quality time

Bait guys do well at night. I've tried it 3 times(trolling) fishing till midnight Never moved a rod although the fish finder was full of fish including bait. We always did well on landlocks as the light was just cracking. As

much bait as we saw I think they must come out of the deep. You have nothing to lose give it a try! Wes

We run octopus, Gamagatzu, or vmc

Do not be afraid to mingle. Many methods are used to catch these fish and

all work. Dropping fish is part of the game. Some days you will not drop a

fish and others you will. Welcome to lou. I hope to be on the south end this weekend. Give "Quality time" a shout on cannel 68! Wes

Very nice Kade Wes

I had several break offs with heavy leader on dipsy. I think what happens is a fish hits hard and passes the dipsy pulling the dipsy backwards so it

will not trip Not much you can do about that

You want to go as low as you can. In the spring we drop as low as 6 or 8lb test. The lighter the line the better the lure action. We are

talking rigger rods only. If you are running wire you need to up the

size because the main line has no stretch. In the finger lakes I

never go higher than 15 pound leader if the water is murky and 12 if it is clear. I run 20lb leader on my rigger rods for salmon in Lake O.

A few

years ago we were fishing lake O all day with no luck. Huge schools of fish and many boats with no nets going over the side. I had one of

my finger lakes rods stowed below deck and decided to get it out and

give it a try. We landed 7 fish in the next few hours on that rod with 8 lb test including 2 salmon, a rainbow, and a couple lakers. My

point is size matters and you can catch large fish on light line as

long as you sre not in combat fishing mode

What pound leader are you running? Wes

10,11

I only use welded rings. Almost all the new tackle made in China is

crap. The trouble with the landlock on the dipsy is you have no line

stretch. If you had that fish on the rigger you have all kinds of

give. Keep the drag as light as you can. Wes

GOING TO TRY AND GET A CREW FOR B & B. HOPE TO SEE ALL. SEEN LOTS OF PICTURES OVER THE YEARS WITH KADES GREAT BIG SMILE. HIS LEGS ARE

ALMOST AS LONG AS HIS SMILE. THAT KID HAS SPROUTED SINCE THE LAST TIME I SAW HIM! wES

Great job! Great to see kids having a good time! I've got some kids lined up to do battle over the next few weeks!  Wes

The rainbows have been in trouble for a long time. DEC is slow to make changes and that is part of the problem. I would guess that they are going to wait and see how Seneca does after the limit changes. I will be dead and buried before they make the changes they should have done years ago.  In my opinion they should not even stock rainbows. Native fish to the lake would be lake trout and landlocks. They do great so why not go with them.

talked with the biologist a few weeks ago.  They are saying we have to many lakers and they have reduced laker stockings and increased rainbow stocking. I think that the limit should be changed to 1 rainbow like Seneca. They are going to judge the success by how many mature rainbows go over the fish ladder in the spring. If all the fish get hammered in the lake before they are old enough to spawn they will more than likely reduce laker stocking even more. Catch and release is a matter of choice and you can legally keep your limit every time that you go out but does that mean you should. I just ask that people think about the future. It is not an endless supply of fish and the better we become as fisherman the more impact we have. We are seeing more pressure because other lakes are slow. You can have fun without killing everything you catch. We have the potential to have a world class fishery if we do not over exploit it.

Did a quick trip after work. Started at the power plant and did a few passes without moving a rod. Headed for deeper water and started a steady pick. Most of the fish were small. Ended up with around a dozen fish. I rainbow about 17" a few small landlocks, the rest lakers most around 3 to 5lbs. Dropped a 6 or 8 lber at the back of the boat. 6 rod spread and we caught fish on every rod. Green spoons and a white paddle with the Iron Duke "Quality time fly" took the most fish. U.V. fly worked as well but Ben's memorial fly was getting the job done. Had a newbie onboard and we dropped a bunch of fish but we still ended with a enough to make him smile. All fish were released! I hate to preach but the DEC is trying to renew the rainbow fishery. A 3 pound fish we release today will be 5 to 8 pound tail dancing fish in a few years! Take a kid or newbie fishing and have a good time.    Wes 

no guns at night!

You need to check the regs!

Nothing better than releasing a true trophy to fight another day. You might get another chance  to fight him again! Nice job!  Wes

Going to Lake O later this week. Might be back the next weekend..

 Thanks for that info Bobber. Has Kade been fishing?

  I took some newbies out. And the first thing I will say is that after looking at the pictures I should be kicked in the butt for the way that the PFD was fitting Mike. I was in the back of the boat rigging and he was sitting most of the time and I never noticed. These are the stupid mistakes that get people hurt. That being said, do they make auto inflate pfds in smaller sizes? That will not happen again. Anyhow Mike got his first lakers and a few short salmon. We did 6 fish in about 4 hours. Mike had a great time and even a short salmon put a huge smile on his face. We used boga style grips to handle and release all but 1 fish. Most fish down 90 over 135. The one  that we kept had been released before so thank you for doing catch and release so that a young fisherman can have his day made by a fish that was previously caught. Wes

Thank you Hal. I would also like to thank Nick for saying the kind words about Ben and Mike from Iron Duke flies. He put Ben's Memorial flies together on very short notice. I hope that people will use this fly and report back with any success. We decided to name the fly "BFF Fly" which of course was  unveiled at big fish Friday. It was Mike who thought that this could also stand for Ben fishing forever. Ben loved to help others and the message on the back of the fly package is simple but important. The future of our outdoor sports depends on getting more people involved. It was great to see some young people at the weigh-in. Ben named our  boat "Quality Time" because time spent on the boat was quality time. It might seem strange for some people that we embraced even slow fishing days because this was time that we could catch up on what was going on in each others  lives. Help pass on Ben's legacy and help others share the outdoors.  

He will be greatly missed. He always brought smiles to the people around him.  Wes

Quality time is in! Got a new special fly to try thanks to Iron Duke Trolling flies

What time is weigh-in?

Fred must have had help getting that fish in. As old as he is I can't believe he can hold it up. I think they have some openings at the Treater Tower.   Wes