Pair of Jacks

Another point to be aware of for Mercury 4-stroke outboards is Mercury specifically recommends lower viscosity oil during cold weather operation. I learned the hard way with my 2019 Mercury 25 EFT 4-stroke. I fish year around here on my home port on Lake Anna Virginia and last winter (January 2023) we headed out on a 35 degree day and before we ever left the slip the engine alarmed and shut down. Fortunately the engine shut down before any real damage…took the boat to my dealer…and he fired up the motor inside his maintenance bay (68 degrees) and no issues. Then he checked the oil change history and eureka the oil was the higher viscosity warm weather oil. So I learned a valuable lesson…read the owners manual wrt different operating conditions and different oil viscosity.

Sherman—sorry for the confusion… you stated in your original post,”I have found the dredge weights to work the best with less blowback than all the others I have tried.” So I search google for Dredge weights and found this: https://fishrazr.com/dredge-pulling-kit-in-waterproof-box-with-6lb-fish-weight/ If I now understand your post a dredge weight is just a downrigger weight shaped like a fish…correct?

Sherman—can you clarify how you use dredge weights to reduce blow back…I looked on YouTube and I found a dredge weight but it looks like an over signed Alabama rig you attach to a fish-shaped downrigger weight… I cannot see how this configuration would decrease blowback when it just adds more surface area to the weight.

I have a a 16’ tracker Laker Guide DLX I use for walleye and land locked striper… my Minn Kota Terrova is my exclusive trolling motor and it’s powered by a West Marine deep cycle lead acid battery and it last for about a day and a half of continuous trolling. When we go to northern Ontario walleye fishing I take a spare battery so we can swap and charge the depleted battery while fishing. My Mercury 25Hp 4-stroke trolls down to 1.4 mph easily without a trolling plate or bags. The only reason I prefer the Terrova is less wear and tear on the outboard and the Terrova has an autopilot function and can record tracks which make it really nice to fish.

I am looking for a Thermo Troll 840 foul weather cover. Will pay shipping.

LOU Collegues FYI/SA: The Lake Ontario creel survey recently wrapped up another season, and preliminary results indicate: Excellent Chinook salmon fishing in 2023. Angler catch rates for Chinook during the 2023 fishing season were the second highest in the 37-year survey and 40% above the 10-year average. Relatively smaller Chinook (kings) compared to the long-term average, but still running about 18.4 pounds for an age-3 fish. Higher catches of Atlantic salmon across all areas. Although still relatively rare, catches of this native species are on the rise with catch rates 82% above the 10-year average in 2023. Decent brown trout fishing. West area anglers targeting browns struggled a bit in the spring and larger browns were reportedly harder to come by across all areas, but the “cookie-cutter” 2 to 4 pound browns were plentiful in the east and east central areas, and lake-wide seasonal catch rates placed 8% above the 10-year average. Below average catch rates for steelhead and lake trout. Catch rates for these species may have been affected in 2023 because they are targeted less when Chinook fishing is good. Lake trout abundance may also be down due to the record high numbers of parasitic lamprey observed in 2022. Fortunately, lamprey numbers have come down in 2023. More details can be found in the survey’s monthly reports posted on the Lake Ontario Fisheries Management and Research page, and the full survey report will be available in early 2024. The Lake Ontario creel survey continues in the tributaries from now until next spring, so be on the lookout for DEC creel agents and reports in the coming months.