Ric66

1 hour ago, fisherman21 said:

Torpedo divers


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I keep trying to run Torpedos off my Church TX 44 boards but they just seem to get over powered by them. Any tips on how run those off boards? I tried today with I think it was the 8 oz and my board just wouldn't run right.

Launched from Deans at 3:30pm and set up about two miles south of there. Took my neighbor's son Salman and his friend Abdul. They had never been fishing on a boat so I wanted to make sure we got them into some fish. 6 rod spread included two downriggers with f/f, two dispeys with f/f and two lead cores on planner boards with jointed rapalas- a three and five color. For the first hour and a half just one hit, then a flurry of 3 hits in a few minutes when we went into some shallower water around 60-70 feet. Ended up with 5 nice lakers and a few lost fish. Very polite and appreciative boys- couldn't thank me enough. Wanted to get them into a salmon but probably should have set up with a shallower program. This is the earliest I've ever fished this part of the lake so wasn't sure what I'd run into. It was 51 degrees down 45ft and 57 on top. Everything took hits. 

IMG_2476.heic IMG_4591.heic IMG_2476.heic

4 hours ago, HB2 said:

There are a lot of people going broke and will take a decade or more to financially recover from this.look at all the business going under .  

What gets me most is there are people who are working and getting paid telling people they can't work . If these same people were  faced with losing everything and bankruptcy, they might feel differently . 

So IMO , it time to open stuff up and go for it  . 

If you are young and in reasonably good health , you don't have much to worry about . And yes some people will die. 

 

And anyone who doesn't see this is a political football is blind , respectfully . 

It's true small businesses are hurting badly but this is where our government needs to step in and put politics aside, which in the end I think they will. Winston Churchill said it best, "America has to exhaust all other options before doing the right thing."

It isn't just about opening up. It's about doing it correctly by social distancing and wearing a mask. My wife is from South Korea and her home town got hit hard. But the government's response was swift and they didn't shut down. Why? Because the people in South Korea have more trust in their government AND they have a sense of duty to all in society. Here in America we are much more independent minded and resist any freedoms being taken away even if they are for our own good. Remember the resistance to the seat belt law?

If we just "go for it" we may prolong this pandemic and have to shut down again.

If we can avoid more people dying, shouldn't we do it,since all those young people have parents and grandparents?

7 hours ago, Gill-T said:

Sorry your trip got canceled. A lot of businesses will be forever affected by Covid. I am going to have to call you out, however.  Ohio being placed on a travel restricted state is Ohio’s fault.  Ohio was late to the game on mask mandates and now everybody is paying the price for you and southern states not believing scientists. It’s a Pandemic!  A once in our lifetime event. My brother took his daughter to University of Dayton to start her freshman year. He almost put her back in the car and drove her home as he found there were no RD’s or RA’s in the dorms to oversee the incoming students. Kids were running around with no masks. Univ of Dayton blew up with Covid in the first two weeks with now over 900 cases and of course my niece now has Covid. Wake up brother and start mixing in some real news stations into your tv viewing experience. We are all in this together so when 1/3 of the country is rowing in an opposite direction, we are prone to spin in circles. 

x2

If you have a question on fishing, ask a fisherman; if you have a medical question, ask a doctor; if you have a question on science, ask a scientist. None of us would like to be told by someone who doesn't know anything about our specialty, how to do our job. Why should we think a politician knows about a medical or science issue more than a doctor or scientist? Many people bash New York State but we are in much better shape than many states because we have listened to the experts. Are experts always right? No. But neither are we. And Gill-T is right, we are all in this together. Our actions impact others.

8 hours ago, Gator said:

Nice report and great job with the boys! It looks like they're hooked.

At least until they discover girls

5 hours ago, Setterman said:

Nice job!


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Thank you!

5 hours ago, Great_Laker said:

Great work! We were out last night too, only had one salmon hit that tangled every rod in the boat, and swam to the bow, attempted netting it off the bow and it swam back through down rigger rods and crossed lines and broke, looked like a 20+. Temps and currents were all over the place. found 48 degree water down 90 in 102' of water but that wasn't consistent, small pockets of cold water all over the place but very patchy. Awesome screen at 100' of water but we didn't find that patch until 8:45 PM. Seems like you guys found good water in 200', I should have checked further out.

