DJ 17

Thanks Chas, I was unaware that the standard angle was 55*

You can start with the lake erie rig, omitting the gold Aberdeen hooks. Black or red small octopus for stealth. Hooks tied 6" to 8" apart on 6lb mono leaders. Some days small flies on instead. I would wait a couple years for the cycle going on right now to straighten itself out. You might get discouraged and never go back. Lund has it pegged, but left a couple things out for you to discover, i.e. an abyss murk line. Hard fishing but satisfaction when it comes together.

I very rarely fish Seneca ( 3x total) so I am trying to apply info from this thread to other lakes that I fish. When you are running the 6lb leader, are you fishing that in the abyss or just shallow? If so, how much weight are you using? Do you ever fish rubber with the octopus hooks or just live bait? Could you elaborate on the flies you run? Sorry for all the questions, just trying to add knowledge. Please PM me if you prefer.

For you guys that have rod trees. How tall are your trees, and are all the holders off the side at a 45* angle or something different? I'm thinking of putting a set of triples on my boat and am trying to iron out the details.  Would you do anything different if you were to put them on again?

What do you have for a boat? How is it rigged at the moment? How are you set up for tackle? Telling guys here what you already have will help give you as much useful info as possible.

I do have a couple pics but the damn computer won't recognize them on the memory card for some reason?

SO I finally got rigged and a somewhat decent day to shoot.  There was a little breeze but not bad. Ended up putting on a Burris Droptine 4.5-14 AO.  Tried 4 types of ammo.  Hornady 17 gr vmax, cci 17 gr TNT, cci 20 gr FMJ, and Remington 17 gr accutip.  The best out of my rig was the hornady, followed by the Remington.   When I quit yesterday the Hornady printed a sub 1" group at 100 and the Remington was right around an inch.

I shot 2 squirrels with the vmax and a big woodchuck with the TNT's they both worked fine.  One weird note was that one squirrel didn't even show any sign of a shot and the second one was blown apart.

I haven't had a chance to get it on the lead sled yet to really dial it in, but I like the gun for its price point.  The trigger isn't great.

Nice Work, I would have loved to get out but was gathering sap for the first time this year.  There are a few chubby fish in there!  How low is the water?  I looked at the launches on our side a while back and they were extremely low.

I am on my second masterbuilt and love it.  Essentially the same thing as the Bradley but you are not stuck having to buy their pucks.  You can use what ever kind of wood chips you like.  In fact I just made a pile of chicken wings yesterday! Dinosaur BBQ creole seasoning, smoke them for 2 hours, coat them in sauce and place them on the grill to set the glaze and a few char marks.  They great!

A lot of this will depend on your location?  What part of PA are you from?

I was at Frontenac yesterday and it is awful. The waters edge is at the very end of the ramp maybe lower and then it is just muck and sand on the north launch.  In the south side it is worse.  The ramp is out of the water and all broken apart, there is also a big hole made by all the people that power load onto the trailer.  Behind the hole there is a large pile of rocks that were blown out of the hole.  That pile of rocks actually sticks out of the water.  I even saw somebody's  license plate laying on the bottom.

Ordered an XT-17VR yesterday.  Should have it in a week or so.  I am leaning towards a Vortex Diamondback for glass, not sure on the magnification yet.  I had a 4-12 in my hand yesterday that seemed pretty good. I had that and a Nikon Prostaff side by side and the Vortex was much brighter and clearer to my eye.

I talked to Ed yesterday and he said they stopped working on them as of last year.  He is strictly Mercury now.

All I need done is to have them hook up the computer to the motor for the diagnostics and repair as necessary, but I have heard grumblings that they aren't that great down there.  Just want as much info as possible. 

I need to get a 3 yr tune up on my E-tec and Forest Fisheries doesn't work on Evinrude's anymore.  My 2 closest options are Moore's in Ithaca or Coopers in Baldwinsville.  Moore's is a little closer but I have never been there before, just looking for some input from anyone who has experience with them. Good or bad.

Thanks,

DJ

I have a couple that are green and silver.  What are some colors you guys like?

These kind of things are exactly what I'm finding. One guy loves them and the next hates them.  Must be their quality control dept is awful is all I can figure?

I am checking prices through a local FFL as we speak.  I am seriously considering the Marlin XT-17VR.  I recently found the Savage 39R17 Classic.  That gun is not a bottom end rig by any means but if I can get it for a reasonable price I might have to upgrade.  Check it out, its a nice looking rig.

