LongLine

Ninespine (Stickleback) Already used "k", go for the "e" Tom B. (LongLine)

Halibut Tom B. (LongLine)

Lamprey was on the King. Probably why he was so skinny. Lamprey gushed blood all over the place when I sliced him up. LT was nice & clean. Tom B. (LongLine)

I change just about all spoon trebles to Gamkatsu (can't spell it) siwash hooks. Use a small metal file & sharpen/flatten three sides. Good winter project, then touch up as needed on the water. Tom B. (LongLine)

Out of the river at 5:30AM. Headed toward Russell/Long Pond again. Put in at 80FOW, worked in & out to 140FOW. Overcast & dead calm early, wind came out of SSE after a couple hours (9:00 or so) and of course the misting rain. Scattered small pods of bait. Few marks here & there. Down temps strange. At 80 down East of Russell it was in the mid 50’s. Same depth off River was in the low 40’s. Anyways: This LT hit a pearl dodger w/no-see-um right on the bottom over 115FOW. Trolling towards shore. This little King hit a stacked “modified†mongoose nk28 at 80 over 85FOW just East of river. Again heading towards shore. Here’s a close up of the beast in the upper left hand corner above. Officially 25†long originally. Now in many pieces. Maybe saw 15 different boats this morning. Mostly bigger than us. Pulled them out at 11:30. Jet-ski type races being held off Charlotte Beach. DEC was in river taking survey. Stop & talk to these guys if you ever get the chance. Great guys who love the fishery & are willing to give you all kinds of info. Luck to all Tom B. (LongLine)

Look Out Jet-ski's. Sturgeon taking hold in the Genny! Tom B. (LongLine)

Tom, 1. yes marks the hooks pretty well. I put id on fish for chuckles, to show my son we're over fish. Yes fish mostly salmon & trout on Lake ontario. 2. Have not marked the themocline this year or last. (Lake temps have been pretty goofy) I'm not too concerned about that on FF as I run a Sub-Troll. 3. Paddle wheel is on end of transom transducer. 4. Not sure about gps. I think you have to buy another unit (receiver, antena or something) & plug it into this unit. I use a separate hand held unit. Tom B. (LongLine)

Nomas, I have one on my 18 ft’r. Here’s a couple shots of what the screen looks like in real sunlight. Some things from my experience: 1. Some palette combinations are easier to read in sunlight than others. However, as with most units you have to be looking straight at it to see it. I wish it had some kind of shade/cover over the top of it. However as far as I know only some super expensive units have that nowadays. No problem seeing it from anywhere when I put my top up. 2. Mine shows decent display up to 18 mph out to about 90 FOW. I’ve had a good picture trolling out to 300 FOW. (Haven’t gone deeper than that). I like the auto depth changes. 3. I don’t believe any transom mounted speed or trip indicator at trolling speeds. The boat drags water & turbulence behind it so any paddlewheel readings are seldom accurate. 4. I’ve never had a moisture problem with the screen but I’ve heard of others having that. (actually with other brands also) 5. I’m not convinced that the fish (target IDs) are really fish. All beams are reflected off air pockets (fish’s air bladder) or drastic changes in density. I’ve turned off Target ID and had lots of “spots†show up on screen, so I’m guessing some were clumps of fleas, seaweed etc. Overall I don’t have to put my reading glasses on to see the display. I’m happy with it. (knock on wood) H.I.H. Tom B. (LongLine)

According to the DEC 2005 lake report, the wounding rate on L.T.s was 3.9 wounds per 100 fish. The number was derived from the 2005 DEC Gill Net operations. This is twice the 2004 level & the state target level (2 per 100 fish). It’s the highest since the mid 80’s. The majority of our LT’s are Seneca Strain and are more “lamprey resistant†than the Superior Strain that used to be stocked. Unfortunately DEC is not sure whether that high rate is due to decreased LT numbers or higher Lamprey abundance. The latest word I heard was that the lamprey’s had found some new breeding grounds and that the state was going to treat some new areas this year. I haven’t heard exact details – where nor when. A lot of guys reported Browns with wounds on them last year. I haven’t heard that many reported this year. I do know that the Lampreys on salmon that have made it into my boat are quite a bit bigger than the last couple years. (I prefer to cut them in thirds after I grab them real hard behind the head with pliers.) If you hear any of the treatment details, please post. Tom B. (LongLine)