Thanks !I usually set up in 130ft but yesterday I had no idea. Thought about going way out in 300-400 ft.

Took off work to take my son and his friend Stephen, the one who couldn't go with us last time, fishing for salmon. With the recent unstable weather and the poor fishing reports, I wasn't too confident about our chances. Started fishing around 5:30pm. Had the boys let out the two dipsy divers- mag set on 1 let out to 190 with a green dolphin spoon, the other was size 1, set on 3 let out to 280 with a FF. Once those were out let out the 350 copper and as I'm putting the planer board on, it gets hit so give the rod to my son's friend, but then fish lets go. At least it was a good sign I hoped. Set up a deep downrigger with a FF. Was going to set up a leadcore but I'm still very new to copper so didn't want to complicate things for myself. We started trolling in about 140ft and had some marks. Took a while but rigger finally goes off and I could tell it was a laker. Gave the rod to my son's friend and he brings in a nice one. Take a picture and let the laker free. He was excited but I told him that's nothing till you get a salmon.I moved to deeper water to get some colder temps. Noticed the current was stronger in 200 and my rods had that nice bend. I started contemplating changing the mag dispy out for a 3 color core off a downrigger when the mag gets hit and starts peeling line so I know this isn't another laker. The fish came right towards the boat after making his run and I thought for sure we lost him, but we reeled up and when we got it close to the boat we could tell he was still on. My son did a nice job netting the fish and I felt I could relax a little now. Next the rigger goes off again but no fish. Bring up the DR to reset and then the other dispy goes off and this time my son takes the rod and this salmon gives us a better fight. Netted that one and saw the sun was starting to set. Asked the boys if they wanted to call it a night and they said, no, let's stay here; Ok, set up the dispy and the downrigger again but no further action. Got the boat out just as darkness set in.

Thanks, guys.

It's hard getting kids away from the computer these days. I know every generation thinks the way they grew up was the best, but can't help think kids today are missing out. As kids, we came home when it got too dark to see the baseball. Show a kid a bat today and he'll say "what's that?"

Bob

Took off work early to take my son and his friend fishing. Unfortunately couldn't get a hold of his friend so just my son and I went out of Sandy around 6pm. Really hoping to get my son a big salmon. Set up in 150ft, put two dipseys out with FF- both on 2 settings out 222 and 215. Started to get my rigger out and the dipsey out at 222 took a hit. Got the rod out of the holder, set the drag and gave it to my son. I had coached my son how to pump the rod and reel down when we started fishing- glad I did that. He did a great job letting the salmon run and then bringing him in just as I taught him. Didn't know how great a job he did till we got the fish in the net and the treble hook was not embedded in the fish, just hooked around the gill. Amazing he didn't come off. 24lbs and that's our best salmon. There's always a little pressure when you try to get your kid into a fish. Took the pressure off to get one so early. About 20 minutes later got another on the rigger down 90ft. My son was still tired out from the first so he told me to take it. Not as big as the first one but decent. After that we called it a day- had to be at work early today.

Hi,

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Thanks

14 minutes ago, Puck5760 said:

you could do that, but you will have quite the sage in the line from the rod tip to planer board release depending how far you send the board out.

 Didn't even think of that.

I just won another Cuda torpedo weight today in a raffle. Now I have two of them. I'll probably just incorporate those like you said, at least when I want to go deeper. Thanks for the explanation.

Has anyone done this? I want to start incorporating copper into my mix but don't want to have 5 different rods set up with different amounts of copper on it. Can you say, splice 5-10ft length of braid every 100ft of copper for a total of 400ft of copper? This way you can send out 100, 200, 300, or 400 foot of copper depending how deep you want it to go, and then put the braid into a planer board to get it out of the inner spread. Having never fished with copper I have no idea if this will work.

I use 2 5 gallon buckets on my 17 foot boat. I like them because they are easy to use. Just toss them over. With bags you have more lines in the water to tangle. I do use a large bag when I drift for perch and its a little more difficult to get it deployed.

