Fat Trout

This scenario happened on Cayuga Lake. Cayuga is a lake with no Towboat US available. Since we have extremely limited options there is a code of ethics where we help each other out whenever possible. I agree that some situations may occur that you can not assist. That is very rare on Cayuga. I lost several hours during a tournament towing in a fellow LOU member years ago. The repayment for that will be when someone rescues me someday down the road. 
 
(Does this look familiar Aaron/stoneam2006!)

Understand. Regardless. The choice is the at the captains discression.

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Here's my take...Any boater who denies a fellow boater assistance,especially with kids aboard is an ASSHO.

 

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Situation dependent. I towed a 24 ft boat who had no steering capability on lake Ontario ...didnt know the steering part until i was committed. I was an 18 ft boat. When i came to port that boat swung back and forth wildly at slow speed. It was all i could do to maintain control. I have many regrets from that scenario and im not even explaining the half of that 2 hour hair raising scenario. I came really close to putting my crew in harms way and plowing that boat into others. Im still willing to help but im going to grade the scenario. Ill respond to life emergencies but towing for a guy with an questionably maintained boat (my situation)....yeah im gonna think that one out. im also very able to call towboat US for people. Which is my plan for myself which i have already set up if i have issues. As captain of my boat im responsible for my boat and crew and others at my discression. That was the lesson that i learned. Consider that before tossing too many universal..."you must do" stones.

 

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Boy when things r bad they only get worse!  Just got spooled on a freight train. Theres a big boy out there swimming with 700ft of wire/dipsey/ and FF:headbang:

Thats why ya put the whole 1000ft on there [emoji28]

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New boat is a magnet!

7 minutes ago, Hachimo said:

My wife sent me the pic this morning of it off facebook.  That is crazy.  Definitely not for me. I’d probly fire the other engine and motor out without pickin up the gear. Lol

Realized I was double posting.....so edited.  The memory was that crazy lol. 

 

 

2 hours ago, Traveling Circus said:

In '92, we got "hit" by one when trolling in late August in front of Sandy Creek, Monroe County. We were in a 19'Starcraft Islander. I heard guys off Braddocks on the radio saying..... "there's another spout dropping down off Sandy", but I couldn't see it forming, as we were right under it. In front of us, you could see the wave tops being ripped off the surface by the wind, and the area was maybe 100 feet in diameter. The area was approaching the boat, and I really didn't know what to do, or where to turn..... I mean, whaddaya do? Riggers out. Divers out. You're kinda committed to endure it. The wind went from 15 to 60 mph immediately. Guys hats were blown off, loose "stuff" in the boat blew everywhere. Coats and shirts were just whipped like mad. I gave the boat a little throttle to keep control, and all the riggers popped....And the whipped water went off the back of the boat, and just drifted away...… We looked at each other like WTF was that about! Packed up our "stuff" and called it a day. 

I know someone who said they got "spun" by something on one of those water spout days back in the late 90's.  180 deg plus boat movement while trolling.... lines in a cluster but otherwise OK as it apparently didn't set hard on them and moved on.    I've only ever seen them on the water as what looked like skinny trees on the horizon....too close even then.  Yikes on your 92 incident!  I give lake O a wide berth on funky days....no thank you.  I've had enough pants pooping moments, I hear water spout in the forecast and i'm at the dock. 

Hey guys....just a question, do you use Fluro between main line and paddle/spinny to meat rig where you attach to the release or just tie directly mainline to spinny?
 
 

I do. 30#. Im sure many dont but i also run 30# flea flicker as main line. Its quite noticable so i go the extra step with fluoro leader.

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So outfitting my buddies boat the other day noticed after installing the booms the don’t fit snug. Also the rigger in the base mount had some slop. Anybody else think this is excessive?

 
Video of the situation above. 

Normal

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Next time I’m out I’ll try to take a clip of how abrupt my cannons stop with the snapping action on the cable. They must know it’s an issue as there’s a feature of a “soft stop” on the higher priced Optium.


