Gill-T

Go to at LEAST 30# lb line to keep fleas off. You can always place lighter line as a leader material.

Wow, great shooting!!! Isn't there some of the most beautiful slate green water off Niagara county right now? What I can't understand is where the hell is the bait? You would think all those fish are feeding on something.

As long as you are not wearing double-crush glow crocs, your feet will be safe.

Rick, I experienced similar blank fish graphs off Wilson this weekend. Had the girls with me Sun. and Mon. .....which meant we started trolling at 9:00 am , and the of course they wanted to jump into the water first before setting lines. So each morning before we set down, I am staring at a blank screen on the graph. No bait, no hooks. The girls and I are swimming out in 200' FOW (68 degrees refreshing) and I keep looking at the graph while we are stationary, and I can't believe the amount of hooks appearing under the stationary boat! The thermocline shows up perfectly as well. What I learned before sending down any Temp probes or downrigger lines was an accurate depiction of where the fish were holding and the thermocline temp break. So we are done swimming and I anxiously set line to where the fish are showing, and as soon as we start trolling.......the graph goes blank again? Stop the boat to swim again (hey it was hot), and hooks everywhere! What I learned from this experience is just because nothing is showing on the graph doesn't mean there aren't any fish around. Next time I am scratching my head to figure out where the fish are, I think I am just going to go for a swim. The best theory I can come up with regarding this irregularity is there was a north current rolling cold water in all night, and a SW wind blowing it back out so the fish were on the move.....too fast to show on the graph.

Tim, I am going to get you a meat-packers' tampon for your engine hood. . Finally got some browns eh?

Some ahole had the bright idea to steal my expensive Racor fuel/water separator and swap it with their used dented cheapo Thank god it fit, could have been disasterous with a gas leak!!!!! Boat is slipped in Wilson, and the filter was swapped during the spring ESLO. Who ever you are, I am sure you had water in the gas issues and did not know what else to do, but you really pulled a bonehead move!!!!! If you have a consious please bring my filter back so I can punch you in the head.

How are your rods loaded? If you have the rods in the holders towards the middle of the transom, you are pulling the weights towards each other. Sounds like you are in a cross current, however. Figure out what direction creates the most blow back and try to troll straight into the current with the cables straight back.

I catch a lot of pike locally on rattletraps. In Canada, spoons.

Because the lake is stocked, the DEC has to allow access. There is a canoe launch on the east side, otherwise, you need to get a homeowner to give you a key to the launch on the west side launch. Beware of unmarked stumps if you bring your power rig.

You want easy Tigers.....Lime lake in Machias. Bucktails are all you need.

Erie guys, what is your take on hook placement with nightcrawlers. Do I run two cheaters or one and let the end of the worm dance? I have seen worm harnesses with three hooks and end hook is placed at the tip of the nightcrawler to catch those nipping fish.....but that has to kill the action?

Sunday morning off the Catt was dead also. Flat glass calm water and full moon is NOT condusive for a good walleye bite. Good news is there is a crap load of stuff on the graph, bait/perch etc. You walleye guys need to give me some good spread ideas. Sunday I was running a 2 color core and 115' copper off the boards, a downrig on the bottom and a 40 jet down the shoot. I was not happy with the copper......seems not to undulate like the core. Should I pull the copper and go with a 6-7 color? Maybe sprinkle in some dipsys? Seemed after the full moon feed, fish were all up above 25' in the morning.

Could you have a problem with your carb?

Keep up the good work. However, I have heard the returns in the fall up north have been horrific. I am wondering if the atlantics are spawning elsewhere, waiting until they achieved larger size, or maybe the piss warm/low water fall flows have had an effect? For the millions of fish stocked, only to have a few fish return in the fall tells me you guys are missing something that is happening in the lifecycle of Lake O fish. Maybe now that those fish you stocked years ago have reached a size to make a serious run in the fall. Here to hoping PS: Can you tweak the fertilization/egg development date to push back the lifecycle of the atlantics so they don't run in September when streams are too warm?

Yes, but except you might be better off with a big jon mini disk as opposed to a heavy pulling dipsy as the high line.

