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excavr

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Posts posted by excavr

  1. I mounted my swivel bases as close to the transom as possible. Had to leave enough room on the starboard side for the nav light though.

    I never stand on the deck when setting them. That would be like trying to tie your shoes without bending your knees. Kneel on the casting deck to set them and you'll be fine.

    If you mount them in the cockpit area, you'll run out of room when you add rod holders.

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  2. Do yourself a favor and try the Chamberlains, You can adjust the rod tension, and also the lure tension seperate. I can crank my rods right down to the water, and still have a shaker bt release it with no problem, have not dragged a shaker in over 4 years. Chamberlain also came out with a stacker release, and it works great. I replaced my release on my probe rigger, and have added one of these to my probe rigger. If you have any questions, you can contact the owner directly, Keith is a great guy, and has really done his homework on these releases. Good Luck.

    Capt. Rich

    Thanks for the tip Capt. Rich. I just watched Chamberlain's YouTube video. I will pick up a couple releases this week.

  3. hmm, I walked those docks this morning they are way longer than 20'

    Yes they are. The plans call for new concrete adbutments and I think it was a 20' ramp section with handrails and a 20' dock at the end. The new docks will not extend past the sheet piling like they do now. The new docks won't be long enough to stack 2 boats on the loading lanes. It is going to take longer to get out of the water.

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  4. I noticed the sign on the attendant's booth a few weeks ago indicating the closure. Something must have changed from when I read the bid documents. I read the ramp must remain open to the public during construction.

    I have mixed feelings about the proposed plan. They are replacing the long wooden docks with 20' floating aluminum docks and adding a dock on the north and south side. The new docks on the north and south sides will make it easier to utilize those parts of the launch and should reduce congestion. I am not thrilled about 20' floating docks though. I find floating docks are more difficult to tie onto when I am coming back in by myself. I would think they will make it more difficult for the larger boats too.

  5. I fish the finger lakes and started using Black's releases this year. I constantly find myself adjusting the release tension. Too much tension and we unknowingly end up dragging fish around the lake. Too little tension and they release when setting or change in speed.

    I use a spring scale to set them and try to keep them at 3.5#. I now check the tension each time I set them because the tension seems to change throughout the day.

    How do you guys set the tension on the releases? What weight tension setting do you use? Do you have any issues with the tension loosening up with use? Is there a way to keep the tension set so it doesn't creep?

    Thanks

  6. Don't think you'll find current forecast. If you worried about waves and can't find it, just look at wind forecasts. If it is an east or west wind less than 15-18 mph you will be fine especially if you fish on the side of the lake that the wind is coming from. If it is a north or south less than 10 you will be fine. Either of these winds will be less than 1 foot wave heights. Seneca usually does have some decent current and some of the guys on here should be able to tell you if it runs clockwise or counterclockwise. I cant remember.

    Thanks Stoutner. That will help me out when trying to determine if I should make the drive out.

  7. Does anyone have a link to a boating forecast or weather station for Seneca? I searched NOAA, but couldn't find a marine forecast, just the typical weather info.

    I live near Buffalo and would hate to make the drive to find out it is too rough to fish.

    I assumed there would be a weather buoy or station on the lake given the Navy has a facility on the lake, but I can't find anything on the web.

    Anyone have a link?

    Thanks.

  8. Fished Seneca for the first time on Saturday. Launched from the State Park at 8:00 and trolled the east side to around Indian Creek.

    We concentrated in the 150-200 FOW range with one DR at 65' and the other at 40' with spoons and sliders. Two dipseys with F&F one 225' and 185'. First dipsey got hit in 15 minutes and it was a real nice laker that shook off as we were getting the net ready. After that it was action packed until lunchtime. We boated 7 LL and 2 RT and lost several other fish. Most of the fish took the spoons on the DRs.

    Pulled the lines out at 4:15 and headed back home. Not much action trolling north and we were tired of dealing with the weed pods.

    We found a room to stay the night and tried our luck again on Sunday. This time we started on the west side heading south...same program as Saturday. Caught 2 LL within an hour and the wind picked and the lake hot a little rough for our 17'. The weeds and waves were making things difficult so we called it a day at 10:30.

    Is there any way to predict were the weed pods will be concentrated before heading out?

    We had a great time on Seneca and plan to fish there more often. We usually fish Canandaigua, but are growing tired of the traffic.

    Can't wait to try our luck next weekend.

  9. I am researching my options preparing for the purchase of my next boat. I currently have a 17' aluminum dual console that I troll the Finger Lakes, Lake Ontario, and Lake Erie. I also have it set up for bass and pike fishing. 

    I am looking to upgrade to a 21'-23' fiberglass boat within the next year. I assumed the right setup was a walkaround and never gave CC's much thought. Western New York doesn't have a very long boating season and we spend a lot of time fishing inclement weather in Spring and Fall. 

    WA's offer a lot of protection from the weather with the console, top, and curtains. They also appear to have much more room than a CC in the cockpit for fishing. 

    CC's have recently caught my eye, but I've never fished on one.

    Can I have some help from you guys as to what the pros and cons are for each style? 

    Thanks for your help.

