MuskyMark

You are correct muskiesdreams...I always make that mistake calling it the Elks and I don't know why...lol..must be getting old! Thanks for correcting me. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Eviltroll, I guess I'm one of the musky purists Gill-T speaks about and I hope I could convince you not to use a sucker rig for muskies in the upper Niagara River. I know people say that you can control the hookset and prevent the musky from swallowing the bait but I can assure you that this is not accurate. As a member of the Niagara Musky Association I can guarantee you that a sucker rig spells certain death for a musky and in a fishery that is self sustaining and not stocked, any musky that is killed is not a good thing. Also a fluorocarbon leader will break. We use straight stainless wire and braided seven strand wire for our leaders. If you are interested in learning how to fish the Upper Niagara river for muskies by casting, jigging, or trolling, I suggest you come to one of our meetings at the Elks Lodge In Tonawanda at 7pm on the first Tuesday of every month. The meetings are free and your not obligated to join and I can introduce you to several people who be willing to take you out and show you the ropes. I'm not trying to tell you how to fish but only asking that you might reconsider your method for muskies and help us protect the fishery we love so much. Thanks Mark

I'm selling (2) two used Walker Electric Downriggers with four foot booms. Both units are in excellent working condition and to the best of my knowledge have nothing wrong with them. I have been using them with no problems at all. Included with the downriggers are two swivel base plates that lock in eight different positions, two ten pound round ball weights, two wire harnesses, two home made handles that screw into the sides of the cable spools to use in the event that there was an electrical problem and the cables had to be reeled up manually, and two ( one per unit) dual rod holders. The booms screw together in 3 sections and the middle section could be removed if you desired a smaller length boom. I purchased these units several years ago from a fellow fisherman who lived near Olcott and used them on Lake Ontario. I do not know the motor size, amperage, rate of retrieval, etc... I do know they pull a 10lb weight up from 80ft all day long with no trouble. I have spoken with a service tech from Walker and he has told me that since I do not know the date of manufacturing and because these are older units, he does not recommend using anything heavier than a 12lb weight. In his expert opinion he believes that it would be detrimental to the motors to use anything heavier than 12lbs with these units. I'm asking $500 firm for everything listed above. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to drop me a line here at Lake Ontario United or give me a call at 716-207-0359. Thanks

Thanks Momay4000, so it sounds like I'm not really doing anything wrong but it actually the unit and transducers. I really don't want to adjust my transducer angle because it seems to be right on to read the bottom and I still need to see the bottom for bass and musky fishing. This is my first season with the unit and I'm still in the learning process of using it. I'm curious about a different card as well. I believe mine is the Lowrance factory install. the detail is good but I think I can do better. Plus there is no contour map for the Upper Niagara river between Lake Erie and Niagara falls. This is one of our primary musky haunts. So a new card is maybe in the future. Thanks landing Zone, I knew there was a way to calculate the viewing are but couldn't remember how do figure it out. Thanks Richard, I'm not sure if I want to see the weights on the screen or not, like you said to much clutter, but I figured that at some point I should be able to see them. It is a good way to see were you are running your baits. Thanks KingSlammin, I agree the 83hz transducer would be the wider cone to use to see your weights and not the 200hz. I had a similar problem to what you have going on and I had to adjust the mounting position of my transducer. It was too shallow and I was mounted slightly off level from port to starboard. It would be fine going slow but once I sped or turned the bottom picture would be gone.

Hello everyone. As I read more and more postings here on the LOU and try to educate myself to become a better Lake "O" fisherman, I have a question regarding being able to see your downrigger weights on you fish finder screen. I have a Lowrance HDS-8 fish finder with down scan and side scan image capability and gps with chart overlay. The unit uses two transducers, one for the down/side scan image and a combination 200hz/85hz transducer for the regular sonar. I have never ben able to see my weights on the screen. I own 2 older Walker downriggers that I use with 10lb round weights. I plan on upgrading this winter to 2 Canon Mag 10's with 15lb Atomiks directional weights. I understand that trolling speeds and current will affect how far back your weights will run. Apparently with these lighter weights the blowback must be so great that the weights are out of the sonar cone in the water. With that being said does anyone have a ball park idea of how big of an area you are actually viewing under the boat based upon the transducers I'm using? I realize the deeper the water the larger the viewing area. I don't believe my unit numerically displays to you the size of the area your viewing based upon your water depth. I was once told that if you take a certain percentage of the overall depth that will give you your viewing area, but I don't know what that percentage is. If anyone has any info I would greatly appreciate the help. As usual, thanks to all on the site for your knowledge and help.