A couple tips if you don't have a probe. Temps at depth can be generally figured by the temp transects page on the NOAA site. If you want to guess which way to troll, figure out by looking at the cable blow back at different directions to figure out down current direction and then troll into the current. You are more likely to catch fish with a spoon that is moving too fast instead of a dead one that is moving too slow. Usually the cables will start whinning when you start to troll into the current.

John, with that rough non-slip surface you created on the floors of your boat, you have to be carefull how much you really love your new "redhead"......might cause some unwanted abrasions and imbedded fiberglass shards

Try this one to start. Bottom rigger set on 100' with a flasher/fly set-up and a SHORT lead approx. 8' off the ball. Then stack a spoon approx. 8' above with a longer lead...say 20-50' back. Second rigger do the same with the rigger at 80' w/flasher/fly and stacked spoon above. The idea is the flasher/fly sucks them in and if they get there late the spoon will be right there bringing up the rear. Expect to get tangles when a fish hits the bottom line and just deal with it......hey you caught a fish! If you want to get crazy you can add a free-slider to the top line, giving you 6 lures in the water. You can avoid tangles if you have your rods set in holders at different angles to each other so when a fish hits the bottom line, the slack is pulled away from the stacked rod. However, a big fish will go where it wants, so tangles are often unavoidable with stackers. Two deep lines with extra rods torqued down mean more blow back, so before your trip consider the #15 lb torpedo weights sold by A-Tom-Mik. PS GET SOME DIPSIES!!!!!!!

This time of year.....step one, determine the proper depth based on water temps and where the bait is showing on the graph. The bigs will be actively feeding in/around bait during the prime feeding times at first light, last light, in the 50 degree band of water that usually coincides with where the bait is showing. Other than those prime feeding times, target the bigs in the 40 degree band of water which depending on which end of the lake you fish (east end= warmer water, west end=colder) will start around 80' down in the summer. Fishing that deep (80-130'++) usually involves flasher/flies or flasher/meat for big fish. I am talking in generalities here. Each area of the lake is different. In shore big Kings are usually DEEP near the bottom. As you head deeper out into the middle of the lake, cold water is not as far down, so you will be fishing higher.

Congrats on the great steelhead!

Tim, did you try teasing those deep, on the bottom, big hooks out past 180'? I was setting lines for my daughters for smaller fish up high last night, but while I was watching the graph those deep hooks were haunting me. The water is filthy with fish past the primary drop right now. Beautiful picture with bait and hooks nearby, plus a nice tight band of 50 degree water.......doesn't get any better. Nice shootin' Tim. I will be chasin' brown fish tommorow on Erie.

Fishing Report Your Name / Boat Name: ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): Time on Water:1 hour 30 min. Weather/Temp: Wind Speed/Direction: SW 5 mph Waves:1' Surface Temp: 71 degreesl Location:Wilson a little east LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 8 Total Boated:8 Species Breakdown:Coho Hot Lure: Moody Blue SS Trolling Speed: 3 mph Down Speed: Boat Depth: 188-195 FOW Lure Depth: 62' ==================== Took the fam out for a little sunset. Fom some reason Fridays have been awesome weather-wise and the weekends.....well you know...el crapo. Got my daughters on some great coho action. Meat hunters, Wilson is where they are and they are big 7-12lbs. Pretty much non-stop action once I figured the depth and had my youngest daughter start kissing the spoon before sending it down. Bait is 60' to 120' down. Kings/Lakers are on the bottom.....thick...in 150-190' FOW. Cohos and steelhead are in the 60' range. SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ====================

Diver to flasher....#30 mono, you don't need fluorocarbon ahead of the flasher!!!!! Then #30 fluorocarbon leader from flasher to fly. The large size barrel swivels on the flashers and dipsys will not hold a knot like an improved cinch unless it is at least 20# test. You could use loop knots and lighter line I suppose, but you owe it to your quarry to use the strongest knot, line combo possible.

All hail slimyfish...all hail slimyfish........all hail slimyfish......alll hail slimyfish

I am at work staring out the window to blue skies, light wind and wondering why I am not out in the lake. To make matters worse, you have Vince and Jeremy tweeting their week day fish kills. It is like listening to your roomate in college having relations with a girl in the bed next to you........pure torture. Damn you tweets!