Yes, they do bang on the side of the boat and take up more room.

If you go with buckets, drill a hole on the side towards the bottom of the bucket and put a rope through it. When you bring it in pull on that rope and it will empty the bucket. Makes it easy to bring them in without having to stop the boat.

You might also want to get splash guards for your transom. I feel a lot safer now that I have them as I don't have to worry about taking a wave over the transom. Here's a video on how to install them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=corKMIjGWzE

I wish I had this information when I first started using them years ago. I also used to use two Clorox bottles to float two of these rigs way behind the boat. I could fish them shallower and then have two rigs fished deep straight down from the boat. Caught two large walleye on Hemlock Lake using these. Not so much fun to fish these rigs when it was rough though.

2 hours ago, bluegiller said:

That boat is fine most days ..if it's too rough for that boat it's not fun on any boat. I fish a 18 foot alumicraft all the time. Watch the weather pick good days and catch tons of fish. I think smaller boats actually catch more fish some days. The nice thing about smaller boats is you get more use out of them because you can trailer and launch them easy..of all your going to do is fish lake Ontario then get a bigger boat bit if you want an all around fishing boat 17 and 18 footers are great

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X2- couldn't have said it better. I have 17ft deep V. Pick your days. Mornings and late afternoons the wind often calms down

On 9/18/2019 at 8:07 AM, Lucky13 said:

The Perch don't eat the alewife, the alewife eat the perch.  The decline in perch numbers shows up in later years or, if the perch hatch and the alewife spawn overlap (and they always do to some extent) every year, there is a long term decline in the perch population.  This was discovered by fisheries research conducted in NYS by Bill Abraham, retired DEC Region 8 Fisheries Manager, and published by the American Fisheries Society.  If Lake Ontario still had the alewife population found in the sixties, there would be virtually no perch in the embayments and the big pond.  And correlations do not have to be perfect to be strong.  DEC has been reporting greatly reduced alewife populations since 2013, 14.  Maybe a western New Yorker can answer, how has the perch fishing been the last couple of winters out at Sodus Bay? 

Was out on lake Ontario today (Sunday) and did great on the perch. Good size and different year were in the mix

On 8/28/2019 at 6:31 PM, Tyee II said:

The lake Salmon are the best Wild Salmon you can get. They're way more expensive than store bought Wild Salmon though, but that's a different story. Try marinating in Veri-Veri Teriyaki sauce in the refrigerator for an hour or more and grill. Absolutely easy and delicious. Or any of your favorite recipes will be great with Salmon from the lake if the fish are handled properly. 

X2. Just learned about Veri-Veri sauce this year and  its a great easy way to make salmon on the grill. Just don't overcook it like I did yesterday

Another great way is to soak fillets in soy sauce for 15-30 minutes, then slab on some kind of creamy salad dressing- ranch, Caesar, Thousand Island, etc and then coat with bread crumbs and put flesh side down on grill, then flip and let cook till done.

On 8/18/2019 at 9:13 PM, trouthunter24 said:

all great advice!!!

back in the early 90s a buddy and me got stuck on Hemlock lake a bad tstorm swept over the hill from the west and right on us we ran to shore dragged the 14ft starcraft up on the bank and ran like hell up into a ravine and huddled scared to death while bolts blasted away over the water and tree tops above. close calls like that make you way more cautious never cut it close man its not worth it.

Exact same thing happened to me and my friend on Hemlock. That lake is bad since you can't see what's coming over the ridge. Didn't have iphones back then to check radar.

And like Lucky said, lightning can strike 10 miles away from the storm and if you can hear thunder, you aren't safe distance away.

Fished there 2 weeks back and did very well on the lakers. Could not get any salmon which was new for me.

Fished near King Ferry to the power station. Wire dipseys set on 2 with 125 to 150 feet out with flasher and flies. Downriggers between 60 and 90. I fished early morning mostly. Boat speed between 2 to 2.5

Fleas not too bad.

