1mainiac

Personally since fish tend to face into the current I tend to troll with the current that way my lures are coming toward the fish not coming up behind them. When trolling with the current I tend to let the boat wander back and forth more than I do when trolling against it. I also prefer to have my up speed faster than my down speed as it for me is easier to keep a active Steelhead spread and still have a few lures deep for Salmon and Trout. I have been to many seminars and you will hear both schools of thought as to trolling with or against the current. My thought is since I grew up river fishing most of my life has been spent with my bait going with the current and I never had a hook up problem. I also have noticed that the baitfish often seem to swim with the current or at least move with it.

Thanks Mark I think a lot of people have tried to make this about BC2 when the real issue is rules, honor and integrity. If as some have tried you turn it in to a popularity contest you lose sight of the root problem. There is no cheat proof rules well maybe there could be but I doubt very many would be willing to put money on the line and fish by them. The idea that you really wanted to win so you were forced to cheat is no good either. Nor is the argument that others cheat and win so it should be ok for you to do it. Simply put man up and play by the rules or accept your fate. I have really wanted to win nearly everything I have ever tried to do. I admit I have really wanted to catch fish more than win a few times and have made the decision to withdraw from a couple of events and just fish. However since I never weighed a fish caught outside the rules how is that cheating as has been insinuated by some? I guess I am not serious enough about tourny fishing cause if it is not going well I just accept that I sucked and move on LOL.

Many of the Pro Teams hire observers locally for events going rate is 50 bucks a day. Sadly often the observers don't even seem to know all the rules as mostly they look for people who won't get seasick LOL. What I would assume could be done is for the TT and events to provide Observers rather than each team providing one and then swapping thme around from boat to boat. Simply put there is not a gray area if a fish is legal and it is a no cull event then it needs to go in the box and be scored. If you see guys horseing small fish and knocking them off by any means they need to be DQ'd this applies to AM boats as well lots of us have been saying for years that there is no way some of the boxes brought in day after day happen without some magic involved. Yes there are programs that lean towards bigger fish but that does not stop 5 to 8 lb fish from hitting them. Clubbing them with a net does however LOL. If as a few say the gray area extends to a lot more boats it is gonna take a pretty big marshall to straighten the mess out. I will bet it will be a interesting winter for a lot of Tournament committees sorting out how they will procede next season.

Honestly for me it has never been about the team in question. I am not sure it is needed to make big rule changes most of the rules have been pretty clear for those who want to fish by them. The Gray area as some see it is only created by those who look for a way around simple rules. I can assure you as I told a couple of my friends nearly everything I have said about the subject I would have said no matter who the boat was including some of my close friends. The fact is it seems the entire country has gone downhill in terms of moral values I am not sure what the outcome will be there either but my gut feeling is it won't be good. I have heard many talk about lowering the box limits but the thought occurs to me wouldn't that make every fish more important and increase the chances that people would try and cheat. As long as people are willing to trade their honor and integrity for a few bucks and a prize it really won't matter what the rules are.

I was told by reasonably reliable sources their entry fee was sent back. I might also point out they are no longer listed in the South Division 333 they were in second place and are now gone from the list completely. If you think I am just a hater and making it up look for yourself http://www.tournamenttrail.net/cumulative_pro_south.htm. I am pretty sure this will be deleted but it is what it is they were caught cheating perhaps the wheels are grinding a little slowly and I have no idea what the final outcome will end up being nor is any of it up to me. However I have been told by a few who are involved it is far from over so those who want this to just go away will need to stick your heads back in the sand and click your heels a little harder.

At least I know the plug is still catching fish, looked all over for it then Jay reminded me it was on your boat LOL. Sounds like you are getting some good use out of it, will have to get it back one of these days but no rush.

Personally I would not move if I was getting fish however points are important so if I know I can do better somewhere else and I can afford the boat gas I will be gone. This year boat gas has been tought to come by so I tend to fish close to home.

I don't run many LJ plugs anymore I have a lot of them but don't use em. I run mostly AceHi plugs because they are more speed tolerant. They will swim nicely even at Steelhead speed The LJ plugs and others which are similar seem to get stupid above 2.5 mph yes I know guys troll them faster but if you pull one alongside the boat going fast you will see what I mean. The Erratic action that works great at 1.8 and straight the old salmon standby is insane past 2.5 . I will likely have a ton of them for sale at the next swap meet at least 50 or 60.

