Reel Doc

Thanks Sean. Knowing the importance of down temp and speed I have started a piggy bank on my kitchen counter labelled "Depth Raider Fund" Greg

Thanks for the report Sean. From our house on the hill I could see the wind building whitecaps early yesterday so you had your work cut out for you. What depth is showing a temp break right now? Last year about this time everyone talked about a thermocline at 80 to 100 down. Is it not as distinct a break this year? Greg

That is a nice rainbow....and unusual diamond pattern imprinted on the back...perhaps a new Cayuga lake strain?

Hey Vic, I thought Eskimo Joe only ventured out when it was below 50 degrees. Congratulations on what looked to be a great day for all of you. I'll be sure to have my kids view the photos so maybe next year Cayuga Lake can trump Darien Lake. Greg

Glen, It's all about the MONEY. People cheat in everything because of the money involved. Being involved in livestock for years, you would be amazed at the animal abuse parents will lay on their child's 4-H market animal in order to win a ribbon and some money. The higher the pot goes, the more prevalent the cheating. Being a veterinarian, more than once I was approached to supply steroids, (yes the same ones the Home Run Hitters use), for parents to roid up a market steer, pig, or lamb to make a lean and mean winner. What's laughable about that is the livestock shows were testing and banning exhibitors long before baseball even admitted there was a problem. If we're true Sportsmen, fishing for the joy of being on the water should be where it starts and ends. My trophy is a grilled fillet and a cold pop at the end of a good day. Greg

Congratulations on your first of many Cayuga lake fish! The backdrop of your photo confirms you need a bigger net for sure as yours reminds me of what we used on the Connecticut coast to scoop blue crabs as a kid. I just went with a telescoping Frabill after asking the question in the Tackle section of the site on 6/24. If you check if outt, there are several links on my replies to sites with nets. Best of luck and to you and all military people on or associated with this site, "Thank you for being on that wall every day and every night." Greg

First you guys gripe about the Bassers, now you're sending an innocent guy after the perchmen. Carp fishers BEWARE....You're Next.

If Chowder offers to go for a ride, take it. He took me last year....I still need to return the favor to you, Andy....some day when you don't feel like towing the rig over we'll have to go "Tame the Lake" Greg

Welcome to the LOU I was in your shoes last year, and with the help of this gang, manage to get fish pretty much every time out, though sometimes time of day works against us as my crew likes afternoon trips over the preferred crack of dawn on the water. We have only fished Cayuga lake, but if you follow the posts, techniques are similar for both lakes. The Seneca fisherman can confirm where the thermocline is currently with their Depth Raider readings. Get yourself 2 wire Dipsey rigs and run at depths of anywhere from 80-110 FOW with flasher-fly setups. Then fill in the blanks where the fish are with downriggers carrying spoons. For Cayuga recently we've been finding them on riggers at 75-100 down and cover a little higher with sliding cheaters. Scroll down the Fingerlakes section for recent reports, or go back to July/August of last year and look for posts by me and you'll get most of your answers through the replies I was given. Good Luck, Greg

FYI to all of you Dean's Cove launchers. The woman at check in told me next weekend is a BIG bass tournament based at Cayuga State Park, but every year she gets plenty of your bass buddies launching at Dean's. Would love to join the fray this year, (is there a Rookie of the Year Award?), but the kids were invited to a Darien Lake trip. Good Luck to All. Greg

Did a combo trip yesterday with swim/picnic and a little fishing on board. The fish finder was on fire but legal fish were not. Plenty of dink rainbows, salmon, and even a tiny laker and we were targeting 80 to 110 down. It sure looks like the thermocline is setting up well at this point. Would have liked to see what would happen the last hour of daylight but had to turrn in by 7:30. Greg

Gill, Are you saying after 400 feet out on copper the lure is only going to hover at 80 feet or so? I would like some other opinions or test facts to get a true idea on that. Greg

Sounds like lots of Horsepower and Good Ol Boy Testosterone in one place. You sure there wasn't a Tractor Pull at Dean's this weekend. Best thing you can do is bite your lip and be considerate...Bass tournaments bring $$$ to the local economy, our Chamber of Commerce encourages them. Greg

Glad to hear your arms are tired from fishing. Mine are tired from yard/livestock work this weekend. Greg

Happy anniversary.. ..beautiful fish. Greg

Kid's and puke just tend to go together....and in response to Mower and my admitted vague report, our depth gauge and our speed were not working last weekend so we were guessing what we were doing. BIG PROBLEM NOW My wife sees no reason for my dropping $$$ on some new electronics when the best fishing we ever had occurred when we were totally blind. All I can say is we fished between Dean's and Sheldrake both nights and never had a downrigger ball get hung up so had to be in 100 + FOW, and based on how the lake drops off we were probably 200 plus most of the time. If we do a tournament at all it will be in the Cayuga LOU provided the weather cooperates. Greg

Thanks so much for the tip. Have you used the Torpedo divers with some success? Greg

Last night we had a wire dipsey reel suffer a BAD backlash, and I cannot strip the line off the reel. Any suggestions? If I cut it can it be retied, or just junk the damaged line. Thanks, Greg

Last night the fleas were just gobbing up in huge piles on the wire dipseys.

The day before a holiday weekend is always crazy at the office so we bought some pizza and pop and had a boating picnic Friday night. Didn't get a line wet until 7:30, but from 8 until we quit at 8:45 the rods wouldn't stop firing. I had all I could do to keep 2 fly rigs and 2 downriggers all going between the family reeling in fish. When we quit all lines were on deck with fish. The lakers to 8 lbs were taking flies, while salmon, some legal size some too small, and a few small lakers were hitting the riggers set at 40 feet with cheaters....had several doubles. We all had a blast even with the smaller fish as 2 small salmon on a line going opposite ways is a battle for the kids. Went swimming/tubing Sunday, then did a combo trip last night. Swam and ate dinner afloat until 7 and tried the same routine. I prepped the gang not to expect much with all the boat action the past few days, and the result was true to it. Couldn't mark many fish until the middle of the lake, and nothing but a dink salmon 80 feet down until after 8. We lost a good fish on a fly, then my wife reeled in a 10 pound pig laker on a green spoon 90 feet down. Ready to quit again at 8:45 and when I start reeling in the last downrigger about 15 seconds after release it bends right over. A 5 pound laker caught me off guard, (you warned me about that last year Andy), so it was a great way to end a nice evening on the water. The laker slammed a Monkey Puke spoon sliding as a cheater. As you may have guessed, the kids and I can remember a spoon called Monkey Puke, while I have trouble with most of the others. Sorry no pics this time. Greg

Your buddy needs to hang on to his girlfriend and never let her go... or her future may be as a Cayuga Lake Mermaid.

Mower, Our first year in business in Seneca Falls we had a breakdown with our Air Conditioning in mid-June. Sure enough, the outdoor compressors were completely caked with the cottonwood fuzz. We now know when the "Spring Snow" flies, time to hose down the outdoor AC units. Greg

A fish like that must hit like a hammer when your jigging.

Nice fish...where do you fish out of?

WTG Dad! Save the memories for when Tristan's kids come fishing with Grandpa....oh willl you have a story to tell We never made it out Sunday...little league rainout makeup game and end of season awards picnic. The kids gathered some hardware for their performance, so no bad days for this Dad. Greg