Gill-T

Not sure if you guys are checking this posting while fishing, but keep an eye on the sky as there is some bad weather heading your way. Nice looking browns and atlantic.

I am sure many have been watching the fishing reports and wondering if it is time to get the boat wet. The recent rain wind events have reeked havoc with the lake. Mudville along the shoreline still, with a green transition line slightly deeper that is fishable, followed by the chaulky Niagara water starting around 50'. The first kings are starting to be caught off the Niagara as the smelt run is starting. Bottom line.......you may want to wait a little longer.

Gobies

If you see how few Steelhead entries for steelhead in the spring LOC derby you might want to target Lakers instead. Because Steelhead are spawning in creeks into May, there are very few in the system to catch. Steelhead fishing starts taking off in June out in 300' ++ of water near the surface esp. with a good bug hatch.

Here you go.... Although I don't neccesarily agree with the author's assumptions on where the best fishing is, it does give good info. http://greatlakeslessons.com/mod/page/view.php?id=192 A thermal break is best found by surface temp change on fishfinder....or down and speed probe, debris fields which can be as subtle as a line of feathers, duckweed, plastic or as noticable as floating logs. On calm days you can see ripple areas or seiches as evidence. Also as you motor out deeper you will notice the schools of Alewife will become higher in the water column on your fishfinder over the summer. Look with your eyes! The surface temp and temp transects map on NOAA's site are helpfull for generalized information about which direction or how far out a break may be occuring. On the cold side you want to fishing high as it will be mostly a steelhead bite. If you are targeting other species, you want to be on the warmer side of the break. Sometimes the thermal break acts like a barrier and fish will line up along it, so troll a stitch line out and in slightly to maintain the location of the cold water then waggle back into the warmer side.

Have not heard from or received payment by interested party so........Still have a Penn 345 GTi with 300' of 45lb copper and #50 power pro backing. Been used maybe ten times? For reel, $175.00 shipping included. PM me if interested.

Ray, I would have you refer to the first picture......notice what finger is extended? HeHeHe.

Gobies are so prolific, they carpet the bottom of the lake. A Bass on it's nest faces a daunting task of chasing these buggers off. This means less bass but bigger as they begin to eat the gobies. From experience, if you don't target the places gobies are living.....you are not going to get bit. The days of catching Bass over sand or shale bottom is gone. Those fish lived by feeding on emerald shiners. Find structure with rocks that allow nooks and cranies for gobies to live and hide in. They are often concentrated at a certain depth as well. What I do is take a small piece of worm on a hook and send it to the bottom. If the worm is not getting tapped by gobies, I pull anchor and move. Bass don't have to move fast to catch gobies so they are getting accustom to slowly moving a long the bottom. More productive to anchor than drifting. For those targeting spawning fish......don't complain about lack of fish. When you pull a fish off it's bed, say goodbye to all it's fry as the gobies will devour them in short order.

Anesthetic, opened up the hole with hemostats and cowboyed it out. Worse part was being numb.....even this morning.

Tried it all... would not budge.

Can't wipe myself.

Fish long enough it is going to happen.....Trip to ER for me. Friggin' Coho tasty pain in the arses!!! Olcott pier is filthy with Browns right now.

Just got back from lake....doing a little prep work on boat. Just wanted to pass on that the lake was ROLLING with 5-7' waves. You may want to sleep in and check the weather after breakfast before driving down.

Rattle baits like thundersticks, rattlin' thinfins etc. will take just as many if not more.

I the case of Jet Divers, they can be an attractant themselves. A fish could come charging in see the jet and turn away or get negative before it sees the trailing bait. In the spring there are a lot of single injured/shocked fish swimming around as easy pickin's. You can witness the carnage off the piers in the spring as browns are actively sipping injured emerald shinners swimming on the surface. A bait presented alone all by itself is deadly this time of year. Leadcore presents only the bait to look at....stealth/natural presentation.

Fillet your fish. Remove belly meat and the lateral line. Don't eat long-lived fish like Lake Trout, Large Brown Trout or warm-water species like carp or catfish. Take the mentioned precautions and there is no difference between the fish you eat out of Lake O and fish coming from the ocean.

A couple of new products have come out recently that hopefully fix some of the problems associated with leadcore sheath failure over time. Sufix 832, and Tuf-line utilize a performance braid sheath which increases strength 3x's allowing for a smaller diameter and therefore less drag. The smaller diameter allows for smaller reels. When I read the specs.....I sold my 450 Cu setup and purchased a Saltist 50 LC reel and jumped in with both feet. I decided to go with Tuf-line 27 lb and was able to fit a 300 yard spool of #30 fireline fused backing + 8 colors + leader easily on the reel. One pitfall....the knots needed. Because the sheath is so narrow my usual double Willis Knot is not possible. Because the sheath is Spectra as is the backing....there is some issues with knot slippage. What I ended up doing with my attachment is to remove some lead under the sheath per usual, then make a double over-hand knot at the sheath end to act as a stop. I then tied in the backing into the sheath using a flyfisherman's nail knot. On the other end, I used the same knot setup splicing in a small segment of braid to marry to the sheath and then used a trilene braid knot to a improved cinch to the mono leader. Seems solid.......I hope.

Get a helper. Have your helper hold the spool with oven mits on and load the reel REAL tight. Fill the reel right up once, no need to put backing on. Helps to put a layer of electrical tape down on the spool to keep it from slipping. Without seeing the kinks....I can't tell you if they are salvagable,...better to start over for piece of mind.

7' Ugly Stick light action/one piece rods. Cheap, durable, fun.

You will not have room to flyfish Naples Creek until the third weekend in April.

I run non-toxic antifreeze thru engine after each usage the first couple of trips fishing in early season for peace-of-mind. It is a three-thousand dollar mistake if you don't spend the $15.00 on antifreeze. Since I run a trolling motor, my gas cost is only around $15.00 so the added cost and time of re-winterizing is a small price to pay.