched 180 degrees, but its still cranking. Just a guess, but it looks like more "normal" August conditions will prevail now. Lots of dark fish around. One note of interest: the fish suddenly appeared out of nowhere (ie. off the bottom) around dark. Full moon? Anyone tried the nite bite? Gator Nothin' but Net.

Hey Tank, Glad you found a few. Sorry for the lack of a temp this time; different boat yesterday. We cast for smallies for awhile, too, and had LOTS of follows from small fish...not 14-16", more like 10-12". I'm hopeful that they'll move in soon. Otherwise I won't have an excuse to avoid the big pond and they'll make me brave the bugs and troll...and troll...and troll... Gator

Lakers 40-50 ft of water, with the biggest about 6 1/2 lbs. One smallie in 35 ft...nothing on beds yet (or is it too late?). Some nice bait clouds off Penn Yan. When the lake got flat, slowly moving on a one setting with the trolling motor produced some strikes. White fluke and Deadly Dicks were equally effective. Gator