Gotta Bite

I got a great deal on these rods. I wanted something a little smaller than my 10'6" that I was using for my wire line set ups. I went back on eBay and a few other vendors or sellers had them listed the same was as well as the OKUMA chart so I guess I'll keep them. I'm going to pair them up with some Okuma Catalinas I also purchased for the upcoming season. I hope to put them to good use.

I just received 2 new rods that I ordered off of ebay. They were listed as downrigger / dipsey rods. In the fine print they are also listed as a mooching rod. They are 9' Okuma classics that I am using them for my light bite slider dipseys. Will they have the back bone to handle the stress of the dipsey? They are marked as "Mooching rod" on the pole. I can send them back and get a refund before 7 days.

Every year I am adding more equipment to my arsenal and trying different techniques. Last year I was the first that I used Lead core line as well as try those add on weights from Michigan Stinger. I caught fish using both techniques. I lost 6 colors of my 15lb lead core from a vicious hit from a nice fish. What it was I"ll never know. This year I was planning on moving up to the 27lb LC line with the addition of two bigger reels. Have you found in your past experience to get more hook ups using lead core line and flouro carbon leaders or just mono and snap or add on weights? Just curious what some of you seasoned big lake anglers has better luck with.

I am came up empty on the Overstons, west marine and defender sites as well. My boat manafarurer has been out of business since the early 90's. Lake Bound, I'll take a picture as well as measure the cooler and send you the specs. I too had thought of just leaving it out fo more storage and if I don't find a replacement for it, I may end up going that route, but would really prefer the cooler. I hope to have the info to you soon. Thanks.

My cuddy on my boat has a sink and inset cooler below it. While heading back in to port last season in some rough waters I managed to bust loose the cooler from it's frame when it cracked. The problem is the frame is plastic and it's actually part of the coller itself. So it really can not be replaced by changing the hinge or the wooden enclosure frame like I had hoped. Is there an OEM manafacturer that I can order a replacement for. I went online and came up empty. I hate not to have it. It keeps our drinks and food clean as opposed to having them mixed in with the fish cooler. Appreciate the feedback.

Thanks for the replies guys. I ended up picking up 2 of the Catalinas from Bretts on the bay (eBay). Great service and shipped them out the same day. It was maybe a little more than I wanted to spend originally but for that price, I couldn't pass it up and they should last me forever. I am looking forward to using them this year.

That would be correct. Light bite slide diver or just not using wire. I have a 10'6" set up with wire. This would be a lighter dispey rod and reel. The Convector is a wider reel than my other reels and seems to be able to hold more as well. The drag seems better as well. I was considering going with the Magda pro or even the cabelas version line counter,but the Convector seems better made.

I had posted a light bite set up question a few months ago. I got repsonses on lines and rods. Not too much on reels. I have a varierty of rods and reels in my boat now. Okuma's, Penns, Diawas and Cabela and Gander Mtn. branded ones as well. Out of all of my reels, my Okuma Convectors seems extremely well made for the price compared to the others. I have 2 of the 55's one for copper and one for lead core. I was considering going to the 30 DVL for my light bite. It has a better line capacity than most in it's class. It can handle more than my Magda pro 30DXs and more than the Diawa 47LCs. I planned on using 300 yds of 40lb power pro for this set up. Should I also include some sort of backing as well and how much mono do you recommend I account for. I am consider using 15lb mono or flouro carbon. It says it can handle 560 yds of 50 braided line. I just don't want to buy this only to find out it wont have enough capacity for these reels to be set up properly. Especially since I'm buying mail order. Let me know and thanks as always.

I was at a seminar on Great Lakes fishing a few weeks ago and someone mentioned they had more productive when switching to the power pro. They had much less blow back and less noise from the cable. Fleas are a pain and I also don't feel like loosing th rigger weights to to a weakend line. I was more concerned with the line knotting up , but it seems that was not an issue for anyone. I think I will stick with the wire for now. Thanks for all your feedback.

