J Francho

I had my kid climb into the front storage to do mine, lol.

Lakers sit on the bottom. Guides call them "bread and butter" fish, because if fishing for the better eating species is off, they'll drop the rigs to the bottom, and usually get bit. Rainbows and browns are just below, in, or just above the thermocline. My uncle was a charter boat captain, so I'm going by what I learned from him, either as a mate or him taking me fishing. That's why I first said he had a good chance of sticking a brown. You can sometimes find them only 30' deep, in hundreds of feet of water. I just see SO MANY references to the thermocline being a dead zone. Well it isn't. It's just a thin layer between the hypolimnion and hyperlimnion. It's just that we're so used to fishing for warm water bass and panfish, we ignore that entire portion of the lakes. As far as "secret" spots for trout? September, you'll start to see browns and steelhead come in shallow, as the water cools. There might be some kings and cohos left in the creeks. By October, the browns can be caught from shore, getting ready to make the spawning run. Steelhead follow them, to raid their redds. There aren't really secret spots, since the fish are pelagic. But there are a ton of reasonable charter captains that will put you on fish, if you can get a group together. They're out every day, on the schools. It's been years since I've caught, let alone fished for lakers.

I would say maybe the top 10% are making good money. There's a pile of them at the bottom that barely get by. I know quite a few that huge debt, trying to break in the top level door.

Like this. Yes, I set the hook. Yes, it is an extra fast rod.

Contact Strike King.

Not true at all. People think the water is oxygen poor below the thermocline. That isn't always true. Cold water actually can hold more oxygen. Warm water fish avoid going below it, into the hypolimnion not because there's no oxygen, but because it's cold. Salmonoids are a cold water species, with their own preferences. Lakers like it in the mid 40s. Browns and rainbows just below 60. If the lake supports trout, then they will be deep, and probably below the thermocline.

BTW, I've NEVER had a real pro be disrespectful. Dean Rojas asked if he could cut along side me to get to fish he saw yesterday. He never got any closer than 20 yards. Timmy Horton was hysterical. "I bet you caught my fish that's over here. " I'm like, "nope, nothing, but KVD beat this place up pretty bad." "That don't bug me, KVD doesn't know how fish right anyway." BAHAHAHA! The only issues I've gotten were "wanabe pros."

Yeah, merging this one.

I haven't heard any hype about these? Just threads here, describing stupid amounts of money being spent on them. Personally, it's the goofy looking. I won't be buying them. Ever.

I don't follow them around, but if I'm already fishing a spot, and one shows up, it would depend on the spot whether I'd stay or leave. Some places fish small, some large. I've fished club tournaments alongside Elite or Open level tournaments on Oneida. No one was hurting for room. I fished right next to Jaime Hartman, who was leading a northern open at the time. The spot we had in common was pretty small, so I moved several yards away, and let him have the prime spot. I ended up moving to a bridge piling close by. He won that open, and I won my club tournament. I believe he had two more pounds than I.

Here's a day out on Lake Ontario. We literally ran through the outlet from the lake to the bay at around 75 mph to beat the storm. Came out of nowhere. I saw a speck of lightning many, many miles away, and five minutes later. We beat it out just in time. The last two videos are the wind just before the storm.

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/navionics--navionics-preloaded-coastal-and-inland-chart-for-us-and-canada-microsd-card--14078133?recordNum=1

Warranty almost never transfers to a new owner on fishing gear.

WeatherBug has a very cool lightning tracker.

I've dealt with him, too. He's a good guy.

Been there!

It was Steve Parks himself, the inventor of Ragetail baits, and long time contributing member/sponsor here, Big-O. It was a patent violation, not a Copyright. Copyright is for printed text, works of art, photography, and musical performance.

Wow, 33 years, so you know how it goes - never stop learning or figuring things out. It's been almost 40 years for me. Some things still baffle me. I finally let this one go. I was offered more than I payed for it. I had for 17 years, was time to let it go. Black Badge DW Collectors Series, born in Feb. 2000. Early John Good shells, not Keller. They're on 6 records, and I still love their sound, but I was ready for something different. Here's a pic of us being stupid before a show. New kit is a Masterworks, in order L-R: 10 popcorn snare, 13, 10, 12, 8, 16, 15, 20 bass, Gretsch USA snare with Dunnett hoops and throw-off. Dream Bliss/Vintage Bliss cymbals, Pearl rack system, Tama Speed Cobra pedals. Small club setup, without the rack: Even smaller setup I use when we're writing new stuff. Even though I use a big kit, everything is centered around the groove and these drums. Once I have things down, I expand on the melodies with the extra stuff.

It was a joke, lighten up. I use all three types of reels, as well as centrepin and fly reels.

Looked it up, I payed $145 to make my 3-blade prop look brand new after fishing Prop-eater Lake, er I mean Oneida for the first time, lol.

Take it to a prop guy. It isn't that much. Heck, it was reasonable to have Trophy Plus cupped to 27.

I've caught so many fish vertically, where I could see both my bait, the fish, and the fish after getting hooked that I feel like it doesn't matter all that much.

Popmax.

I just skewer the nose on the hook. Flukes are cheap enough, and pretty durable.

It is kind of small for that many boats, but that kind of pressure is not unusual. There's a particular Finger Lake up here that has a tournament every evening of the week, and perhaps more than one club tournament on the weekends. Add in the locals, and non tournament fisherman, and it gets a ton of pressure. Yet, it is a big bass factory. You need to be over 22# most good days, and around 20 on tough days. Nothing less than a 6+ will win lunker bonus. I contend that high cull rate, along with what must be favorable conditions and habitat are what actually help the lake.