Sk8man

Justin - I forgot to mention you need a rod with a stiff backbone and tip section. and rod holders that would work for say a large size dipsey setup. For the depth setup you mentioned if you do it... I'd stay with just 3 leaders 12 ft apart and if small to medium spoons or stickbaits (with singles and I've had better luck with jointeds staying in line) you wouldn't need as much weight either or as heavy a rod. Regarding the tangling - :smile: been there done that! Good luck with it.

Hi Justin, For an impromptu rig you could use a gallon milk jug (perhaps a half gallon if the weight isn't too great)...maybe a 16-20 oz sinker. To attach it to the main line take a piece of downrigger wire or something similarly strong and use crimps make a couple loops in the handle of the jug with a large strong swivel snap on it.I'd use 50 lb braid (less resistance in the water and should be plenty strong and if you don't have bead chains strong barrels will do it but they have to be small enough to go through the eyes of the rod easily . I'd use something like #6 (80 lb test) Spro power swivels (for non-roller tip) or #4 (150 lb test) if roller tip if you can get them. Don't use the fluoro for the main rig line use 30 lb Big Game mono instead the fluoro is too brittle and the fish will be a distance from it anyway. The spacing is a matter of preference but I do mine 12 ft apart so that I can run them in a close band if going in shallower (or if I want to run right in the thermocline straddling it) than usual or at 24 ft. intervals if deeper. This requires double the number of bead chains or barrels (10) (and potentially increased risk of separations if knots aren't right but to me it is worth it for the flexibility). If running 5 leaders and you go with that setup make the leaders 12 ft long or if spacing them say 15 ft make them that long so that if your motor stops for some reason and they hang down they won't get badly tangled. I'm not familiar with the depth profile of Tupper but keep in mind if you went with say 20 ft intervals you'll need about 90 ft. or so depth at trolling speed at all times to clear bottom. That is why I use the 12,24,36 etc, setup for shallower coverage. You can also run just 3 leaders in close and go into say 45 or 50 ft of water. Seth Greens are mostly used deep to avoid problems. Instead of the spring clips I showed you many folks have used a small swivel snap at each end of the leader and snap it through the eye of the barrels. I don't know if Tupper has fleas etc. ..if not 12lb fluoro should be sufficient for your leaders there or mono will work too. Let me know if anything isn't clear here. Les

That's cool....he is a good guy and and really knows his stuff....hard to find someone as motivated as he is these days and very refreshing. He is a real credit to chartering....as is Sean Brown.

Yeah what's the hold up on the docks? I thought they would have them in in the Spring.....unreal... because that ramp gets quite a bit of use from large boats too so it's a struggle with that railing.

I hear ya Joe. The nice thing there is that you are into fishable water immediately and depending on wind can go either way. Good luck with it and hopefully we'll meet up out there. Les

Cool ...I look forward to it Joe...Les here. Usually launch out of the Chamber at Geneva or sometimes Sampson. See ya out there.

Hey buckboardjr.....you've got my dream garage....unfortunately my deed prevents realizing my dream...as well as the proximity to my next door neighbor's lacrosse practice area (he's a coach) Very nice job!

Congrats Nautitroller! ...you sure are having a great season on Cayuga! Congratulations to Bobber and Kade too...it sure sounds as though everyone that participated really earned their fish with that weather....derbies sure sort out the "hard core" folks from the fair weather fishermen Andy....something to be said for the "home water" advantage Lets hope next years Seneca Derby does it for us

Man... Kevin you sure have the fish dialed in this season. My crappie spots are mainly Spring only....I probably should go back to the old night time fishing for them here at the south end of Canandaigua....Honeoye is now virtually unfishable because of weeds, blue/green algae and other serious problems of unknown origin. You have it made up there in terms of opportunity and beauty of the environment and it is good to see that "life in retirement" is agreeing with you Keep up the good "work" Les

Mike - Jim has a Grady but my buddy Bob (Admiral Byrd) has a 19 ft. Penn Yan and fishes Seneca frequently) Keep'n It Reel - I sure think they had fed earlier...I know a lot of folks have been getting into the non-lakers during the early morning hours so they also may be feeding at night. There is so much bait there that it is a wonder they even bother expending the energy to go after a lure.

Jb235 and I launched out of Sampson about 4:30 PM and took initial temp readings down 100 ft. We then trolled south in 120 ft water with a wire rig and yellow puke Spin Doc/ green fly, A braid rig on a Tx 44 board with a black Fish catcher flasher and blue fly , 2 downriggers with spoons and sliders with spoons, and a medium dipsey with a spoon run off an outrigger. We went with only 5 rods because of the reports that there were masses of grass out there south and wanted a little room to play with on turns. We mainly trolled from about 90 ft. to about130 for the most part.We marked more fish and bait than I've seen in quite awhile. As soon as I got the wire and braid rigs out the wire rig bent over and started thumping hard.....6 to 7 lb laker Put the downriggers out and trolled south to just north of Lodi Point.....one hit but couldn't get to the rod in time (wire again with Spin Doc). A while later we were busy with other stuff and the 60 ft.downrigger went off but we had our backs to it.....comes up with no slider or main lure....snapped off at the slider apparently> had been down 60 over 105 and we had come through a mass of fish just previous to it...had to have been decent fish....broke 20 lb fluoro leader when it hit and it took 2 of my "one of a kind" nail polish specials with it . Trolled back to Sampson and no takers despite going through massive amounts of bait and fish. Put out two 5 leader Seth Greens and pulled out the other stuff. Trolled north to Reeders with a couple good hits on the way but they appeared to be off. When we brought our lines in later had two lakers about 20-22 inches on the bottom leaders of them. Our impression was that the fish were well fed already tonight ( all the lakers had big bellys and looked very healthy) that we were marking near the masses of bait and may have fed earlier and the lakers were up in the water column foraging. The lake was beautifully calm, nice sunset, some grass to mildly irritate us while trolling and only minimal fleas on the braid and wire...very doable, very minor amounts on the Seth Greens, and none at all on the 30 lb Blood Run Sea Flee mono downrigger lines. The three lakers swam away when released. Here is a pic of Jim and one of the lakers and some screens of the fish/bait we saw:

Nice going...not the easiest lake to fish this time of year (the doldrums). Interesting combination of fish too