muskiedreams

NY Muskies Inc. Chapter 69

2015

Otisco Lake Tiger Tournament

Click on this link for details

Respond here or PM me with any questions

There were a lot of walleye and a few pike in the creek and there were quite a few pike above the spillway circling around. They must have been able to get up there when the water was high. Most of the pike were in the 20" to 30" range. The largest ones I saw were probably only around 36". Tons of dead carp in the marsh.

Heading down there now from Rochester. Will be wearing a black NMA hat.

I am not sure. It seems like there may be a reason they don't want the fish to go beyond the spillway. They have a marsh area on the other side of the road that is engineered to be pike spawning habitat. It is actually almost like ponds but they are filled up in the spring and later after the pike spawn and the fry hatch they are drained.  I just found out about this a couple months ago. See the link below. I am not sure about what their strategy is for the walleye or what the ideal spawning and nursery habitat is for them. They may need the moving water.

Management of constructed Northern Pike spawning marshes in Conesus Lake.

I can certainly see where your hand would kind of mold to a low pro, where ass the round reels are more bulky. But, it seems as though with the round reel being wider, it would give you more room with gloves on for line control. Maybe I'm thinking the wrong way.

Thank you for your reply!

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Funny, your misspelling of as made it through without censoring. I'm not sure if it was here or another site, my last name Glassic got censored because it has that word in it. It was replaced with X's.

About reels. If you do any jigging in the Niagara or the Larry, it is better to go with round so if you get hung on bottom, you don't run out of line before you can get the boat headed upstream to retrieve it.

Has anyone ever seen one make it over the dam?

Friday is going to be in the upper 60s too.

old man, Out of curiosity, what would you say the pike size range and average size was?

It is probably a connection problem somewhere between the switch and the solenoid or between the battery and the switch. Wiggling connections and disconnecting and reconnecting plugs along the path will possibly reveal where the problem lies. It will help to have someone turn the key as you wiggle connections (including under the motor cover and at the battery). It could be a connector, a fuse holder or connection, a fuse, a circuit breaker, a switch or a connection anywhere in the path. It could even be the solenoid itself. If you have a voltmeter, you can check for voltage between the two small wires on the solenoid with the start switch activated. If you get voltage there, the solenoid is bad. If there is no voltage there, you can also check at other points, with the meter, along the path to isolate where power is lost along the path. Also check the path between the battery and the start switch in the same way. Just make sure the negative wire of the voltmeter is connected to a good ground. You could also have several connections where corrosion has taken place. You will have to clean the corrosion or replace the corroded parts. Taking measures to protect connections from future corrosion may also be appropriate.

There are some cheep tires out there. Add any sway to the equation and they will wear out quick. I have been using trailer load rated Goodyear radials and they hold up pretty good.

One thing I am not sure of is if the trailer rating of 5400 lb includes the weight of the trailer. I believe that if it is gross weight, it means weight of boat and trailer combined.

You said that the trailer is rated for 5400 lb and the total weight is 6220 lb. It looks like you are over the trailer weight capacity. Technically that should not be done.  Also, as Richard had mentioned, your tongue weight should be higher. If you are adding any more weight with gear, you have to consider that. It sounds like you will have to increase the tongue weight and that will have to be done by moving the axle(s) back. If it is a dual axle you might have to move them both. You will have to put the trailer on jack stands or blocks. Connect the hitch to your truck to help hold it steady. Mark the position of the axle(s) on the trailer frame and move both sides back the same amount. Do the same for both axles. This is to make sure the axle(s) stay square with the frame. Then check the tongue weight again. Since the total weight is over the rating of the trailer, it might be a good idea to limit the weight as much as possible by traveling with less gas and considering carrying as much as your gear as possible in the truck. Keep in mind that if you remove riggers, coolers etc from the back of the boat, it will change your tongue weight. Also, depending on the location of your gas tank(s), the amount of gas may have an effect on tongue weight.

You should also look at the weight ratings of your tires. Multiply tire rating by the number of tires.

If it is a dual axle, make sure that the trailer sits level when hitched up so that the weight is distributed evenly on both axles and the tongue weight should be measured in the same level state.

