HB2

Yes, some days .

I like original Power Pro . Like Whaler said , I don't get it either . The fact is , you are going to get fleas . The wire cuts them better . I check my dipsey more often when fleas are real bad. But there are issues with wire which makes it more difficult to handle and manage . Braid is pretty much indestructible. So you have to weigh that out and make a decision. Some guys swear by wire . I swear at it . My, mind is made up . I lost enough stuff.

Honestly , I liked the wire OK . But it has no forgiveness and when it breaks , it's 25 to 50$ lost . Side by side with the braid , they both caught fish , there was no difference in hits some days the braid caught more. Start with the braid and get a feel for it then add a,wire later IMO

Lost 3 divers/ flashers etc the last 2 seasons with wire due to kinks . Wire is very unforgiving . Took it off and threw it out . Which is why I went back to 65# braid which I catch just as many on with zero issues. .

Was fly fishing steelhead on winter day a while back. I caught a keeper size steelhead . Swallowed the fly . After taking the hook out ,,it was bleeding pretty good and figured it wouldn't make it . A lot if blood . So I put it on the stringer and tied it off on the overhanging pine right across from the Archers club and continued fishing . I walked up by it about an hr latter and I scared it it it started splashing around . When I took it home ,,it was still alive when I put it in the truck . So they aren't as fragile as you might think .

May on the west end can be great fishing . The king program set up is pretty much the same as summer . With a little more emphasis on spoons . And the kings can be down as far as 100 ft. Avg 25 to 70 ft . Mid July to mid August Oak ,Bald Eagle ,Sandy area is the best area/ time to fish big kings . Flashers are a big part of my program.then . Kings can be as deep as 140 down . Avg 50 to 90 ft

Been using 65# braid for years on my divers . When the fleas are real bad , you just have to check them more often .

With the last year of out lay of cash and lack of incoming tax dollars , the next man up is going to have a huge mess on his plate he is going to have to deal with. Fighting for funding will be a tough go . Good luck in his retirement . He did a great job IMO. We have some of the best fishing in the world literally out my back door . Let's hope the next guy can figure out how,to continue it . And I plan on joining him , or at least some what in the retirement pool Jan 1 . .

Tommy hands down

I tied at least a thousand + of those exact jigs pre Goby for smallmouth . Get a cheap vice , a bobbin , some fly tying siccors, some size D brown thread , shoot a deer and tie your own . Plenty of video on u tube . It's fun .

Sounds like you don't intend to do any deep water trolling. So a depth finder speed / temp probe add on would help a lot . Even if you did some deep water trolling it would help a lot .

Went down yesterday to jig for trout off my dock at Sandy . No trout but I did get about a dozen perch in about an hrs time . A few nicer ones .

We had a spell of very cold weather in early Sept . There were also sustained east winds for a few weeks at the same time which pushed any of the closer staging kings and trout up the creeks on the south shore . 2 nd , 3rd week in Sept the creek temp was colder than the lake temp when we got better winds . Combine that with the canal water and that means good fishing . The floating weed scourge we get was not a factor so much this year because the flow flushed it out into the lake Was a good king run as I see it with a lot fish . Way more people fishing this year . The Gov knows which side his bread is buttered on , so for all you " shut the tribs down " guys out there , I don't see it happening .

A lot of them go thru the spill ways .