Here's the next question:  What do you guys have for glass on your guns?  I saw one guy has a VX III but that js too much money for me to spend on this outfit.  Some have told me the BSA Sweet 17 series are great and some say they are crap.  Opinions? Experience?  I have nothing but Leupolds and Nikons but I am open to suggestions base on performance.

Jeff,

Will you be at the Finger Lakes Trolling Show in March?

How long of a leader are you guys using with the 10 or 11" paddles?  Approx 60"?

It is a p.i.t.a. but it can be done if it is a heavier braid which tends to be a little stiffer.  I have done it with 40 and 50#. Sometimes using the point of a needle to get the braid through the knot is helpful but, like you said its tough, I don't think I would bother to try it with anything much lighter, just drive yourself crazy!

Tile man,

Which part are you asking about?

Here is what I sent:

Thank you for the opportunity to comment in regards to deer hunting regulation changes.  As a life long outdoorsman I am VERY concerned about the LACK OF DEER sightings in my area (7H) this past season.  The winter kill from the previous season was severe in my area.  I hunt on approximately 140 acres, and last March I found 12 dead deer.  They were not all fawns. There were adult does and bucks as well.  I am not a biologist, but that is a serious impact on that small of an area.  Going by the Winter Severity Index used by the DEC, the later portion of last winter(feb-march)  in my area was extreme to say the least.

    I have attended both deer population management meetings hosted by Cornell (1/20, 1/27) within the new Aggregate pilot area. While I can appreciate peoples concerns about deer "over population" in urban/suburban areas that is simply not the case in the rural community in which I live. To make general recommendations that effect both suburban and rural areas equally when in fact they have very different concerns seems counterproductive. 

    During the first meeting on 1/20 I asked this question:  If the goal is to manage the population on a more local level, to have a beneficial impact for both the residents and the wildlife, how is the development of these aggregates going to help? In point of fact, I would think it would be counter productive due to the larger area covered within each aggregate.  We were told that the aggregates were formed to make the gathering of data easier.  This seems to be a solution installed to make administrative tasks easier, and will not necessarily make management strategies on a "local" level easier to implement. 

    If there is a restructuring of WMU/Aggregates coming in the future would it not make more sense to define the boundaries based on habitat similarities and human/wildlife densities?  Meaning, could you build the aggregates surrounding urban/suburban areas to have a population goal that would specifically target that type of habitat?  Then in turn, build the aggregates for rural/farm habitat separately?  This way would make it possible to try and benefit all stakeholders within each target area.  For example, the pilot aggregate contains many square miles of agricultural land as well as Ithaca and its suburbs, I would think the population goals for these 2 opposing habitats would be very different from one another.  By grouping them together it will almost guarantee that the stakeholders in one habitat type may benefit from regulation changes at the expense of the other.

    I realize that there are many differing opinions on this matter as well as many others, but I truly believe making the Aggregate areas larger then already existing WMU's will make the task of "local" deer population management much more difficult. 

    I would also be in favor of antler restrictions to protect year and a half old bucks, but I am FIRMLY against a 1 buck per year regulation.  I say this because there have been many years when I have not taken a buck (my choice), and to have that outstanding year when you may get the opportunity to harvest a great  buck with a bow and a gun taken away by regulations would be extremely unfair in my opinion. 

Again thank you for the opportunity to comment.

Sincerely,

Dennis Johnson

Depending on what type of release you are running you may want to consider using mono between your "shots".  Sometimes the braid can be a pain to keep in the release. Tying  willis knot with braid can test your patience at times as well!

Second meeting is tonite 1/27.

I have a couple pieces of leftover nylon sheeting that are about 1/2" thick. I cut one to the dimensions of my tailgate, it works great when you are away from home on a fishing trip.  I also drilled 2 holes in approximately the vertical center (maybe a little bit closer to your side) about a foot in from each side of the board, then put a bolt up through from the bottom of the board.  When you are filleting a fish you push the eye down over the bolt and it holds the fish in place very well and frees up your non-knife hand to manipulate the filet as necessary.  Remember to countersink the hole on the underside of the board to account for the head of the bolts, this will insure that the board stays flat on your tailgate/table or whatever you are using to support the board. If I didn't explain it well feel free shoot me questions if you want.