guff

Has any one here tried chug's idea of putting some skin on the jig???

GREAT picture of your ff Hermit. It is interesting trying to figure out how far away a bottom dwelling LT can see a jig dropping from above. Looking at this photo it looks like he saw it at least 35 feet above him and then he took off. To me one of the great things about jigging and watching your ff is that you know ahead of time you are likely going to get a hit. The old heart gets beating knowing there is a good chance your line will stop, the end of your pole will head for the water surface and the fight is on. Kind of fits in the category of buck fever. What is also a blast is to take someone out who is new to jigging and you watch the person's jig on the ff and when the LT is cooperative, tell the person "get ready for a strike", "get ready", "get ready", then wham, the person gets to feel the the full effect of the hit. Just too cool. On a side note, 2 of us hit the north end of Seneca yesterday morning. Only 2- 28 inchers to show for it. There are a ton of LT up there but they were only in a chasing, non hitting, mood. We used one of the time worn fisherman's excuses, a full moon. Made us feel better anyways.

Hit the north end of Seneca (Belhurst area) today 7:30- 5:00. Slow but steady bite all day. 11 total with 7 over 28"to 31". There are a lot of LT in water shallower but the ones in 100-125 were the best feeders. They really liked chartreuse flukes with and with out silver flecks on 1 oz. jig. 4 boats fishing the area all day (including John Gaulke). Last year the LT in the same area turned on just about this time and jigging was good right into early September. I think the bite before 7:30 may have been very good but 9.5 hours of jigging is about all I can handle.

Thanks a bunch 180ccf. I REALLY like your suggestion. I am absolutely no mechanic so the seafoam idea sounds great. I just have a gut feeling the problem is not a really big deal. Once I get her away from the launch and warmed up, she only stalls once in a while when shifting into gear. A "simple carb cleaning" sounds good too. The fish are biting right now so may have to wait a little while for that.

Yes- new@this. Need fish arches, not symbols. Good luck. Let us know how you do. Hermit- See, you helped somebody out already. Good job!

Can try higher rpm's. Thanks. No compression check. That sounds scarey $$$$$

Maybe you guys can help me. I have a 1989 55hp 2 stroke Yamaha on a 16 ft. Alumacraft. My problem is when I shift it into gear it stalls half the time. Not a good thing at a windy, busy boat launch. Some of the things I have tried but do not seem to help are new spark plugs, new primer bulb, new fuel pump and recently switched to non- ethanol gas. I have talked to some people about it and I am thinking the ethonal gas has messed it up. I have always added marine stabil to the gas/oil mixture, knowing that ethanol gas can have some bad effects. I am coming to the conclusion that I need to have my carburator rebuilt and maybe new gas lines thanks to the ethanol. When not in gear it idles at 1100 rpm which is recommended. I hate to tie up the boat at a repair shop now (fish are biting) but maybe I will have to bite the bullet. Any thought would be appreciated.

The Sunday Finger Lakes Times reported that the head of the Waterloo water treatment plant (north end of Seneca) said that he had never seen the drinking water taste so bad in 26 years as he did last week. Sounds like algae because of warm water and strong winds was the culprit.

genEus - Well finding the fish can be troublesome. Would make the following suggestions #1- If you keep an eye on this forum you can often get an idea where to look. 2- At certain times of the year the LT concentrate in certain areas. Right now I would got to the end of the bluff on Keuka and the Belhurst area of north Seneca. Actually almost any time of the year these 2 areas hold fish. Hermit's reports zero you in on Cayuga. 3- If the fish are suspending as they are on Keuka now, yes I would cruise around with my ff (high sensitivity). If you see marks in 60 fow or deeper stop and drift and jig. 4- Remember however that just because you do not see LT on your ff DEFINATELY does not mean they are not there. They are definately bottom hugging fish. The only way to see them is to drop your jig and watch your ff for fish coming up off the bottom to take a look at your jig. 5- In the places I jig I find a lot of LT in water from 60' to 110'. They certainly can be shallower or deeper but 60-110 fow is a good place to look. 6- Of course time on the water gives you the best results. Good luck. Let us know how you do.

woody - If you are jigging, no problem with weeds or flees. Another great thing about jigging. Biggest problem this week has been winds but is supposed to calm down Thursday.

