CaptSpike

If you are not compensated you do not need to be licensed. you would want a very good insurance policy in case something should happen. JMO Spike

Man your reports have me frothing at the mouth. I am wishing my summer away hoping my trip dates arrive soon. You guys have had a great yr so far and I hope it holds out until I at least get a shot at a few, lol. Keep posting as it gives me hope that the fishing will continue to be good until I arrive (as long as the reports are good). I think it is time you started to enter the tourney's. You certainly put fish in the boat. Spike

Usually the diameter of the opening. A 24" bag would be a 24" opening. Spike

Just pony up for the 1000'feet. You probably wont be saving anything between the backing and the wire anyway. We had a fish last year rip out over 600' of wire before it slowed down. Plus if you have to trim any due to a mess up you have some to spare. Just my opinion anyway. I agree it is expensive and trimming some of the cost off where you can helps. But I wouldn't trim it on the wire. Spike

You need to pull it tighter to finish the knot. I had the same problem when I started tying them. Cranking down will set the knot and solve your problem. Spike

Always a bonus to get gear back. Tell your wife Happy Belated Birthday. Sounds like a full box with 5 kings was a great gift. Hope the kings hold for you guys. Spike

What extra rods should I be running when/if.......the 3 rod rule comes into play. Right now with two of us I run two riggers and two wire dipsys. Last yr I fished on a couple boats and learned the two wire dipsy and copper off the boards set up. Now that I may be able to add two more rods to the spread I'm not sure which way to go. I like the idea of not having to bring the boards and mast out but also like the idea of getting a line off the side of the boat out of the way. I only fish out there for two weeks a yr and frankly the wire dipsy or copper set up wouldn't suit any local fishing I do so they will be for lake O only. Wondering what people here would recommend. I know I don't want to stack the riggers with the extra lines. I run an 18' Lund with two riggers. I have a Big Jon mast with otter boats which I could bring to run copper off of. I need to acquire the set ups in the next month so I need to decide ASAP. Thanks, Spike

I got stuck by a spiney dogfish when releasing him one day on the ocean. Hours later my hand swelled up like a balloon. I had heard stories of infections from fish wounds so I headed to the ER. The doctors didn't have a clue what a spiney dogfish was or how to treat me. I think they cleaned it up and sent me home. Swelling went down later. I also heard the redfish spines can get you pretty bad too. Almost impossible not to get pricked by them if you have to handle them. Dropped a herring net in 300' of water one day and it came up full of the redfish. I had poke wounds all over my hands when that chore was done. Didn't swell up like the dogfish did but I did get puss on most locations a day later. Spike

Nice to see your getting out. I was out there for a long weekend last month I should have called you to see if you were around. We did OK for our first trip in the spring. Here's to a great season overall. Spike

I have fished in the same area as ReelJerks and he was never a real jerk to us. So I doubt it is meant to you either. Spike

I met you at the ramp when we headed out for the afternoon on Saturday, you were asking your fishing partner about head lamps and I asked if you were going for walleye. We went in the direction you said but couldn't find the water you referred me to. Saw tons of birds and bait but knowing we only had a couple hrs left to fish we went back to the west (may have been a mistake but we did get one fish 11+lbs). Next time I'll ask for more specifics so we have confidence we were in the right water. Wish our trip was half of yours. Especially with the only ones out there and catching fish comment. We were just the opposite, a bunch of boats and not a bunch of action to show for it. Spike

Fishing Report Your Name / Boat Name: ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s):5/6-5/7 Time on Water:8,11 Weather/Temp: Wind Speed/Direction: Waves: 1-3 Surface Temp: Location: LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 8,13 Total Boated:8,8 Species Breakdown:browns and one steelhead Hot Lure: Smithwicks, fire tiger day one naturals day two Trolling Speed: 1.8-2.5 Down Speed: Boat Depth: 10-20 was where the fish hit. Lure Depth: ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ==================== The weather Gods looked down on us for yet another Lake O trip. We drove straight out Thursday night and were fishing by 7:30. We went west in 2-3's with a pretty stiff west wind and found a bunch of boats about two miles down. We set up and landed our first fish shortly after. About a 4lb brown. We ran the two color inline set ups and added a small shot ahead of the lures. Everything was working well. We quickly figured out where we needed to be to get bit and mixed in to target the water when we could. We did have a few problems when landing fish we had hooked going into the wind but everything went well for the most part. Then as the early afternoon arrived a boat came out set up coming right at us and pushed us into shallower water and we lost a lure to the bottom. We decided to pull lines and head in. We went 8 for 8. Not bad consdering we didn't know squat heading into this. Oh yeah, hot lures were firetigers, one was a smithwick, not sure what the other one was. Day two had us up at 3:30. We were back to the spot before anyone else and setting lines in. First fish was on before the third rod was set. It was much larger than the previous days fish but was lost before we landed it. Second fish came just after setting that lure back out and was also lost. Day was not starting out to well. Finally third fish was landed on the same lure. We had a new hot lure for day 2, Smithwick sliver blue. We hooked up again and I couldn't move the fish. He was way back and thrashing up top but I couldn't move him. I fought the fish for what seemed like an eternity and thought this fish had to be hooked in the tail. After a lengthy battle the fish was near the back of the boat and it was actually two fish. We started to pull other lines to see which one the other fish was on. Wouldn't you know it was the last line we checked. Trying to net the fish we lost the first one as the line snapped. Then the second fish thrashed and parted the weakened leader. two lures lost...... We trolled around some more and moved off to some new ground and found ourselves hooked with three lines on bottom. After just loosing two lures I didn't want to lose three more so we scrambled to pull boards and recover lures. We got hem all back! We trolled around some more and hung up a couple more times. Once due to not knowing the water and again from being pushed in shallower by other boats and hanging bottom. We did learn something very valuable that morning. Two color lead core set ups work great if you don't get pushed in too shallow. Otherwise they suck cause you'll hang bottom and loose lures every time. The same also applies to lures with split shot ahead of them. We re-grouped in the afternoon for the evening bite. We purchased more lures (we lost 8 total that morning). Got rid of the lead both cores and shot and headed back out for the evening bite. Landed a small steelhead and an 11.5 lb brown. That was it for the evening. Pulling lines in we discovered we had another brown on one of the lines. Sunday we decided to just head home instead of fishing the morning. Overall we thought the browns didn't fight much compared to what we were expecting. Even the Kokanee roods handled them. The 11 lber was really the only good battle aside from the two at once. Good times, we got out both days so can't complain about that. Thanks to everyone that helped me out. Be back for Kings in August. Spike