6 hours ago, lfoster607 said:

We were on the water by 7am Saturday, launching from Treman. We drove out to about 150 FOW and started seeing marks so we got our gear set. I got the first hit off a Dipsey and blue/silver Cleo. It felt like a good fish and I got a good look at it, but lost it boatside. It was a nice brown. Based on what I was seeing on the finder, I felt no need to set the rigger close the bottom. I ran anywhere from 60-75' clipped right to the ball. I ran a Green Rainbow Cowbell with a Slimer Gambler 32" back, and 15' back from the ball. It finally produced the first fish on my rigger since mounting it back in May. It was a 15" LL that got put back, but hey, I'll take it! We only ended up with a few other barely-legal LL's the rest of the morning. So, at least I'm feeling little better that I'm starting to make the right adjustments as far as my rigger is concerned, but still don't quite have it dialed in yet. The bucket trick worked pretty good, and we stayed anywhere from 2.0-2.5. The amount of bait down there was insane. I just wish it would've produced more fish. I think the next thing I'm going to add to the arsenal are some wire Dipsey rods and Chinook divers. Hey...there's quite a learning curve to this, but it's starting to come together. Thank you all very much!

It is an ever learning hobby but so rewarding when things start to work and this site has helped me so much. Definitely invest in wire dispsey rods and put flasher and flies on them. Honestly, if I had to leave either my dipsey rods or my downriggers at the launch, I'd be waving "bye" to my downriggers. Maybe its because I have more confidence in my dipsey rods when I fish Lake O. I'm not sure about this but I wonder at times if there is too much bait, our offerings go unnoticed. One other suggestion I would make that helps me with my small boat is to use lures that have a wide range of speeds they will work at. That's because with a small boat you get tossed around a lot and it's harder to keep your boat moving at the same speed. I use medium weighted spoons and Spin Drs.  For me these seem to work the best especially when speed control is an issue. Keep posting to let us know how you're making out.

On 8/16/2019 at 9:24 AM, lfoster607 said:

I've been trolling for the last four years, but this is my first year with an electric downrigger on the back of my 16' Tracker. I hear a lot about guys letting their cannonball hit bottom and then drag it when laker fishing. Doesn't that make anyone else a little uneasy!? Perhaps its because I'm new to it, but it always makes me nervous when things starts to shallow up and I've got a lot of cable out, let alone to let it hit bottom on purpose. I mostly fish Cayuga, but is this common practice and is it safe? I've only been out 5 times this year, and I haven't had my rigger fire once yet. So, I'm looking to try something different. I'm going to start off running cowbells with Gambler rigs and will either be close to the bottom, or on the bottom depending on what you guys think. Any input is appreciated, as always!

I fished Cayuga all last week and had no problem getting lakers to hit on downriggers and I was fishing no where near bottom. If you want to catch really big lake trout then the bottom is where they will probably be but if you are looking for the 3-5lb then you don't need to fish bottom. And you will occasionally get a nice laker OR a nice salmon fishing shallower. I have a 17 foot boat and speed can be an issue. I use a kicker motor and one or two 5 gallon buckets if needed to slow me down to 2 to 2.5, although usually not needed on Cayuga. Someone mentioned dispy rods- the best friend to small boats. I use wire dispy rods with the diver set on 2 with anywhere from 125 to 175 feet with flasher and flies. Early in the day is best. I also use flasher and flies on the downriggers. I am with you- I would get very nervous with my downrigger ball close to bottom on Cayuga unless I  knew the area I was fishing like the back of my hand. I've been surprised way too many times on Finger lakes and how fast things shallow up. I caught a downrigger ball on Canadice many years ago on a tree. Not fun. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

Lake trout have always been known as a good eating fish so not sure why either. Maybe it depends on where the lake trout are coming out of.

6 hours ago, PrtyMrty said:

Ric can you tell me how long of a leader you run from the Dipsey to the Flasher? Also do you use snap swivel at both connections?

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I usually run a leader that is about the length of the rod I'm using. I use either a snap swivel or sometimes use this wire connector- don't know what they are called but they are used on the Finger lakes when guys are using Seth Green multiple leader rigs. At the other end I just use the snap swivel that comes with the flasher- Spin Drs mostly on my dipsey rods