Sk8man

I'll bet the kids will remember that day for a long time

Nice going Bill.

WTG Pete

You could do it but the big drawback is that you wouldn't be able to monitor the wire for kinks as closely as with the traditional methods and most of the single strand copper is of a lesser strength than braided copper and more prone to kinking. With that said you could use it as a copper rig with braid backing too but with the same potential for failure and would probably not stand up to a a large king, but maybe could be used in the Fingers. Just my take on it.

pretty good chance the pressure got it....unfortunate

They can be used  to detect small fish that are intended for release or light biters like walleye for example. Normally once you get used to the Blacks and familiar with the tension, setting them becomes more intuitive. When running attractors like Spin Docs, flashers and dodgers  or especially cowbells the tension needs to be increased to prevent false releases.

Just use the Blacks as they are and adjust the tension upward (increase) a bit from what you would use with clean spoons or sticks.

Nice one for the taxidermist....wouldn't break the bank

I think the article Frogger posted nailed it

Brian makes a good point about it only being the Gizzard Shad (at least reported right now). if it was low O2 or contamination, or disease you would thing it would be multiple species affected.

Yeah I think I remember that 22 lb brown was caught at the Hammondsport arm of the lake

An additional variable is the particular capability specs of the transducer. For example if you have  Lowrance with a combination 83/200 khz transducer the weight may go fairly quickly out of the cone if set for 200 khz versus 83 khz because the cone angle capability is narrower. If you have a combination transducer set the transducer to the lowest number and see what it does. As mentioned all those other factors also come into play.

That right there is the best info you are going to get....and it is at Captain Nick's second home

You know Mike that 1962 article may be the fish I was thinking of and as a kid seeing the fish in the ice chest my memory may have been messed up all these years it probably is the 15 pounder noted in the article; the time frame is about right for the one I saw. Regardless of records your fish is a very special specimen and something to behold. You accomplished something that the rest of us Finger lakes fisherpersons  have tried for but never achieved and you can be very proud of that.

Doesn't get any better than that Kev

5 hours ago, laker1 said:

I have been told releases can damage my line. I would like to hear if anyone agrees with this (or not) and what they have done to protect their line. Currently I am using off shore releases with rubber bands fishing with either mono or braid.

With most releases you don't have to worry about line damage unless using very low pound test and setting the release too high in tension. Same for rubber bands if you are using the right size/strength. By the way if the ones you are using are too strong they can usually be weakened by leaving them in the sun for awhile.

Yes I once dropped a nice ultra-lite rod and reel overboard while perch fishing in 60 ft of water. Two years later I snagged it while jerking copper. I dried it out cleaned up the reel and back in business

Still going to have to find the best data available: find the bait, and hopefully fish near it and fish the marks.....much more reliable than "guesstimates"

Nope many miles from there

Congrats to the Salotti boys.... they smoked it!  I managed to pull up a huge anchor and about 50 ft of rope with two nice spoons attached to the rope. Thank heaven for 30 lb See Flee mainline

Bill said it all....we are all here to learn regardless of experience.

 think it should be named the Salotti derby and for good reason you guys have it dialed in. Best part for me is that "old school" prevailed

I think it was a good safe bet in the firs t place Bill

The best part of it is that happy face

ditto excellent advice from both