I have heard that using this super line will eliminate the cable hum caused by the wire cable when trolling and minimize blowback. My other rigger has coated cable because of my depth raider. I am not sure if I'm getting much of a hum off of that because of the coating. What are the down sides to using the power power pro other than my down rigger's auto stop not working? It seems like the way to go and if it will help increaing my catch or hookup ratio anyway, I'm all for it.

I was going to set up another rod and and reel with lead core this year. Since they supposedly sink to the same depth is there any reason to buy 200 yds of LC instead of 100yds? It's obviously cheaper to go with the 100yd spool. Just curios maybe I'm missing something.

Thanks for all your replies. Unfortunately I don't get up to Lake O until mid to late May so the browns are usually out 40' foot of water at least in my past experience and I wont get in on the april, early may bite that I always hear about. I have had good luck using the planers and lead core last year, but I know the light bite takes it's share as well just havn't put it into use yet and looking forward to it. I'm ready for spring. Thanks again guys.

I have the big 10' 6" rods for my wire line and dipseys for salmon, but want to go with a lighter set up for spring browns. What rods and line type and weight are you guys using in the spring and early summer with good success.

I usually am not fishing this late into the fall and am looking for your opinion. I am headed up for the last time this year and will pull the boat this weekend. I was up earlier in the month and managed a few kings. Two weeks ago, I did not boat a fish and only had a couple of releases in two days, not to mention the combat close quarters fishing. I just didn't really enjoy my self like I normally do. I was wondering if I could find Steelies and lakers in shallower also this time of year. I had regular success on Steelies in 200+ FOW during the summer but think the colder water temps would have them in closer as opposed to making the long run out to deeper water. Would the spoons that worked in the spring still be what I should use in the fall. I appreciate any feedback that might help me out.

Just wondering if anybody from the site will be in camp? I met and talked to some people from this site last week when I was up and was wondering if anyone else will be up this weekend. Things were a little slow, hopefully the fishing will be better in the bay this weekend.

I have an opportunity to purchase some used planer reels at a great price. I was wondering first if I could take the reels off of the mini masts and bolt them vertically to a side rail of my boat or would that have too much pull Also I had good luck on steelies this year with the yellow OSP inlines but they jump around alot. I have seen the otter boards running smoothly when mine were jumping waves like a jet ski under the same conditions. If I upgrade to the bigger planers to run off the masts will the run as smoothly as the otter boats? I am wondering the pro and cons to both. This will be for 2010 season upgrade to my boat. Your feedback as always is appreciated.

Congrats Colonel! That's a nice fish to get broken in on. Things can get hectic when close to the boat and trying to net them. I had a similair experience with my mono leader on my copper set up get wrapped around the dipsey line. 2 Weeks ago I also had the fish smash my dipsey rod and run across the back of the boat and tangle my my rigger. Fish got off, It's hard to stop these fish when they are running. It's like trying to stop a train sometimes. That's why you hear alot 1 for 3, 2 for 6 etc. Keep up the good work.

Tim A, I am actually from Kingston just across the river from you. I work in Wilkes-Barre. I will be up at Selkirk again this week from Thursday through Sunday. Stop by site 115 and introduce yourself. I will take a look at what gear you have to fish with and try and help you any way I can. I am no expert by any means but have learned a few things in the past 2 to 3 years of salmon fishing and frequenting this site. I have also been making some new friends on here as well and they are always willing to help me or make suggestions to improve my game. That's what this site is about. If not give me a shout out on Ch. 68 and I'll let you know how I'm making out and what's working. Hopefully I'll have a few in the box by then.

Jon's Little Salmon shop next to the LSR had them as well as Woody's tackle in Port Ontario and All Seasons Sport which is right off the Pulaski exit.