Very nice Mark congrats.

Count me in for any of the dates the 21st is our final MSCST event so was kinda hoping maybe a few of you guys could join us and we could party with you after word. But hey it's my home port I don't need much of a excuse to go fishing LOL.

full core and a 7 color keep the other 3 for a swr buy some dive bombs to make those 3 into whatever you need.

Updated as of 4th event BOAT NAME 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH 5TH TOTAL POINTS POINTS POINTS POINTS POINTS POINTS REEL OBSESSED 168.25 148.1 159.7 97.85 573.9 FISHSNIFFER 146.2 145.7 160.9 62.6 515.4 WIND DRIFT 165.85 166.3 113.3 65.1 510.55 CHARLIES ANGEL 61.8 152.5 176 390.3 1 MAINIAC 90.6 152.8 71.15 70 384.55 DOUBLE J 99.4 52.7 150.7 41.2 344 7MARY3 96.45 30.1 101.1 80.55 308.2 KEEPIN-R-WET 198.7 198.7 INREELTROUBLE 18.35 22.45 88.1 42.9 171.8 WAY COOL 47.85 73.45 121.3 HIGH SEAS 49.9 37 0 28.05 114.95 AHABS REVENGE 60.05 60.05 THE ARVLE "O" 0 53.75 0 53.75 DREAMER 50.7 0 0 50.7 PULP FISHING 24.1 24.1 DIRTY WHITE BOY 16.3 16.3

I will start this of with my quick report I spent the week tracking wind reports and a couple of evening fishing trips to confrim what I thought would happen. I was dead right sort of the NW wind for the last few days pushed the baitfish right where I expected to see them right out front and in mass. So I set up to fish the mud on a huge bait school 2 hours and 1 fish later we came to the conclusion the Salmon were not there and began a search pattern moving out from them to see if we could find the fish that had to be nearby the bait. I ran a fairly nice sweep of the area and came up empty with time fading we went west and north a bit and we ended up with 4 fish. There was not a lot of happy fish talk as everyone was having the same problem. Big fish went to Don Fishsniffer a 15.4lb King Here are the results BOAT NAME BIG TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL FISH FISH WEIGHT POINTS REEL OBSESSED 12.05 5 47.85 97.85 7MARY3 13.6 4 40.55 80.55 WAY COOL 14.6 4 33.45 73.45 1 MAINIAC 8.25 4 30 70 WIND DRIFT 14.1 3 35.1 65.1 FISHSNIFFER 15.4 3 32.6 62.6 AHABS REVENGE 13.5 3 30.05 60.05 DOUBLE J 14.1 2 21.2 41.2 INREELTROUBLE 7.2 2 12.9 32.9 HIGH SEAS 6.8 2 8.05 28.05 PULP FISHING 14.1 1 14.1 24.1 I want to thank everyone for helping make this another great event and 1 more to go. Hope to see a few of you at Don's fish fry tonight.

There are a lot of nets out you have to watch your path closely. In the evening I tend to stay outside of them we have been doing well in 130ft I know I could do better inside but have been taking rookies out the last few trips with kids so setting up deeper has reduced the hassle factor. Still took 11 nice fish in last 2 trips let me know when you are coming over and if I am out I will help you or maybe do a trip with you and see if we can get you into more fish. Flies and plugs been taking the most fish the last few weeks. Out of the last 11 fish only one on a spoon.

Throwing away the factory leaders and running 2 single hooks. I almost never lose fish anymore on them. I find I don't need as many hits when pretty much every hit comes to the box. The rest is finding what works best for you and your setups. I tend to stay fast and aggressive so I have adjusted how I run them based on how I fish them. For me I don't run as long a leader as others do. The way a friend explained to me years ago salmon tend to slash at bait as such they miss way more than they hit and often will injure a baitfish so by keeping everything short the flasher looks like a fish hitting bait and the fly looks like injured bait it missed causing a fish to hit it trying to steal the bait. This results in fish charging in to take the fly and hard hits which set the hook very nicely.

Fish appear to be scattered I was north from the 16's to 18's 130fow. Will try something differant Thur night when we go out. I know I can get my fish inside but have been staying out at night to avoid the nets with rookies on board.

http://www.fishdock.net/netlisting That is what I use other than a net we found last night it has been pretty accurate.

