muskiedreams

To me, having shorter lines and less complicated angling methods and the closer you are to the basics, the higher the total satisfaction and thrill of the catch. When you personally entice the strike with your lure selection, a twitch of the rod, casting to the right spot, performing, effective boat side maneuver, etc., it is so much more personally satisfying. The fight becomes more between you and the fish than between the equipment and the fish or between you and the equipment. The fight is shorter and more thrilling because the fish still has fight left in it when you get it to the boat. And to me, the more lines you run the more you are battling to keep them all running rather than enjoying the moment. I remember when I was a kid fishing with live bait from the dock at Conesus Lake targeting fish through under the dock trying to get them to strike. Using live scope and giving the lure an extra little twitch or pause at the right time is just not the same. It is kind of like playing a sport and being able to read your opponent's mind rather that having to try and anticipate their next move. And of course, the most important and enjoyable benefit of being on the water fishing is taking in all the beauty and wonders of nature and with the joy of people you enjoy being with.

Yes! I would say that double pivoting mount will only work with 2 rollers. Those V's are normally used signally on an arm that holds only one roller (or V bumper). But I also noticed that your bow has a very sharp V shape compared to may others and those V bumpers do not fit that angle. Since rubber rollers are softer, they may conform better to your bow.

I wonder if there is a limit, depending on plating, of how many times that can be done without wearing through the plating. Are they spoons the do not have any paint or clear coat on them?

A potential PB for today's newborn child.

I am not saying that it is a sure thing but it can be the hot ticket when you hit it just right. Watching the whether patterns, especially anything that affects temperatures can pay off when you hit these conditions just right. It can also bring bait into the shallows for them to feed on. Large areas of dying and decaying weeds will not be productive as the oxygen level will be low. Depth at times can be as shallow as 2 to 5 fow up to about 12ft.

A good bet in the fall with cool nights is to work the very shallow water around structure and openings in the weeds adjacent to deeper water in the very early morning. And in the late fall, work those same areas in the middle of calm sunny day afternoons.

One other thing. The CH69 FB page only allows me to scroll down through a few post before I get a message that requires me to sign in or sign up to see more. I have seen this on other FB pages but today I went to one that was completely open to the public. A Google search indicates that there are settings where the page Owner/administer can adjust settings to allow public viewing. It seems like they would want the public to at least have access to read. I think there are many users who do not realize that they will be limiting themselves to FB users. Believe it or not I am not the only one who refuses to be controlled by zuckerberg. I wonder if Katia has administrator privileges or if the privileges was ever passed on from the original administrator.

I think ericmic1 is right about it being an automated post. It is a re-post from Sept 2, 2024, not 2025. More than a year ago. As far as I can see, there doesn't seem to be any posts from Chapter 69 or Katia or Zack since after the Chapter Challenge tournament. I don't know if there has been any activity from them on any other FB pages, forums or websites.

I wonder if Ch 69 still exists. I saw that link. Maybe you can call Chautauqua Lake Outdoors and ask Mike Sperry about it. I did hear that the spring tournament there had a very low number of fish caught considering the number of participants. In general, it looks like there is a big reduction in overall success rate on the lake this year and I wonder if they canceled the tournament for that reason. But it seems like there is no new Ch 69 activity. Ch70 FB page shows the Onondaga lake outing date changed from Sept. 14 to Oct. 5. I think they have switched from tournaments to outings. There seems to be no new activity from Ch69

I wonder if Chapter 69 still exists. I am not on Facebook so all I can see there is the most recent 2 posts before Facebook trys to bully you into joining or signing in. Their website looks like it has been wiped clean except the links to LOU and DEC. The Muskies Inc website is still there but there is no longer any public access to any issues of the magazine and no access to any recent activities or chapter activity. I have no idea what is happening with Muskies Inc or the chapters. I wonder if the new administration has all non-profits running scared!

Many years ago while casting for salmon from the Summerville Pier, I hooked a seagull in midair. Reeling it in wasn't too hard. I was lucky that another fisherman with bird release experience, was able to throw his jacket over the bird to subdue it and it flew away after we released it.

Probably grabbed it on the way down.

But no matter what, NYS slaps on a surcharge for every ticket written.

Sorry if I am giving more detail than you need. My background is in electronics, starting from before chips were in common use and electronics were troubleshot and repaired to the individual transistor, resistor etc. and tubes were still widely in use. Downriggers are high current devices. Since they run on only 12 volts, they draw a considerable amount of current. In order for that current to go from the battery to the downrigger, that entire path must be capable of carrying the current (wire, fuse holder, connectors, connections). Every one of those components can cause resistance to electrical current. That resistance will create a drop in voltage (including resistance of a poor connection). That resistance to current will also create heat in proportion to the amount of resistance. The the higher the resistance, the more the heat that is generated. So checking for heat at all the connections (while operating the rigger fully loaded) might reveal a problem. Whenever the motor in a downrigger encounters a lower voltage due to a voltage drop between the battery and the downrigger, it will demand increased current to maintain RPM. That increased demand for current will cause heat to be generated at the point of the voltage drop. That heat in turn will cause increased resistance which will cause additional loss (snowball effect). Also, low voltage will cause more heat in some of the electronic components on the circuit board which will likely cause premature board failure because of excess current. There should be a minimum voltage requirement listed in the rigger's specs. from Cannon. Dropping below that can cause circuit board failure. In a high current circuit, power is absorbed by all parts of the circuit, including the wire. Wire gauge and connections are much more critical for a 12 volt circuit than for a 120 volt circuit. A skinny wire, a bad connection or too long of a wire are all possible causes of a voltage drop. Therefore, to troubleshoot a problem like this with a downrigger or any other electrical device on a 12 volt vehicle or boat, you must measure the voltage directly between the positive and negative wires at the device 's power input while the device is operating under a normal load. If there is a significant loss, you then must work to measure the voltage along the positive feed, at every connection point between there and the battery and determine where most of the voltage loss is. Do it with the meter negative (-) terminal connected to the battery negative (-) terminal and also measure with it connected to the negative (-) connection at the device. If it is in the wire itself, it will need to be replaced, possibly with a heavier gauge. Don't forget to check voltage at both sides of any terminal on a wire to make sure the loss is not in the connection. If you are running one wire from the battery and then splitting off to two riggers The first wire must be twice as heavy in order to carry enough current to run both riggers simultaneously. It is important for the life of the downrigger that the voltage does not drop too far for too long of a period. A momentary dip in voltage is ok. If the circuit board had it's own separate power feed from the battery, it would not be an issue unless the battery itself was dropping in voltage.Downriggers that don't have a circuit board are not as dependent on battery voltage but it is always best to have steady voltage because the motors will also last longer with a stable supply of power.

