1fish2fish

Frabill makes a decent net called a Sportsman with tangle free deep netting. It's 21" X 25" with a telescope handle to 48" for around $35. They also have a 32" x 41". But that one goes for around $130. Jim

Nice pictures of the bluffs Nick. Back a few years ago, before the park was developed, there was only a narrow dirt path that led to the section of the beach where that 'no swimming' sign is now. It was known as 'Bare A$$ Beach' (for obvious reasons)! Evidently, the fishing used to be really good real close to shore there, because the fishermen used to troll real close with binoculars!! Some weren't even fishing!! Jim

Nice fish Bill. Congratulations!! Finally, someone was able to hold on to one of those bruisers!! Jim

That's true- you can only have one fish entered at a time. see rule 18 in 'Rules and Regulations'. It states- "18. Is entitled to only one division cash prize. No participant may win more than one of the division prizes, although contestants may enter more than one fish. If the succeeding fish is larger, the smaller of the fish with least weight will be withdrawn." (The wording could be a little clearer IMO.) In the Summer derby, I was unaware of this rule, and had a brown and a laker entered at the same time for about a week. They finally caught the mistake, and eliminated the laker. (The brown fell off the board in the last hour of the tournement! Oh well!!)

Rich, Hanks little buddy is the legendary 'Eskimo Joe'!! The fish was almost as long as Joey was tall--36.5 lbs (I think). And guess who's standing next to him (a little damp from the rain- MB)! Nice fish Joey!! Jim

I had boated a nice 27.9 lb. king, fishing the same tournament with Andy (Broadhorizons) and a couple of his friends, and felt pretty good that the fish was in contention until Andy told me that "Todd was also fishing the tournament!!!" Sure enough, Todd showed up and opened that cooler!! Oh well--- Mine was a good fish for second! Congratulations Todd!! That was a nice looking fish!! Jim

Happy Birthday, Ray!! Have a great day!! Jim

Chinook, The first thing I'd do is invest in a good hook sharpener. Check your hooks often. It only takes a couple of seconds to run the points across your fingernail to check for sharpness. 50% seems excessive. Hopefully, you are keeping constant pressure against the fish at all times. Always keep the pole loaded, even when reeling in line. As mentioned before in other threads, when fishing wire/dipsies, you don't really need to set the hook. If the hooks are sharp, the fish will hook themselves. I usually give a light initial tug to insure the dipsy has popped. On the other hand, when fishing mono/downriggers, especially when using sliders, you need to remove the slack in the line as fast as possible (until you feel resistance on the line) before setting the hook. Again, if the hooks are sharp, you don't need a violent hook set. Jim

Happy number 47 Todd!! Here's hoping for many more. Have a great day, buddy! Jim

Back about eight to ten years ago, there was an older retired gentleman from northern Pa. who used to stay at the Fair Haven State Park campgrounds for a couple of weeks to catch the fall salmon run in Sterling Creek. He and his Basset Hound would fish Sterling Pond and Little Sodus Bay with his car-top folding boat. But I never saw him venture out into the lake! Jim

I took pics. of the final results. There was one DQ that doesn't show on the boards. Team Hook-N-Up didn't have their report sheets filled out correctly. They forgot to record GPS positions, and lost a fourth (I think) place finish.

There is a small dirt launch at the south end of the bay on Slaght Road. But I wouldn't try it for anything over a 14 foot boat. Excellent for kayaks and canoes! The channel to the lake is maintained through the summer, but its only about 2-1/2 to 3 feet deep on a good day! Jim

Mark, Here's one link. http://www.boating.ncf.ca/canadaborder.html Here's another http://www.boativated.com/border%20crossing.htm Jim

Ditto Tom. In my opinion, overall the Oswego Challenge gets an 'excellent' rating! From the early morning start, to the closing after the awards, it was all handled with class. During and after the weighin, the food was great and plentiful. Considering the field of 70 boats entered, the weigh in was handled quickly and efficiently. The awards ceremony was done right, with special emphasis on the youth. None of the youth entered left empty handed! There were raffle prizes galore, and everything was buttoned up by six o'clock (I think). Thanks, and I'll see you at the next two Challenges. Next year, I'll be sure to register EARLY! Jim

