doubleheader

And a few more pics

Returned from our annual 2 wk trip on the west arm on Saturday. On the drive up thru NYS on Rt 90 my brand new Tundra was hit by a brick or large rock as I went under an underpass. Major shock when that happens in the wee hours (sounded like an explosion), followed by being pxxx'd, followed by being thankful that we weren't killed. Other than that we arrived unscathed on a hot Saturday afternoon, and "hot" would be the word to describe our next 2 weeks of weather. Our first day of fishing the water temp was 67F and produced 12 walleyes between my wife and me. By mid week the surface water temp hovered at 80F where it remained for the rest of our trip, and as the weather got hotter the fishing declined. In short between my wife, me, and another couple we managed 108 walleyes during our stay, 7 were over the slot (2 close to 28"), but not nearly the numbers we've had in recent past. We found most fish around Squaw Island. They seemed to stage daily in the narrows in current or adajcent to underwater springs, which I could see on my sonar, and move into the deep bays enmass to feed selectively on perch and dragon fly larvae. I tried numerous weedbeds which had held fish in previous years but to no avail. Almost all of our fish came off worm harnesses trolled at .9mph off 1.5 oz bottom bouncers. Some fish exhibited signs of stress, I assume related to the early spring, low water, and extended hot weather. I had the distinct pleasure of fishing for musky with Lew on Thursday, and although we had no takers I had a wonderful morning with some great conversation. Thank you Lew. The 2nd week Amy and I fished with Alex from Memquisit on his day off. We've gotten to know Alex over the last 5 years and he's a fine young man, getting ready to marry his sweetheart Emily in August. Let me tell you, there is a young man whose parents should be proud. Sound values, great sense of humor, just an all around nice young man. On Tuesday of week 1 we had a big bear on our porch (cabin 3). I have seen many a bear in our PA woods and he was easily 300 lbs, a very fine specimen. The next day my friend's wife slipped at the water's edge, fell hard, and cracked her head and back on the rocks. She suffered with hip pain the rest of the trip. Then, despite all odds, my wife managed to get her foot caught underneath the rod locker lid while walking to the front of the boat, so now, as my buddy is also ailing and awaiting medication for a thyroid condition, me and the 2 dogs are the only healthy ones left in camp! I'm going to wrap this up here, but I have to say that despite all our incidents and problems (Amy also managed to shut a finger in the car door on the way home) we still had another great trip on the west arm and can't wait for next year. We found the accomodations perfect for us with the dogs, cabin 3 even has a new kitchen and large new bathroom btw, and our hosts were very helpful throughout our stay. Here are some pics, I hope...

What I would have done is become a stone mason, and if you are creative, are good with people, aren't afraid of work, can learn, and want to have your own business, there is a lot of money to be made in this line of work. Folks who want stone architecture aren't afraid to spend big bucks.

if it turns out to be something lodged, you can reverse the wiring and it may spit it out. Happened to me once.

Cabelas sells the Nissan brand. I had a 9.8 on my last boat and it ran great. The only criticism I would have of that motor is the stow hardware is a wireform and kind of cheap, but then again I never had a problem with it. It started easily and ran very smoothly. What I liked about it was the throttle wasn't spring loaded, so you didn't have to hold on to it to maintain the desired speed. If there wasn't too much wind you could steer with either your main motor or your bow mount. I have a Merc 9.9 pro- kicker now and it runs very good as well. My future son-in-law bought my last boat, the boat with the Nissan kicker, and it hasn't even been used this year, which means it has probably 20 hours on it as I bought it new from Cabelas in 2008. I'd bet he'd part with it at a very reasonable price. If I were going to buy new, I'd recommend the Merc motor, simply because there isn't a heck of a lot of difference in price between the two, especially if you can find a leftover new one. That said, I'd suspect you could buy that Nissan at 50% of new, and I don't think there is a mark on it. Let me know if interested as I'll be on the west arm the 1st 2 weeks of July and could bring it your way.