Terry, Don and me have our tourney on the 21st so if anyone would like to fish it they are welcome to join. What time is the fish fry? You know I will be there after weigh is complete on Sat and will see how it goes on Sun.

Went 5 for 6 tonight with a 8 year old handleing most of the fish got to help a father and son get their first Salmon ever and their first big water Laker. Nice night for a 3 hour tour LOL. Had 2 doubles and got them both lost a shaker pulling lines cause we did not notice it was there. AceHi plugs and UV Flasher fly took 4 fish Moonshine Double trouble took one. 60 to 70 down in 130fow on a south troll we fished south of Duck Lake.

It is just a few days till our next tourny looking forward to seeing more of you guys and hoping for great weather. The fish are in the area so it should be a great day and my bet is several boats put in big boxes. Who knows maybe I will even get a few fish it has been a while since I had a good box so I am due.

I have a whole bag of them in front of me on my desk they work pretty good they are from Opti Tackle and have a duo lock on one end of the swivel and the cork screw on the other I like them but stopped using them. Mostly because of the swivel I try to stick to all ball bearing swivels with welded rings and these are just standard swivels.

Sail boats have the right of way there is a protocal for passing which very few even seem to know and even less use. However except for No Wake zones and swims zones and a few other protected areas for the most part the speed limit is up to you and your boat. Even under Fog conditions you are pretty much at your own pace. However with that comes the fact that if you screw up it is your fault. The only exception would be hitting a unmarked object which would include a small boat at night without lights. There is very little that is scarier than cruising along in the moon light and suddenly having a bic lighter light a couple hundred yds or closer away from your bow. SO I seldom exceed 3400 rpm at night the boat cruises very nicely there it is about 30 mph and trimmed correctly I produce very little wake. It is also the most fuel efficeint cruise at roughly 9 gph so a touch over 3 mpg however push it just a touch more and the 4bbl opens and before you know it you are up close to 21 gph at 38mph. below 2100 she drops off plane without a ton of tabs and I am burning 7 gph to run 15mph. So for most of us we have to run between 3000 and 3400 rpms to hit the sweet spot for fuel economy and nice ride. That said I would never out run my visability so make sure we can see you and learn how to enter the channel before you run into it.

I keep seeing those ads for the manditory boater safety training in Canada I always thought it was kind of a joke. But lately I am starting to think it might save lives and weed some idiots off the water if they had to have a license. Then after we get that passed we work on a license to post on the internet and cut down on keyboard stupidity.

Wow that has got to suck to remove supprised the law had not made them call a salvage boat. My response was to C-Cast about running in the dark. Guys pure and simple you need to know the rules out on the water and you need to know the water as well. There is no rule I know of that says you can't run fast in the dark. The Lake Express does not slow down. The rule does say you have to be properly lighted and you have to watch for other boats and things you could hit. However if you are in a small boat or a big boat at night with no lights and some one hits you it is your fault. I can't beleive how many people put their boats on the peirs and rocks every year because they don't know the rules or understand the lighting system. 2 things I never do daytime or night time is approach a harbor mouth from the side or run directly across one. I have however seen lots of boats do it but I always square up to the entrance and try and come straight in so I can see inside the breakwall before I run in.

My first thought is what are all the small boats doing out at night with little or no lighting? I can't say how many times I have been running in only to come up on a boat I can barely see with no lights on it? Honestly first obey the rules of navigation at night. There is no rule for speed limit at night and some of us are running several miles to get back in so use some common sense and put lights on at dark. I know that lighting requirements vary from boat size and I am ok with that if I see a single white light I steer to avoid it till I know I am clear of it. But this is not a concert so flicking your Bic lighter is not good enough. I expect to hear of the Lake Express running over a small boat one of these days since many of the small are too small to show up on radar and having little or no lights does not help. Also blinding a guy with a huge spotlight does not help either as you dystroy his vision for several seconds he may need to avoid you. Often when I am running in at night I will sweep the water in front of me with my bow light but still in 2ft or bigger waves a small boat will completely dissappear so get some lights on. I would really like to see the Coast Guard or the sherrif patrol out at night around the harbor mouths they could cut down on a lot of the stupidity. Some things can't be avoided but being out at night in a dark boat can be.