Fishing Report Gotta Bite ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s):9/5/09 Time on Water: 8:30 -12:30 Location: Off the mouth of the Salmon River north to the Dunes =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 3 Total Boated:1 Species Breakdown:King Hot Lure: NBK Mag Trolling Speed: 2.3 Down Speed: ? Boat Depth: ? Lure Depth: Approx 66 feet ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ==================== My son and I rolled into town Thursday night. Drove the boat over to fill up the tank for an early Friday a.m. start and my gear box went on me. I was able to make it back to my slip after rigging it to work. Messed around with it for an 1 hour and a half only to realize there was no way to use my boat. I had a older friend that has a boat down he road and he was coming up to fish on my boat since he has not fished all year long on his. My son and I drove around most of the day stopping at the tackle shops and various holes along the river to see if there was any action going on yet. We stopped by the hatchery to kill some time also. It was a nice day. My friend shows up later in the day on Friday after getting his boat out of cover to find out his batteries were in need of charging. We head out Saturday morning around 7:30 and find the boat is not starting. I am startig to think I had a black cloud over my head for the weekend. We had to switch the batteries around and we got it started finally around 8:30 and headed out of the state launch at Mexico. A few minutes into the troll and the riggers and fish finder weren't working for some reason. We had to bring up and lower the balls by hand. Could not get a speed , temp or depth. We're going old school now. We figured we were between 80 and 100 FOW and used the other boats to gauge our speed. We took 2 hits on a mtn dew spinny trolling a pro am living fly down 75. We were getting disgusted by this time. I had a NBK mag on my copper line down the chute and that went off screaming 100+ yds. My son was sleeping in the cuddy cabin and my buddy said earlier he didn't want to have to reel in all that line if the copper was to get hit because of his arthritis being so bad. I gave up the wheel and took the pole and about 20 minutes later we had a 36" 21lb king for our efforts. We almost lost it being that our mono leader got wrapped around the Dispey line as he got close to the boat. It was a little nerve wracking towards the end. That was it for the remainder of the morning. We threw the towel in around 12:30 as we noticed fewer boats on the water and hearing less chatter on the radio. My friend drove back to Pa. and my son and I went back to Selkirk. We packed up Sunday morning and came home. It was nice to talk to a few of the LOU members while up there and saw a few also. I'll be back up again this weekend. I was toldmy boat will be fixed by then this may turn out to be my last trip out on the water for the year. My Son at Selkirk holding the king we landed on Saturday

That's a real beauty of a fish!

35 Whelan I am posetd as "Wing" on the HUnting Pa. website. Go figure ,anyway my son and I are leaving when he gets home from school today. We'll be able to fish tomorrow and hopefully have them located by then. You just never know. We're headed home on Sunday. I'll talk to you later.

I believe your buddy 35 Whelan emailed me on the Hunting Pa. website yesterday. He talked about staying touch on the radio. I am staying at Selkirk also. Mexico is closer and the launch fee is included with your campsite. That's the way to go IMO. The fishing maybe better in Oswego, but I was as well as a bunch of people doing OK from the launch to Nine mile point and up north to the dunes.

Lands Shark, I'll be up there as well. My wife and her friends were the ones that yelled at you to slow down in the park last year, if you remember. No wives or women to cater to this year. I will be with my son and the man who got me started fishing Lake O back in the early 90's. He's a bit older and I owe him alot of gratitude since I caught my first salmon with him and he showed me the basics because he started fishing there in the 70's. He has not been fishing all year and it's his first time going after kings in 09'. My son and I are going to do everything we can to put him on the fish. I hope the weather cooperates. Not like last weekend. I'll be at site 115 as usual. Stop by , say Hi and have a cold one with us . We'll be there from Thursday night until Sunday. It sounds like 30lb minimum to make the top 20 right now.

Tim A, I am a Pa. boy too from the Wilkes-Barre area. I have been fishing Lake O for about 15 yrs now. Salmon and trout seriously for the last 3 years. I stay at Selkirk all the time. I was up last weekend and I will be up this weekend and next also. Try and book loop C or D. You will at least be able to see the lake and get a nice breeze also. Go online to ReserveAmerica.com to book your site. I will be at site 115 both weekends. I am there so often this summer they know me by my first name when I check in which is why I am looking for a seasonal site at a local campground for possibly next year. I have a 23' cabin cruiser at Mike's marina on the little salmon river. I would suggest that you launch from the state launch at Mexico since that will be free if you are staying at Selkirk. You can also launch from Pine grove which is closer to Selkirk, but is better suited IMO for smaller boats. I'll help you out if I can. Send me a PM if you would like.