chowder

I picked up a Okuma High speed 400' spooled w/ blood run copper at Narby's late last summer (the copper bite was hot and the penn gti was wearing us out) It is a pleasure to use and much easier to keep up with a king that decides to charge the boat! -Andy

Go with 2 separate units. You will be glad you did!

I put 200# sand as far up & low as I could go in my Islander. Made a huge difference!. Rebalanced it when I added the kicker. It's still a little, tin boat, but it handles and comes out of the hole better. -Andy

Raymarine SportPilot in my 165 Alumacraft. Simrad 14 in my Islander. Can not imagine fishing w/out an AP. You learn what they can can & can't do but to be honest w/ you there isn't much they can't do especially if you run a set of Auroralite boards which really help to stabilize smaller boats (and let you run more lines!)

After what I've seen launching on the Niagara this week, I'd have to say we usually have a pretty clean shot at the FLX ramps.

Pretty rugged today (Sat ). Only 1 drift on the Canadian side that held fish where we could get a good drift and everybody was in there so we quit early. Launch was completely covered with giant pieces of pack ice when we got back in. Major job getting the boat out but got it done. Looking forward to 'Blackend Steelhead' tonite!

Started our 4 day river fest with Vince Pierleoni on Thursday (2-13). We had an awesome time getting educated about the river and river rigging. I would strongly recommend this approach to anyone considering getting into this fishery. Vince is a witty, humerous , fish dog with a ton of energy who posseses a tremendous amount of knowledge about the river. The fishing was good with a number of nice steelies boated. Today was a different day with an ripping,ugly wind and a sky full of rain and snow. The Canadian side yielded some nice fish but the American side was pretty tough going and after getting buffeted around for a couple hours we packed it in. Looking forward to a nice baked fish dinner tonight! -Andy

We will be on the river Thurs-Sun. Hoping for the best & will report.

I have 2 set up with braid on 9' rods. Typically run them outside my wire mag divers with spoons. We clip them with a safety pin to the rod tip guide to let the line out outside the mag diver lines, then once the lead length desired is reached I take off the safety pin, engage the diver and let out my desired amount of depth line.

I go sometimes, have a lot of family there. More interested in fishing the river for steel when I'm out there!

Eagle Claw Starfire ML 7' 6" as rigger rods & flatlines (boards)for all species FLX, eyes & LO Browns.http://www.fish307.com/eagleclawstarfiretrollingrods.aspx

Thanks Glen. Saw these 9' next gen Ugli's at the local tackle store and I love my LO 6'5" Ugli stik rigger rods. Still on the fence but it's nice to be able to look at a rod without driving up to Pulaski. Good luck on Seneca, maybe we'll see you out there! -Andy

Stumbled onto these next gen Ugly Stik GX2 9' Med ( model USS P 902M) rods that seem to have the perfect action & speed for the application- $39. My FLX mag dipsy rods are 7' so using these as outside high divers should give me enough tip separation and be easier to juggle in the little boat.

Strongly agree w/ Dan! Look at installing the longest tracks you can. This way the boat can evolve with you and accommodate multiple changes inside of a season.

My winter boat is a 16'5" Alumacraft. I have 2 manual riggers on it w/ 1' booms at a 45 deg angle just clearing the boat. Never had any issues w/ this setup, using 12lb weights. Sometimes 'less is more' like better access and less stuff in your way- especially in the winter! -Andy

Came across a video of guys jigging lakers using these 10" 'Hogy' baits. They looked like they had great action. Just curious if anybody has tried them on the FLX.