Great job Hermit. Can not wait for the revisions. But take your time. Would DEFINATELY add the Drawings A, B, & C in this post. As genEus would say, "they rock".

new@this & genEus - Wow. Where do I start? Point # 1 -Understand I do NOT work for John but if you can afford it (not that expensive really) a laker trip with John Gaulke will pay dividends for years. I went out with him twice. He will tell you all the secrets. Even drew on a Seneca Lake map where and when the best laker action was. I copied down the info off his jigging poles and have bought 2 so far. Point # 2 - I am NOT bragging here. Just the facts. In 2011 on 48 trips I and my guests boated 501 LT just jigging. Note I had a few skunk days but 3 trips were over 40 LT. Point is, don't give up. It works. Point #3 - Just wait till you see Hermit's jigging tutorial. It will knock your socks off. Point #4- I concentrate my fishing on Seneca and Keuka but Cayuga is jigging heaven also. On Keuka I either fish the Branchport end or the bluff. Right now the bluff is better. HOWEVER, the north end of Seneca is just about to erupt. There are thousands of BIG LT up there and they will turn on any day now I believe. I have done well there several times since mid April but have had some skunk days. Do not get the numbers as on Keuka but BIG LT. 30-35" not uncommon. Start by fishing across from the Belhurst Castle. Point # 5 - Don't give up. Jigging WORKS

Hurray!

Hermit - I too like your reports, especially your jigging reports. Please keep them coming. My only wish would be that you would resurect your jigging tutorial. So many potential jiggers would get SO much info from them. Hope you are not mad at me for harping on this. I just know how much good info was in them and maybe best of all, it was all in ONE place.

Oh - there is no charge. It is basically a narrow road that goes down into the lake.

Woody - Have not checked the launch out for a long time but there was a big drop off at the end of the concrete then. There is no dock. Would advise you check it for yourself first and if not feasible be ready to go to the state park. If you do launch there you can park your rig just to the north at the old electric power plant.

Woody - Only ramps I know of are at the extreme ends of the lake. I launch at the State Park. 6 mile trip south to bluff but well worth it. There is a small ramp near the Swiss Inn east of the end of bluff but it is in the catagory of unimproved. I do not use it. Probably good for a 14' boat. Too bad that such a big Finger Lake does not have a good ramp near its center.

Great day of jigging on Keuka. Hit Branchport end solo early but only 2 Lake Trout (LT) there. Not much showing on ff either. Headed out to bluff. Stopped at the tip of the bluff at 10:00 and things got hot. Had a steady bite right up to 4:00. Ended up with 17 more LT and probably dropped that many more. White ice tube on 1 oz jig in 85-120 fow. Some of the biggest bait schools I have seen on Keuka and the LT were taking advantage of them. Lots of suspended LT. Most of hits while reeling in. Biggest was 23 inches but a great bite. Lots of fun.

Here is another great thing about jigging LT in the Finger Lakes. If you set up your electronics right and cast/ drop your lure so that it will show up on your fish finder, you can watch the LT come off the bottom, head for your visible jig, wait till the two almost meet, start reeling in, watch the LT follow up your jig, and actually know ahead of time when your jig is going to get slammed. How much fun is that? And what other kind of fishing can you do and know ahead of time when you are going to get a strike! And watch nature at work. Too cool.

Hermit - Would highly recommend you putting your jigging info back on line. You had a tremendous amount of good info on it. I know a good number of fishermen would check it out and you probably have info you could add to it after what, 4 or 5 years. Jigging for lake trout with relatively light (and inexpensive) gear is a pure blast but there is a right way and a not so right way to do it.

Casting downwind while standing in the back of my drifting boat and while watching my fish finder works well for me. Cast just far enough so the jig hits bottom under your motor (and under the transduser). If a fish comes off the bottom start reeling in just before the jig and the rising fish meet. This method will also tell you if there are trout with their bellies sitting on the bottom where the fish finder does not pick them up. Got 10 at north end of Keuka in 3 hours yesterday.

Good to have you back Hermit. Say is that tutorial you used to have on jigging still on line somewhere? I was looking over a printed copy just the other day. It would be great for a new (or old) Finger Lakes jigger. Notice you are trolling now. Have you left the jigging crowd. Hope not.

5 inches wet snow at 1000 feet elevation at 10:00 Monday 4 miles north of Branchport. Still snowing lightly. 2 inches in Penn Yan (lower elevation). Electricity out in parts of Yates County but not here. Fallen white pine branch blocking back door. Glad have a front door. Should bring lake levels up when melts. Bet areas further west are hurtin. Looks like Wednesday should be fishable.

Guppy - Got to admit I have not tried Branchport end of Keuka this spring but have probably jigged it at least a hundred times in the past. It is a good area this time of year. As fish junkie said anywhere from 50 fow at very north end to 170 fow say a 1/4 mile south of launch can hold lots of LT. Think best plan is to spend time on first trip checking various depths to find fish then next trip really go after them. Best if do not have south winds over 10 mph. The west arm acts as a funnel and even a mild south wind can result in a very fast moving drift. I hit east side of the tip of the bluff if wind too much near boat launch. About a 6 mile boat trip and south wind is usually about half what it is by launch.

Guppy- You probably already know this but because you do not see marks on your ff does not mean the LT are not there. I can not read the bottom 2 feet off water on my ff so can miss LT that are hugging the bottom. If you use the method I decribed you often will see LT come up off the bottom as they see your jig drop. Usually where there is one there is more.