Pete Collin

Back in the late '80's I used to visit Twin Mountain, NH at the ski lodge my brother belonged to. We'd go in the summer and mountain climb, fish, drink, and eat huge meals. The river there in Twin Mountain had a trout stream. We'd catch brookies and rainbows. There were also jillions of coho smolts. There were signs posted at each access point showing what the smolts looked like. Looking back, I wondered what those pacific fish were doing there? What body of water would they have swum to to mature? Did the state have any success with them? What were typical sizes of the ones you jigged? I have lived half my life in New England and never met a coho fisherman. Pete

Hello All, Now that the thermockine has set up, I can resume where I left off last year with jigging big lake trout. Unless I already know where the fish are, it's a combination of trolling and jigging. The troll is to locate them before you can catch them properly. There were piles of bait all along the 100 foot contour. Enough to conceal any sportfish that may have been among them. How do they find our lures at all, I wonder? Trolling yeilded a breakoff that must have been a huge laker. It actually bent open the split ring! Gotta upgrade my gear, which up until now was intended only for the Finger Lakes. I burbled away for hours, wasting all the best early morning light before I found a spot with the kind of dense schools you need for jigging to work. Once you can lower a jig into a tight pod of a half dozen lake trout, the confidence kicks in. The strikes began right away at my new hotspot. They lasted until noon or so, when the expected midday doldrums set in. The best action was when I got bit on 3 successive drops. Both biceps actually did get weary by the time I quit with 8 fish landed up to 33 inches and several lost. That biggest one was a treat. At first it wouldn't budge off the bottom. I broght it up to 60 feet from the surface, and had a 10 minute stalemate with it, after which it dove all the way back down to the zebra mussels. I had a smaller one (the 'small' ones being 25 inches or so) that was being a bit of a boot, so I horsed it in. I made a grab for the jig, making it wake up and dive all the way back down. Sea chicken indeed. Can't imagine how many I would have got had I begun the day there. Anybody want to come give it another try with me? I appreciate overlooked treasures - When i have found a heavy concentration of lakers, sonar graph churning out fat blips like a player piano scroll, no other boats around, it's hard to feel anything but blissful. Blissfully busy. Because each hookup is a fun wrestle to get the fish in. Pete Collin www.pcforestry.com

I like putting a 1 oz snap weight on my lead core. Adds maybe 5 more feet and you won't snag weeds at the surface while you feed line out.

I have played around with jigs and spoons in the heavier sizes - 1 1/2 to 2 ounce. They work rather well. They are somewhat easier to use, because you can feel the jig easier and therefore light taps will get detected. They also show up better on the sonar. Once I jigged with a guy from the Sander's board. I with one ounce, he with 1 1/2. He was outfishing me. I figured out that with his heavier jig, he was getting on the bottom first and would get the first grab! The 2 oz hopkins spoons are around, I am the king of buying cheap yard sale stuff. The bigger jigs are not so good on Keuka, where the fish tend to run small. Unless you are the headhunter sort, only wanting the trophies. Pete Collin www.pcforestry.com

Oops. This post was for the Lake Ontario section! I've already been on Keuka with Guff! These fish are three times bigger than those!

Hello All, Since last year I have been excited to go after the lakers with light tackle again. The flat calm conditions made me decide to give it a go. I went out yesterday afternoon to dark. Now, I rarely get good laker action in the afternoon. But they predict flat calm for today too. So yesterday was for exploration. I found good numbers of bait and bottom blips in 80 to 90 feet of water. The sun will rise in an hour and I will be on top of them! The few that I managed to land we're very fat and gave a good boat side fight. I have to remember one thing. When the lakers are 100 feet down, you really can't set the hook hard enough. When they follow it up to 40 feet then bite, you have to set the hook much more gingerly! Report to follow - a good one, I hope Pete Www.pcforestry.com

......As said by another cranky, senile old coot who is also trying to sell a bunch of fishing stuff!

I strongly suspect that somebody from these boards will buy that stash. Tell you what, if any of you do, will you sell me just the rapalas? That's all I wanted in the first place!

Gambler, Suddenly I feel like the dimwit!

I didn't want to haggle at all. I wanted to give him the amount of money I promised for the number of lures he promised. Anybody who buys standing timber from me will always get the board footage I advertised - and they can check my figures beforehand if they want. There is embarassment in being caught in a lie. The guy wasn't that old...maybe 60 or 65. I just couldn't figure him. If he had cussed me out, at least we would have been talking. I'll never learn what was the deal with that guy.