The point is, a musky and a salmon are not the same. The only thing that is similar is that they are both fish. Salmon are much more plentiful than muskies. A salmon dies after it spawns (most likely unsuccessfully). A musky grows slower and is not ready to spawn until is much older (about 7 to 10 yrs). They will spawn for many years after that and continue to grow larger. Loosing one adult musky from the population is conservatively like loosing 10s of thousands of adult salmon. Salmon are stocked by the millions. in Lake Ontatio alone. NYS stocks only about 25,000 muskies per year statewide. Muskies live maybe about 6 to 8 times longer than a salmon but that doesn't even come close to offsetting the stocking difference. And then when you start talking about survival rate from frye or fingerling to maturity the numbers art even more bleak. Here is a selection of videos from highly experienced musky anglers. All these videos bring up important points and support the methods outlined at the very beginning of this conversation string. Nobody ever mentions anything about using Boga type tools. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzvOComlT_E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxG_iXiqHl4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyxn2J2kOMU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBjD7T-s1pI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asSQKszobp8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asSQKszobp8

Times change, knowledge changes over time and so practices and methods change based on that knowledge and experiences. I am not sure if you are telling me that you believe that the practices of the past were just fine and that changing to current practices made no difference in musky survival. One key thing is that not all dead fish float. Just because a fish goes down when it is released and looks like it is swimming ok, does not mean that it has survived or will survive in the long run. Many fish sink to the bottom when they die. So if a fish dies after being released, it is not sure to float to the surface and be seen dead. And if you don't see it floating on the surface later, that doesn't mean that the fish survived. When you see a fish floating, it is likely that it is dead or dying. So everyone associates a floating fish with being a dead fish. Fish that die and sink to the bottom most often are not seen. So many people believe that all dead fish float. It is simply not true. I can understand trying to revive a trout on some waters where there is evidence of natural reproduction since trout live for multiple generations and may successfully reproduce but not for Kings on the Great Lakes. The practice you suggest just doesn't make sense with muskies. A 15 or 20yo musky is much more precious than a 3yo king salmon. The accepted practice is to keep the fish in a large rubber coated net in the water by the side of the boat while removing/cutting the hooks. The net is used as a live well. Then if you want a picture and/or a board measurement, you should not have to keep the fish out of the water for (generously) more than 30 sec. Then put it back into the net or gently lower and hold the fish in the water by hand. Hold it there and keep it upright in the water until the fish shows it has the power to swim on it's own. It may take up to 20 min. For larger boats it is more difficult if you cannot comfortably hold a fish off the side. That is why many of them use a revival tank as described above.

PS: Many musky trolling specialists and charter captains who fish big water for them with large spreads behind the boat use a large live-well revival tank onboard so that they can keep moving and revive the fish before release.

Muskies are not like salmon or trout. This is the reason why this conversation is at the top of the Musky forum. You really don't know if the fish survives. Not all fish that die float. It may just go to the bottom and die after you just performed what might be similar to forced hyperventilation. And physically, it is just as bad as a person being dragged behind a horse. But it is not as big of a deal because they live a short life. Muskies can live 20 to 25 or more years. A musky hasn't even reached spawning age until well after a salmon has died. Also, a musky jaw is less durable than a salmon or trout jaw. Just holding some fish with a boga grip or similar tool, especially a musky, can cause a jaw to be badly ripped (or other injuries) when the fish thrashes. It likely will greatly hamper the survival. Therefore, the use of a boga or similar tool is considered taboo among most musky anglers. The biggest reason kings go belly up is the long fight. Mostly because of the length of line and sometimes also because of the quick rise from deep water. But also, there is usually no effort to keep the fight short. With musky fishing, the heavy rod reel and line, strong lures with strong hooks, and generally only a short amount of line out keeps the fight short and the fish isn't totally winded after it is netted. Salmon anglers don't generally keep the fish in the water for the release process, as most musky anglers do, to help keep the fish from suffocating. I wonder if that when you drag a king that way, it may just sink to the bottom and die anyway. Some may survive, hence an occasional picture with a deformed jaw. But salmon survival after release just isn't as important due to the fact that it is primarily a put and take fishery of a very short lived fish that generally does not spawn successfully. This is the reason why this conversation is at the top of the Musky forum.