Congratulations Bill! I knew my 13 lb. 15 oz. brown wouldn't hold first for long. But at 20 lbs. 11 oz., boy you crushed it!! Great fish!! Jim

Thanks Hank. The pleasure was all mine!! Jim

Fishing Report Boat Name: Jimmy Rigger/Finders Keeper ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): 23 June Time on Water: 3-6pm Weather/Temp: ominous/74 Wind Speed/Direction: 8-10! NE then W Waves: 1-2 ft Surface Temp: ? Location: west of Sodus LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: lost count 20 Total Boated: 18 Species Breakdown: All lakers Hot Lure: Familiar Bite Sushi Fly Trolling Speed: 2.1-3.0 Down Speed: 1.8-2.5 Boat Depth: 100-120 Lure Depth: 60-80ft I fished with Tim Thomas (Finders Keepers) and his dad, Jim and had another phenomenal day! We had had a tip that there were kings in the area. So we headed west of Sodus to about 100 fow and set up. We didn't find any salmon, but the lakers were having a family reunion and we were catering their party with Sushi. We lost count of how many we caught, because there seemed to be constant action. There were very few moments when we had all the rigging in the water at the same time. The biggest was a 15lb. 7oz. laker that for now is sitting in second place on the LOC leader board. I feel truly lucky to have my name on the board not just once, but twice!! The weather was getting increasingly nasty, and we were watching it coming at us. There was quite an impressive lightning show towards Rochester. Luck for us the major part of the storm headed NE and missed us. We did the wind gusts from the west and saw about 4 or 5 water spouts to the west and north, and decided to head in. Sorry, no pictures. both Tim's and my phone got wet and were not functioning. Another Excellent day on the Big O! Jim

My wife and I just obtained our Enhanced drivers licenses so that we could take a couple over nighters to Canada this summer. We're now rethinking our plans for Maine and points east. Canada, you blew it! Jim

You got me Rick! The action was so fast and furious that day that I couldn't stop for Mother Natures call. When you gotta go, you gotta go!! Jim

Thanks to all for your comments. But check tomorrows leader board, and you should see my name again for second place in the lake trout division also. 15 lbs. 7 ozs. caught west of Sodus. I'll give a report tomorrow. Right now, I need sleep!! Jim

Fishing Report Boat Name: Mugwah ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): 22 June Time on Water: 5:30-2:30 Weather/Temp: partial rain & fog Wind Speed/Direction: lite- NE then SE Waves: 1-2 ft Surface Temp: 65? Location: Sodus- west =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 22 Total Boated:18 Species Breakdown:all browns & 1 atlantic Hot Lure: All spoon program- anything green or black Trolling Speed: 2.1-2.8 Down Speed: 1.8-2.4 Boat Depth: 20-60 ft Lure Depth: 15-40 ft Waited for the thunder stroms to blow over, and went out of Sodus yesterday around 5:30a.m. on Dave Reuter's (Dreucarver) boat with Gerry Marks. We headed west in about 20 fow with a setup of 2 riggers, 2 planers, and 2 short mono dipsies. We used an all spoon program, and if it had green or black in it, they hit it! Nothing seemed to work better than the other. They hit all pretty much the same. The bite was pretty steady all day even though we started with a triple (all landed). The biggest (13 lb. 15 oz.) came on a green frog off a rigger down 21 over 31 fow. The atlantic (around 11 lbs.) came off the dipsie, back 81 feet running a stinger (forgot the name- white with orange on gold). Last time I looked, I'm still leading the brown division, but don't expect it to last. But it's fun while it lasts!! Pictures were taken with my cell phone. Not great quality. Oh- I didn't have an accident, thats rain on my pants!! Jim

Nick, Great job in reporting! It's similar to the captain's tweets with a lot more detail. I for one would like more reports like this!! Jim

Congratulations Ray!! That's pretty darn good!! And look at all the money you saved to buy more lures and boat stuff!! Jim

I think you should have gone east. I heard that in front of East Bay was real productive on Sunday! (Too late now!!) Jim

Not a nibble! I did manage to wash all the old fish smell off the lures though! Weather forecast says northeast 10-20 mph winds, 1 to 3 foot waves tonight. Might be enough to cloud up the near shore water again. Also, its supposed to rain most of the week!! Bummer!