Sk8man

The launch at the Geneva Information Center is closed big time dock is busted up too.

Nice going Bill

After 76 years of fishing and thousands of fish all over I still very fondly remember the first one a 12 inch black bass caught in the Yacht Club bay on Seneca Lake with my dad on a bright sunny day on July 3rd, 1949. I still can't top that one!

I don't believe there is a single explanation for the apparent downturn in participation in the LOC or in Lake Ontario trolling in general. Fishing itself seems to have taken a downturn in participation and especially by young people. The onset of the Internet, video games, intensive involvement in children's sports and extracurricular activities among a host of other competing interests has changed the very face of fishing as a desired outlet. Add to this the economic factors mentioned here by others etc. As a kid I lived on the Canandaigua Outlet and fished about every day after school, I had a trap line for muskrats to earn my money for fishing equipment as well as collected bait and night crawlers to sell to get money so I could send away mail order for my equipment. How many kids in today's world could relate to that scenario? The decrease in involvement in the LOC is not the only one that has significantly decreased in participation. The Finger Lakes derbies have also shown a very significant decline to the point that it is a question mark whether they will even be held in the last few years. I remember that there was in excess of 2500 participants in earlier National Lake Trout derbies now just a few hundred. Look around when at the launch ramps and you will note that nearly all of the fishermen are middle to old agers....again too many competing interests for younger folks and the costs are becoming prohibitive. There 6also appears to have been a shift to perch and bass fishing by many former trout and salmon fishermen. Again ,the many valid points already brought up on here are factors, and when you put it all together the current changes in participation become understandable if not palatable. For me, the derbies have always been more about the challenge above the money and nothing is more exciting to me than seeing families fishing them or kids hooking up with something and getting excited. At this point in life I appreciate just being alive and getting out on the water and having a good time regardless of my catching success.

Very nice detailed report Anthony. You have really picked up your game since we first met was it ten or so years ago? at the south end of Canandaigua with your family and previous boat....good memory of our chat Best of luck if you do decide to fish the Seneca derby. Les

Hopefully those kings are representative of what might be to come later this season

You should feel right at home here...we are all addicts here....just different strokes for different folks

Hey Steve I think you did better than most

I talked with a couple guys coming off the ice at north end of Canandaigua yesterday. They said 5-6 inches of ice out as far aas you can see. They were out in about 14 ft. One guy said he saw absolutely nothing in about 20 holes he drilled the other guy had three keepers on the small side. They said it has been very slow. About a half dozen tents out there. Today only three, tents but I didn't stop.

😃 Worth the $ though unlike a lot of the stuff we buy.

They all seem to work well both places but the 35,87,22,666,777, performed very well on the Fingers for me but even the bigger 88 and 06 also caught fish. The 666, 777, 22, 06 caught multiple species for me on Lake O. Always pays to experiment

Really great year, but the looks on those kids faces says it all!

I guess although my original intent was to mention a way to shine spoons up and plating aspects of the Hinckleys it should be noted that these spoons have a nearly 150 year old design history, they are individually hand made, hammered and formed by hand (not robotic assembly line stuff) and what I believe to be the critical factor is their hand formed cupping at the back of them giving them action. Check out the website as it has elaborate detail on how they are made. I think the fact that actual silver and gold are used in the plating may make them more visible from further distances. Regardless, they work very well and are the most effective spoons I have ever used. By the way, I don't have any financial interest in the company (but kinda wish I did). The owner indicated that he gets orders from all over the country (Colorado, California, Tennessee, Vermont etc.) so I guess that sort of speaks for itself too