Big Water

Oh.....so now they are YOUR fish? Huh........

Two of 20 Kings last weekend had lampreys on them. Three others had scars. There are now 2 less lampreys in the lake. Somehow the post was doubled. There are not 4 less lampreys.

Two of 20 Kings last weekend had lampreys on them. Three others had scars. There are now 2 less lampreys in the lake.

Fishing Report Your Name / Boat Name: ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s):5/4 7:00-2:00 5/5 7:00-11:00 Time on Water:50 Weather/Temp: Wind Speed/Direction: Waves: 1 to 3 Friday, Saturday 3 footers building to 6' Surface Temp: Location: LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 18 friday, 12 Saturday Total Boated: 13 Friday, 8 Saturday Species Breakdown: 20 kings, 1 laker Hot Lure: Friday - purple froggie, sea sick wadler, 42 second - Saturday Moonshine, Glow Frog Trolling Speed: 1.8-2.4 sog Down Speed: Boat Depth: 60 to 120 Lure Depth: 30 to 60 ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS Got our new 26' Hewewscraft Pacific Cruiser out of Wilson for her maiden voyage. Went with my wife Kathy and friend Charlie. After spending Thursday afternoon breaking in the 3 engines and figuring out the electronics and boat plumbing, we got out at 7:00 am Friday. Special Thanks to Jim Piano (Hammerhead Charters) for helping us work through the plumbing and electrical setup on this boat (valves and switches everywhere). Friday started with light waves and rods flying everywhere. 13 kings up to 20lbs and a laker. Had a double and as we where getting the hooks out of the fish, my wife said, I think there a fish on the leadcore. She grabbed that and landed a nice 18 lb fish. The autopilot is SWEET! Everyone dealing with fish and the boat steering itself. My purple froggie lost about all of it's paint that day, so I had to pick up more. Friday afternoon we went in after cleaning the fish onboard at the cutting board and cleaning the deck with the washdown system. Man I don't know how I lived without this stuff. Kathy cooked up dinner on the onboard galley and we ate on the boat. Friday night I got to meet Richard Hajecki (Yankee Troller), and Phillip and Perry (Prizefighter) and several other people at the dock. Nice bunch of people and Phillip gave me a Moonshine spoon and said "put it back 40' and down 40' , you'll see". Saturday I followed his advise and boated another 18 lber within 5 minutes. The fishing in 5-6 waves got to my wife and we came in at 11:00. It was a great shakedown and I can't wait to get back up there next weekend when I can dedicate the entire weekend to fishing. ====================

I'm very fortunate that I have good freinds and they always offer to pitch in or buy tackle, gas or pay for hotel rooms. A couple of times a year I might take some money or let them put gas in, but I don't expect it and am thankful that they are appreciative, decent people.

To keep with the Fishing Theme. Here's my friend Scarface who likes too eat fish too!! He's back after his long siesta.

Thanks mudflat!

Well my new boat is here and it came with the Garmin TR-1 Gold on the kicker. Here's my revelation..................the kicker is not controlled by any steering wheel, but only by the Garmin. Is this typical? I'm envisioning needing to make quick changes to course or speed when I get entangled in one of those boat clusters we all encounter and not being able to adjust quickly enough. Am I concerned needlessly? Can I program the changes into the handheld unit fast enough to avoid problems. I know you've all been in these situations.

My 18.5' Lowe has taken one hell of a beating on LO and Erie and has never had a problem. The only issue is that the sides are so low that there are real problems stabilizing yourself to rig or fight fish in 4-5 seas. I've had it out in 6+ footers and never felt like I was in any danger.