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I bought digi trolls purely for the soft stop and ability to slow the down speed. I wish you could also slow the auto up speed too. The speeds are rediculous relative to actual need. I lost a 16# ball due to the cable build up on one side....snapped off letting down. I use the hooks now as mentioned to center and it works but I've noticed the cable starting to etch and cut the hook. Fine and dandy if you replace your riggers annually but i never thought of the hook as a wear part. I was never a scotty fan but aquired a used one and set it as my 3 rd rigger. It took a while to get use to as i like the power down feature of cannons. I like my digitrols to a point but im thinking about a change.

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Not sure why you would need a snubber on optimum it should have soft stop. realistically though these things don't need the speed they have. I have digitrolls. I have my down speed reduced to 3 out of 5 wish I could reduce the auto up. Make sure to check and reset your water zero as needed.

 

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Ball was going down and it was just gone . 
 
Sometimes the cable crosses over on the spool . 
 
The cannon riggers are so fast I think when it hit that it jumped and snapped the cable . 
 
Why do the riggers of today have to be so fast ? People have no patience . 

I agree downriggers are too fast I'm pretty sure that's exactly how I lost my last downrigger ball

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dare I ask how you relocated your probe and ball?  I've dumped a downrigger ball or 2 with a bad cable spot but have managed to avoid dumping a probe (so far). 

2 minutes ago, Low Baller said:

Sometimes bouncing off folks in the same game is just the self reassurance we need. I'm a low budget baller, but the dominant factor is fish bite when they want. Wife told me to shut up and buy the stupid thing. Lol

 

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hard to argue with that logic

1 minute ago, Low Baller said:

Lol, I stand corrected, these riggers do have 10 lb. My 1st lake troll came with 8. When I'm running at 100 ft the sonar shows contrails at 90 or a little over. Does that sound accurate. I'm over thinking I'm sure

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We all overthink lol.  My downrigger balls on my sonar appear higher than they really are, not a ton but a good 5 ft I'd say.  With 10#ers its definitely better but they will vary more than heavier and especially when you are going with a current and need to boost top speed to make down speed where you want it.   knowing you are going with a current is exactly why the X2 would be a benefit.  If I'm fishing to fish on bottom I'm not afraid to put the cable out at bottom depth on the chart. 

1 minute ago, Low Baller said:

My biggest handicap is down speed. I have a TD probe that I'll stop every 20' of depth and take a reading. I set one fish finder angled for blow back to watch balls, and the 2nd is set on higher sensitivity for thermocline. The X2 transducer clips on the rigger cable so in theory would follow the degree of angle to the probe. Alot of variables there. I only have 150' on the cannon riggers with 8 lb balls. If I have to go below 130 ft forget it. At 2.5 there can be 5 to 10 ft variable to actual depth. I'm just thinking out loud.

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It doesn't sound bad (x2 that is).  In all honesty I have my fixed X4d transducer right next to my lowrance HDS total scan transducer (within 6" of each other) and no issue with 83khz or 200khz or medium chirp operation.  I understand the Fish hawk operates at 70khz.  I don't see prices getting cheaper (unfortunately).  If you can run 10lb balls it would help.  At 2.5 your blowback with could be 25 ft of depth @ 100 ft believe it or not esp with 8lb balls  don't change your game, just some data for you

29 minutes ago, Chowdaire said:

 

I've had it out on 130' of cable and it still reads. The numbers will sometimes jump around a bit, not sure exactly why that is, but when they settle I seem get a good reading.

Tks for the reply.  Jumping happens a little on my X4D when its really deep I don't mind it because you generally know what's crap and whats the real number so your getting what you need.  Your dealing with a depth, blowback and random interference.  Blow back in the case of the X2 is because the cable isn't a straight line, rather its a bow so the deeper you go the transducer on the cable is probably pointing to the rear of the probe more.    Sounds cool though.  If you can touch 100ft + with that thing thats great.  Pricey but I can understand the transom/transducer issue for mounting.  I also can't believe what the X4 and X4D have gotten to for price these days either.   

