Sk8man

Clark the Flexseal is generally garbage and turns yellow when exposed to UV sunlight for extended periods. Try some Starbright Hull Cleaner on stains and oxidation and you might also try the Black Streak Remover. I often use something called Tuff Stuff in spray can for non-skid deck stuff. All can usually be found in places like Walmart etc.

I believe the assumption being made is that the fish marked at 70 ft is a trout or salmon.  Smallmouth Bass and other species also inhabit that depth during the summer and at this time of year. I once caught a Bullhead while trolling with good sized spoons over 300 ft of water and it was down 80 ft ...not sure why. I've caught plenty of Smallies on Seth Green rigs on Canandaigua, Seneca, and Cayuga while trolling for trout and salmon.  I've also seen hundreds of Carp migrating across Seneca near the barge area in 500 ft of water. Point is there never is a guarantee out there of your target fish so you could be in for a surprise

I've redone a number of cowbells using downrigger wire and it works fine.  No reason to use coated steel.

Used one for years. Used to clip it to the downrigger wire and carefully send it down, Gave a pretty good idea of the thermocline before the advent of the X series and others.

Might want to cite the source of the article. Interesting read.

Mother Nature seems to have a marvelous way of adapting and cycling through problems so I think we can be hopeful. Each of the lakes are facing problems, but with time things should turn around and "recycle". In the meantime, we need to do our part to try to keep them from getting more messed up wherever we can. We are very fortunate to have these beautiful resources nearby and have to never lose sight of their importance to our future and happiness.

Clarke I have a similar situation on my Whaler with the inset rod holders. I have rigged mine so I have an option of running either 4 riggers or two riggers and up to three divers or other rods per side. These are all on Cannon gimbel mounts and the side rod holders are on Cannon tracks. The forward rigger holders can be used for inline boards as well when not running them as riggers

Two days ago a medium sized trailer carrying trash to the dump broke loose from the truck trailering it right in front of me  and luckily I was switching lanes at the time.

Nice going Mike

Too bad about the timing.....would have been the derby winner for sure

It isn't just today either. Back in the seventies on Sodus Bay I was top lining and a bass boat went across my two lines and spooled both reels and with no money on me or other reels I was done fishing for the day about 8AM and 40 miles from home..  It isn't just people that don't know what they are doing either. Every Spring and Fall when perch fishing other perch guys come full tilt up to where you are fishing and either crowd you or take off full blast spooking the fish.....not "accidental".  I  have actually had them cast sinkers into my boat.The bottom line is that there are people out there that are discourteous to others and basically don't give a damn.

A couple things come to mind Sean. First if all else fails it has rained quite a bit lately so if there is a lawn nearby check after 9 PM or so with a flashlight and gather your own. Might be a good experience for the kids too. It can help in avoiding the gobies to locate your hooks up about 18 inches or 2 ft up on the line. Gobies are primarily bottom oriented.

On the other hand I have had 2 of my four Cannons ( the two Mag 10A's) since 1985 and other than updating the electric wires I have had zero problems, and they have the original cable on them (re-terminated a couple times).  Yes they have lighter weights (10 lb) and the retrieval rate is slow but they have consistently worked under heavy use for over thirty years. I think the problem may be  a combination of fast decent or retrieval, possible unevenness of that coupled with increased weight of the downrigger weight with these newer faster more powerful models as much as potentially weak or defective cable. When you combine these factors you have instant disaster.

I have six of them and two of the single axis and no problems for past three or so years. I do run my heavier diver rods off the single axis model which I located at the rear end of the tracks. The duals are used for inline boards etc. and I never leave the rods in the holders if I am cruising fast in rough water where they may get bounced around in the holders. The pin area is certainly a point of concern in the design so I try to minimize stress on the duals for that reason. The singles are fine.

Roys Boys is a good option and Steve is always on top of his game for advice about where and how and there are some convenient spots nearby

Forty or fifty years ago the area was home to very good fishing but like many other places here in NYS the environment has changed. Fishing there is usually "incidental" to being there for most folks as there is a lot to do and see in the area and a lot of it isn't too "touristy" when you get away from the tourist hot spots. The area is a great place to take the family and offers a very diverse selection of activities. I know that Sticks was there mainly for those reasons as it is hard to get him unglued from the Fingers and Lake O

You might be tempted to think that the spoon will get the hit and you'd be "off to the races" clear of your other stuff but another possibly shouldn't escape you and that is for example you hook into a large or very active King on the flasher/fly. They are usually all over the place with little ability to control where they go and often they can come toward to boat and upward going from side to side of the boat and your spoon line is somewhere in that path. So you have the distinct possibility of tangling AND losing the fish and best case scenario is having to net the fish with tangled lines and then having to either cut or untangle afterward. The question then is "Was it worth it? "

WTG Kev

Looking good Clarke

Nice work Bill and Rick We fished way deep on Saturday and it was a bust

Didn't get to throw the bouquet Mike was too busy holding on for dear life when they hoisted me in the chair and raised it up and down  Thanks for the nice words Bob and Mike. While dancing the father/daughter dance my daughter said "Dad this is the best day of my life" and that made it mine too.

I'll take them Brian

My 135 Merc Optimax on an 18 ft Whaler has a Mirage Plus 17P SS prop and although I seldom use it to troll and largely do so with my 9.9 it will troll at 1.8 mph at 560 rpm's and it is good out of the hole with top end speed in the 40's. I normally run it with the trim all the way down or close to it but it keeps the bow down and the stern upright while underway and seems to be a great all around prop with real good gas milage

You sure have your priorities right  Jeremy

Good one Stan