OldTex

White or green flies with 0 dobson silver flasher works works well for us...Biggest lakers are usually right on the bottom and lazy..Copper yankers do well when it comes to shear size ( very slow and banging the bottom)..Biggest laker I ever saw was caught by my son on a twin minnow ....He had it right up to the boat 4 or 5 times and down he would go against the drag........last time up I was on the swim step with the net and that fish flopped and was gone.....The twin minnow was still on the swivel minus the hooks...The eye hooks straightened out...We have every color...single and jointed...They work well behind a dobson flasher...but we have lost a lot of fish because of eyes pulling out or straightening...Steve over on rte 89 has 'em..We set speed at 1.8-2.0 and zig zag...That will speed up outside lures and slow down the inside...and attract silver fish along with lakers

Wow...Thanks for great report and pix.. One more month...I'm headed north...Can hardly wait...Looks like LLs have been hot all winter...there and Cayuga

Beauties....Congrats...I'm gettin the fever.......Thanks for the pix and report

Hey Hannah Marie...Chowder is right about launching alone....I launch my Trophy 2459 Hard Top alone most of the time..High crosswind makes it a little tough especially if blowing away from the dock...I always check the wind before backing in to launch...Same with loading...Took a lot of practice before I figured out how to ease my boat to the dock....The Hard Top makes it tough....Almost impossible to dock and load when the wind is blowing crossways away from the dock...My roll trailer makes it easy..We are installing an electric winch this spring...I'm getting too darned old to crank it all the way on...especially on a steep launch pad. Good luck

Great video...The song was super and the fish fantastic...Good job of putting it all together...Listened to it twice and enjoyed it both times..

Thanks for the post...Typical first time out...Last spring I was fishing north of Dean's Cove ALONE and had a fish on one rod and the other one tripped....the NW wind caught the bow and spun me .....I ran into the cabin to grab the wheel and forgot the roof on the old Trophy...banged my head.. ( almost killed myself)......ended up with two lost fish... four lures....( cheaters on both ) gone ...guess the prop cut the lines...At least I had both balls out of the water...Sounds like you had a GREAT day..At least you are fishin...

Thanks for the report and pix...Chomping at the bit....Will join yall in April...Sounds like Cayuga is quite high

Lead core line isn't coated....I use 6 1/2 ft. ocean rods with rollers..The rollers do not wear out or make " fray " spots in the line and it will last a lot longer than eyes on the tip...Lead core depth depends mostly on speed ....1.5 to 1.8 lake trout speed will get about 1 to 6 or 7 depth ...ie..one foot down for 6- 7 feet out..That is with light weight flutter lures like sutton....88s.98s and 38s...Heavier lures like NKs will run a little deeper..In the.Dog days of summer ....I tie a 12 or 16 ounce torpedo sinker on the lead core.....this will get you to 1 foot for every 3=4 feet of line out and just run a 6 foot flourocarbon leader to the flutter lure.. .Let the sinker slam the bottom ( you'll feel it) and the lure will run barely above the bottom in the muddy water that the sinker stirs up.. ...killer action for lakers

I've gone to mostly single hooks on my cheater lures that attract LLs...They are so aggressive that treble hooks are all but impossible to dislodge without killing them....Early spring.(.May).. between Deans Cove and Borroughs point and across to the green bouy is where and when we catch the BIGGER LLs of the entire year...The nicest ones are taken on what are usually my " go to " laker lures..Southern end is usually good in May for me with same iron in 70--80 fow south of the cornell bouys and up and down the East side as far north as the old wooden dock...I'm getting fired up for the season...Can't hardly wait....Everyones winter reports keep my blood pumpin............Always good for old guys

Where is that store you are talking about??? Haven't heard of it before.......Thanks I usually leave home on april 21st...Might restock there instead of Cabelas in Hamburg Pa. enroute.....Thanks again

Silver or gold blanks.....I go ov er to Bears in T Burg and buy a bunch of his 3 fer $5.00 used lures.......Take 'em home and strip off what's on 'em and repaint myself to match what is hot for me at the time.Hammered are the best

