Reel Doc

NP Pretty stout West wind here today but forecast says it will ease up somewhat for tomorrow. You'll know at the launch how to handle it but might find hugging the West shore will give a smoother ride than the East side. Be sure to let us know how you do. Tight lines!!

Well, since I'm a rookie to shallow water trolling I looked back at old posts on this site for Spring fishing and picked up a couple of Bay Rat short shallow divers, S3's, and long shallow divers. Sunday only used the shorts and S3's as they did the job. Seriously sharp trebles too as while taking a treble out from a snarky salmon the second treble on the lure managed to gore my thumb. Definitely a faster wake up call than my coffee. One of those, "Damn, I hate when that happens", moments. Swedish Fish, I'm not sure it matters what direction you go just stay shallow and fish should find you. For me the lines off the big board out to the side of the boat outperformed the chute line at least 3 to 1.....but as mentioned above, first time fishing in such shallow water since my college days casting from the discharge at Milliken. Good luck Saturday.

Nice catch, and with all those hits/catches certainly loads of fun with constant action! If memory serves, you were boxing out with Browns and Pike this time last year. Have you changed techniques or is the lake fished out of Browns and Pike?!

Funny you say that as there were 3 trailers in the lot when I got there and I passed 2 boats on the East side early on then didn't see anyone until I went back to the dock. By then easily 15 rigs there. I'm guessing you all went to the South end?? Anybody find Browns?

Late night working with the horses so didn't get on the water until after 8. Went out of Taughannock and focused on running stickbaits off a big board in shallow water. Never tried this before but with the new autopilot working I was relying on it to keep the boat from getting grounded. Well, it worked out as while setting the first line it was barely 50 feet behind the boat and the first salmon of the day slammed it. Ran Bay Rats in greens and blacks in 20fow or less and 20 minutes after the first had a double. The second fish was a good one as the drag was singing but unfortunately was gone before I got to it. Did half a dozen circles around the hot spot and pulled in fish every time, some nice salmon and a couple sturdy lake trout. One of the salmon had a big lamprey mark, first one I've seen on a Cayuga fish in quite a while. Hoping it was a rare find. The sun came out around 10:30 and the bite shut off but already had plenty for dinner, released a few, and made it home by noon so could enjoy a nice afternoon with my wife. A perfect Sunday all the way around!!

That's incredible!! Thanks for sharing

I agree but maybe they worked a larger opening in the ice. When I was a kid I ice fished with family on Lake Memphremagog in Northern Vermont. They would have a long rectangular opening in the ice along 2 sides of the shanty so 2-3 people could fish on both sides. Main Target was perch and smelt but when a trout, salmon or pike got on you had a chance to bring it up. Toughest part I remember was they would scoot back and forth across the bottom of the opening and get off as the ice was 2-3 feet thick.

Sounds like your boat is a totally different setup from mine. If you are serious about that kind of upgrade just send out a PM to Hank, L&M is his handle on here. I'm sure he'll help you sort out possible options that could work.

Lowrance Outboard Hydraulic sku 11748-001 coupled with Lowrance HDS live. The HDS units have a rebate right now, check their website to see when it ends

When it had slipped back the entire boat was that distance back on the trailer so the outboards hung off the back end of the trailer. All that weight would cause even more slide back when taking the boat out of the water. A couple times last summer when disconnecting from the truck the front end of the trailer would pop up a foot in the air. Thankful I never had to take it very far as a disaster waiting to happen. However, after leaving it with Hank I now know how to get to Lake Ontario so longer trips might start to happen soon.

I know you all have waited patiently to see how this turned out. Note the photos below compared to the original and you see the yoke had slid back to the cross piece. By moving it forward to it's original location all the motor weight is no longer hanging off the back of the trailer. Now it rides nice and smooth like any of the livestock trailers or campers I've towed in the past. I believe that yoke has been slowly sliding back since before I bought the boat as it's always porpoised, just been getting worse. Having never towed a boat before I didn't know better. Note we have a safety chain now too. Thanks Hank, /L&M

Pretty similar to last February. Only light boats are getting out of Dean's. Taughannock today was fine but have to go past the end of the dock to launch. The bubbler side/ South side of the dock drops off better. Tried to load out today on the other side and my trailer couldn't get under the boat nearly 10 feet beyond the dock.

Many thanks to Hank @ L&M for installing some electronic upgrades this month. This morning launched from Taughannock for the first time out with the new toys. Throttle control for pinpoint speed control?? Awesome!! Autopilot so the boat doesn't do donuts while fighting a fish?? Incredible!! Didn't use the Subtroll today, but stay tuned!! Pretty solid South wind early so went North on the West side to start, then angled across the lake and finished running South on the East side. Lake trout are scattered everywhere so had a steady pick of fish from 30-110 down in 80-400fow off spoon and sliding cheaters on the downriggers. Dypsey carrying a fly took 1 fish in 100 fow and another in the middle of the lake. All the trout were similar in size to the ones in the photo with half a dozen going back in the lake to fight another day. Spent the last hour trying some stickbaits and spoons in shallower water, 40-60 deep, wasn't quite ready to get in real tight. Just the one salmon ended up grabbing a spoon straight across from the launch so headed in with tonight's dinner and a batch of fillets for the smoker tomorrow. With better control of the steering I look forward to trying some shallow trolls soon!!

Hoping to get out this weekend too. Low water at Dean's so hopefully Taughannock will work with the trim up...

Always a pleasure to be your first mate. Definitely nicer than last Winter's Taughannock adventure that featured a frozen launch and stiff North wind. 🌊🌊🌊

I went in about 10:30 and waved at the one other boat trolling just North of the launch, that must have been you. It was a bouncy ride back from the silos for sure. Glad it settled down for you.

That sure looks like smoother water than what I was on around Dean's Sunday morning. Where were you fishing?

All Laker day.

I had the pleasure of a trip in that rig last Winter. When the sun is out it is like a greenhouse in there. Andy knows how to make it so comfortable you can't complain when the fish aren't biting

A knee issue has kept me off the water and mostly out of the woods the past 2 months so very excited to get out this morning. Strong South wind made it kind of snotty out there but the fish didn't care about the surface conditions. North out of Dean's to get the push of the wind and ran a simple tight formation of 2 downriggers carrying spoons with sliding cheaters down 35-70 and a long copper carrying a flasher fly down the chute. Everything caught fish and was boxed out in 2 hours. Nothing huge, all 20-24 inches and some smaller ones tossed back. Took over a half hour to bounce through the waves back to Dean's but no complaints here. An early Christmas present to be on the water....can't wait to get out again!!