After 22 yrs, finally had trouble with my lights 2 months ago. Have never run a separate ground wire as ball is through a step bumper. No blinkers, no taillights. Had them on Saturday, nothing on Sunday. Replaced bulbs…no improvement. Replaced the flasher in the fuse box…no improvement. Replaced trailer connector…no improvement. Replaced light coupler/harness under the truck with one I got on sale last year…no improvement. Ran to store & bought a new one (figuring the sale one was a dud)…no improvement. Replaced light fixtures…no improvement. Replaced all wiring on trailer…no improvement. Soldered all connections…no improvement. Took truck in for annual inspection and had dealer check out electrical system…no improvement. Manually repositioned the trailer in my driveway and grabbed the ball/tongue. Oh, $hit…loose. Took it off & down to my workshop. Spit polished inside of ball locking area with rotary wire brush, then did same to trailer area where it attaches. Sprayed with WD-40 & torqued it back on. Now the trailer lights are almost as bright as my truck headlights. :D Duh! GROUND… Tom B. (LongLine) One tip for bulb/socket longevity - (waterproof or not) Unplug your lights at the trailer before you back it into the water.

GLF - In the dark, I use a crank-up LED flashlight called "the illuminator". Best I can find is that wavelength peak is 430nm, which is a little above uV. It's quite bright & I know it gives me a headache looking at it. Seems to work great on wtp tape in my den. Don't know what tape does under water. Under sunshine, I just let the lure sit out for a few minutes. Tom B. (LongLine)

GLF Thanx. That's a neat site. Just did some Feature IDs on Lk Ontario. (the "i" in the black dot icon). The dark contour lines are 10 meter depths. Between shore & 10 meters each represents 1 meter. Between 10 & 20 meters, they show 12, 14, 15, 16, & 18 meter. Beyond that they're 2 meter each. Tom B. (LongLine)

Don't know why someone would make a comment like that or even feel that's important. As far as I see, you have put a lot of work into the site, written some outstanding articles that demonstrate knowledge & passion for the sport. From NY, I rate it in the top 3 around all the Gr lakes. I give ya a big As to the comment maker...I can't put that picture up. (...family site) Tom B. (LongLine)

Didn't make it out this weekend. Cold water is forecast to be on the Southern shore all week. Hope it stays till next weekend. Good luck uring the week. Tom B. (LongLine)

Everyone should practice C&R with these critters. That's CHOP & RELEASE. Tom B. (LongLine)

NY had quite a program to go after the Lampreys then found out that the lampries were breeding elsewhere. State is stepping up the program to go the new breeding grounds this year. Hopefully they'll be successful. Man, are those beasties ugly! Tom B. (LongLine)

GLF - Seeing a few kings with scars. Haven't seen such plump Lampreys in quite a while though. Top one does have a scar. Other 2 were clean. Tom B. (LongLine)

1st Mate got out of bed this morning so I had company & we launched at 5:30AM. Headed off Russell & set up in 90 FOW. Nice S breeze, clear sky, early surface temp 69.8F. Decided to put the riggers on the bottom & go out. With 97 of cable out over 110FOW, noticed something neat on temp probe. While trolling at 2 mph (down speed), temp was 56F. In neutral, (0 mph) temp was 42F. IE Thermocline showing up and thin. Anyways: Got this 20 Lb’r off the lower rigger. ½ Hr later 1st mate got this 16 Lb’r, 97 down over 113FOW also off the lower rigger Lost the temp band & got a little dull for an hour or so, so we decided to head out a little. Found temp band at 109 over 145FOW then got these, again off the lower rigger. 20 Lb’r. This one had two 12" lampreys on it with which we practiced C&R. IE caught 2 lampreys and released 8 pieces. and then ½ hr later this 22 Lb’r All came off Bloody Blk/Slvr R&R. All 4 really nailed the spoon & ran like runaway trains. Had to chase each one. Not bad for a couple of Saturday Morning Rec fishermen. :D Don’t have the exact coordinates of where we were but this is close. Interesting surf temps. mostly 72F but crossed into a couple pockets of 68.5F. Lots of fleas. Had to use the ol' flea repellent. Maybe saw 8 boats fishing. Off around 11:30. Got warm out there after the wind died. Luck to all, Tom B. (LongLine)

