Gator

We were putting 8-10" of #2 crusher run onto 450 feet of access road yesterday morning at our hunting property - I took a walk to see if any of the three year old trees we planted in the Spring '20 were producing apples or pears yet, and walked up on several doe in a bean field, not 150 yards from where we were running the truck and roller. Safe from me. We did hear a few shots over the course of the morning from one particular spot but as they were multiples, we thought maybe Canada Geese? Or really bad shots...

If only we had as much inflow as that sentence has run-on... Just busting lol. I feel you. But the IJC could do a better job. You can't control the weather, but simple chance dictates that they should get it right once in a while. And even I, blind squirrel nut finder that I am, could see we were going to have issues this summer when they started dropping the lake in April, almost two months before they normally would. Because summer is hot, you know? And water evaporates lol.

We also struggled inside on Saturday. One mature and a couple shakers. It seems like the pods of fish are few and far between, and when you find them you need to stay tight to them.

Yep, what he said. Wire's better with the fleas and for getting stuff deep...if you don't have issues with fleas and you're only fishing 40-80 down, then braid's probably easier. No need to overthink it - the best guidance you will get is from experience. We run a four diver spread nearly 100% of the time, and we love it. On L. Ontario, a big steelie will just destroy a wire rod, make you jump out of your skin, best thing going. I love the feel of being connected. FYI, we use Shimano Talora rods, 8' and 9 1/2' for our inside (down) and outside (up) rigs. I'm not sure what speed you're running for lakers out there, but I don't think I'd use four wire divers on Lady O. at the ~1.4-1.6 mph that lakers crave. Getting them set without tangles would probably be a nightmare, particularly the way the currents have been this year. Also, just wanted to make sure that you know Rob's write-up on copper, while absolutely the bomb, doesn't translate very well to wire. Two different beasts. Forgive me if he covers wire in that article; I haven't read it in awhile.

It's hard to beat a black Deeper Diver 107 mm run on wire, using a rod with regular guides but a Twili Tip replacing the tiptop. No advice on braid, since we don't run it. I see that the new Daiwa Saltist reels have been released...

I think it depends on the boat. We use the motor bracket on our 24' Wellcraft with a 200 Yammie, but for the Lund with a 115 I simply raise the motor so that it's just touching the tilt pistons. I've read mixed opinions on transom savers, related to having the motor attached to the trailer independent of the boat. I could see some wiggle happening on bumps - and force applied at a strange angle.

Our East Fork Barberians team started the day in ~140 fow, lacking much of a plan since the day prior was spent offshore...where there were plenty of smaller kings and steelhead, but not enough of a box on Friday to justify an early run. We threw out a mixed bag of spoons, Spin Doctors, and meat rigs on DR and wire divers, then headed N. And rotted. For nearly three hours. I think by 8:00 we had one small king and a steelhead, both released. That changed when we passed through the heavy scum line in 360'. Over the next couple hours we had a mid-morning bite like I've rarely seen this time of year - I expected an early binge, then some noon action. Not yesterday. We picked away at them until we had a box of kings in the upper teens, nothing spectacular, but at least something to weigh in, until the lake went flat and the bite died for us. We weren't able to pull a quality upgrade, but we also didn't loose a single fish (same as last year), which IMHO is huge. Part of the reason for that is we only ran four rods once we found fish, and we realized that the meat bite had turned on, so we loaded up on big flashers with JK heads and strips. I think that sometimes less is more. Particularly with those wicked currents and the early stiff breeze. At weigh-in, we managed to squeeze out 7th place and felt lucky to cover costs. Congratulations to Tomahawk for the win (makes getting eaten by mosquitoes worth it), to all the teams who plated a great game, and to the organizers for their hard work in pulling off the show without a hitch. Brian's TV made watching the standings change with each basket weighed even more fun! We really appreciate the work you guys put into this!

x3

Nope, not to my knowledge. I think that the proposed bill never got taken up.