Since you are pushing the limit of the trailer capacity, you should periodically inspect the entire trailer for stress cracks. This includes axles, suspension and their mounting components. You don't want to have an axle break loose or or the hitch beam break loose. It will also be wise to take bumps such as railroad crossings slowly as to not over stress anything. I have an 18 ft aluminum boat on a trailer that is borderline adequate. I got it used and added a 15 hp 4 stroke kicker and two more batteries. So I had to deal with all these issues. I even had heavier springs made for it then I had problems with the spring brackets cracking and had to replace them. The last time they cracked, I had a welder reinforce them. I am hoping that they will hold up. I was lucky that when the spring brackets cracked, that the axle didn't tear out while I was on the road. On my trailer there was an adjustable hitch beam to adjust for different length boats. It was held into a yoke where the "Y" in the trailer is with two bolts. There was play at that point and stress cracks developed around the bolts. This may also have been contributing to sway problems I had at one time. I had a welder permanently weld the beam.

I think that very often boats are sold with a trailer that is barely adequate for the boat as sold and then after adding all the extra gear, ???

It does look pretty low. Hopefully it will come up when the upper lakes start thawing out and we get spring rains.

And I thought it was cold in Rochester at 19!!

old man,

Since it is a retail store I would guess that only service dogs for the visually impaired would be allowed but I am just guessing. You can call them at 585.456.1964 and ask them.

pikefreak,

They open at 10:00 am. If you get there early, and are one of the first 100 in the door you will get a free gift card. They say it can be between $5 and $250. One of them is for $250. They did not indicate if there are any with other amounts in between. We will be there at 9:00. I am not sure how early you would have to be there to be one of the first 100.

You can help us win the $500 donation!!

If you come, be sure to see us for a token to vote for us at the voting machine inside the entrance. There will be three other groups there that we will be competing against for the most votes. If we win, Muskies Inc. Chapter 69 gets a $500 donation from F&S instead of $100. They are planning to present the donations at the rock wall at 5:30pm, so it would be best to get your vote in by 5:00pm.

If you have" last 24 Hrs" and  "just items I follow" checked, if there was no new content on the items you follow in the last 24 hrs, or if you have not followed any items, then it will say "no new content".

I have never used it before but it works fine for me. One thing is that it depends on what items you have checked on the left side. For instance, if you have Last 24 Hrs and new members checked, it will say no new content if there are no new members.

Just added link above for details.

Also, If you are one of the first 100 people in the door, you will get a gift card and one of them will be worth $250. (Revo?)

Could not figure out how to post PDF here so follow this link for details.

Larry, Do you have a picture of the fly that Rich caught the 420 lb arapiama on?

That is some cool H2O!! Does that intake temp give you any insight to help with fishing out on the lake?

I just found out through my Boat US enews that there is a recall on certain Kidde disposable extinguishers that were made in 2013 and 2014. here is a link to find out if your extinguisher is included.

http://www.webfulfillment.com/StandardRegister/lpr.asp?l=614&ac=&ar=

I found out mine is older and not part of the recall.

Great stories Larry!! Thank you for sharing them.

I haven't used the Bondy but I know people who do. I was told by someone who is successful with them (they actually got a 55" last year in the Larry) you have to use boat control in the current to keep it almost straight down under the boat. Work areas with humps, rock piles, along drop offs, and other current breaks. Drop it down till it hits the bottom, crank it up a foot or two and start jigging. Raise your rod up quickly to about 2:00 and then let it drop down but keep the slack out (slack but not slack) as it is dropping. Don't raise it up too high because if a fish hits at the top, you will not be able to load up the rod to set the hook. Most of the time they grab it on the fall, so if it stops falling or you feel a little tick, set the hook hard. The Red October tubes work well also. You can jig or drag them. they don't necessarily have to be straight down from the boat. Very often fish will be behind the downstream side of a hump or drop. You have to watch the depth and raise the bait up when the bottom comes up and lower it down when it gets deeper. You have to have a feel to know weather it is bumping bottom or it is a fish hitting. When in doubt, set the hook. With two people in the boat I have been told that, with one angler casting and the other jigging, very often a fish will follow the casted lure in and if it doesn't hit it, it sometimes goes down and takes the Jig. If you get hung up on the bottom, you need to have plenty of line and act quickly to power up the boat and get upstream from the snag to get it off the bottom.

One other thing, put a big frog hook (like an english hook)  or maybe a modified treble off the top eye where you connect the leader. You might have to try different things there to keep it from hooking over the leader.

If you are new to musky fishing, please make sure you have the right equipment and tools to bring the fish in quickly and release them without overstressing them in order to give them the best chance of surviving.