Hey there Delilah, My name is Mark and I am a member of the Niagara Musky Association fishing club. We're a group of approximately 200 people living in and around the Buffalo NY area that love to musky fish. Our home musky fishing waters are in the Upper Niagara River and Buffalo Harbor. We also have a few members that fish the Lower Niagara River, the finger lakes regions, the St. Lawrence and Thousand Island region, and also numerous Canadian members that fish the various Canadian waters. I would highly recommend coming to one of our meetings which are held on the first Tuesday of every month at the Elks Lodge in Tonawanda, NY. They are free to attend and if you want to learn how to musky fish the Upper Niagara River and Buffalo Harbor portion of Lake Erie this is the best place to learn. We have many very knowledgeable musky fisherman who are very friendly and eager to pass their knowledge on to those learning to fish our waters. We pride ourselves on practicing catch and release only for our fisheries and promoting conservation projects with locals groups and the DEC. If you would like to, check out our website at niagaramuskyassociation.ning.com. Our membership is $25 a year which includes a newsletter, picnics, banquets, tournaments, x-mas party and various club outings. We have several members that enjoy taking out new musky fisherman to our area out on their boats to teach our techniques and areas to fish. As far as equipment goes....that could take awhile to explain! lol.... We like to cast and troll the upper Niagara river but our primary technique is to jig large tube baits ( sizes 8" to 10" long). We have a group of club members that have started their own local bait company called Red October Baits (RedOctoberBaits.com) that makes the best tube jigs you can buy. They are a mainstay to use here in the river. We use 80lb PowerPro braided line and wire leaders, which one of our club members makes and sells at cost, in the river . Many of us use the Saltist reels. They are built like tanks. And most use a 7'6" to 8' medium heavy rod to jig. As far as trolling gear goes we usually bump out line up 100lb PowerPro braid with wire leaders on 8'6" to 9'6" medium heavy trolling rods, I use dipsy diver rods. Trolling lure we like are Hi Finn Trophy Divers, Legend Perchbaits and Plow baits, Mr Toothy baits( made by a club member), and Joe Bucher DepthRaiders to name a few. I have only begun to scratch the surface of what we know around here to musky fish. I highly highly recommend attending a meeting if your serious about fishing our area for muskies. If you would like anymore info please feel free to email me at [email protected]. I would be happy to meet you at a meeting and introduce you to a few people if you would be interested. Any questions please feel free to ask.... Mark

Does anyone have an experience or opinions on the Chamberlain releases? I was looking at them online and they seem like they would work well. Also does anyone add any color to their downrigger balls or is black the only way to go? I know a guy who does powdercoating and can make them any color under the sun plus its much more durable then paint. I didnt know if adding color might aid in being an attractant or might be a deterent.Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you. Happy Holidays to all!

Thanks for the help.

Once again I need the LOU experts help and information. I recently spooled up my new Daiwa SG47LCA reels with 30lb OptiTackle Stainless Steel 7strand wire. I put the required amount of backer line on before spooling the wire over it but now I need to attach my snap swivels to the end of the wire. I assume I am to use crimps like I do when I make leaders for trolling for muskies. My problem is that the smallest ID crimps I can find are 0.040". The wire measures 0.012" diameter and when I double it over and back through the crimp, it is still only 0.024" in diameter. Will using a 0.040" ID size crimp be to big to secure my wire line? Do they sell smaller crimps smaller in diameter and if so where may I purchase them? Or is there another way of attaching the wire to the swivels? Thanks in advance for your answers. As usual any and all all help is greatly appreciated.

Does anyone have a preference for the length on you dipsey rods? I just bought 2 Daiwa Heartland dipsey rods in 10'6" lenghts and I'm starting to think they maybe to long. I already installed my twili tips so there is no returning the rods. Hope I didnt make a mistake and go to big. Thanks

Thank you to all who took the time to help me out with my question. i greatly appreciate the help.

Hello to the members of the Lake Ontario United website... what a great website this is! This is my first time posting here and I hope someone might be able to help me with a question I have. I'm interested in getting rid of the Cabelas plastic rod holders i have in my boat that I use for trolling for muskies in the fall. I'm interested in installing an aluminum track system with 4 adjustable rod holders. These would be used for salmon and muskie fishing. I was told that traxstech makes a great product and I was wondering if anyone could give an opinion on them? I'm thinking of getting the RH-1 style that you lift or pull to adjust or the RH-230 model that adjusts to a more limited number of settings. If anyone has any experience with either model I would greatly appreciate some insite into which to purchase. Thanks for the help... Mark