Blue Heron

What time are you starting??

Rod i had a 16' Crestliner that was very similar but did have pedestal seats . I mounted 2' tracks on each back corner and added 2 cannon mini mags and a couple of rod holders. Like others have mentioned i also had a tote pole that mounted in the bow seat mount. I also had a set of gunnel mounted outriggers for it . For storage I fastened a couple of cheap 3 tube rod holders to the front of the consoles ( one on each side) , had a 18 gal rubbermaid tote shocked way up in the front and had enough room for some smaller totes shocked under each console. The top was always a pita on that boat and i eventually just took it off . The boat was kept on Cayuga lake but made a number of trips to lake O in the spring and it caught a few fish in its day. Little aluminum boats like that are great - they are easy to tow and launch and are a great solution for fishing when you are alone or just have one other person. They can be used for trout/salmon, bass, perch, whatever

Im with PP on this one - we all are stewards of this fishery and should be doing what we can to make the experience better. If everyone gives a little bit we all will get alot

Wow - great catch - guess we should have gone north instead of staying in the warmer water

Met a good friend from lansing at the cass park launch for a shakedown trip of the little boat. Id like to say it was a spectacular trip but... - Bad cold in the morning, broke ice at the launch to get the boat in - Norm said it was 18 degrees - found some 40+ water in SE corner of lake but there was so much junk floating couldnt fish it - Fished 3 + hours around south end - Got skunked That said I did get to try out the new 5hp tohatsu kicker on the BH jr and it worked great. Also I installed a ControllKing for speed control on the kicker and just wanted to say it works great - well worth the money

my understanding is that treman and the inlet are open - the water is very high (nrearly to the top of the docks) I plan on fishing out of treman on Sun morning

Have you looked at the T-Top kits sold by Atlantic towers, Strikemaster,etc

After setting up several small ( 14') tiller steer boats I would definately recommend keeping your riggers and rod holders in front of the rear seat- IMO its safer, easier to set up lines , easier to watch lines while trolling ( especially if fishing alone), and makes it easier to fish with two people

RR It was a great way to set it up and as you said was easily removable if you wanted to fish for perch, bass,etc

I mounted some smaller cannons on my 14' Blue fin . I used a 1" thick oak plank that went from gunnel to gunnel ( with a small block that locked over the outside of the gunnel on each end) . this plank then was held down with a carrige bolt thru each oarlock - this set up worked great and you could mount additional stuff ( like rod holders) on the plank - using this setup the riggers were in front of the 'drivers position' on a tiller steer boat and readly acessible if fishing alone - it also worked great if fishing two people because the person on the front seat could also readily reach it. Of course depending where your oarlocks are it may block the center seat. I also used cannon clamp on mounts on a smaller Starcraft boat I had - they also worked well - but the put more strain on the boat sides. You could also consider scribing a 2x6"- 2x8" board to the curve of the side of your boat, mounting it to the seat tops down each side from the back seat to the center seat ( to create a shelf along each side) and then using a couple of pedestal mounts ( or some sort of blocks you make up) to get the riggers up over the gunnel height

I used a set of these for several years on my 14' Blue fin and they worked fine. The line counters on the swivel head are not as precise as the gear driven ones but they give you a pretty fair idea of where you are. The cannon releases have always been junk ( unless you use them to hold rubber bands) but you can always use a blacks between the cable and the ball . I actually have a set of these that are in decent shape that i was thinking of selling they have been stored in my basement for about 6-7 years- if interested send me a PM

