Ric66

There are some great suggestions above, especially about the float switch for bilge pump. Definitely going to get that put in as well as DC charger for cell. After coming home fishing out of Sandy Cr last night and cleaning my fish, sat down and had a beer, then thought about the past two fishing accidents recently on Lake O. Don't know why but I wanted to watch that old movie Captains Courageous with Spencer Tracy. I think it explains why we fish.

Where did you buy this boat? Have been looking for Striper boats

Thanks. At least I'm getting a little better at it after losing a number of fish.

Heard weather report for one foot waves so decided to go out on Lake O around 3pm. Well, weather man's idea of one foot waves is different than mine I guess. Definitely larger than one footers out there. Ran around looking for bait but found very little. Set up in 250 feet of water with two dipsies with flasher and flies and one took a violent hit but he got off before I got to rod. Ran that one with a snubber figuring I had to keep the drag tighter than usual due to waves. Very hard to keep any kind of consistent speed. Things didn't seem to be calming down so ran toward shore and set up in 125ft and soon after the other dipsy took hit and fight was on. Was out 200 on two setting and it took another 200 off the reel. Took off on a few more runs then got it close to boat and it decided to tangle with my other dipsy but luckily was able to get it untangled fairly easily. Not easy fighting a king and netting it solo with arthritis acting up in my left arm but glad I was able to land it. Only saw a few other boats out there.

Bringing back a painful experience I had on Sunday. Took the wife and my son out on Lake O. Hit some very strong currents and ended up getting downrigger cable into prop. Was using a pancake weight for the first time. Learned the hard way that they tend to wander. Ended up losing my Fish Hawk probe. Just ordered another one. And that wasn't the worst of it. Couldn't get the wire off the prop so couldn't use the big motor. No problem, had the kicker. Kicker would start but would continuously stall out.Never had a problem with it before. Ended up having to get towed back to launch. Waiting to see how much my insurance will cover. Worst experience I've ever had on the water. But then I think of those guys who had their boats burned on I-Bay on the fourth. Guess its not so bad after all.

That is something to keep in mind. I remember days I thought I'd give up trolling because everything seemed to go wrong- dipsy screw would come lose and would go off on its own adventure. can't get the kicker started, hours of trolling with out a hit, etc. If there is one thing fishing teaches us is perseverance. As much pleasure as I get out of reeling in a fish, I'm really enjoying seeing other people reeling in fish on my boat.

Thanks. I've been trolling for many years on the Finger Lakes but Lake Ontario kings is a different ball game

Don't know if he'll ever take up the sport later, but at least I tried. Hard to get kids away for the computer screen these days.

Thanks. Great saying! I'll keep that in mind next time a fish takes my church board underwater with him!

Thanks. I need to teach my 11 year old son how to set lines and rearrange them when we have a fish on. Will get better at this.

Thanks Brian. Glad I'm not the only one who has done that. Anyone want to buy a net?

Thanks. Yeah, as long as I'm learning and getting better at this.

Looked at the weather for a few days and it seemed today would be the best day, though I was physically tired from building a new shed and other yard work, and my son had a friend stay over night so he went to bed late. Wife, me, and my son were going to start fishing around 4pm but wife wasn't feeling good so just me and my son. Started to set up in about 135 ft, got out one dipsy out 200ft on 3 setting with a flasher and fly, then set another dispy out 225 on 3 setting. Then, despite being told not to put a lead core out when just two people in the boat, guess what I did? Put a lead core out. I bought this torpedo weight and like any guy with a new toy, I wanted to play with it. So I put 3 colors of core out then the 12oz torpedo and let out about 200 feet of line and attached to a church board. I started to set up my first downrigger but broke the rubber band on the way down. Just starting to figure out how to use the Black releases with rubber bands. Before I can get the rigger set up the dipsy out 200ft gets hit and it immediately takes out line. I give the rod to my son and he thinks its going to be too hard for him so I take it back. Figure I'll tire the fish out a little and give it back to him. Well about 20minutes later I thought of giving it to him because I started to get tired! I could definitely feel this was going to be my biggest salmon ever. I think he took about 175ft of line out, I would get him in a little but he just kept pulling more line out. Still being a novice at this king salmon thing I didn't want to put too much pressure but when he slowed down I tried to put pressure on him and tightened the drag a little. Got him to about 150ft in back of boat and then he makes a run for the church board! Gets tangled up with it and the board disappears under water. I figure this fish is lost. Finally get him back of the boat but he is still not done. I give the rod to my son and he fights him for a while. He just wouldn't give up. The surface temp was 62 so that wasn't slowing him up. I think by now our boat has made almost a complete circle. I have my son back up and I grab the line and after what seemed an eternity finally got him in our under size net. We were both spent after that. Ended up being a very short trip but well worth it. And couldn't get my son to get in the photo. Thanks to everyone who shares info. It really helps with the learning curve. What I learned: 1. Don't go king salmon fishing after doing two days of hard yard work 2. When someone with more experience tells you don't run a leadcore line with two people in the boat- listen to him 3. Don't go king salmon fishing with an under size net So tomorrow, it being Father's Day, I think I will be buying a larger net. And then Monday being my 52 birthday (and I felt every day of it today) I think I will buy myself a new smoker. Happy Father's day everyone!

I'm just glad someone besides me knows the song I was referring to. As long as she's happy out there, that's the important part, as much as we'd like them to stay near us. I always remember what my uncle told me when I was a kid- "You gotta get out of (insert your home town here)" meaning you can't play it safe, that you have to go out an experience life. I'm amazed at the things I did when i was younger- went to school in Boston at Berklee College of Music, then to Japan on two occasions. Those words he said always echoed in my mind. Unfortunately I just learned he has Alzheimer's.

Thanks, Gambler. I hope it is one of many for him!