I documented what happened to us in 2008 while staying at Lakair. A guy in a 20' Crestliner missed us by less than a foot. He never even stopped. I still get chills thinking of what may have happened, but I also look at it as a valuable lesson. The lesson? "Yes, some people really are that ignorant, don't take anything for granted".

I was speaking with my insurance agent yesterday, getting paperwork ready to show proof of insurance for my upcoming trip to the west arm. So I asked her if my homerowners policy covered earthquake damage, and I learned it doesn't I and they can't even add it if there has been any seismic activity withing the last 7 days. I think I might just add it when I get back. It's less than $40/year.

We felt it here in NW PA. A number of folks called the news stations from Erie, Warren, Bradford. I'm not sure where the fault line runs, does anyone know? My recollection is it runs down thru the Niagara region kind of SW to NE and that it's one of the bigger fault lines.

You have the key attribute to be a very successful walleye fisherman, and that's perserverance. Most would have given up, so congratulations. Pulling harnesses on bottom bouncer can be very productive. In stained water use bright colors, in clear water more natural, although purple also works great in clear water. Speed around 1 mph and increasing as the summer progresses. When it's windy, find the most shallow flat you can fish on the windiest part of the lake and most times they'll be there. Fishing jigs with crawlers is also productive, usually either casting and retrieving or slow trolling at .5-.6 mph. Just mkae sure you are bouncing off the bottom and vary your retrieve/troll. Great job.

Be very careful washing with chemicals. It's very easy to cause pitting on your cowling if the power washer oe even the hose throws any of them up on your cowling. I learned the hard way, I was using Spray Nine to clean mildew from my carpet. Took just a plain hose to rinse the carpet on a hot sunny day and apparently threw some up on my cowling. After everything dried I had a bunch of pits on my cowling. Spray Nine no longer gets near my boat.

Cool, if you figure something out remember I get royalties

I think all locks do is deter the opportunist thief, the determined ones are going to find a way, and cause more damage the harder it is to break into that locker. What I've always wanted is an alarm system for my boat, something on the underside of my storage lockers and glove box that I could arm and disarm like a remote for the car. Another thought was to add a motion sensing camera.

Not sure I fully understand your question but what I do is tie my hook using a palomer knot (which keeps my hook at a 90 degree angle from my line) and leave the tag end of the line the desired length I want for my presentation off the bottom. Then I simply tie my weight (which can be a heavy jig) to that tag end. I don't use any swivels. What you've described kind of sounds like a 3-way rig where your main line is tied to a 3 way, you have a 2-3' dropper off that which has a weight or jig, and then a separate line, typically longer, that is fished with a floating jig or crawler. That set-up is used on many rivers where you have current keeping your longer floater at the right depth.

I feel for anyone with severe arthritis. I myself have been battling psoriatic arthritis and osteoarthritis. No fun for sure. Currently I'm taking Humira, which is the 1st drug that seems to be helping. I still cannot walk long distances, but I can at least walk without limping and my fingers seem to be working a little better. I've also had multiple steroid injections in both shoulders and most recently in my lower back. My back feels great but who knows how long this will be effective. Good luck to all of you on your treatments.

great report

Check your owners manual and see what it says regarding a transom saver. I suspect as long as you have good clearance on your trailer you're okay, but if you decide to put one on, here's one to look at. The m-ywedge is the one I use on my 200HP Verado. It's really simple and while some will say it doesn't protect the transom, I haven't had any issues and it definitely protects the hydraulic trim.

