jonboat

The 50# braid will be fine until the fleas get bad. Wire for dipsies works really well during flea season, and I go with 30# Ande mono for non-dipsy rods. Even wire will collect some, but the good part is that as you reel up, they tend to slide down the line, keeping your rod from getting clogged up. Here's a wire dipsy line with fleas from last summer... you can barely see the wire, but the yellowish crud above the swivels is a mass of fleas

I'm thinking it's a good thing that they are looking at options now, instead of waiting until the fishery collapses. it'll stink to have fewer fish while forage base recovers, but that still is better than a complete collapse of the salmonid fishery.

Great colors on that brownie!!!!

Gonna do a shakedown trip the 21st or 22nd (weather permitting), then again the following weekend. I hope we do half as well as you guys did!

Click on the "Profile" link at the top of this page, then click "Profile" in the left side box, then click "Account Settings", then you can change your password. Sweet on the spring King!!!!!!

Great report!!! You're on the right path getting your little guy hooked on fishing early! Congrats on the memories you made with this trip. Now, your next job with your little guy, is to work on casting and reeling. I recommend a few rounds of front porch fishing - like me and my grandson here...

Borax is the base ingredient of most egg cures. The main reason for curing before freezing is to keep the eggs from popping. The curing process toughens the membrane and removes some of the liquid so that when the liquid inside freezes and forms ice crystals, the crystals don't puncture the membrane as the egg expands and contracts during the freezing/thawing process. The rocketman post above is probably one of the best methods I've seen, but you were looking for less steps. When I'm in a hurry, here's what I do... I remove the eggs from the skein with a spoon, like above. Next, I rinse the eggs in a strainer to get the blood out, allow to drip dry in the strainer for 5-10 minutes. Place in a plastic or glass bowl (metal is a no-no with cure) and liberally coat the eggs with cure (borax, or Atlas Mikes if you want colored cure). Stir with a plastic spoon to make sure all the eggs are coated. allow them to sit for an hour. they will make a bunch of "juice" as the cure pulls water from the eggs. Rinse thoroughly in a strainer, then spread on a paper towel for an hour to air dry a bit. Tie your spawn sacks, place in freezer bags and freeze 'em (I bag them in sandwich zipper bags, that go in a gallon size freezer bag - seems to keep the freezer burn away). I do bags of different colors (mesh & floaties). When I'm getting ready to hit the river, I usually bring 6 - 12 of each color (depending on how long I have to fish), so I can change things up and find the colors they really want. I don't get out on the rivers/creeks nearly as much as I'd like and don't always end up getting a hen full of eggs every year, so I've actually had cured eggs last me two seasons when they're cured this way and kept frozen.

Here's my favorite line from the press release... "Since the inception of its energy-services programs in the late 1980s, NYPA has financed approximately $1.44 billion in more than 1,800 energy-efficiency projects at almost 4,000 public facilities, saving state taxpayers more than $133 million annually in municipal energy costs." So, what they're saying, is that they spent $1.44 billion (with a "B") of our tax dollars to save $133 million in energy costs. Does anyone else see a problem with the return on investment, or is it just me? And along those lines... has anybody seen their energy costs go down?

I gave' em a vote!

I'm with you there. If you aren't gonna eat it, release it unharmed. Taking the eggs and dumping the carcass is the sort of thing that is done by the same bunch that are always out there breaking the rules. Idiots that just don't belong in the outdoors.

Mostly it's because it's fun!!!! I don't care for salmon most of the ways they get cooked, but smoked.... YUM!. For lake fish, I use a liquid brine, but for trib fish, I use a dry brine, which firms up the meat nicely. So yes, I will eat "mud hens" I wouldn't say they don't fight as much as out in the lake... I'd say they fight about the same (at least in my experience), only in the tribs, you're screwed if you plan to stay put when they decide to "go with the flow". At that point you need to start working your way downstream after it because you aren't going to drag it back up against the current. It's a whole different experience, actively drifting your bait instead of sitting on a boat watching your rods. I enjoy catching salmonids out in the lake and in the tribs. Two unique experiences that are equally fun and rewarding.

I got a ticket for the trailer ball on my bumper - the ticket was for an obstructed plate. The deputy was cutting me a little slack instead of a speeding ticket - sort of an "on-the-spot plea bargain". The fine for obstructed plate is anything the judge wants to set it at between $25 and $200, so this is what you'd call a "revenue infraction". Makes a great substitute for moving violation, and the municipalities love these because they can collect extra revenue. On the plus side, it is not a moving violation and therefore, no points on your license. I asked the deputy if I need to take the ball off my bumper and he told me that he wouldn't because it leaves a readily available "reduction" option in place for the next cop who stops you. Cops like to have "options" just as much as everyone else does.. Generally this only applies to the bumper-mount trailer balls, not a hitch in a receiver. The receiver-types are generally at or below the bottom of the bumper, so don't provide any obstruction of the license plate.

