FleetTracker

I drove down to the henderson launch yesterday afternoon to see if any boats were out and caught a glimpse of your rig at BCC. Major jealousy. Sick rig man.

I'll be out thurs and fri afternoon this week, as well as sat and sunday hopefully. New to the area up here, what channel do you guys monitor? Good luck this weekend!

Thanks buddy. Best of luck. I'll be up Thurs thru Sun as well but will be opening Camp up the first day or two with the wife and 1 year old.

Channel 68.

@Luke - thanks buddy!  We'll be seeing you soon.  Will be up Thursday thru Sunday.  It's going to be a great year!

@Dave - Absolutely, looking forward to your trip up for the Walleye opener.  We'll do some damage on that Lake O Gold for sure!  Would love to get this boat offshore after some serious fish... but that means I need new Gear... more Rods, Reels, Line, Terminal Tackle, Lures, etc... Dang it --- It never ends!!!  haha

Couple more pics with outriggers rigged and cuddy loaded for splashdown next weekend. Man working on boats is time consuming... and expensive!

Some updated pics of the SEA-IV. New 18' Taco Marine aluminum telescopic outriggers and grand slam 380 bases, Cannon dual axis double rod holder rigger mounts, a chute Cannon dual axis rod holder in a 6" Cisco track, a dozen new 316 Stainless clamp on rod holders to the t-top structure, and new Cisco planer reels and pulleys with 500# Amish Outfitters spectra. She is coming together nicely... splash down next weekend!!

I sure hope so for your sake cuz that's expensive!! The Big Water Ugly Stiks are only $50-55.

Had 4 snap when I gave them a try in 2013 as the price was appealing (you get what you pay for).  Cabelas replaced all 4, and I quickly GAVE AWAY all 12 that I had.  Ugly Stiks for Walleye and Browns in the Spring.  I use the Okuma Pro GLT's and Blue Diamonds for Salmon.  They're pretty good too - just too heavy for Walleye and Browns IMO.  

*1 snapped during fighting a 10+lb eye on 10lb test mono (somehow landed it).

*1 snapped fighting a ~12+lb Brown on 12lb test mono (lost the fish close to boat).

*1 snapped while trolling being used as a downrigger.  Couldn't take being cranked down as a rigger rod for long.  Suddenly just burst... unreal.

*1 snapped while attempting to release a downrigger rod when pulling lines.

Went with Cabelas depth master med/ light 7'6" on sale.

They'll work... until they snap and shatter into a bunch of pieces.  They're loud when they snap.

They open just fine on my cell (Android) using the LOU App... for what it's worth.

Can't wait to get these wet Dave. Thanks for the shipment. They're gonna put some hurt on the East end.

One of the reasons setting up big board lines at the same length (i.e. 120ft) on the same side works is due to 2 factors:

1- the planer board tow line is at an angle as it leaves the boat toward the board. Even though all lines may be at 120ft back, they are attached to the same tow line and there are slight distances from eachother purely due to that angle. By way of design, the furthest rod out is already slightly further back then the rest. Yes!

2- line slack between the release and rod. Your furthest rod out has the most line out and when a fish pops the release all of that slack falls back significantly further then the rest, allowing it to swing to the inside. Yes!!

During short core season I'll run a 3,4,5,6 color core on each side of the boat. Never had a tangle once. Keep the deepest stuff on the inside and You'll be fine.

Update on the Penn Yan motor issue: Nasty stuck valve on cyl #5... getting the heads re-done and while it's half way apart, going to get the lower end all re-done.  New pistons, rings, etc... Boats... the never ending expense!

@Thun - Thanks buddy!  Keep in touch.

@Todd in NY - haha love the comment about the wheelie bar!  That's going to be a neck-snapping fishing boat.  No customers though... I'm just an avid fisherman like most all of you - friends, family, etc... I'm only 30y/o so I got a ways till i'm close to retirement.  Otherwise I would seriously consider moving into the heavy competition of offering a charter out of Henderson area.  Some day, maybe.

@DWHJR - Thanks man - glad to keep this thread going throughout the season.  Everyone loves some good fishing pictures!

@whaler1 - Couldn't agree more with you!

Haul it up North and sell it at one of the campgrounds (someone looking to upgrade).  Or park it next to your Cabin... Guest house!

8'3" Ugly Stik Big Water Light Rods... amazing rod for Walleye... lots of bend (give).  10lb Test Big Game Mono, 10lb Fluoro Leaders.

