Sk8man

Consider trolling worm harnesses with live night crawlers or rubber worms (motor oil, black or purple color works well) for the walleyes. Heavy "wobbling" spoons (or stickbaits like the Rapala or Yozuri (with a couple large split shot) for the pike in the 4-6 inch size run back from 75-150 ft back (top lined) at the outside edge of weed beds. As mentioned above the red and white and also the black and white daredevil spoon (larger sizes) work very well for pike.

They were pretty bad out from Sodus Point day as well. They seemed to like the 30 lb 7 strand much better than my Blood Run 30 lb See Flea mono though...

Ditto on Tim and Jekyll. I've also had them hit dodger/squid 4ft. from the ball but down deep. I think that when that close and down deep they see it as one unit rather than discrete objects

I've done it a number of ways over the years but I think the best result is with a fine grade file. You file the point by filing from the barb toward the point on three sides of the hook. I then test it by feel.... on my thumb or finger very carefully and gently and it is right when it just catches your skin. Diamond chip sharpeners also do a good job but I prefer the first method over them. I use Mustad Stainless steel triple x or 5x Siwash salmon hooks as they sharpen the best and are sharpest usually from the factory.

#8 or #10 SPRO power swivels are best (50 lb test) and very tiny. If your reel is a Penn or one without an "insert" on the level wind just widen it a little bit with something like a screwdriver or pliers carefully.

I guess I should also mention that I seldom fish specifically for lakers on Lake O I was referring to the Finger Lakes primarily....and I only have a little over 50 years of trolling experience I guess I was trying to give an example of why people should experiment and do their "homework" for their specific situation rather than relying on just data "estimates". The already mentioned speeds noted by my friend APB are very good starting points but sometimes going up as well as down can get big results...that was my point. Lakers can be fairly quick in the water when they need to be too...just spook one in the shallows sometime .

Rick - To make you feel better about pricing on the roller rods I was at a tackle shop in Cape Cod last week and the cheapest roller rod was $279....They had a rod/reel combo set up with wire for $999 My own roller rods looked a lot better to me after that

I guess my advice would be to experiment with your own boat without any preconceived idea because boat speed is RELATIVE despite folks reliance on GPS and Fish Hawks etc. For example two measures of 2.5 mph on separate boats on separate lakes may actually have substantially different meaning and even on the same boat at different depths because of the way currents run despite what the measurement at the ball is for the one line. The reported mph readings from different boats may be "starting points" from which to experiment with your own boat (at best). One of my buddies refreshed this in my mind last week when were were fishing for rainbows.....he was trolling from 3.0-3.8 (surface speed) in his boat and we were connecting with them and I even had a Spin Doc out on wire and had one really slam it. I haven't trolled over 3 mph in about 20 plus years in my boats. He does it all the time and does very well including lakers. If I had been asked a couple weeks ago my response would have been much more along the lines of the reported values here. I guess what you can take away from this is this: fish are opportunists ...they often try to get something for the least amount of effort but not always. Sometimes they will be speed demons when they really want something...so if the slower speeds aren't working don't be afraid to run it up past what you are normally comfortable with. Much like the water temp scenario....the fish will often go out of their temp range (comfort zone) to get something they want....kinda like humans eh? P.S. I've caught plenty of fish (mostly lakers and browns) on cowbells with peanuts behind them at 2.6 to 2.8 mph (surface speed). With that said... most lake trout come at the slower speeds but some of the bigger ones often come at a higher speed.

Might want to try spraying the section with some black Plasti Dip (comes in spray can and one that you dip things in) Maybe do a couple light coats....might hold up for a while at least. You can find itin the paint section at Lowes at about $6 per can.

I have the 50 lb on one of my rigs...the fleas also seem to like 50 lb It is sitting in my garage until this Fall