Launched solo at 5:30, motored towards Russell then took RealJerks advice & went NW & set up in 150. Trolled North. Lake was like a mill pond this morning. Actually kind of muggy & hazy. Surface 67F all over. Here’s a real interesting screen about 190. No I wasn't going 0.3 mph...strange current for a flat lake. Actually screen looked like that starting at 165FOW but temp was 61F down 90 so kept going North. Came across a major big-time Scum Line at 225 FOW running ENE. Weeds, logs, branches, plastic bags, X-mas trees, dead fish, you name it, there it was. Temp down 90 went nuts, so kept going out to 260. Lots of fish on screen to 250 FOW, mostly down around the 100 mark so turned around and headed back toward Scum Line. Maybe 100/150 Yds North side of scum line had 49F down 90 ft. Anyways…got two Kings, Both 17’s. One in inches, the other in pounds…heh, heh, heh… All Shoulder, little gut on this beast. Hit like a freight train & ran. Had just enough time to clear both riggers before he decided to charge at the boat. (interesting scare under his pec fin) Both came between 8-9:00 down 90 over 235 FOW trolling towards shore at 2 ¼ down speed on a doctored Blk/Wh 28 Hologram. (Love it when you catch a fish on your own taped up spoon) Picked up around 10:45 when the wind came up & saw some big old dark ones in the sky. Lots of fleas on cables, lots of bugs in boat. Scum Line had moved to 235 FOW when I packed it up. Couple boats fishing the 190 FOW range. Saw another Scum Line at 70/80 range, with a bunch of diving birds off Long Pond as I buzzed in. Slowed down but didn’t mark anything. Sailing school being held in the river. Maybe a dozen trailers at launch & no attendant. (free launch today!) Luck to all, Tom B. (LongLine)

As soon as you think you've come into contact with it, wash with alcohol. Rubbing type not the 90 proof stuff. Hands first then swab your skin with a wet cotton ball. (put out the smoke first!) If you have breaking sores then wash around it to keep it from spreading, not directly on the open sore. (It'll sting like He[[) A doctor told me that in about 15 minutes I had it in my blood system. Washing clothes will not remove all of it. Sap is not soluable so it'll just put it on other clothes or leave residue in washer. Wash the clothes/gloves/towels but don't wear/use them again for about 3 weeks. There used to be a product called Tech-nu that worked great but I don't know if it's available anymore. It had a high alcohol contect. DON'T take a soaking hot bath!!! (unless you want it to spread like wildfire) The plants are a bear to kill and require many sprayings. (I used to be highly alergic to it and have learned to avoid it, but I can still smell it) And yes you can get it in the middle of a January snow storm if you touch the plant. I already tried that. GLF - Don't cut & Burn the plants unless you want to give it to all your neighbors. The smoke will carry the pollen/sap for miles. Check the label of any spray. Only the strongest will work on this stuff. Tom B. (LongLine) p.s don't put alcohol in washing machine!!! Heard that some "brilliant hillbilly" washed his clothes with a gasoline mixture in his washer a few weeks ago. At least that's what he told the firemen and insurance adjuster. I'm sure rubbing alcohol could do the same.

Don't know about boat trailers but commercial haulers need an oversize permit, signs, flags and an escort for anything over 10 ft wide. (just sent some equipment at work, cross-country, originating in NY to Texas, via Chicago) Best bet is probably to check with particular state motor vehicles dept. Tom B. (LongLine)

Fall brings a much more even distribution of Kings along the south shore than Spring fishing. The LOC runs spring & Fall derbies every year. In '05, 15 of 21 "money" salmon came from the East End including the Grand Prize winner. {East end meaning Fair Haven, Oswego, Mexico bay, Sandy Ponds area & the Salmon River (wonder why they call it that??)} In '04, 18 of the 21 came from East End again with the GP. In '03, 12 of the 21 again came from the East but this time the GP came from the West. (Olcott) Fall fishing is very competitive (weight wise) between the regions. West represented by Niagara River, Olcott, Wilson, Pt breeze/Oak Orchard. Central represented by Hamlin, Braddocks, Rochester, I-Bay, Webster, Sodus. Interestingly - historically (since the 70's) more people fish the east end in the Fall. Tom B. (LongLine)

GLF - Going with a pretty good surface current. Sub-T had it at 2 1/4, gps a little higher. Yes, sliders & cheaters are allowed. Cheaters normally a must with sceen like that. Tom B. (LongLine)

Sat 5/27/06 Sun 5/28/06 Or in words: Saturday: got Blanked. Sunday: Launched solo on the Genesee River at sunrise. Beautiful morning. Scooted, what I thought was, straight out & set up in 80 FOW & worked a little deeper. Couldn’t really tell if I was off Russell –off Durand so we’ll call it off Rochester. Ripple type East wind. Surface temp low-mid 50s.Screen around 90FOW was packed with fish so worked it for about 4 hrs with 1 rigger & one flatline. Very frustrating as nothing would fire. Decided to doctor up a frog with some orange dots. Didn’t work so I went a little deeper. Finally got something at 34.74/17.74 or (104FOW). A Coho, at 23 down, 60 ft back on my doctored frog. Tomorrow, I’m going to enjoy my 1st sunburn of the year. Tom B. (LongLine)

Actually, East side of Genesee River, Rochester. Lk Ontario, last saturday. Didn't get too scarey out there till this guy came out of nowhere & almost tangled the planner boards. Tom B. (LongLine)