chowder

In my experience the Off Shore boards http://www.offshoretackle.com/ are best for flat lines and the Church walleye boards http://www.churchtackle.com/ are best for cores.

The only point I'm trying to make is that the LLs can be very vulnerable during Jan, Feb & March, and even into April. Because the adults of this species are a fairly small proportion of the total trout /salmon population of the lake and because a lot of state resources go into attempting to maintain & grow this population, I think we owe it to the fishery to approach this species in particular with as much respect as we can muster. Let's all just remember that our posts have a profound effect on all other anglers and on less experienced anglers in particular. -Andy

Gonna preach to the choir about targeting the juvenile LLs on the FLX again cuz there are a bunch of new guys getting into trolling this spring; So remember guys this is the best fighting fish in our lakes- let's let as many of them grow to be adults as possible. How about keeping one, two or 3 legal fish per boat? ON CAYUGA THEY MUST BE 18" OR BETTER and it should be 20") Also remember that releasing a skipper is no guarantee it will survive. I eat as much fish as anybody but the browns & lakers eat good this time of year too. We all need to keep in mind that the juvenile fish are aggressive & naive and they will continue to keep hitting surface presentations especially in shallow water even with lots of boat traffic but that doesn't mean we need to keep hammering them. Unfortunately catching & killing some of the immature LLs is unavoidable but seriously most of the time the bigger LLs are out & below the skippers after a few boats have worked the shallows. You might not get 30 fish in 3 hours but the ones you will get will be much bigger & better and the fishery will get better too!

Yesterday, Wednesday 3/30, was tough fishing for 'negative' fish w/ a north wind (never good in my book). We got way too many juvenile LLs on flat lines & short cores. Our deeper presentations were pretty quiet save for a few browns and one laker. Our 1 double of the day came just minutes too late as Frisco had just motored away from us after checking in to see what we were up to. Best action was east side from T -Falls to Myers out in 150-250 FOW. A lot of the bait is still locked up out deep & water temps have actually dropped to 36.5-37.5. Ice water was flowing out of T-falls. Dinghy10, in March the whole water column is one temp and the fish are often pretty scattered. I'd be happy to take you out and show you how I cope with this situation (maybe the fish will even be in an 'active' mood). You absolutely need to broaden the depth range you are fishing. If you don't have riggers you may want to consider a slide diver set up and or a lead core rig or 2. Snap weights on your flat lines are another alternative. No matter which one of these tools seem to be suited to you, you will want to get a pair of inline boards to take some of your lines out 100' to the sides of your boat. They are simple to use and the learning curve is short. -Andy

Hey Richard how come you kept your shirt on? Good work guys, real nice fish n' I'll bet it never felt better to get off the water! Chris & I are gonna hit Cayuga tomorrow, sure hope it's not like those pics! -Andy

My flat line reels are spooled w/ Maxima 8lb Ultragreen & I use a 12' Seaguar 8lb Invizx leader. I secure the leader to the main line w/ a very small sampo swivel and then tie a small flat black snap to the end of the FC leader. Remember that if you are catching mostly small landlocks (under 20") you might want to try some deeper presentations using riggers and or lead core.

I'm officially jealous as hell & will finally force you to take me out after waldo on Oneida this fall! -Andy

As a Livestock farmer,boat owner, consumer, and tax payer I have nothing good to say about ethanol because; 1. it takes more fuel to produce ethanol from corn than the amount of fuel that you get back from this process (anybody with 1/2 a brain should be able to figure out there is a major problem with that picture) 2. the ethanol plants are paid a substantial subsidy to produce ethanol which in turn greatly inflates the price of corn, (at this point 33% of the U.S. corn crop is going into ethanol!) which makes livestock feed more expensive and in turn livestock products more expensive (bought any hamburger lately?) and makes food for poorer, developing countries much more expensive. So, we the people are paying our hard earned dollars to create inflation which further decreases the real value of our hard earned dollars and is helping to increase malnutrition in the 3rd world. 3. ethanol is NFG for marine engines - since fishing is one of the most important things in life, this aspect of the ethanol bamboozle is obviously reason enough to kill the pork barrel legislation that's propping up this gigantic scam that benefits agribusiness, large grain farmers, commodity traders, John Deere, Case -IH, and anybody else who can figure out a way to get a slice of the action! Ok, I feel better now...

