Sk8man

I know you are very familar with Canandaigua and although the lakes are quite dissimilar in many ways they both have good perch fishing at the two ends of the lake with the north ends being shallower for longer distances and flat stretches. I do not know if there is any significant ice coverage yet on Cayuga but usually if there is safe ice at the north end perch fishing is done out between the channel markers out from near the State Park and south toward Canoga. It is a long walk to get out to the usual fishing areas. The north end is very shallow with muck and weeds interspersed and the channel area is about maybe 12 ft deep or so with weed pockets. There also are usually large pressure ridges created on the way out and you have to be careful especially toward the end of the season as I have seen 4 wheelers and snowmobiles stranded because of break away ice and they had to drive literally miles to get back off the ice safely at the extreme north end. You won't find any deep water until very far south straight out from the "mouth" of the channel pretty much out from Canoga on the west and Farley's Point on the east and it is a hike from the State park area parking along the road. The area before you get there between Hibiscus Point and Frontenac Island on the east side is also good. Many times the bigger perch (jumbos) are out in this area (18 -30 ft). You will also run into pike and pickerel and sometimes largemouths in between the channel markers at the north end.

My hunch is that there are several variations of setups that can work. Everyone tends to speak from their own perspective which includes some factors that may be taken for granted. Different boat widths, frequently used speed ranges, water roughness, turning radius (and habits in that regard ) all affect these particular setups so what may work well on one boat in one situation may not transfer exactly to another boat/situation.....just something to keep in mind....personal experimentation is critical with your own familiar equipment to "get it right". For example it may be very beneficial to watch it done on a charter boat but when you get back to your own boat many things may operate differently and the general concepts may have to be modified as a result.

Welcome aboard LOU Joshua. Best of luck in your business venture! Fishing for the king salmon was slow compared with last year for many folks but the steelhead and brown fishing was pretty good this year.

Nick I'd email Trevor Sumption at Fishhawk at: [email protected] Great guy and he'll give you the correct answer.

Tim, I don't think you'll find any live smelt sellers in the area. The smelt are just about totally gone in most of the Finger Lakes and tribs for whatever reason. There is a population of them on Canadice Lake that can be caught through the ice at night but given the current DEC regs you would only be able to use them as bait on that specific body of water (i.e Canadice) without a signed receipt form a certified bait dealer.

I hear ya.

Gill T - the tags I was referring to are technically called micro tags and they can be shot from a special "gun" sort of like construction workers nail guns but are light plastic and obviously much smaller all the way around I can't remember where I saw them as it was awhile back. The tags were both colored and also had the capability of micro numbering for tracking purposes too. All that would be needed for diary cooperators are the colors instead of clips that was the thinking behind my comment and I should have been more specific.

I've always wondered why they can't just use small different colored plastic tags inserted by tagging gun or numbered ones in the dorsal for example rather than the clipping which not only may stress them but may make them less maneuverable in the water and make younger fish more susceptible to predation.

Neat article. They had huge die offs on the Finger Lakes like Seneca and Cayuga back then too. I remember them to closing the beach where Seneca Lake State Park is today that was then a city of Geneva beach. They shoveled them by the truckloads and transported them to nearby farmers fields as fertilizer. You could smell them all the way in town when they had those big die offs.

Good one Nick!

Yes they were fishing it today at the south end. The wind is supposed to be 15-20 with gusts to 35 tomorrow so that should be fun

R Gahagan - good tip about marking the spots with the magic marker and about the other releases. Thanks.

I hear you Fleet but I used big boards from 1975 or so until a few years ago when I switched to the inlines and braid and I still prefer my outriggers to both. For whatever reason I don't lose fish on them and I don't have to dick around with the mast and all the other space taking stuff and they are easier to transport. As you mention the stretch component...I used to lose fish because of it with the big boards and mono. At the end of the day it is whatever works for you and you feel most comfortable with. I will say I have learned to keep my TX 44 boards closer to the boat and run the Walleye boards and yellow birds at the extreme outside and with the 44's I don't stop reeling close to the boat as they can dive and that can be a problem if it happens. I run mostly spoons and sticks off my boards anyway and run my flashers spinneys and meat "clean" with dipseys and coppers and leadcores clean most of the time so I don't have the high degree of pull on the boards like some folks either.

Good point....all my offshores have been the standard ones with the little thin plastic "pins" at the back of the jaw and I always figured they would be "sawed" through by the braid sliding back and forth

Nice for those particular boards but you could lose a board if the offshore releases too. With the Church TX or Walleye boards you don't need multiple releases just crank down the original release and have the braid way back in the release jaw and take the board off on the way in. I don't let the board slide down the back pin and I also use roller tips on my rods so they aren't much to reel in anyway and haven't lost any fish this way either because the tension is pretty constant. Well done clearly presented video