Sweet Caroline

Would muddy waters now kill Chinooks that were hatched in the Fall? Seems most years the rivers and streams will blow out at some point throughout the winter/spring. Is it a factor of them getting stranded when the waters recede? Also, I could be wrong but I thought the muddy near shore waters would help hide the young direct and pen stocked salmon from predators and actually be a benefit for survival?

Glad I docked my boat at South Point on Iron Bay this year. NOT!! Probably take me 45min just to get to the lake now!!

Hi Defiance, I'm also looking to install an autopilot on my 2001 290 Amberjack. Did you end up going with the EV200 with the octopus? I'm in the process of installing and there is some concern that the octopus is too large to fit under the dash. Anybody have experience with installing the EV200 and Octopus on a 290 Amberjack?

Fishhook, Thank you for your honesty and being a standup guy. To keep you in the loop, I offered your friend the opportunity to have a mechanic actually come assess the situation in person instead of diagnosing it over the phone. Instead he went with the worst case scenario quoted by the mechanic over the phone ($2000-$3000) and tried negotiating with me on that. Having worked with this mechanic, I know his policy is to set the proper expectations over the phone on what total damages could potentially be and then when he actually sees the job it is significantly less. Had a mechanic actually looked at the boat I would have been much more willing to work with him on a fair price. Again, I’m not doing this for the money, only to make sure my father is not getting taken advantage of. As I have said, you are correct in that I told my mechanic there could potentially be a leak. I had him look in to it and he could not find the issue and chalked it up to an external source. It was not until I did the sea trial with you that we actually found the source and verified there was indeed a leak. I do appreciate you being “upfront and honest†and pointing out this discrepancy with what I said and what my mechanic recalled. Originally I thought that you were trying to slam me for not selling the boat to your buddy, but I see now that clearly is not the case. Leaking a gallon or so over the course of 8 hours was what was estimated to me directly from your buddy so you may also want to do some fact checking with him on the extent of the leak. I just want to make sure everything I’ve said is proper by your standards. Thanks again for digging in to this matter.

Sammy Dog, that wasn't directed towards you. You make great points, thanks.

Hey Sammy Dog, The boat was kept in a pole barn all year and the plug was pulled after each use so any water that would have sat in there would not of had enough time to do any damage. The leak that ole Fishhook found when he was out there was a drip (about a drip every 15 sec) coming from around the seal where the lower unit connects to the transom. Over the course of an 8 hr day it may have amounted to a gallon or so of water. I would recommend resealing it before it gets worse. Again, anybody that is interested is welcome to fully inspect the transom. Although the power steering works fine it was out of fluid the last time I Sea Trialed it so there probably is a small leak there too. To your point, the boat is an 88, and I believe I’m offering the boat at a fair enough price to accommodate for any of these issues.

Hey Fishhook, I’m going to give you the benefit of doubt that you are not calling me a liar since you seemed like a nice guy when I met you. To clarify, we do not dock the boat often. Last year we docked the boat for a few days and I noticed some water pouring out when I pulled the plug and it had not rained. I told our mechanic to check it out and he could not find anything. He also checked the bellows and transom and they looked fine. If this was what the mechanic was referring to then I guess you are correct. To further clarify, I’m selling this boat for my father who has Alzheimer’s and I’m not making a dime off the sale. I have no special interest in selling the boat other than trying to get what I thought was fair market value for him. I also have allowed all interested parties the opportunity for a Sea Trial, survey, speak with the mechanic or whatever else they need to do to feel comfortable with their purchase. If you are insinuating that I’m using some unsurely sales tactics then you are sorely mistaken.

Boat needs to go before winter. Haven't had the time to put as much energy in to selling this summer as I would have liked. Nonetheless, I really don't want to have to winterize, insure, etc before this winter. Both engines run great and the boat itself is in great condition. $2999 OBO.

Price Reduced

Hi Tim, I'm looking at catch rates over the past 25 years or so. They have been highest on average for salmon in the past 10 years.

I have a 23ft Sea Ray. Go to the classified section here.

I use them on my copper/lead core rigs. Instead of adding more copper/lead core to achieve greater depths just use one of these. i.e turn a 5 color into a 10 color, 300 copper into a 400 copper.

Little off topic but still interesting. A while back the Power Mill Hatchery received a handful of kings for show at the hatchery. Those fish lived to be five-six+ years old. Also interesting is steelhead and browns kept there for show could grow to be 12-14lbs, but the Kings never made it past 5 or 6 lbs.

Don’t want to get into a “point/ counter-point†discussion here but fish maturing early is yet another indication that the environment could be stressed i.e less bait. There is a belief that salmon are maturing early because they are healthy, but there are many case studies out there that would disagree. It has been studied in other natural populations that early maturity could be a result of a population being stressed (i.e less bait, more competition, change in environment, etc, etc). To insure that a population can be sustained, many individuals in that population will start reproducing early. Over time, if the conditions persist, natural selection can change the overall average age of the breeding population. Good, lively discussion and all good points. I’m really not trying to be a naysayer in all this, but I think the DEC is making the right call. Again, not much downside if they are incorrect, but the potential for massive downside if they do nothing.

I've heard that, but at the hatchery did they used to take eggs from only the largest fish or 4 yr olds and now they take eggs from all the fish, maybe? Not disagreeing that being selective in the egg take could help but I’m highly speculative that that is the main culprit. Avg size decline, higher catch rates, and what the DEC is finding in their trawls is enough evidence for me that there is a bait issue. If stocking rates are lowered what is the worst that could happen? Maybe we have a couple years of lower catches. Certainly better than crashing the fishery to the point of no return like Huron and possibly Michigan. I have two young boys that I would like to have this same great salmon fishery when they are my age.

When I mention average size decline it is in reference to a slow and steady decline that we have seen over the last 10-15-20 years. Reviewing the top fish in the leader boards of the LOC and Great Ontario Salmon Hunt paints a pretty clear picture. I’m certainly not complaining about the size of the 25-30lb fish that we are still getting with regularity now, just pointing out that the 35-40lb fish are rare nowadays compared to 10-15-20 years ago. Generally this is an indication of a decline in prey abundance and the higher catch rates only reinforce that assumption.

I hear ya, but again, DEC findings aside, logic would tell me that higher catch rates and decreasing salmon size are not indicative of higher bait populations. We may see higher concentrations of bait in the more productive areas of the lake but overall abundance is most likely down.

Forget the science, logic would tell me if catch rates are increasing and size is decreasing that the bait population is not what it used to be. Although nice, regularly going out and catching 10-20 silvers in a morning is not indicative of a healthy system. Natural reproduction is a wild card in LO, but in reality is probably the only sure fire way to keep a healthy predator/prey balance in a perfect world. Stocking the same number of predators year after year regardless of conditions and prey abundance is anything but natural. Lower stocking numbers does not necessarily equate to lower catch rates if the predator prey relationship is in balance. Honestly, I like the approach the DEC is taking in trying maintain a trophy fishery. Following the prey hatch makes perfect sense to me…as long as they actually increase when the hatch is good.