I had a puzzling thing happen today. It's completely insignificant, but I keep thinking about it. My wife stopped pretending to listen when I talk about fishing, so I'll tell you guys about it. I love rapala style stickbaits. They work today just as good as they did when I first discovered them as a kid. The design hasn't changed at all, which makes them both a nostalgic thing for me and a small thing I cling to in an ever-changing world. Back when I was a kid and had no money, I would think "Three dollars for a plug? Are you kidding me?" Today I have a house, a career, and a savings account. And I say,"Eight bucks for a plug? Are you kidding me?" I have found that if you keep a sharp eye, you can buy them for $1.50 to $2.50 here and there. At which time I clean them out. I found a guy on Craigslist with oodles of stickbaits for sale, some rapala and some other brands. He wanted about $3.50 apiece for them. He lives about an hour away from me. I called his number and was greeted by an older gentleman with a thick southern drawl. He seemed affable, if somewhat dim. I proposed that, if I bought 100 dollars worth, would he be willing to drivedrive to some halfway point between us? He countered that he would sell me 100 lures for $2.50 apiece, and drive halfway. It seemed like a good deal, if maybe a little excessive on my part. Then again, I could fulfill my rapala needs for a lifetime, or maybe share them with some friends. So we set up a time. I am a businessman, and like to be exact. "So you're going to bring 100 lures, the ones in the picture, and I will bring $250, right?" He said yes. And I was off to our rendez-vous. A car showed up at the designated time, and the old man got out with plastic boxes full of lures. I saw that they were indeed the ones in the picture. And I began counting. "There's close to 100 in there," the man drawled. I came up with 92. Ninety two lures is not 100. I was clearly time to renegotiate. At my suggestion he come down on price, the old man, without a word, packed up his boxes and got in his car. I've seen the song and dance. I knocked on the window. "C'mon, let's talk turkey." He rolled down the window, said he didn't have to take that from me or anybody else. The money didn't mean enough to him to put up with that. "I can sell these anytime!" "You can sell them right now. I have money in my pocket." We didn't argue for very long. He actually did drive away. My first thought was that, despite a bit of a drive out to meet him, the old southern guy saved me 250 dollars that I probably didn't need to spend. But I was utterly flummoxed. I made no insult that I could detect. You show up to the bargaining table with less than you promised and you'd better be ready to renegotiate. He probably could have talked me up to $250 if he stuck around. The lures were clearly worth it. But I caught him in a lie and I wasn't going to let it go unchallenged. He had time and gas money invested in meeting me. Who cares if he likes me or not? He could have made the sale! I am a Craigslist veteran and actually have had a good time of it. Whether it's fishing stuff or woodshop equipment, you meet guys with similar interests and you will often meet a stranger and have a nice little visit in the end, showing off woodworking projects or telling fishing stories. I get the feeling that the old guy wasn't even a fisherman, just one of those gypsies who buy and sell stuff like you see at the auctions and flea markets. Otherwise he would have talked more fishing when I was on the phone with him. But if he was just a wheeler/dealer, why wouldn't he bargain with me? Like I mentioned, he struck me as a bit dense upstairs. But it's amazing how smart some guys suddenly become when you reach for your wallet. Just to break off and leave at the first sign of my displeasure was bizarre. Anyway, I probably just advertized his lures to all you guys. Remind him to thank me if one of you wind up buying them. Just be sure to count them first. Pete Collin www.pcforestry.com

Hello All, In northern Maine, apparently hook-and-line fishing for smelt has gotten popular. My cousin was describing handlining with bits of worm, then switching to smelt eyeballs for bait after you begin catching them. I love eating smelt, and haven't had any in years. Seems like a worthwhile experiment to take my kayak over there, with a portable fishfinder to locate schools, drop a line in and see what happens. Doubt if i will be competing with many of you, so I was wondering if anybody could suggest a part of the lake where I might find bait schools in the summertime? I've only been on Hemlock a few times and have never really fished it. It's a little bit too big to paddle all over until I find smelt. just looking to narrow the search down. Thanks in advance. Pete Collin www.pcforestry,.com

I was thinking that the weekend fishing fleet would stand a better chance of finding something than the entire Coast Guard.

We should never forget how dangerous it can be out there. The news report said that his cell phone was left in the truck. Bad move. Aside from all the required gear (fire extinguisher, flares, horn, life vests), a cell phone and charger, compass, bucket for bailing, GPS, emergency raingear, and a kicker motor can all make the difference between an annoyance and an international search and rescue. Even something like a drift sock could keep your bow pointed into the waves if you found yourself without power.

There's a guy who launched out of Wilson harbor with his 16 footer and has been missing for 2 days now. I really wish conditions were better for a search. It's possible he's still alive, that his motor conked out and he's adrift out there. But finding him is going to be tough in this rain and he is pretty exposed to the elements until he's found. Wish my wife hadn't heard the story. My boat is the same size as his and she worries.

sANDY cREEK cAM Link doesn't seem to work anymore.