Thanks For the updates...Zeke..Fred and I drag one of his kids out of bed so we can get 6 rods in ..All his kids are grown and gone except the fifteen year old...Don't know what we will do when he moves out......Maybe get one of those blow up people that some use in the multiple passenger lanes down here and bungy her in the stern..Think the DEC would buy it?/..CYA in May

We use bags on our 24 ft. Trophy..when trolling with the wind...A big fish on requires pulling out of the water which takes seconds....Both of my summer neighbors have plates and both have been bent........cracked..broke and welded...Also they run their engines faster to keep speed constant on the fish hawk...gulp..gulp on the gas...One neighbor has same engine...outdrive and prop pitch and will use three times the gas as I do on a comparable trip....Also all that prop action screws with his electronics....My son had a plate on his old 22 footer and about 10 years ago while we were fishing Lake George...the darn thing snapped off the fins on the Merc Alpha and was gone....I don't even know what kind of bags we have....but they are dark blue and about 24 inch intake...They were on the boat when we bought it to settle an estate...The man who bought it new lived in Oneonta and his home port was Sodus...With a cross wind....A single bag attached to the side the wind is coming from will help keep our boat straight and on course...When we lost the plate off the old 22 footer.......We got a couple of 5 gallon plastic buckets ............drilled several holes in the bottom and attached them 4-5 feet back from the bow............cheap and ugly....and we got a lot of giggles .........but they worked

Richard..I checked out your boat on the Nada site and with no options except a hardtop...Average retail is $ 6235.00

We have a 1988......2459 model which is basically a 24 footer..She has a 5.0 and king cobra outdrive..Also has aftermarket electronic ignition...This boat has Trim Tabs and will come up on plane almost instantly with 4 men..a full tank of gas and all that other gear like spare everything from prop to spare hub and brake drum..so probably around 5000 pounds...It will idle ( 600Rs ) all day...everyday at 1.5-2.0 mph 17 pitch prop..Runs about 28-30 mph at 3500 Rs. on a flat lake.. The trim tabs make a lot of difference...This old boat will handle 4-5 waves no problem...We very seldom run it fast unless bad weather is coming..A boat 20 + years old needs a lot of TLC...but a good day fishing is worth all the work..Check out the NADA web site and you can find out what that boat is worth

Thanks for the report and the pix....Pretty LL....Seems that the nice ones are caught in the winter.....I love days like you had....especially when I have guests on the boat...

Awesome.Thanks for posting

Stinger......that picture is hilarious......

Weather forecast......Chili today and hot tamalle.... no kidding the NOAA site....can't go wrong..Been in the seventies for a couple weeks here......Have windows open all day but must run AC at nite'cause it's to hot and muggy to sleep...I'm chomping at the bit to get back up there.....'bout 8 more weeks..Sure wish I was there now after seeing some of the LL pictures from Seneca and Cayuga

Jack's right.....Marine-Tex expensive but worth every dime...This stuff will hold when applied under water...This stuff is all that holds our old Trophy together

The toby looks like a good all around lure....that would catch trout and LLs..The king fisher would be awesome as a cheater lure or behind a big dodger

I've been fishing lead core for over forty years and five colors = 150 feet and at walleye speed that equates to one to five.or 30 feet down...That is running straight off the rod...If you run off planer boards...at least one color ( 30 feet ) will be used to the board .......better have good backing..Use a willis knot to splice....it will pass through the leveler on your reel...Gander Mountain and Cabelas carry 200 yard spools of lead core....Much cheaper than buying two 100 yard spools .....Leave the 100 on your reels...I like 7 colors .210 feet ........that will get you to 42---45 feet....Canadarago (Schuyler) Lake is full of Walleyes with a max depth of 42 feet and 7 colors will bump the bottom...Rapalas stick baits will run 3-5 feet deeper

Blood rinses right off if done at once.....The " juice " from the fleas here on the Finger Lakes turns black and the ONLY thing I have found that will clean it off is Bleche White...by Wesley...Any part store or Walmart carrys it..

One of my summer neighbors at Cayuga has a solar charger that has been on the boat for 7 years....The batteries were installed same day as the charger and are still going strong....He never takes the batteries out in the winter and last spring after 7 years....she cranked right up

Trailer???Is the beam 102inch??or 112