From myself and I assume all the members of the FLTA,
Thank you Nick for a great job last year running the show and also for taking the reins again this year. See you at the meeting tonight.
Scott
It does help slightly moving the weights forward. On both the 22's and 44's. I've even installed 11/4" foam versus the 1" standard foam. My pic shows both thicknesses.
I don't know if anyone has tried this, but last Sunday during my FLTA tournament. My tx-44 planers were struggling to stay afloat pulling 400 copper and 11 core. I removed both weights, burrowed a hole in the center and re-installed only one weight in the bottom center. WOW, what a change. They floated and pulled 30% better.
I'd get yourself a bigger net. Silver fish that size won't give you an opportunity to bring in by hand. I've even extended my net handle. Filled all the hollow tubes with Great stuff so it floats.
I certainly agree with all the theories on how this laker survived and it's age. Here is another theory. Say sometime in the past few years a fisherman from one of the great lakes caught a very large laker. Lives near Canandaigua lake or drives by it on way home. Kept the fish in the live well. To his surprise, the fish survived, and instead of mounting or eating, the fish was set free in Canandaigua Lake.