Sk8man

Nice going JIm. I'm glad things worked out and you got the chance to get over to Fishy's place. Best of luck in your future outings. Les

Very timely and practical post. We all need to be reminded from time to time and to be effectively prepared for what may happen out there. I experienced an example of how important the basics are last Saturday when fishing with a long time buddy (very experienced boater and fisherman) and we fished from Dean's Cove on Cayuga in his 24 ft inboard that has a kicker motor as well (Thank God). The wind was supposed to be 6 mph but it was actually about 10-12 with white caps from the SE so we trolled north with it and caught some small landlocks and lakers. When we were in sight of the north end of the lake we decided to try to get out of the wind a bit by going to the east side so we pulled our gear and went to start up the main motor and the starter went and there was no way we could get it going (e.g. by moving flywheel to different spot, multiple tries etc.). It was pretty rough water by then and wind kicking up and we had to make a run for it with the kicker back to Deans and the trip took us 2 1/2 hours and quite a bit of fuel in the 6 gal tank which was only partially full when we came out. We finally struggled back to Deans launch and my buddy masterfully navigated the rock barriers on either side of the launch. When we checked the gas can again it was nearly on fumes with just a tiny bit of fuel left. On my own boat I ALWAYS keep both the main 60 gal tank full at all times and the 3 gal tank also. I also carry a spare 1 gal. mixture little tank as well as a "backup" (will last about 2-3 hrs at regular speed). The importance of having a kicker can not be understated as well as making sure you never run short of fuel. The first thing my buddy did when he got home was to fill his small tank up We would have been totally screwed without that kicker and would not have made it another hundred yards on the fuel situation.....lesson learned.

If launching is a problem at the above mentioned places because of the derby there is also Taugannock State Park about 8 miles up the west side from Ithaca on Rt #89 and although there is a pedestrian bridge to go under near the launch your boat sounds small enough to make it under

Nice work Ted...that is a real good one Good to hear you didn't encounter much in the way of fleas or weeds too as they seem to be present at the south end now. Interesting the bait is still hugging that 50 ft interval...

Nice going Dennis. Signalman and I were out there too from Dean's north and saw a lot of bait pods and fish in 100 inward but not much beyond that. depthwise. The wind was a real pain so we kept going north on the west side. We picked up 4 small landlocks and two half way decent lakers all in the shallower depths and little in the way of fleas. Nothing on the Spinney/fly stuff all on spoons run clean.

The prop shop in Canandaigua noted above is tops in the state. He did my stainless steel prop a few years ago and I would defy anyone to tell where it was repaired and they are great people to work with.....can't go wrong with them.

Your zipper was down right ? Thx.

Hey Nick Admiral Byrd and I are thinking of giving the afternoon game a try what is the fly and flea situation today? It may be a determinant.

Don't give up.... I once lost my favorite ultralight on Seneca in 60 ft of water while perch fishing (popped it out of the rod holder with my knee while hauling in a double). About three months later while jerking copper for lakers I went through that spot not even thinking about the lost rod and reel and lo and behold I caught what I initially thought was a tree branch and when I got it up it was my lost rod and reel (my name engraved on the reel) fully intact and after drying it out was good as new.