Okay I'll give this a shot but I'm not familiar with your lake. There are so many variables, but let's start with time of year. While walleyes do spawn in lakes, it seems to me in some lakes they prefer feeder streams. In my local lake a majority of walleyes are still in the upper portion of the lake or even still in the river from the spawn. I could fish down the lake for a week before catching a legal walleye, or I can go up lake and catch a limit in a couple hours. Next- presentation. While trolling harnesses is a great way to locate fish, this time of year I think jigging is the way to go. Whether using crawlers or minnies, work an area for 20-30 minutes, if you haven't had a hit move on. If you're slow trolling jigs stay at around .5-.6 mpg, and make sure you can feel the jig on the bottom. Try various retrieval methods, but typically this time of year the best retrieve is just work it slow across the bottom rather than hopping it. If the water in you lake is stained try bright colored jigs, like pink, orange, and chartreuse. If the water is clear try white, dark gree, or even black. If the water is clear pay attention to your line diameter. I prefer 6lb Sensation for shallow water jigging and 10lb braided line with a flurocarbon leader for deep water jigging. The small diameter lets you get a small jig down deeper as there is less resistence from the line going thru the water. The braided lines have a very good strength/diameter ratio. Do you know what a walleye bite feels like? Often it isn't a slam type strike or even a nibble, if you're slow trolling it's more like you've picked up a small piece of debis. It takes some practice getting the feel for a lite walleye bite, and while a decent rod and the right line will help, you absolutely don't need to spend a fortune on a jigging rod. If you're jigging and can only fish one rod, you should always be holding your rod rather than deadsticking it in a rod holder. It's the only way you'll develop the feel and long term you'll catch far more once you get the nack. Okay I have to wrap this up, but here's anoth tip. Hang around the boathouse/dock and ask questions of successful anglers. Many will be glad to get you pointed in the right direction. Good luck.

As I mentioned above, last year we hit the west arm hatch bad. we pulled harnesses and our numbers were way down but we caught some big girls so that lessoned the pain. Good ideas though on the slow death,blown up crawler, and the small grub presentations. I watched a show over the winter where these guys were fishing sink tip line with nymphs and catching quite a few walleyes. I've never tried it. I would think panfish size grubs tipped with maggots might also be productive.

My local lake is Kinzua but on Memorial weekend its nickname "The Zoo" is far more appropriate. Every type of floating craft in every type of condition decends on the docks around 11:00AM. In addition there are kids swimming and fishing off the adjacent docks that are there for short term tie-up. This year, however, I finally wised up. I was on the water at 6:00AM and back at the dock by 10:00AM. No aggravation, no delays, it's definitely the way to go over Memorial Day weekend. I did witness my pet peeve boating taboo though. A woman sitting on the front of a pontoon while underway with her feet dangling in the water. Just a couple years ago a young girl was killed on our lake this exact way. I think most non boaters are just so excited at the prosepect of being on the water that they leave their brain at home.

Just curious, Spiel or anyone else, have you had any success nymphing for walleyes on Nipissing? Just curious, maybe I should pack a flyrod. Last year on thw west arm in early July so many dead mayflies on the water there was a rotting smell. But I think last year was pretty late.

Minnkota makes a waterproof circuit breaker for this application

Hi fellas, DH here from Pennsylvania. Last night I spoke with Frank, one of the owners from Memquisit on the west arm, regarding water level. He told me that the water levels have rebounded, in his words, "a couple inches", and that he expects to see an additional increase, perhaps as much as a foot. It will be interesting to see what the Public Works website update says. It is scheduled for an update today. http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/ontario/eaux-water/renseignement-information-eng.html

Boaters are responsible for their wake regardless of whether or not they are in a no wake zone. I had a talking with a couple kids on jet skiis just this weekend. They were running right into the launch almost wide open, causing all kinds of wake. The good news was they at least listened, most of the time people look at you like you're just a jerk. Also this weekend saw 3 different boaters securing their gear right on the launch incline. Kids playing behind their boat while the adults were stowing gear, no tire blocks or anything, one guy actually was crawling underneath his trailer while on this steep incline. People just don't think.

I agree with Solopaddler, you need to be able to run these at a decent speed to get the desire action. I've found that adding a small float or a bead or two above the hook sometimes helps too.

Most everyone, and I include myself, stays too long in an area that isn't producing. My suggestion would be hit multiple spots until you locate a good pod. We tend to find a spot, usually a spot we've had previous success, and then we get a couple bites and keep trying to coax results. I wouldn't give any spot more than 30 minutes, and the fish could be at just about any depth depending on conditions.