Guppy35

I was on Keuka Saturday morning and launched at the Motel. The South end is all clear of ice as far as i could see (probably up to the bluff or close to it). Did quite well trolling right around the south end of the lake, ended up 11 for 15.

How about Severne?

Thank you everyone for the replies, as Blue Knight has said, every post on this topic has been very informative. As far as changing your speed, how long of inactivity before you decide you should adjust your speed? 10 minutes, 20 minutes? And i know this is another one of those "relative" questions, but when you do adjust your speed, how much should you change it by? .1 mph, .5mph? Sounds like the best way to figure it out is to get on the water and do some experimenting....COME ON SPRING!!

Thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention that i generally run spoons. I've tried flasher and fly combos but have not figured out the secret to it yet, as i continually catch more on spoons than flasher fly.

Three questions: 1. What device do you measure your speed by / think is most accurate? (probe @ the ball, GPS, ff, etc.) 2. What is your preferred speed for the following species: Brown Trout, Landlocked Salmon, Rainbow Trout, Lake Trout 3. How does your trolling speed change from early Spring through the summer and into the fall? (Faster when the water temp is warmer?) Mostly interested in information on the finger lakes, but all are welcome to reply!

I have a question for the guys that use the rubber bands on their downrigger realeases. A few of you said that you can tell much easier when there is a smaller fish on the line, i'm just curious what makes those smaller bites more obvious with using rubber bands. Does it make the end of your pole "dance" more because of the elasticity of the bands?

Thanks for all the replies. I think i will probably go with a 7 and 3 for now. I've got 2 downriggers and 2 dipsies to cover the lower water columns. My only other question is, what kind of rod and reel would be ideal for leadcore?

I bought a spool of leadcore (10 colors) last fall and it arrived the day after my last trip of the year, so i didn't have a chance to use it yet. I would like to use it primarily on Keuka and Seneca, and i was wondering how i should split it up. Should i put 5 colors on one reel, and 5 colors on another? 7 & 3? 4 & 6? Or should i leave all 10 colors together on one reel? Also, how long should the leader be, and what lb test? Thanks, Sean

But in all seriousness, that was a great question because i would like to know more about it as well. I wouldn't know what to look for as far as the stringers go to know whether they were in good shape or not.

If your stringers go bad, just go buy a new one at just about any sportsman's store. There are several different kinds for under $10

Unfortunately i didn't have a camera with me. I tried to take a few pictures with my phone but since it was dark out i didn't get any good ones.

My family owns a good amount of land in which we do QDM and only shoot the mature bucks there. This year i started hunting some land that my father in law has that is completely separate from our QDM land. Last night was my last chance to go out for bow season and two of my brother in laws (8 years old, and 10 years old) were counting on me to get a deer because they wanted so badly to help me track it. Well, unfortunately i didn't have any monster bucks walk past me last night, but i did have a young 4 point walk broadside at 15 yards and i made a nice clean shot on him. I heard him run down over the hill through the woods and crash about 80 yards away. So i walked back out to my car (directly across the road from my in-laws house) and let the kids know i shot a buck and needed their help tracking it. They wasted no time getting ready and meeting me outside, I don't think i've ever seen them that excited before! Anyways i lead them down to where the first sign of blood was and told them it was up to them to follow the blood trail. They never made a wrong turn and followed it right to where the deer laid. They stuck around and got their first lesson on how to gut a deer and what the different organs were, then helped me drag it out. Although i was looking for a much bigger buck, sometimes there are more important things to think about, and it's definately a hunt i'll always remember (even though it was only a 4 pt )