18' lund sport angler. Spike

What are the good winds and what are the bad winds when fishing Oswego and Mexico bay area? At what wind would the inshore fishing be effected? For example would a west wind of 15-20 be bad inshore or could you still fish it in tight? Trying to get some general information on what to expect. I'm also assuming the Mexico bay may be a little more protected from a west wind due to the lake contour? Thanks for any insight. I am hoping to fish Friday and it looks like they changed up the forecast to blow from the west, in the am anyway. Spike

Yes, all crawlers must be equipt with floaties in case they fall off the hook Well I did read up on the funky laws, a little better than Vt's but still more than we have. Guess I'll try it without bait first and see how it goes. Now on the floaties for the crawlers i didn't read anything on that in the rules. Does that need to be a class I floaty or can I get away with a class II or III? Spike

Anyone ever use live bait for browns? We typically slow troll live bait for salmon and thought it should work for browns as well. Has anyone ever bothered to try it or is fishing just as good with hardware and no hassle of bait. What about crawlers? We also have luck trolling them too. does NY have any funky bait laws (most states do these days). Any places close to Oswego to get live bait should we want to try it? Thanks, Spike

P-line is my favorite. Good knots. The coated is also very good and cheaper than the straight fluoro, just need to change it out more. Spike

So from what I am reading the browns typically bite early up to say 11 am if your lucky and then it dies down. What about other species after the brown bite dies off. Could you run out to a little deeper water and target other species? What would those be? Does the brown bite pick up again late afternoon? Hoping to fish a full day and not just wash lures if the bite is going to die off. What is the typical pattern for the species you would expect to catch this time of year. I will be in the Oswego/Mexico bay area. Thanks for any help. Spike

One other question. Spoon size. Should I stick with smaller spoons like the Jake 45 size or would NK28's be OK too? I know I have gotten the incidental brown/steelhead on the larger spoons when trolling for Salmon so should I bring them along? Not sure if I should stick with smaller mooselook wobbler 1/4 oz size spoons and smaller or if the larger ones will work too. Thanks, Spike

I have a ton of spoons and bought a bunch of stickbaits. Hopefully I have enough of a selection. I have read on this site about adding shot ahead of lures to get them down a bit. Here we will run one and two colors of core top shot early season. Would set ups like that work out there without adding shot to the line? We typically can pull these over 15' of water without any problems, but if we need to go shallower it could be a problem. Should I leave these home and just bring the flat lines to run on the boards? Do you guys just run sticks off the boards and spoons on the riggers? Or does that matter? Only two of us so we'll only be running four lines. From what I read start pattern with high visibility colors on one side of boat and naturals on the other to find out what they want. Any other suggestions? Thanks for any suggestions Spike Oh yeah if we get blown off of Ontario would it be worth heading to Onieda to try walleye fishing?

Is this law proposed for the entire state or just certain waters? I thought I remembered it was just for Lake Ontario way back when I had first heard about it. Spike

Loved the iced up pic's. Can really apreciate how cold it must have been. Spike

Not great story but a fitting name. First boat was named Sally-mon (said with an Island accent) because that is what I liked to fish for. Second boat was named Annie because I made the switch to saltwater and started Mermaid Charters. When my wife was a kid she thought the jingle ask any mermaid you happen to see.... was Ask annie mermaid....thus the name. Third boat was a down easter I had built. Named it Miss Fitz, after my crew lol, well that and my last name starts with Fitz. kind of fit. Fourth boat is my transition back to freshwater again. I purchased the boat new from a dealer in Michigan. Much better price than anything I could get local. Thus the name Long Haul. It was a looong haul to take her home. I have had other smaller boats, canoes, kayaks and jon boats but never named them. Spike RIP Duane. He sounds like a great guy.

Nice fish Rod. That is a pig. Would love to hear the long version someday. I'm sure you wont forget it. We never forget the big fish stories. I miss Lake O already. I can't wait to be able to get out there more often. Till then I'll have to be content with the few times I do get out. Great to read reports. Makes you feel like your there sometimes. Mark

Not sure how it is on the great lakes but on the coast there are a lot of Charter boat Captains that are not fishermen. And many of them offer fishing charters. So research any Captain that you plan on hiring. This is not to say these guys are not good Captains, just not good fishermen. I know one I would trust to drive me anywhere in his boat, but I wouldn't want him to take me fishing. I think you get the point. Also in addition to passing the CG test you are required to have a substantial amount of time on the water. I think we all know that is much more important than any test you can take. It's not a fishing business license it is a Captains License which basically states you are capable of handling a vessel for hire, nothing more. CaptSpike (yes I am a Captain, lol)