Jeez Rob I'm sure it definitely cut's down on the importance of shot placement but it must be a little rough on the hide! Also; Mark, you & I are actually saying the same thing, the only difference is that I was addressing a more general audience, figuring that if the original poster was already a highly experienced large caliber marksman he wouldn't need the help of a bunch of guys on a fishing forum to pick out a firearm. No offense intended. Peace Bro -Andy

Not to be a party pooper but it's going to be a whole lot easier for the average shooter to work up to longer range shots with the 22-250 compared to a 308. Let's face it the 308 makes a decent jump when you touch it off which is going to make proper follow thru and everything about proper form more challenging. In fact the more I think about this whole issue the more I think that the most thorough approach to this whole thing would be to start off with a Savage model 93 22WMR heavy and put a $150 scope on it. This rifle is cheap,very easy on the shooter,cheap to shoot, and is a true, highly accurate 100 yd rifle (unlike a regular 22). So ya shoot this thing for a while, may be even whack a yote that stands out there at 110 yds, but most of all you develop some good shooting form and get rid of any bad habits you've picked up. After your wallet has recovered from this adventure and you are pretty confident in your shooting you got a choice (unless you have a lot of jack, in which case you can do what you want!) If you really want to do the predator thing and you all ready have a 'deer' rifle then you get a decent 22-250 w/ some good glass and start working with that cuz it's hands down the flattest shooter w/ minimal recoil. If on the other hand you don't have decent 'deer' rifle and you might not do a whole lot of predator hunting you might want to go with say a 243 or a 308 and hunt both predators/varmints and deer with it. You won't save much if anything on high quality ammo using the single purpose 22-250 over the higher caliber, wider purpose rifle like the 243 or 308 anyway, and with the single higher caliber rifle you only have to put the $ into one serious rifle/scope combo (remember- spend on the scope what you spend on the rifle, so we're not talking peanuts here!) Any way that's my 2 cents & I'll shut up now.

Went & googled it -looks like a great scope! Couldn't quite tell whether the turrets were adjustable/tac type or covered but I see it has side focus so I assumed they are. I mounted the scope on my 308 with a Picatinny rail and HD rings which added to the wallet impact but I figured it was probably worth it. Good luck w/ that nice combo! -Andy

The rifle side of my hunting personality has had a very practical face for a long time. I bought these two long range rifles ( Savage model 12 heavy barrel 22-250 and the Savage model 11 Long Range Hunter 308) to sort of 'feel' my way into this long range shooting stuff. Because one of my sons is into this with me I put what I'd really have to call a 'long range predator/varmint scope' on both rifles so we each have something to use for the predator/varmint side of things -obviously the 308 is overkill but I wasn't going to buy another strictly predator/varmint rig and I have wanted a true long range deer rifle for some time. The Bushnell Elite 4200 is a 6-24 X 50 and the Mueller on the 22-250 is a 8.5-25 X 50 and they are fitted with aftermarket scope levels. These scopes are heavy & cumbersome but that's ok because the rifles are set up w/ swiveling bipods and we are shooting them prone, using a rear support. My stand/ free hand rifle is now a Savage model 11 270 with a 3-9X50 scope, I had a 7mm Mag with a 4-12X50 but the recoil was starting to bother my aging shoulder on the range. I guess I've always kind of thought that something along the lines of a 3-9X50 scope really handles the typical range of White tail rifle shot opportunities in the North East really well. The new Vortex FFP scopes seem like they might be the best value in the high end scope market right now but it's going to be bit before there will be much real customer feed back on what appears to be some amazing technology. I do think it is important to decide how often you will need a truly adjustable scope for shots over 250 yds because it's gonna have so much impact on the choice of magnification, reticle type,etc. Certainly either one of the Zeiss scopes you mentioned seem like really excellent and very practical choices to me. What kind of reticle choices do you have with either of those scopes? The thing I'm seeing about the longer range shooting is the need to have rifle and load ballistics etched into your head so you can simultaneously adust the scope's range for parallax, dial in the distance and prepare mentally and physically for the shot. For some reason my 16 year old son, who didn't have any bad shooting habits to get rid of, is doing better than me so far -Andy

