Sk8man

In the old days before the electronic stuff was either here or affordable we used to use a gizmo (can't remember the name) that clamped to the side of the boat with a weight on a wire that hung suspended in the water and at the gunwale it had a metal scale in color bands going from green to red (slow to fast I think) to measure RELATIVE speed of the boat through the water. It was better than nothing (e.g. waves and wind directly affected it)...but not that much better . The principle was this: you trolled until you connected with a fish and immediately looked at the color and exact position on the scale on the gunwale of the "needle" (used to put a piece of tape on the spot to mark it). You triedto return to exactly this position (much as using line counter function on a reel (same principle)to continue trolling. The relative part of this is important to understand because whether you are measuring the boat speed over "ground" as in a GPS (from satellite signal) or depth/fish finder (with impeller gauging the speed) it is still a relative (not an absolute) measure related to your lure at depth for the very reasons mentioned (currents and current direction, water density, waves and wind etc.). My GPS and depth finder readings for speed vary by a couple tenths when run together too. Lures of different types at different depths run very different from each other as well as from your boat speed but until the recent development of probe sensors attached to downrigger to measure absolute speed at the ball we were stuck with that. It should be noted though that speed at the ball may not be the exact absolute speed of the lure itself either because of factors like the type of lure and water resistance, distance back from the weight, line diameter etc. The point I'm making is that unless you have a measurement taken right at the lure itself it is still pretty much a relative measure of the lure speed and the object still is the same return to the last successful measure). The Fishhawk TD may come a little closer to actual lure depth....but still the same principle - a relative measure. The important thing to me is being able to replicate as closely as possible what you were doing speed-wise (regardless of measurement method) when you caught the last fish....there will still be undetected changes going on with varying conditions like currents

I think Vince has it right......before the Bills (since they started)....going back to the days of Charlie Connerly and Y.A. Tiddle it was Giants all the way

I hope things improve too panfisher.

I've fished Honeoye from the shore, on the ice and from the boat for many, many years but this year I am reluctant to do so now after this summer's problems there (water pollution and toxic blue/green algae reported). My son lives just about 200 yards from the lake and he indicated during the summer that people there were talking about the fact that 2 dogs had apparently died from drinking the lake water when the water problems were going on. I don't have any first hand proof of that but it was enough to make me "rethink" my ice fishing plans for this year.

Welcome to LOU.....your learning curve will definitely accelerate from the info you'll find here....and save you years and years of "trial and error" learning. Best of luck to you in your fishing endeavors!

Sorry flytyer I think I had too much coffee that day and I couldn't resist the smart-azz comment. My apology. Les

Go get em Brent......but eat the meatballs first ...they might not be there when you return

I forgot to mention that I try to run above where I see what looks like lakers (except during derbies)

For me it's 2.4-3.0 much of the time (which is above the speed used most of the time for kings etc. on Lake O). It seems to be productive yet eliminates the problem of lakers smacking it

Thanks Flyrod 2. I'd also like to clarify something though the information above was submitted by another member who had posted it on the previously mentioned thread where I had also posted and I omitted his name because I hadn't had a chance to ask permission to use his name with it. I merely includedthe comment from the previous posting so he deserves any credit for the remarks. The previous thread was under the title " Lamprey on a stickbait". Les

Many Finger Lakes fishermen are very concerned about the extent of the problem and that a wonderful fishing resource is being decimated by these nasty parasites. It was requested that I start a separate thread regarding this topic to include potential state contacts( if people desire that approach) to let them know the level of concern by LOU fishermen. After that request a comment was offered by one of our members that has bearing on the issue so I will include that here as well. Also the names of N.Y.S. Department of Environmental Conservation personnel and the general website for contacting state legislators as well is included for any people desiring to pursue that route. Commissioner Joe Martens 518-402-8545 FAX: 518-402-8541 email the Commissioner Natural Resources Kathy Moser Assistant Commissioner 518-402-8533 FAX: 518-402-9016 Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources, Lands and Forests Patricia Riexinger Director 518-402-8924 FAX: 518-402-9027 fwinfo Protect and manage fish and wildlife resources Fisheries 518-402-8920 FAX: 402-9027 fwfish Managing all the fish species in the State of New York http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/ils/legislature/legis.html The following response was posted by a LOU member on 10-17-13 on a previous thread: Posted Today, 4:01 PM I don't see where writing letters/emails will make a shred of difference at this point- DEC has been aware of the problem for some time and has a plan for dealing with it. The cost of treating the entire lake is cost prohibitive and is not really an option. Next spring the adult lampreys in Cayuga will leave the lake to spawn. DEC believes that about 90% of the lampreys in Cayuga use the inlet for spawning-unless there is a high water event, nearly all of these will be captured at the fishway and destroyed. The lampracide treatment that is planned for the inlet next Summer will kill a large number of the young lampreys produced in recent years. As a result, wounding rates on trout and salmon should return to acceptable levels. Yes, it will take time for the fishery to recover.....