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That's a damn shame that those eels are in there that thick. Is there any talk or action going to take place to try to control them? I mean if they are that hungry that they suck fast to your boat that's really bad, and enough to turn fisherman away from that particular lake, then the whole area suffers on the account nobody is trying to do something about the situation. If they can do a good job on the eels on a lake as big as Ontario and Michigan, they should be able to put a hurting on them big time on the finger lakes, I realize they are long but not near as wide as Ontario, so using the methods on Ontario should be a lot easier on the finger lake, does anyone know if there are plans to do something about the eels on your lake? I hope for your sake and the fish that someone realizes the severity of the eel problem!!

Very interesting video, the fishing would be a lot better if they wouldn't have to be on their toes (fins) constantly on the watch for the eels. It must be rather nerve racking being in the waters that are infested with these damn eels, stress plays a big factor on a fishes life, not being productive in reproduction and maybe even shorten their life span (I'm not certain of that, only just saying) I mean look what stress does to a human. One would only think the same with a fish if something was constantly after it? sooner or later it will suffer from fatigue, not?

Your are absolutely right Long Line, and that would generate a lot of money for the eel control program, I went on line and even the Queen of England loves lamprey pie (YUCK) anyway I certainly agree that a lot of attention should be focused on the finger lakes, those photos are a true sign of trouble. On another TV. program there are a bunch of guys that dip net some type of eels and they sell them by the pound, and a pound of these eels pays $300.00 to $500.00 a pound!! and this other guy then sells them to some foreign country where they raise them to a certain size and then they eat them. I did take notice that when it's in the early spring they are close to the ocean and they go up little feeder streams, some eels pay more than others. The so called glass eels pays the 5 Ben Franklins a pound. They are very small almost like the size of a red fish worm, it takes a lot to make a pound, but these guys get up to 5 pounds on a very good night, $2500.00 a night isn't a bad nights wages!! Takes me a couple 40hrs weeks to make that kind of$$. We could supply the world with enough eels out of our lake systems.

I agree totally with your statement!! They did mention that the means to try to control the lamprey eels only effect the lamprey, the other type eels and other aquatic species and plants are not effected by this method of control. They also said their goal is to get 90% of the eels, they did say they will never kill them all, and this will be a long term goal. I also know that the lamprey do attach themselves to the salmon, I have caught fish with the markings, but never witnessed a eel attached to a fish. There were some posts during the salmon season with eels attached to their catch and even a video with one squirming around on the floor of their boat. I also remember some guys saying that the eels were attached to their rigger weights.

It was on the WFN our channel is 699, I think it's called the World Fishing Network and they were doing a show on invasive species in the Great Lakes. Last week it was about the zebra mussels, and next week is a continuation of the lamprey eels, where they will be studying how long the life span of the eels are and how many fish they kill in their life span, the previews said they live 9 years, but they want to know how many pounds of fish they kill in their 9 years. Very interesting show !! I didn't know that the eels nearly wiped out the Lake Trout. I'm bad with dates, I think it was in the mid 60's up to the 70's when Canada and the United States started to work together to protect the trout species in the lakes. They cut way back on the stocking of the salmon and trout until they got a grip on the eels population. OH, one other thing they found was the lamprey eel like totally freaks out when the scent of a dead eel is present, so the scientist found out, and they think that they might be able to use this scent to force the eels in a direction to congregate them into a smaller area and then spray them with lampricide, to kill more eels with less juice, and if this works it will be the most cost effective method they found yet. Hope it works!!

I just watched a show on the Lamprey eels and what they are doing to try to control these ugly looking things. First they trapped a lot of these eels, to my surprise they are bigger and more abundant than what most of us think, this study was done on Lake Ontario and Lake Michigan, where they are effecting the trout families. They took these eels to a place where they put them into a device that injects them with something that makes the males unable to fertilize the female egg, but they still make the milky substance to fool the female to breed with the sterilized male. Over the years they claim it will cut the population in half, the part I don't understand is if you can collect the amount of eels they had (thousands) why not terminate them all together? they did say they need time to see if this theory works. Another thing a young biologist came up with is a scent they put into a feeder stream and he claims he can get eels from 3 to 5 miles out in the lake to come up this stream and it worked, they showed the eels coming up this little stream by the truck load where they collect the females and take them to this same facility and inject them with a needle which makes them not produce eggs, and then release them back to the waters, so they claim with 50% of the males not able to fertilize eggs and the females not producing eggs this will cut down the population dramatically. All this cost 3 million dollars, why not use what they called colon and put it in the feeder stream all around at different places and draw thousands of these eels in and just terminate them. When this guy put this colon in the water he claims it has no effect on any thing in the lake it just attracts lamprey eels both females and males, and you could walk across the stream and not get wet feet that's how many eels were in this stream. You could get rid of tons of these eels without costing a lot of money, buy transporting these eels back and forth for a shot. It was a very interesting show, but I think it could be done faster and more cost efficient. When they return the eels to the water even though they can't reproduce they still need to survive which means more salmon and trout will die. Some things didn't make sense and cost could be a lot less. I guess that's why I build starters & alt. for a living and not a scientist.

