Capt Vince Pierleoni

Nice fish! Great to see that girth.

Great topic. Sometimes the only thing you can do is leave the area entirely. Sometimes you can pattern them, as to where they are on the feed in relation to the thermocline, and stay away from them depth-wise. This is not always the case, and sometimes you have to move to prevent damaging many. If you do rip a gill or get profuse bleeding from the tongue, take that fish rather than throw it back dead just to kill another bigger fish, it's the right thing to do. The advice given earlier about getting them in quick, and flipping them off without handling them if possible is correct. Guys must be taking better precautions in recent years, as we regularly catch large kings with healed up slightly altered jaws. Even with non "tattle tale" releases like Blacks, a trained eye can read the rods and cables for a "hitchhiker", and release most of them unscathed. Thanks guys for bringing this up.

That great to hear Greg. It will be good to see Team Troubles earlier in the season. Have a great Christmas buddy.

Yeah Pete, Toms a trip. Judging by some of his audio-visual creations as of late, he has many additional talents besides staring at the ceiling at night thinking up hot fly patterns! LOL! I too, always enjoy competing against and swapping stories with Team VQ, always a "factor" in every event. I hope you and your family have a great Christmas. Say hi to your crew for me. See you in Feb at the expo.

Guys are probably taking exception to the comment; "this board has been dead." Actually, I've been surprised at how much activity there has been, with holidays upon us and lots of hunting going on. There is quite alot of Salmon buzz starting, and it will only intensify. The topic you have brought up is one often discussed on this forum, and in person. Even the closest observors of this fishery, and DEC fishery managers can only speculate. So many factors come into play such as, stocking practices, predators present when stocking takes place(although holding pen projects have certainly helped), food present for fingerlings, angling pressure on "skippers"(1st year Salmon), baitfish migrations, baitfish densities(too much bait makes Kings extra hard to "foil"), water clarity, temp inversions, ect,ect,ect. It's a two part equation, will the population be up, and will conditions be favorable so I can realize that upswell. Most of us feel that we may not be totally out of the woods on the older classes, but they should be big again. Everywhere we went around the lake last year the Alewives were ample. In addition, we are currently experiencing an explosion of smelt, they put lots of weight on Kings. As for Kings in the 5-16lb class, there should be a strong representation to tear up your set. Good Luck.

Congrats! Nice deer, velvet or not. Give us the story, was it acting like a buck, or was it driven? Yes, they can do mounts with velvet. Went on an archery Caribou hunt in '98, and all the "cows" have small racks in velvet.

If you see one of the fixtures of Olcott around today, wish Dave Hoffman a happy birthday. He is one of the partners of Double Play II boat, and one of the truly good guys around.

C'mon Tom, you know me too well. You know I won't take the bait. I'm not gonna take part in some WR style trash-talking exchange! All the VQ guys are cool, and one of my favorite competing teams. In fact, it's so formidible that I think you should bring that "crazy b#t&h" boat of yours down with your own squad! You know, that bad-ass Penn Yan with the blue anodized riggers? C'mon, that would give us another team and keep all those brains and talent from being on one vessel! I have nothing but respect for team VQ, but I don't remember getting any help in a Tourny? He sure helped me with the canal and docking in Erie, PA when I brought the Vike home, and I will be forever grateful. Man, this season is gonna be a blast!

Well.....after lots of consideration I think we will fish it. YEAH RIGHT! LOL!!! Wouldn't miss it! Who else is in? Just think, all the subjects (CHINNIES) are out there still putting on the feed bag as the Lake hasn't even cooled down yet.

Nice buck!

Nice pics Tim. How 'bout those Kings we had in late June/early July this past season!!!!???

Slight improvement as of last night, some fish being caught. None of us know how todays rain and big run-off will impact visibility come Monday AM.

Ironically, if we are going to successfully keep "wind"mills out of the Great Lakes, it will be because Sailors and Anglers finally find common ground and band together. We will be looking to you, Ray, to help us recruit some fighters.

A slight timing change can also give those symptoms.

Congrats Bob Walters! Chalk up another world-class fish from the Lake O system.

I received mine. Wow, very well thought out and first-class.

Yikes!!! Can we "fast forward" to May?

Very sorry to hear of the passing of your friend, and such a longtime Lake Ontario angler. Our sincerest condolences.

Yamahas are a good motor, but definitely take a look at the Hondas.

Nice! Kings are Kings, whereever you find 'em.

You have done a nice job with the selection. Because his knowledge is limited, you may want to make one exception on the weedless thing and get him a few smaller rattle traps. It will cast a country mile and has been a Bass/Pike killer for decades.

The problem with Rapala is they are now owned by the "Normark" conglomerate. They also acquired Luhr Jensen, and arrogantly discontinued most of the tried n true Kwikfish colors and came out with a bunch that must be easier to paint in China. This is why the Great Lakes companies like Dreamweaver and Atomik are so much better to deal with.

Happy Birthday Jerry, from Steph and I. I can still remember oh-so- clearly how you would walk off your nervous energy through the streets of "downtown" Olcott before and during the Pro-Ams. You of course were clad in camo pants WAY before they were in vogue. Make sure "in the midnight hour, you cry more, more, more" and give a "Rebel yell" later. Have a great day and many more. Wind should die by tomorrow so you should go get a crack at "one eyed jack". Looking forward to Spring so I can actually talk to you in person.

Sorry you have to go through that. I've had 2 stands stolen that were LOCKED in the last 3 bow seasons, from properties that I had permission on. I've always felt that it would be the ultimate to have a couple hundred acres of my own. I guess it would just end up a nightmare.

Congrats! Way to hang in there.