  10. Steelfire,

    I've wondered the same thing too.

    I have most of my flies rigged with the red twine towards the flasher. I thought that was the correct way since they came out of the box with the skirt laying in that direction when I bought them.

    I looked on A-tom-mik's website and it looks like they have them rigged with the red twine facing the hooks...and the last couple flies I bought came out of the box with the skirt laying that way too.

    I now run them both ways.

  11. I need some feedback on the fog conditions over the past week out of Olcott. We tried to get out of Olcott on Memorial Day, but the fog forced us to give up trying by lunch. I would like to try again tomorrow, but don't want to make the drive to find the fog will shut us down. Can anyone give me a little feedback on how the visibility has been the past few days in the morning and your best guess as to what the conditions might be like tomorrow morning? I can hit the finger lakes if it is going to be questionable.

    I would rather get out early than have to wait it out or turn around and go home.

    Thanks.

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  12. I have the Terrova 80 with iPilot on my 17' Tracker. It works fine, but you really need to be careful with the with the iPilot if you are fishing rocky shoals in wind and current. There is a lag time in the iPilot that could get you hung up on the rocks if you're not paying attention.

    The anchor feature works nice. They say it will keep you within 5' of your anchor. If there is wind or current, expect it to be more like 10-15'.

    The remote is advertised as floating and waterproof. Don't believe it. I got caught in a bad storm and had it hanging around my neck. Water got in the unit and I had to disassemble it to dry it out. MinnKota sent me out a new remote and indicated they had a known problem with the rubber gasket in the remote. Be sure to put the remote away if your out in the rain.

    The unit isn't deadnuts accurate, but it is a great convenience to have. It really comes in handy when your trying to boat a fish. I just set a course to take the boat away from the shoal and you have the freedom to concentrate on the fish. I also use the autopilot when I'm trolling by myself. Hit the autopilot and throw the gas motor in neutral and you can boat your fish.

    Get the biggest motor you can afford. The 80 is fine for my boat, but if I had room for 4 batteries on my boat I would have gone with the 101#.

  13. uglyokuma,

    I have a MinnKota Terrova 80 with iPilot & built-in US2 transducer. I run a Humminbird 570 fishfinder off the trolling motor. My fishfinder is useless if the trolling motor is turning. I have called both MinnKota and Humminbird several times about this. MinnKota insists that if I wired it correctly (which I have) then the problem is with the Humminbird, not the trolling motor. Humminbird (who I agree with) tells me the interference on the screen is caused by the signal being sent to the unit from the trolling motor. That makes total sense since the interference only occurs when the motor is running.

    It sounds like your transducer is physically mounted (by you) on the bottom of your motor housing, correct? You could try to remove the transducer and temporarily mount is on a broom stick or some type of pole. Run your motor and put your transducer in the water several feet away and see if the interference goes away. If it does, you know your wiring is good and your motor is causing the problem.

    Let us know what you find.

  14. tannero,

    I don't mean to hijack your thread, but this has been my experience so far...

    Last year was my first season. I started trolling in August and I was only skunked 3 or 4 times thru mid November. This season I added 2 wire rods for dipseys and a Fishhawk X4 assuming I could only improve my catch rate. I have made it out twice this year putting in a total of 12 hours and I was skunked each time.

    This year I fished the north half each time and hit both sides of the lake. My first trip out the water high and merky and thought the recent storms turned the fish off. The water conditions this past Saturday were much better than earlier in the month.

    I threw everything I had at them both trips and couldn't get anything to bite. I tried spoons with and without flashers on the riggers, with and without sliders. Also had 2 wire rods with flashers and flies. Everything I set out has produced fish for me late last summer and fall. I marked fish high and low and adjusted my depths several times to see if I could get anything to work. I tried various down speeds from 1.5 to 2.25 mph as well.

    One variable that I am unfamiliar with is water temperature. If I remember correctly the surface temp this past Saturday was in the mid to upper 50's with a break somewhere around 25-30' where it was around 43-44 degrees and at 75' the temp was 42-43 degrees. According to the chart Fishhawk has in their manual, LT's optimum water temp is 46-52 with a lower limit of 42 degrees and RT's optimum water temp is 54 with a lower limit of 44 degrees.

    As I made my way back to the launch, the kids fishing from shore told me they caught 3 trout on worms...should have saved the fuel.

    Does anyone have any suggestions for us?

  15. Does anyone have feedback on the Navionics iPad App? I downloaded the app for my HTC phone and I wasn't impressed with it. Are there differences in quality and detail between the Apple app and HTC app? I fish Western New York and the Finger Lakes.

    I've noticed a few comments over the winter from guys that had just downloaded the app. Now that you've had it a while, how does it perform? There are a few comments on iTunes about the app crashing and losing planned routes.

    I am expecting Fedex to deliver my iPad on Tuesday. Any other apps a fisherman would find useful?

  16. Thanks Mortigan. The DEC map will have to do until someone puts out a better one. I pulled the contact information for the company listed on the map they have posted at the State Marine Park Launch, but I did not have luck getting through with a phone call. I may try to send them a letter to see if they still exist. I would really like Fishing Hot Spots to put one out.

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