Dr W

Hughs Marina Saturday I have a choice to make Saturday. Is anyone else going out of Hughes Saturday ? With a new boat with only 2 trips under our belt I would like to know if there will be company should something break and I need a tow. I am always willing to give a tow in that same situation. I'm hoping that the fish turn on this trip, last time out it was hot and no action anywhere ! [Monday] Dr W Vessel {low profile}2452 Bayliner

Thanks guys Mudflat I have a bag and have used it. This is a new boat [to me] and we were out yesterday and trolling is not a problem . it is in tight quarters like on the Canal that is a bit ugly. My Trolling plate has 3 positions and in the 45 degree down it works great for trolling at 2.2 to 2.6 mph The Wife wants to do a Canal tour ??? and that is where I want help, but I suspect that there is not much that can be done to correct this problem except trade up to a bigger inboard system.

Bob I would give up a mile or two per hr if it did correct the problem . It would make trolling so much better and canal trips better.

I Looked at the Wonder fin and considered it but it will not work with my Trolling plate where the Prop guard will . I thought of asking a fabrication shop to make a Stainless steel ring like the Prop guard that would attach to the cavation plate and the scag to create a duct-ed fan affect which would work in my opinion. It would also keep some stuff out of the prop as well.

Low speed wander ! Any one ever heard of this system ? My single screw IO is a beast to steer at low speed [ most are] I know all the tricks like trim up and put eh tabs down , but I just read about this outfit and I am considering order one and trying it out. This year crossing the Bay at idle accentuated this issue for me. Any thoughts from the board? http://www.propguardmarine.com/index.html Dr W

I rely on several weather forecasts to determine if I will make the drive pulling the boat. http://www.weather.gov/greatlakes/#.V_Q9DiTEFne http://www.whec.com/weathercameras http://fingerlakes1.com/2004/03/16/weather/ I start with The First sight and click thru on Lake Ontario and do wave height and wind , THEN I go look at the Weather bug cameras along Lake Ontario and if still in doubt check Finger lakes weather Try it you will like it.. Dr W

Buckle up Sailers Park the boats and take the week end off ! National Weather predicts 25 to 30 Kts and waves up to 10 feet on open waters of Ontario. Going to be ruff and nasty ! The Coast Guard does not want to have to go out to save you so party at the docks ! Dr W

Unless you have a Fish hawk then go by the Temp [50 Degrees +/- a touch]

Stop at Suttons and ask if they have any Hermlock spinners, they are a swabelly meat rig that works well behind a small Dodger. Watch your sonar and set your Down riggers just under the bait balls Start out at about 2 mph and vary your speed by zig zaging a bit. The fish can be suspended about anywhere so cruse around a bit looking with sonar before setting up. I would start on the west side south of Tichners point and work south to start. Dr W

Last evening was a bust for us ! first trip out in a month , We marked a bit of bait but it was all high 30 to 50 down Hope you do better. Dr W

Tel me , is the Thermocline setting up yet ? Been stuck ashore doing Coast Guard stuff and honey do stuff too Kind of itching to drop my downrigger balls in the lake and see if a king might cooperate? Friend with MS is coming up from Pa and would love to hook him up. Dr W Low profile

Meat rigs I do like to run a meat rig and was wondering how other people do it? I have a bunch of Sutton Hemlock spinners [Naples NY] that use a frozen [or fresh] saw belly , The shaft goes in the saw belly mouth and out the vent and a double or treble hook is attached. They work rather well but I have seen other systems and was wondering what others use for kings Dr W

Thanks ! Guess the T-Way and up Rt 98 is the way to go Dr W

Lake Ontario Parkway ? how bad is it? Been thinking about a road trip out to Point breeze and trying a little fishing out that way , BUT I have been told that the Lake Ontario Parkway is real nasty. Anyone been driving the PKWY and is it as bad as all that? I can always go west on the T-Way and north on 98 ? Dr W

Yep skunked ! We left the dock at Hughes at 6 am and were washing spoons by 6;15. We started in about 40 Ft and worked out to 225 ft right in front of Hughes. Lots of Bait in between 50 and 75 Ft and nothing out deeper to speak of with just a few hooks out around the 200 ft mark. Came back in and ran an east west pattern at 50 to 60 ft and the screen reminded me of the old days back in the late 1990's with big balls of bait. and a few nice hooks under the bait. I suspect that the full moon played a part in the slow fishing, those fish must have been feeding up all night and were not going to hit anything ! I even had a bag of frozen Sawbellies and ran some meat rigs that almost never fail. Good luck ! Keep a tight line Dr W Low Profile See you in a few weeks when the kings show up

I Was at the Coast Guard Station Rochester Wednesday and the parking lot had almost a foot of water in it. Could not even drive in to the station in a car. Hope this hot weather starts lowering the lake soon

Ruff Rider NOAA says we will be flat in the morning ! I am launching at Hughes about 6 am IF we start hooking up will give you a shout on 68 or 16 Dr W Low Profile

Correct and many new radios have an automatic locator system built in but you need to wire your GPS into the radio which I would urge everyone to do ! then in a "REAL EMERGENCY" you lift the red tab and push the button and the radio transmits your location ! and a MAYDAY. Dr W

Channel 16 is for hailing and distress! not a working channel ! I monitor 16 because it is a Hailing and distress channel I am USCG.AUX Dr W

Sodus Vs Hughes I have launched out of both Sodus and Hughes this spring and Both are usable, Hughes was excellent and the Rt 14 launch is fine and free. I have seen fewer boats fishing than in past years and the high water is a challenge. We will Launch out of Hughes this Saturday and hope to see more folks out on the lake. I do monitor 16 and radio traffic has been very light too. Hope to see some boats out this week end. The boat is "LOW PROFILE" Good fishing ! Go hook em up ! Dr W

Last Wednesday it was good and should still be good ! parking was no problem we were the only boat that launched..

launched at Hughs and fished shallow 10 to 40 Ft and never moved a rod ? Never saw another boat! worked west first to Pultneyville then went out to 150 and never marked a fish The light south wind turned east . Some days are just that way

Alewives populations > Forage base. We were Fishing the shoreline Sunday Pm with a very strong south wind and were off the Bluffs just east of Sodus and we noticed several dozen Alewifes floating on the surface and I say what looked like schools of bait like we used to see when we has massive sawbelly bait schools in Lake Ontario Back when the Salmon fishing was at its best [early 1990's] The dead and wounded ones we saw floating were very small, perhaps last years spawn or the year before. I think that this is a good sign considering that Alewives [herring] do better on warmer winters. Has any one else noticed this change ? Dr W

The strong south wind did bring up colder water , 46 degrees near shore, the Fish we hooked was in very shallow water between 8 and 10 feet deep. We did note several small alewives on the surface that had been hit by some predator . I think that "IF" the alewives [saw bellies] are returning we may have a good upturn in our fishery !