It looks like you had a fantastic day congrats. and of course the bonus walleyes excellent job!!

Congrats Dave!! I love my front stuffer, It's quite a challenge to get one with the old smoker, they been pushed around for months already and they all have a education by now, I have a 50 cal. Lyman deer stalker, and a guy I know is really into his flint locks, shoots the running deer shoots and stuff like that, anyway he took my gun and gave it a going over with a little bag of tricks. It's a rare thing if mine doesn't go off and it goes off pretty fast also, I shot my personal best buck with it a couple of years ago, that doe will taste good come Feb, when the winter seems the longest to me anyway. You should be a proud man, excellent job, may many more lay before you once the smoke clears!! PAP/

Nick that sucks, I had to rebuild both my trim cylinders, they wouldn't bring the lower unit back down when I put them into the trailering position, it wasn't that bad of a job but the few parts that go into them is salty, I had a bent rod in one the port side, it was like $90.00 for a few o rings a washers, but with a cracked housing that will be different, I went on line and found a cylinder, new for $65.00 and ordered it and it arrived only to have an empty box, the end was opened and the cylinder fell out or someone else needed one also, but I did learn that they try to sell you a port or starboard side when actually they are the same, just the lines and plugs are in different spots, there are numbers on the cylinder and those will be the numbers that will determine the length and style you'll need. E bay had a lot of them but not the type my boat takes, so take a look on there first. Sorry to hear the bad news, It seems like it never ends, but it will all come together soon.

AAHHH, congrats, the hard part is over!!, I also started my engine on the floor, same just long enough to time her and see if the mechanical advance was working. I know where your coming from about the cost of the manifolds, I had to buy 2 exhaust manifolds, my risers were ok, after a good acid cook in a machine that's designed to remove rust and mineral build up which my block was also done in the same manner, but my exhaust manifolds didn't pass the pressure test, which set me back around $700.00. That was the most expensive part of the whole project, meaning I only got 2 items for that amount of money. I stayed with a 2 barrel intake which had to be replaced also, but my uncle gave me a carb with the mechanical choke, it had a 2 barrel with electric choke but it wouldn't work right, it stayed on even when warm, he took it apart and discovered the spring was bad or something and I looked into a new carb and it was ridiculous what they wanted for the same type, I could find others cheaper but there was a glitch with each one. So he said he thinks he has one that would work at his place and it fit exactly right only thing he said is it's a racing 2 barrel which flows 600cfm, a little less than a 4 barrel but it will be good on gas for trolling but as bad as a 4 barrel at half or more throttle, which I didn't care because I use a kicker to troll anyway. I also took the Y pipe in the back where the exhaust dumps out off and replaced the seals where they hook to the outdrive and put new exhaust shutters in each side the rods that hold the shutters were rusted off and they were just laying in the pipe, I had a hunch that the motor just wasn't breathing right, I always had like exhaust smell in the boat and the starboard side always ran 30 degrees hotter, I'm glad I did that, The same theory with a thermostat and the exhaust shutters some say you don't need them, but I decided to put them in, some say with rolling seas against the back you could get water in the back cylinders or if you back your boat in the water to fast it could happen, they were cheap compared to the rest of the stuff. Can't wait till spring to test everything out and I'm sure your in the same shoes.

Hey guys if all comes together and everybody makes the trip, It will be cool for you to meet each other, maybe someone can take a picture of all the LOU guys and your fish. Please post a picture with the guys and your fish, This might be one of the biggest get together yet of LOU members!! Hopefully a few eyes mixed with the pan fish?? I would like to see the out come if all you guys put your heads together it will be a awesome day. PAP.

Looking good Nick!!, just curious are you going to put the motor in then put the manifolds on or bolt the manifolds on first, the reason I asked is I put the manifolds on first but for some reason (can't remember) I had to take them back off to install the motor. I was wondering what year your boat is it looks identical to mine, the way the piece that bolts to where the thermostat is, is identical to mine, I had to purchase a new one of those thing where all the little hoses attach, and from what I gather in 1982 that was when they started changing things, because I wanted to put different heat exchangers on for through hull exhaust, (with mufflers) but I had to stay with the OE log style exhaust manifolds. Also is your motor a 2 barrel or 4, mines a 2 barrel.

Hey guys, the 204 was designed for varmints and a damn good yote gun, I agree the 22-250 is the best cal for coyote hunting. So lets talk fishing!! at least we can return them to their own world after we had our fun. You can only shoot and kill an animal once but with catch and release we all can enjoy the sport with out getting in to one's personal belief. The browns are calling our name in a few months!! PAP.