Wow guys - looks like some ramapnt Seasonal Affective Disorder at work here. I grew up in Ithaca and spent huge numbers of hours fishing Cayuga lake in the 70s, 80s, 90s, - unfortunately I had to relocate due to work and have only been able to get out down there a couple of times since. Fortunately I found this board and can continue to see how the fishing is evolving in the fingerlakes. It has definately changed - like 8"spinnys & flies taking big lakers - but some things - like the winter time LLs on body baits stays the same. In my days on the fingerlakes I caught my share of fish and was always willing to share how & where, I was a founding memebr of the Cayuga Lake Charter Assoc, and spent much time and energy promoting the fishery. I ever get back I will certainly share what ever I can although it is important to note that what fish I catch will likely be because of the info I saw here . I always found it humorous when you would here guys on the radio say 'go to the secret channel' - of course the rest of us would just hit the scan button on our radios but.....and yes nowdays they use a cellphone. While i never wanted to flaunt how i was doing I would always ( well almost ) tell anyone that asked how i was doing and what I was doing it with. I always found the greatest joy in fishing was helping others catch fish - I never thought that they would catch all the fish nor take fish away from me - i dont know how many times I gave info to the boat next to me and had them start catching fish - funny thing was I didnt stop catching fish. Its also true that just as often I would be doing fish on one thing and my buddy in the boat next to me was doing them on something different and not able to catch them on what I was running The fact is that some folks will always post - some folks will occassionally post and some folks really wont post - thats how it is - no point in getting your shorts in a knot over it. If you are really about making fishing better you will want to continue to post this great info as you have been - thats the joy of the sport and yes sometimes it may seem a little one sided - accept that To those of you posting - A BIG Thank You

Like I said above - I have a Depth Raider and a Fish Hawk - I run them both - and I have previously run a Moor - they all work well. The issue with the DR is not that the coated cable wears out - if you take care of it - it will take care of you . But the DR does require an antenna on the rigger - even thats not a big deal - my biggest dislike is that the coated cable suffers significantly more blowback . You cant go wrong with any of them so it all comes down to what you are most comfortable with

I have a fish hawk on the big boat and a depth raider on the little boat. While they both work fine I find the coated cable/antena of the depth raider to be a less desirable solution( I dont really have any heartburn over mounting a transducer). That said I think its really a matter of ecomonics . IMO if you can afford it go with the fish hawk the new X4 is rock solid

Great catch - the early season LLs in Cayuga are great fish. You have forced my hand - I will be putting the Blue Heron jr in the garage on Fri and getting it set up - time to declare winter over and get on with some fishing

Capt Vince & Capt Bob Just wanted to thank you for the info on Sat. It was extremely enlightening to attend a presentation by highly skilled professionals where they are reafirmng the need to stick to the basics & KISS. Thanks Ted

sounds like either Kingtown Beach or Rocky Dock

Looking for some input on the best map card for my LCX-27. Any Thoughts?? Thanks

I have a 22 year old 20' Crestliner Great Lakes Sabre that I have a bit of a top dilema with. This is a fully cuddy boat ( not walk around) and the couple I bought it from had just had a new custom canvas top made for it the year before I got it - unfortunately the canvas top comes about 18" too far back into the fishing area ( IMO) and that area is already limited on a 20' boat. For year I have had 'top envy' - I think that the Hard tops & Trampoline tops on many of the sportfisherman out there look awsome and I would love to have something similar on my rig. I have searched around with limited success - I was hoping I could find a top kit for a reasonable amount ( I hate to drop 3 - 4 grand on a top for a boat I only paid that much to buy)that could be adjusted to fit my boat . The TTop kits out there are designed for a CC Boat. Atlantic Towers new Walk Around Cuddy Top in a box kit is absolutley gorgeous but wont fit my boat. Atlantic towers does make a hardtop designed for my boat but based on the dimensions it would be as far back into the fish fighting area as my current canvas. After all this leg work I am now thinking I have the following options 1) Live with my current canvas ( hey at least this option is cheap) 2) See if my current canvas can be reworked to shorten it - this would solve the fish fighting room issues but I will still have Top Envy 3) Have an aluminum Tramp top frame custom built by someone local and have a trampoline Canvas made to fit it 4) Build my own frame out of heavy gauge EMT and have a Trampoline Canvas made up for it So - what kind of opinions and options can you guys share here ?? Have any of you had something custom done local to rochester that you could recommend?? Thanks Ted

Tim I am signed up and would love a chance to meet some LOU folks face to face so I think the tables at lunch is a great idea

try this place - I have one of there fladen suits http://www.cheaplifejackets.co.uk/

They definately have a 'Sale - business closing' sign up - I was planning to stop tomorrow and see what was going on

Sent you a PM

I always changed mine every 3rd trip so thats not far off- i also pulled my battery at end of each trip - the new x4 probe is awsome

They had some decent 'tan' - not nice and silver like a few weeks ago