HB2

75 back 2 to 15 ft down Ball 8 to 10 ft off bottom

Badly needing skein , I took a chance and took the small boat out yesterday prevening. Lake was choppy yesterday but was laying down just as I was going out . Put out 2 j plugs and no more than 5 min in , rod goes off and I land a nice female . Problem solved . Weaving around the sailboat regatta, no more hits so I slid out a little and managed one more nice male . Silver bullets ,size 3 & 4 .

Went out Friday afternoon Sat morning Sun morning Fished 10 ft to 70 ft 2 releases 1 18" small mouth Good bait 40 to 70 Not much fish activity around it . A few boat around ,and I never saw anybody with the net out . We need a NW wind to push the good water back in . Then it will be game on .

Secret is to land them fast . I release a lot of mid September lake and steam kings that swim away strong.

It's a 45 min ride from launch thru lock to middle to that weedbed on the other end of the lake,but I love that spot . Nice pike and bass there. Only fished first and second pond as I had to entertain my wife . Never made it to my spots out in lower by Lumbermans point. Was windy .

Went to Saranac lake islands to camp and fish . Craziest thing happen this morning . First light ,calm ,very clear water . Went under the bridge through the bouys,ran up to the rocks and bouys to the 90 deg turn just before the narrows are some house size boulders. ( anyone know this spot ?) Fished a 4" senko shaky head . Hooked an 8" largemouth and was reeling it in . A northern I guess was about 15# came up and clamped down on that bass sideways in it mouth about ten ft from the boat . I played him for about 10 seconds before he let go ,OMG ! The poor bass was alive with a fewer teeth marks but he swam away Stong . Got about 40 bass and 6 pike on the trip . Great fishing in a beautiful setting.

I broke a friend of mine spool a long time ago . It was Black lexan plastic . Cracked the same way it sounds like . It was taken to Kodak and some sort of glue was used and two screws were drilled and threaded through the crack . It worked for a long time

Pic?

Stagers... j plugs Glow green White black dot Silver bullet / red head ( cut plug)

I like both 3 & 4

I go thru the same thing when I go up to the mountains fishing bass and pike . I find I nurse my trolling motor to save battery . I have a power inverter that I plug my charger into . Then let the truck run for a few hours . Works well when I drive around as the amps are up ,not so well idling . My nephew in Fla fishes bass tourney in his club . They book out a motel and all the boats plug in the same time . The digital chargers sense this and don't give a strong charge ,not enough amps .And the boats find this out the next day fishing . Good luck on this .

Lovin my J plugs # 3 &4 s same as above but add in a white black dot first light . Tie direct . 35 to 75 + lead . Dives 7 ft with 35 lead 10 ft with 75 lead Run just off bottom with one ,the other half way down . That means if you are in 15 ft of water ,back 75 ,down 2 or 3 ft . Speed : Very forgiving get hits both fast and slow do a lot of s curves speed up on turns constantly adjust depth to bottom ,this is critical best lure for shallow staging kings in front of creek mouths great lure for small boat tactics and less experienced guys . All I bring out from now till it's over. no riggers ? Get a slide diver . sameleads ,put dive same depth as you would the rigger

Check the fuses in the fuse block for corrosion . This happened to me . Emery paper to clean and ox guard. Also 12 volt tester light . Clamp alligator clip on one side of fuse holder and touch awl point to other side . Can check switches this way also . Sounds like a bad connection. Corrosion never sleeps.

He challenged the lake and lost . It's very unforgiving His responsibility for safety of his crew bottom line . Not a aaccidet when you put yourself and others in harm's way . That being said, most of us have done similar . My condolences.

Speaking for myself ,I don't want to go out sit back and watch ,and have someone hand me the rod to reel in the fish .I'm long past that . In fact ,I don't even care if I reel the fish in on my own boat . My fun is getting them to hit ,figuring it out . I understand about the equipment costs,etc. I feel the same way . Some guys like to just reel them in .Others would rather do their own thing . Count me as the latter .

As much as I like to troll for salmon/ trout ,I cansee the posters point . Just reeling the fish in IS " catching " not fishing . For guys they like to fish , not very satisfying .