Bushnell Elite 4200 mil dot w/ side focus & tactical turrets (spend what you spent for the gun on the glass). I'm sure I should have dug a bit deeper and gone w/ a truly top end scope w/ a FFP reticle but I bought this rifle for doe management & realistically I'm just not going to shoot at a deer much past 400 yds ( I just don't see myself doing the 1000 yd competitive stuff at this point in my life), so I held back a little. The scope dials up & down very consistently and the zero is easy to set and return to after longer shots. -Andy

True but it helps. I run with fluoro. to cover all water clarity's you're going to encounter fishing spring browns. I really think what Hank said is a good idea to keep in mind + I use my flat line, light action rods for waldos & bows & other stuff. I would suggest you try and think about having a few combos that are more or less permanently set up for this kind of action. A couple pairs of Daiwa 27 LC reels and Eagle claw ML or L rods spooled w/ light line/leader will find lots of things to catch if you use your imagination. -Andy

Good to see you are right back after them Matt - I hope you didn't have to bring in any of those rod,reel & fish 'doubles' . If you need any help figuring out line,etc for those dipsy combos don't hesitate to shoot me a pm or call.I sent you a PM w/ a link to the inline boards. -Andy

I've been using the regular Seaguar InvizX main line (8lb) for my leaders. It's cheaper than the 'leader' spools and seems to be excellent. Last year I tried to compare it to the Drennan FC leader material I've used in the river and I can't see that there was much difference but I wasn't able to get out a lot last April either. As others have said DO NOT USE VANISH or your fish will too ( that stuff should be banned from the shelves) -Andy P.S maybe it's overkill but my flat line reels are spooled with Maxima Ultra Green.

Awesome to hear things are turning around! -Andy

Sounds great & I STILL HAVE PLENTY OF VENISON SAUSAGE ! How much advance notice do you figure we need to give on the sleeping quarters arrangement? I talked to Hank yesterday & forgot to mention needing a slip but I'll send a pm asap. Really looking forward to getting up there! -Andy

I took "On The Lam's" advice last year & got the Savage 10 predator heavy in 22-250 & put the Mueller scope on it. Its shoots either the Remington accutip 50grain or the Hornady superformance 50grain like a lazer. As great as this long range rifle is though do heed "711's" advice and have somebody with you with a shotgun loaded w/ buck shot or mag turkey loads. We just couldn't get out much after the dogs this winter but we made 3 missions and my boys dusted a yote circling around to our rear each time (never had a good shot w/ the fancy new rifle!) Don't forget to bring a change of underwear- having a 3.5 inch Remington 870 go off 15 yds behind you can be a little unnerving! -Andy

Sounds like I'll be going out of L.P. If I get over to Cayuga early enough on a weekday I might shoot down to the s.end for a pass & see what happens, otherwise I'll scout around upper lake. One way or another after April 1st, I think I'm gonna be after the browns on L.O. -Andy

From other posts it sounds to me like Long Point and maybe even Myers would be open. Is this right? Thanks, -Andy

Great looking fish guys! -Andy

Nice report WTG ! -Andy

Sorry to hear about the troubles out there today. We headed to the middle and went north so we missed the whole show. Glad you guys got in ok & glad I got to meet you at the launch. Better luck next time! -Andy

Got in a bit of fishing with Matt (Silver Bullets) today. Hooked up too many immature LLs from the drop off to the Plant so we looked elswhere for bigger fish. Couldn't really get anything going but we managed 1 decent LL on 8 colors(blue/silver spoon) out in 250fow and one good laker on 4 colors(orange/yellow spoon) over 350fow. So a couple fish dinners for the family & a nice day on the water with a new friend from the LOU - you really can't complain about that! -Andy