I too was looking at large aluminum boats, but with more ammenities a few months back. I ended up with a Hewescraft 26' Pacific Cruiser. Make sure you check out their models too. They make numerous models of aluminum boats with some real nice options and aren't priced any higher than your Lund will be. They're real nice people to deal with. There is a dealer around Chicago, but I ordered mine from Tom-N-Jerrys boats in Washington State. The money I saved dealing with them more than offset the additional shipping price. http://www.tomnjerrys.net/inventory.html Here's the Hewescraft site and the Ocean Pro model, which is real nice. http://www.hewescraft.com/ http://www.hewescraft.com/mid-size-ocean-boats/oceanpro_boat?p=1.1.4.2

Thanks Guys. I ordered the Wingers from Great Lakes Planers today. Cheaper than I thought they'd be and nice people to deal with. Picked up some other things from their site while I was there. Lots of good trolling hardware. A good site to bookmark. Doug

This year will be the first time I'll be running four downriggers from my boat. Because of the layout and a rear motor platform, the rearmost riggers will likely need to be placed at a 45 degree angle. The rear riggers will have an adjustable 2-4' boom and the forward riggers will have an adjustable 5' boom. Do you guys have any recommendations for keeping the lines and cables separated and not ending up with an ugly mess. Things I've considered were pancake weights on the foremost riggers for cable separation and running small dipseys off of the forward riggers to get line separation. Should the rear riggers be run deeper to make use of more blowback? Also, I know that turning the boat too quickly will be bad news. Thanks, Doug

Rick, Thanks for the report and the great detail about tactics! You probably don't get told enough, but your reports are awesome and provide great useful info. Much appreciated. Doug

Thanks for the report! I'll be up that way in the next few weeks and hope the fishing is as good. Can't wait for the first spring king. Firetiger was hot for me there last year also.

WOW, that's a nice Perch!

Thanks Capt Vince! The only downside is I need to run from Wilson to Olcott to see "what the Thrillseeker is doing". Thanks for your willingness to share information. Much appreciated!!! Jack, until i run through my wife's and my "must take" lists, it will probably be 2016!

Here are a few shots of our Pacific Cruiser being rigged. It's supposed to be here within 2-3 weeks (Coming out of WA state). I can't wait to throttle this baby up. Sure going to beat my 18' Lowe!

These came out of a laker from Raystown Lake last week. All of it was in one 24" fish.

Here's my new ride. A little unconventional, but I like it. This is when it arrived at the dealers last week to be rigged. Will have twin 135hp Hondas and a 9.9 kicker with autopilot.

REZ, You do not need to present slower than 2 mph fishing for salmon. If you're targeting lake trout or some other species, you may want to slow down to 1 to 1.5 mph. My 9.9 will get to 1.8 mph with some creative throttle adjustments and choking. I would mention that the currents in Lake Ontario can be strong and a surface speed of 1 mph can be 3 mph or more at the ball. You'd only know that if you had a down-speed device or are real good at reading ball blow-back.

John, Thanks for the heads up and concern. I have an extended transom on my boat and thought I could sit it there, which would be outside of the hull. May need to fashion some sort of raised support. Doug

REZ, I have an 18.5 Lowe aluminum with a 9.9 Yamaha kicker and have trouble getting much less than 2.0 mph. I suppose with the right prop or a drift bag, you could get under 2 mph, but a 15hp could be a little big. My 2 cents. Doug

Well, my order is in and my new Hewescraft 26' Pacific Cruiser is in production. Thinking ahead, I was wondering what type, if any, you guys use for an A/C unit in boats with a cuddy. Being a completely aluminum boat and having an enclosed cockpit, I thought an add-on A/C unit might be a big plus for both overnight mooring and trolling during a 90+ degree day. I realize I'll need a compact generator when underway. Any thoughts on best units and installations? Thanks, Doug

Sorry,, West End

What are you planning to fish for? I would consider the distance it is to each. Personally I would go with the closest marina unless you have to drive long distances in the boat to get closer to the fishing. Will the boat being closer to the fishing save you enough in boat fuel to offset the cost of the slip? Figured I would put a couple of suggestions out there if you haven't thought of them yet. It would definitely cost more in boat fuel to run to Wilson from Oak Orchard than the extra cost of being at Wilson