Sk8man

Very nice bondouley. Those big lakers sure aren't starving to death either are they? Nice pics and great results! Lets hope the ice holds up until the cold sets back in supposedly on Monday for the next week and a half....From where that pic of the biggest was taken it looks as though you had quite a walk to your spot too if you went out from the launch and lucky the snow wasn't there like last weekend

You may want to look around in the bay on your way out to the lake once you get north aways....it is very grassy/shallow that far south by the launch. Hopefully we will have ice out by then

Depending on where you launch from and how early in the Spring you go...the info will vary. Sometimes after ice out (varies year to year) there are some nice browns in or near the Bay itself but often you can just start trolling going out of the channel and hang a left or right and hug the shoreline with boards and sticks run real close to the shoreline in just a few feet of water. It helps a bit to know the terrain to avoid major hang ups (and bent prop) on submerged boulders and abandoned dock pilings etc. Light lines 10 or12lb test sometimes run with 8 lb fluoro leaders - combos of spoons and sticks. Work the color line in and out of the outer edge of it. Wherever the sun heats up the water faster or where there is a pronounced color break in the water and near the mouth of streams (e.g. in front of Maxwell Creek ?) is likely where they will be.

Good question.....after Sunday the 10 day forecast is for very cold especially at night so it should be making ice and refreezing but to what extent in thawed areas is anyone's guess. When ice refreezes it is usually not as strong as ice that is first formed either because of air pockets so once again caution is the watchword and with refrozen stuff I think about going only on thicker stuff than the first frozen ice. I'm not a weather scientist so I'm basing this only on my own experience. I'm with you in hoping it gets real good so I can try for the trout.....at Onanda that running creek may do some real (but perhaps undetected by the naked eye) damage too.

I've used balloon rigs on a release clip for years off and on to do it too (similar to salt water tuna rigging) and use it on braid as well (inexpensive for the balloons and easily stored)

I just returned from checking out Onanda....it is now undoable The creek next to the beach is running full blast and the currents from it are running sideways along the shoreline with moving water visible all along the shore edge. There is some open water visible straight out from the creek mouth and it is washing out the ice from underneath and the bubbler at the dock south of the creek is adding to the problem. It is definitely unsafe right now.

Yes I know what you mean... it is real spooky walking on the clear stuff. Glad you are OK and had some success out there with the fish. Les

Nice work Justin and Cody and it looks like Tracy even let you keep some from the river WTG Les

Tg8 that area can be quite dangerous even without the ice dam problem. I would never go out there alone....that water is very deep even right next to shore. In 2004 I went through the ice at Kershaw (on the way to my spot) in 5 ft of water right up to my chin in 17 degree weather (luckily I am 6 ft.) by myself and about 6AM and it was all I could do to get out of there and I had sore ribs for a couple months afterward. If I had been at Onanda in that deep water I would have been "history" as I had a conventional snowmobile suiton and it weighed a ton when I came out....and then there was pulling my stuff out and then the walk back to my vehicle about a half mile away. I've ice fished since I was in grade school and have a good handle on ice conditions etc. but the flowing water under the ice going down the outlet a half mile away must have undercut the ice overnight and there was no way to know that....people were at the exact spot I went through the afternoon before playing frisby with their dog etc. What I am saying is no matter how experienced someone is on the ice it can make no difference to Mother Nature and we are always at her mercy; especially when we press the limits or take chances...

Nice work! On the plus side the components will probably never get any cheaper and that lure looks as though it should be able to survive any disaster that befalls it (big teeth included) Great way to while away the winter doldrums....

That sounds like real good news. Owasco is a wonderful lake and it would be great to see the browns and rainbows rebound.....

Spending more money never guarantees quality....in anything! Thinking that because something is less expensive and therefor is "crap" is ridiculous....it is a question of "what works" If you enjoy spending more money for something and thinking that it is better because of it that's fine...you have a lot of company but that doesn't make it true.