Here starts the 2016 Lake Ontario Fishing Season and I couldn't be more excited to get things underway out of Henderson Harbor on the East End.  We have a new boat to introduce to our Weekend Warrior Fleet this year; the SEA-IV.  She is an immaculate 2003 Trophy Pro 2509 WA very recently re-powered with Twin 200HP Evinrude ETEC HO's.  It will be rigged to the eyeballs like the other two boats and give us more "shipping lanes" capability as well as more rough water comfort.  Not to mention it will get to where we want to go in a hurry!    This will be our Tournament Boat this season. We're installing 18' Taco Outriggers this weekend on Taco Grand Slam 380 mounts.

The GO EASY, a 1990 Penn Yan 245 Contender, may not make it out on the Lake this season.  A compression test just yielded extremely low numbers on Cylinder #5 of the 5.7L (1200hrs).  She may turn into a "when we have spare time project" throughout this season as we tear into the motor and get her back in tip-top shape.  The ol' girl deserves a rest; here's some pics of some good memories on this boat from last season.

As many of you have read in another thread, the REEL HAPPY, a 2012 Tracker Pro Guide V-175, yielded a cracked hull at the end of the 2015 Season.  Tracker ultimately repaired the hull at their factory in Missouri, and I got the boat back in my possession in February.  Since receipt of the boat, I have been re-rigging it since the boat got stripped clean, and have added a new Mercury 9.9HP Kicker with Trollmaster Pro2 on the port side for this season.  I'm aiming at keeping the hours to a minimum on the Main 115HP 4S Merc and the Kicker should give us even better speed control and stealth for Spring Trout and Walleye. Here's some photos of the new Kicker and fuel rigging, along with some highlights from last season.

Best of luck to everyone this 2016 Fishing Season.  Following past seasons, I will continue to post reports with many pictures in this thread.  Hope you enjoy!

-Devin

pjprod - giving you this link for a cheap place to get a brand new 9.9HP Merc Kicker. 20" Shaft, elec start, tiller, 6A alternator, etc.... It's all you'll need on your aluminum Deep-V.  I have one installed on mine.

$2200 Cash.

PM me and I'll give you the details on where to buy in NJ.

http://www.lakeontariounited.com/fishing-hunting/topic/54953-brand-new-mercury-99hp-4s-kicker-20-elec-start/

Laid out very similarly and equipped the same meangreen. I did pay significantly less at under $20k but nice looking boat.

The new Seagates are awesome. I have 2 50's and 2 60's that have been flawless and taken a lot of fish. Gotta love the smooth Daiwa Drags. Nothing else compares. Had convectors... didn't last a month on my boat. Sold em all and got better equipment. You get what you pay for.

Yea, I've had the best luck trolling down hill any way. I have a power steering pump is that what you mean.

Does your power steering pump work when you main is off (i.e. electric/hydraulic)?  That's what he means... some AP systems for your main, require the main to be running for them to work.  Thus, linking to your kicker isn't saving you fuel or much of anything.  This is why Garmin (among others) make AP kicker systems like the TR1 Gold.

P.s. thank you all for giving this the attention that it got. I was told that this thread made its way through the ranks at Tracker and that's when traction started to occur.

I picked up the boat yesterday and hauled it home. A quick look over on the inside and looks like it was put together well. About half of my bungee clips are broke but I guess I can buy and install more.

A look at the hull repair... sure doesn't look great and the hull is noticeably deformed in that area now. It sucks inward with a fairly considerable deflection. Sure hope those new welds aren't under much stress as they appear to be. I will not look forward to going through this again... hoping for a solid job that holds up. That has got to be mutual with Tracker.

Looks good for ice fishing

GLP makes a "cap" that goes on top of your masts to mount lights on...easy to rotate and aim...i can spin mine forward and use them as extremely bright docking lights!

They work really well... I mounted LED lights on my GLP triple tree Caps.  

It's been a tough year for safe ice, and thus the turn outs this year haven't been as good as last year or what they could be.  Honeoye was a walking only event: 9 teams.  Chaumont turned out 16 Teams this year (35 last year), but late reports of sketchy ice I believe kept more from entering.  The Diehard weather on Oneida this weekend kept others from entering, and in some cases people from showing up at all even though they've paid and registered.  Also was a walking only event which keeps some away.  This Winter has not been very kind to ice fisherman.

This weekend is the final event on Oneida.  Weather looks decent for the weekend so hopefully more of the so called "Diehards" show up and put their $ where their mouth is.

The last IPA Team event will be this weekend, originally scheduled for Sodus Bay, it will be a 2-day event on Saturday and Sunday held back on Oneida Lake due to unsafe ice on Sodus.

Nice work Devin! How many hard core teams braved the weather?

9 teams total went out.  More were pre-registered that were a no-show, probably due to weather.

I thought that was the "die-hard" region?  I think they all slept in....