48 minutes ago, Chowdaire said:

It's a decent unit. Works fine for speed and temp. I slide mine into my tracks (with the Traxtech mount) and then use a zip tie and clip to run the transducer cord along the boom arm. Then the cord only drags from that clip to where the transducer is attached to the rigger cable. It's more of a pain than having it hard mounted but if you really don't have the room it's not too bad to deal with. You'll figure out pretty quickly how to set it up best for you. Once I attach the ducer to the cable and clip the cord, there isn't anything else to do with it the rest of the day except occasionally shake the cord if it doesn't drop far enough down in the water. That's it.

 

 

I have an X4D so really  I'm only asking out of curiosity.  How deep have you found that transducer to work?  Any limitations?  There was a time when I was in @Low Baller shoes and was just winging it without a probe but I'm curious if that smaller transducer pushes enough power to get to lets say 100ft or so.  

Planning trip tomorrow wondering how deep the biter kings are hiding mexico/oswego/salmon river areas
 
 
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Unfortunately this seems to be a question with no great answer. Im going to fish usual areas for this time of year and hope for the best. Im not really interested in running to extreme deep water

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You won't be on your own... I've passed on the last two weekends because of poor fishing reports. I'm coming up this weekend no matter what (exception being weather of course). There were some pretty big bags weighed in the invitational out of Oswego last weekend, so there has to be some fishing around willing to bite. Just have to find them!

Same here. I'll be out unless the wind keeps me in.

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@Tall Tails is pretty much saying it.  For the east end in the corner (ie Mexico / Pulaski) a west or northwest wind plows all the surface water into the bay...it hits the inshore area and the surface water displaces the bottom water pushing the bottom water OUT toward the center of the lake.   The harder the wind and longer the more it pushes warm water IN on top and cold water OUT....to the north and west to varying degrees making the thermocline deeper and deepr.  The faster it happens and stops (or varies) the more unstable and you can find pockets of temp up/down a bit as you move out from shore.    To the contrast East winds, south east winds, north east winds, south winds will do the reverse.....the more east/west you have the more impact in Mexico bay itself....South winds impact Oswego and west of Oswego more quickly due to their close proximity to deep water directly to the north but there are  some other variables and I won't begin to try to understand the exact dynamic from Fairhaven and on as a northwest or north wind pushes surface water in but it "squirts" out to the east / west depending on direct wind angle angle depth contours and the obvious "corner" that there is etc.  I've been doing this long enough that I'm use to it (in Mexico bay) but its not universal and its always a challenge.    I feel like Mexico Bay is more dramatically impacted some years given the more shallow lake contours and I have had years fishing really deep and some not as much.   This year things have been deeper but not nearly as bad as some years.  Last  year and the year before were particularly "good" with shallower general thermocline depths....80 ft...hey great. So much so my 16# downrigger balls collected a little dust.  This year I'm running them much more but I'm still not yet at the extremes I've seen years where I have 160ft of cable out to get to temp.  I'd love to avoid the 16# downrigger balls but unfortunately I have them for a reason.  

 

I'll edit to add on that to me...in mexico bay, "flipped" is when you have ice cubes and dead bass damn near on the beach.  It fortunately doesn't happen that often (in Mexico bay) but when it does its noticable and generally not good.   It seems that an inshore "flip" happens a bit more often to the west.  

Better than most the Las few days and if you think thats super slow you haven't been fishing mexico long enough [emoji28]

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Looking for a higher end centerpin reel or combo. Custom created preferred. 

I have a sphar 1212 id be willing to sell

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Its a fish under your boat heading in your general direction of travel

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I'm looking at inflatables. Wondering if the manuals are good. Can't put a price on safety but $60 verses $150? My vests are great but bulky. That's the point I guess.

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I have one auto inflatable for myself since I fish solo at times and a couple of regular ones that I have for anybody I might come on board or I guess as a backup for me I just need to make them more available and I need to make myself wear the inflatable one more often if you watch for sales the auto inflate one sometimes you can find a decent price

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All good. I opened this thread to discuss how to make everyone more prepared and safe. The law is just the base level. Anything that will enhance safety that is improved from the existing law, we are all for. 

Whistles and light sticks being added next time im at my boat! Im gonna bungee a vest behind each of my front two seats and cargo the spares along the side

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