Hit the lake on my neighbors boat, targeting lakers. Went 5 for 9 with a couple of short hits that tripped the riggers with nobody home, and one that came unbuttoned on a flatline about 50' from the boat (on the surface). Only two short hits, no hookups on the 160 wire divers - not enough to even pop the release, just a bounce or two. All fish came on spoons off the riggers. Ran a stacker on one side, a cheater on the other. only one fish on the cheater, none on the stacker - the rest on the spoon at the ball. didn't seem to matter shat kind of spoon, all saw action with the best being a blue & silver Loco. Success was 65'-70'down over 115 - 125 FOW.

Wait a minute!!!! there are four of them that are running this year - so there's still one left out there somewhere!!!! If i stop up there it's only because I have dirty lures that need to be washed

Nice. We tried trolling for staging fish Sunday and had the skunks with us. We didn't mark a single fish from 15 fow out to 80 fow. Water temps were still 62-63 degrees out in the lake. With as choked with weeds as the pond is right now, hard to think there would be many fish trying to hit the creek yet. If I remember, Fair Haven run is almost always much later than Oswego and Pulaski. Oh, wait a minute.... Meat is right - there are only four fish that run in Fair Haven, the rest are to the East, nobody need bother since the ones that run have already done so Maybe I'll take a drive up one evening later in the week for an hour or two of casting in the channel.

at least you guys were marking fish - out in front of Fair Haven, NOTHING on the graph at all from 15 fow out to 80.

We were out there - right in front from 6 - noon, looking for staging salmon in close (zig-zagging from 40 - 80 FOW) The skunks were with us. We didn't mark a single fish on the graph and had no hits. Where were you guys? saw two fishing boats all morning and both went East. When we headed in there were probably 5 or 6 big sail boats out deeper, all headed East. We saw lots of perch fishermen just inside the chute. The pond is still choked with weeds, probably why nobody staging out front yet.

planning to go out Sunday to try for some staging fish. Wondering if anybody's been out this week and how deep they are.

Depends on what you mean by "other style". If you're talking big boards vs. in-lines, I would go with big boards every time. I never cared for in-lines because I like to limit the amount of "stuff" between the rod and the bait (I make an exception for dipsies). It's a personal preference - I know guys that swear by in-lines. If you're talking about the different brands/styles and even home-made big boards... I'd probably end up going with the otter boats simply because I know how they ride and pull, and am used to them, but would consider building my own too.

I had one break sort of like that, it fell off a shelf. Being you were out on a really rough day, they could have broken simply bouncing around in the boat while you were headed out to your fishing spot. Notice how the center section pushed from the bottom - the heavy keel section pushing down and bouncing while stored upside down on the deck. Might be worthwhile to secure them somehow when in-transit on rough days.

Just curious if anybody is getting fish on j-plugs. Also wondering how far back from the ball to put them (my first year with riggers on my boat).

I'll probably give it another couple weeks - until the run is going full speed ahead. Then I'll winterize the boat and get my waders out. Once I'm done fishing the tribs, I go into hunting mode until early spring.

Those Bradley's are really nice - one of these days I'll get either one of those or a Masterbuilt Electric smoker. Just a whole lote easier than messing with coals.

they need a webcam like that at the SR ladder!!!!

You can get one like mine for $40 at Home Depot, then another $10 bucks to modify it to make it easier to use. That seems reasonable. What did you do to modify it? That's actually an old photo of the smoker itself from the first time I used it the salmon photos are from this past weekend, but I need to take some photos of my hot rodded smoker. First mod: I put the legs on the outside then used 10" or 12" long 1/2" Bolts to make legs on the fire pan so that the whole unit can easily be lifted off the fire pan. This makes tending to your coals much much easier than trying to do it thru the door. this also makes you lose less heat when you need to tinker with your coals. Next mod, put a charcoal grate from a little smokey-joe grill in the bottom of the fire pan so that the ashes from your charcoal have some place to go - instead of smothering your coals. Anything you can find to act as a grate and get the coals up off the bottom of the bowl will work here - I just happened to have an old mini grill sitting around that I could steal the part from. Last "gotta have it" mod, drill about 8 3/8" holes in the fire pan to get more air to your coals (4 on the bottom, 4 a little ways up the side). These smokers can be a bear to get up to temp then maintain temps - Before the mods, I had to fiddle with it non-stop to keep it up to temp - on something big like a pork shoulder that's a lot of hours of babysitting the fire. With these last two mods, it gets a lot easier - I check on it every 30 - 45 minutes and usually don't have to do anything. This at least lets me get stuff done around the house instead of holding me hostage. The final mod is optional. I haven't done it yet because I keep forgetting when I'm shopping... The thermometer that comes with this smoker does not tell you temps. It simply says "WARM", "IDEAL", and "HOT". In order to actually follow someone's recipe, you generally need to know your temps, and a real thermometer is how you do that. I've been told you can get one at Wally-world for 5 or 6 bucks - and I will if I ever manage to remember while we're out shopping.