Gator

Catching aside, it was a great morning. Thx! It will certainly improve as the water stabilizes.

I'm assuming it's free, so let me be the first to say...I'll take it!

I fished with Gambler Wednesday evening to get a sense of things before my buddy came in from Boston for the weekend, and even though it was slow - we were 1 for 3, with a good 24 lb fish coming to the net - ultimately it didn't make any difference in our approach over the weekend since Thursday and Friday's NE blow screwed up whatever stability we had prior to then. The decision on Saturday was easy. We ran offshore, setting down at the 28 line and ending the day at the 33 line. We must have chosen wisely, since it seemed like four or five boats from the river ended their NW troll quite near us before turning back toward home port. The action was steady, albeit not fast and furious. There were pockets of fish, mostly steelhead, cohos, and kings, and our tally for the morning set included four matures with about a dozen fish boated and a bevy of "nobody home". The temps out there were stable with the thermocline at about 65', and there was a good current surprisingly (to me) pushing West. We ran mostly DW superslim and Warrior XL spoons to keep the bows happy, but the kings snapped them up too. After refueling with coffee and a Crosby's sub, the Saturday afternoon set started in 400' just West of the Nose and ended in 480'. The program and results were nearly identical, with perhaps a few more matures and a few less steelies. We only fished until 6:30 pm, since we had some clean-up, fillets to vacuum seal, and a single malt that needed consumption. As an aside, on our way out we found something floating - it seems like somebody thought it would be easier to dump the whole thing than clean it. Must have eaten Mighty Taco or something. Sunday morning brought rollers inside that portended a washing machine offshore, and with a six hour drive pending, we choose to chase browns to the East. We began near Wautoma and ended at Braddock's Point, veering between 25' and 35' of water. There was a good class of brown to be had, but we mostly left them alone in favor of their 12" cousins lol. Seriously, there were lots of little fish, great to see, but enough big fish to keep us smiling all morning. We ended at 9:30 in 110' with a good king. Hopefully the upcoming week stabilizes the lake and we start finding the fish in more usual haunts as we move through August. Tight lines and Meliora!

So long as you use the right tackle, the fight is great. But after returning from the Cape where I was fishing tuna last year, I figured I'd try out a rod that I'd built for that, using an SW705 blank with a Sarasota 8000 reel. It was overkill and put a whooping on an 18 lb fish pretty quick. IMHO, a medium heavy rod and a 4000 series reel is the right setup for this, similar to what we use to jig bottom fish in the ocean or lakers off the Niagara. What do you guys think?

The Lund is ready to roll, and my buddy who I fish with off the Cape is coming over from Boston on Thursday night. Unfortunately, it looks like the persistent NE winds they're forecasting could spoil our jigging party. We may end up trolling out of Nothing But Net or even, if the lake is rocking, fishing bass in the Finger Lakes. But maybe the wind won't be as bad as they're predicting...

Haven't the two of you put enough salmon on the board lol!?!

Way to go! The temperatures have set up all over the West end for a great brown bite. And I'll take family time over derby fishing any day.

Sounds like a familiar story. A buddy of mine in Boston had major issues with his Jeep Grand Cherokee while towing his boat...he had to abandon the boat and have it towed to his marina...and even though the Jeep was under warrantee, the shop told him that they couldn't even look at it for six weeks. He will never deal with Chrysler again. In fact, he bought an F150 the next week and sold the Jeep as soon as it was fixed. It does seem like a theme though - you're covered, but timing isn't guaranteed.

How close did you have to get in there to find them? I had a buddy who brought his grandson out and got blanked in 45' (mostly).

That's some good eating there!!! lol I heard from a buddy that he did three Atlantics in that same area yesterday, which is two more than he'd ever done previously in a single day. Maybe a good year for them?

We had about a dozen bites fishing two guys on board and got a few quality kings and steelhead, plus the requisite skips. The current in the 100-200 foot range was insane; we estimated a 0.75 mph surface current running to the East.

But by the time anyone actually makes it out, they will should have been there yesterday lol. Good luck guys! And thanks for the ride, Jim. I had eighteen walleye on my grocery list, and you delivered!

I'd have waved at you. Those other guys at East Fork, though, they're a bunch of degenerates. Which might be why I like them.

Between Frank and Tommy, I don't think you have to worry. Although there was that one boat that went down a year or two ago...it was cursed. True story: it sank twice on exactly the same day, a year apart, after being sold in-between. I'd love to know where it is now and who owns it.

Did she make the splash?

FYI. 58 million acres. The scope of this order is mind boggling, agree or disagree. https://apnews.com/article/logging-national-forests-0607a77e0ab812ea6fa609034fbb20d9 Arguments to be made on both sides. Is roadless land really benefiting the American public? IMHO, it's good for the soul to know that there are places untouched by development. But practically? I've hiked many of these remote areas. I doubt there's many that have benefited from them though. It's not much of a leap however from the $hitshow that Yellowstone has become to see what happens with unfettered access. And then there's the argument against old growth versus managed areas, habitat diversity, fire suppression (good? bad? Sequoias require fire for seed germination), economic benefits, etc.. Lots of stuff to unpack.

What happens at Sandy, stays at Sandy. Although I do think that some female kayakers may have photographic evidence of something hanging off the transom of Colin's boat. They seemed...excited...to see it. And the hot tub is only fair game if you're "buffy fishing".

Gentlemen keep their boats at Oak Orchard. This is Sandy. Welcome to the jungle!!

Ouch. This undos decades of negotiations and will simply spur more lawsuits to fight whether something that was put in place to suspend all the lawsuits can itself be suspended. My head is spinning now lol.