Sk8man

Could be a fungal infection they are very prone to that when an area of protective slime is removed from their skin for example (as in someone poorly handling it when released). Usually seen more often in the Summer and Fall when the temps are higher though but could have had it for a while I suppose.

I'm not sure what you are running for your main line....it sounds as though it is fluorocarbon. The fluoro is best used as leader material not the main line. The the length and line strength of the leader is dependent on what you intend to then use for your main line and also what particular set ups you intend to run, (wire, copper, lead core, mono etc.), and your terminal lures and/or attractors as well as the depth you are trying to achieve. The specific rod and reel that you are using is also important in determining what types of setups you can run from it (e.g. rod have a twilli tip or roller tip, standard tip and guides ,reel capacity etc. The main reasons for not using the fluoro for your main line is that a) it has little if any stretch and it is rather brittle and stiff and b) does not come off the reel well when there is a lot of it on there.

Sounds as though you guys had quite a time of it. Good report too. Is Al still waiting on his Yamaha parts to get back into business with his boat ? Hope to get out myself early next week (in- laws are here right now for another couple days....sure put a dent in my fishing plans)

Nice fish and very good report. I do have a question though.....are you sure your temp gauge is correct the 53 temp sounds way out of bounds for what everything else seems to have been running e.g. Canandaigua and Seneca north end barely low 40's last time out...and lately cold rain....

tt

Just a word of caution about the prop pitch. The pitch has to deliver rpms within the rated range of rpms for your engine. If not careful you could select a prop that will cause the engine to exceed the range it was designed to operate within and overheat and damage your motor.

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Just regular black barrel swivels small enough to go through the tip and eyes but I also encase the wound copper wire at the end (leader end) in clear hot glue so that it will not untwist or bend back and forth and with the clear glue I can see it inside to detect any possible breakage of strands. Yes it is possible that it will collect a flea or two or grass but it is well before the lure etc. and so far no problem.

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Hey Sean I think Finnlander's point is well taken. Sometimes it is safer to bite the bullet and have someone who has messed with the stuff before (probably many times) and also may have the necessary testing equipment etc. to sort it all out. You may have a compound problem there too. Good luck with it.

Maybe all the browns were at Mexico Bay....notice I said WERE Nice bunch of fish....

Nothing like getting it in there after working hard at it

It could be that the concentrations of Zebra Mussels and Quaggas have blocked much of the traditional spawning beds of bass and perch as well in the shallower areas in many places you can't see the bottom itself because they are so thick. They also strain out most if not all of the pyytoplankton that the younger baitfish feed on in shallow so the food sources are scarce to none there and it goes up the food chain.....

Basic question: what kind of gas are you using? Is it ethanol? If the answer is yes it may be your problem it wasn't designed to use it... if it is non-ethanol how old is the gas? Was it "wintered over"? It may have water in it or in the gas line.You may want to check the fuel filter if it has one....it may be more than one issue... You may want to go back to square one with the impeller and check things out again because a hot engine may mean something is plugged there....are you getting a constant stream of water out of the outflow? I know my old 1979 Johnson had an automatic shut off when it overheated to a certain point because algae in the water had blocked the intake and impeller. The engine should not be hot at that point and it should not seize up so I would think that it is either an internal problem such as a gasket leak or malfunction, carburator issue, oil is not getting to the engine, or the water is not cooling the engine because of a blockage of some sort. I would think that given the age of the motor that 50 to 1 may not be enough oil in the mixture either despite it being well "broken in".

It seems to be because they have a little hook on their tail that is not able to adhere to the larger diameter line as long as it is smooth like mono...textured stuff like braid or leadcore is a very different story.....

Good going.....sorry to hear about Rusty's boat these are expensive critters to own aren't they? Good thing that pickerals head wasn't down further

150 ft isn't exactly "close in" its half the length of a football field Right now things will be tough until the water warms up unless you are lucky enough to happen across a pocket of water a few degrees warmer that has a color line....

Hey Abe you're kinda hard on the poor old lakers aren't ya (slime balls)? Enjoyable report....hope we have some sunny warm weather soon to get the water heated up and things moving....

A small black barrel swivel at one end of the leader (and small blackball bearing swivel at the "business" end. You can either keep the swivel you have on there and attach the barrel swivel to that or take it off and tie directly to the barrel swivel at the end of the leader (cleanest option if you don't intend to frequently change setups).

We need some warm sunny days real bad....all these lakes seem to be running colder than normal for this late in April.....

As mentioned above a #3 splitshot placed about 2 ft. above the stickbait will keep it down a couple feet or so and usually will catch grass before it hangs up on the lure as well.

Nothing beats current specific info like Matt provided. Some general things to offer would include this: Run the lightest fluoro leaders you are comfortable with (8-10 lb test if you can) Set your drag to accomodate for the lighter leader and the fact that there is little to no stretch in the fluoro ( it will come from your mono main line though). Run your lines as far back as possible. Vary your speed but keep it on the slow end for bigger browns. Don't use big shiny swivel snaps. If you use one use the smallest possible ball bearing (solid ring) and black. Either tie directly to stickbaits or use duolock snaps or Fast snaps - not swivels. Run s curve patterns when you troll. Occasionally putting it in neutral briefly and then re-engaging (this is often when they will hit (after following the lure). Use your boards to exploit the shoreline and consider using only floater type stickbaits and possibly jointed ones (tolerate speed better too) to run right in very close to shore (so you don't hang up). You may be surprised how close you get them in non-trafficked stretches of water especially early in the day (e.g. at first light).