Sk8man

Sure Matt - The total thing is 42 inches long and the Bosch 1/2 inch hammer drill is the key to it...I tried a Makita, Black and Decker, De Walt etc. They all failed to do the job. The Bosch is an animal it could pull you into the hole if you're not careful It is probably the best investment in anything in my whole life. It has had about 5 years use and the batteries are still going strong. I think the conversion kit was about $30 about 5 yrs ago. I think the hammer drill was about $300 plus and I just used the bottom of a 7 inch Lazer auger for the rest. I wouldn't go bigger than a7 inch blade though.

I don't know where you are located but Fishy Business on Keuka Lake has some. I've always made my own with a wire bending gizmo from Jann's Netcraft and preformed wires and springs found there also.

I gave my power auger away to a friend several years ago. I have been using a Bosch Hammer Drill with a conversion kit (use the bottom half of a 7 inch lazer auger with it ) with lithium batteries and as long as you aren't fishing in places with 3 ft of ice I have drilled over 50 holes in 6 inch ice on one battery and no messing with gas, no fumes, no noise, environmentally friendly, lighter to carry etc. The batteries are rechargeable and come with a quick charger. You set the drill for high torque rather than high speed.

Nice going Kevin. It also underscores the possibility that some of us who believe that the poor fishing for trout and salmon during recent daytime intervals may reflect the haevy feeding at night in the bright light theory".

Zipp, I too use fluoro in the lighter diameters especially for stream fishing and panfish, trolling leaders etc. and like you have had good success with it. I'm wondering though if ANY line is truly "invisible" to fish when it is of LARGE diameter and I know the fluoro can be quite brittle especially in real cold weather/water. I switched back to 50 lb. mono tying my trolling flies (trout/salmon) because of breakage on commercially tied 40 lb fluoro leaders...as I believe that the mono takes the shock from savage hits better than fluoro but it would take a really big shock to break 100 lb test fluoro I would think I think for muskies I would be thinking about either titanium (thin and strong) or camo stainess wire

I'm certainly not an experienced musky guy but if it were me I'd be using black Spro swivels (much stronger yet smaller in size) and the thimble I'd try to either get a black one or paint them black if you don't want to call attention to them as ANY shiny object will probably get their attention and maybe detract from the lure presentation as well. Maybe use a clear bead also as the red may attract attention to the connection and away from the lure? Something that this rig brings up in my mind is the issue of fluoro vs. mono as well. The primary touted value of fluoro is the supposed "invisibility" under water-especially shallow or extremely clear water. When this large a diameter of fluoro used is the "invisibility" factor still there? and would a little "stretch" using mono be beneficial in a hookup? Just some things that struck me looking at the rig and maybe my thinking is way off the mark but I thought I'd throw it out there for you to think about anyway Good luck with it either way

Thanks John

Nice work Jason....Theresa is a real "keeper" bud. In addition to being good at the fishing and conversation she is an excellent and attentive driver. I've witnessed it firsthand but Scout should also be mentioned as a good navigator as I don't want to incur his wrath before our next outing

I haven't noticed any difference in the UV flies I make but the materials flies are made from themselves are important and maybe the color as well and the action of the fly which depends on several things such as size, weight, design, and length of leader and the particular material the leader is made from. After experimenting with different colored heads I've settled on black as it it what most insects heads look like and is pretty "neutral" yet contrasts compared with the bright colors of the flies. For body material I prefer Kelly green and white , just green or just white or pearl because I've had the most success with them but I also have done OK with purple or purple/green combo. I use a variety of colored beads with green and purple being the most frequently used along with a red, green, or a clear bead at the front of the fly head. The ones I use on the Finger Lakes are somewhat shorter bodied than the Lake O flies with a little less material in them aimed at landlocks and rainbows. I also make mine with fuzzy heads and 3 D eyes mimicking some used in salt water on the west coast. I also use 50 lb Big Game mono instead of fluoro because I had some of the commercial fly leaders break. These flies are a little heavier than the commercial ones (on purpose) to slow the side to side action down after watching a lot of videos of salmon chasing flies and having difficulty actually grabbing them moving horizontally.

Nice going today Admiral and crew. With 6 rods out we couldn't buy a bite today not just a skunk but "no hits no runs no errors and all fish left on base" On the other hand it was a beautiful sunrise this morning

WTG Mike At least you didn't have to deal with any "rod hogs" today ...one of the benefits of going solo

Really nice looking fish..... sure was a nice way to end up your season

Videos like this never cease to amaze me in terms of being the reality we never know about.....the chases and misses that we never actually know about and just assume there must be nothing down there because we aren't connecting with fish. Great video footage....thanks.