hermit

Hey Bob hope all is well. I've had similar thoughts in the past but have done okay without, I've been spending the spring trolling and then switching to jigging late June or so. (Not this year though.) I use dipsey/torpedo divers and deep diving cranks and can get down to the 40-50 pretty easily. I've been successful up to the first week of July or so with this and quit when the fleas and weeds get out of hand. Just something to think about and would save you the trouble of rigging a portable downrigger board or something.

That's great! Nice brown! That wind was ripping pretty good, Copperliner picked me up at Sheldrake and we tried to hide behind the point there. Small handful of not-huge lakers with lots of nipping and short strikes. Made it until 9 then I had to go anyway, but it was a great time and good to be fishing.

Hey Ed sure I have some, am getting low and need to pour more this week. Have to run but I'll PM you later and maybe we can catch up? Thanks again for having me out Pete, yeah that one of yours especially didn't want its picture taken! Great day

Thanks guys it was a blast. PCPete's got some pics of a few nice ones. Looking forward to the next few months!

PCPete picked me up just after 6 and we blasted up to the power plant area. Started off in 70'-72' with bait and fish, not real active first thing but when it got a little lighter they woke up. After an hour or so went out to 80' and stayed there all morning. We did all our damage more or less parked in one spot with the amazing anchor lock feature on the trolling motor. Ice Shad Shakers got most of them for me with a few other colors too. Pete got some on white Super Flukes. After 10 we started poking around a few other spots for variety, including near Taughannock, with a little luck and a couple more fish but it wasn't as good as further north. Put 16 in the boat including one double. Some good ones to start around 8 lbs then they started getting a little smaller. I think Pete went the other way and started catching bigger fish later though. All in all a good average size (better than the last few years I think, but I haven't been out enough this year to really tell) and only one lamprey. Most fish were clean with only a few scars. Finally, THANKS PETE! This was my first jigging trip of the year... yikes... and it was great to be out there whupping on some lakers again! Alec

Nice Pete that's a fun week with some good fishing. Jealous of anyone with the anchor lock feature! Sure beats putting a hand on the trolling motor every five seconds.

Lively1, If you're getting that many hits on the drop and none retrieving you may want to change things up a little. One thing I don't like to do is drop the jig past the lakers. (This also applies to fishing to suspended fish, in fact more so because you don't have the bottom to stop you.) It sounds like the fish are coming up and hitting the jig without you noticing them coming. As you note it's difficult to set the hook on the drop. If conditions allow you to use the fishfinder you should be able to see many of these fishing coming off the bottom (or moving from a suspended position) and react before they actually get to the jig. Start taking it away from them before they get there. If you aren't seeing the fish but are having this happen, try not letting the jig go all the way down before starting your retrieve. Could be 2 things- keep playing with your fishfinder settings, and also sometimes they come and hit from the side which you can't do too much about. Additionally, vary the speed of your retrieve until you find something that works. Some days you can't reel fast enough. But like Zyoung, Guff, and others stated you should be catching at least 75% on the retrieve on average. Zyoung, jigging the suspended lakers is definitely doable as you found out. I can't say I've personally noticed a size difference but I spend maybe 10% of my time out deep, I do know of guys who do it regularly. Pretend there's a bottom and don't let the jig drop past it. Plenty of big lakers feed off the bottom too as well as out deep. As far as the jigging style, some days the snap-jigging works great and some it doesn't, mostly I jig a gentler way but that's also because of the jigs I use. A lot of spoons are designed to be fished this way but I don't do it with jig heads and plastics.

I like putting out an alewife either under a slip bobber or free-roaming, targeting silver fish. Makes for a nice change of pace from the lakers! Also, yes especially on Keuka's smaller fish a trailer is a great idea. You'll catch many more fish. I've had days there it's at least tripled if not quadrupled the hookups. My favorite setup there is a paddletail on a jig with a trailer hook attached at the jig eye, threaded twice through the plastic body and trailing behind the plastic about 1/2-3/4" (the entire hook is this far behind the tail). Using the trailer fly is cool too, same idea as a peanut. Also you could try some other brands of plastics and paddletails if you don't like the slot. Alec

Can't say I've noticed a smell, but have been in areas where heavy feeding has been going on. Lots of floating dead and mangled alewives, obviously chewed on. I suppose they would give off an odor but I didn't think to sniff. Often good fishing if the bait is still there!

Nice report, sounds good. You'll definitely get a lot of those lookers or chasers, some days it's all they'll do. But to mention that sometimes when you're reeling in, and the lakers are swimming up and grab your jig you won't feel a strike but rather an absence of weight, like the jig disappeared. That's a bite, so set the hook! It can be easy to miss especially if you're busy looking at the screen. So watch the screen but the most important information is still coming from the feel of your rod so don't get lost watching tv, I know I've done it before. Don't know if that was happening to you, they do just look a lot, but it's something to look out for. Also sometimes when they're chasing it'll look like the laker disappeared, but really it's so close to your jig you're only getting one reading on the FF- so don't stop reeling. They'll follow it like this for 60 feet or more sometimes, though usually not as much in summer with the warmer top water. I like to reel faster and slower if they're chasing to try to entice a bite, but stopping entirely doesn't work for me. Anyway that's cool you got into them!

Nice, glad you got back into them, no worries on the slow fishing! I never expect much when learning a new species and it's no fun if it's too easy! Sounds like what we ended up doing worked all weekend, so at least I know it works.

I got one apart once with a hair dryer, heat up the sleeve end and try to keep it away from the other side, you only want the outside expanding. Also don't do it too long for the same reason.

Met up with Justin and we spent the afternoon and evening out looking for walleye. Trolled through a fair amount of weeds in the afternoon, picking up a fat smallmouth. We also did some cruising around and scouting with the possible intention of jigging later, but this plan got derailed by a bad transducer cable and we were without the sonar for a lot of the night. Headed back in for a bit before night fishing. Back out, started with a little jigging, but too hard to know what was up without the sonar. Headed for a topwater spot and worked that for a while but action was very slow, with only occasional bait on the surface. Couple more bass. Time for a change of plan, so we got out the trolling gear and went for a ride! It was very bright under a full moon, which helped setting and checking gear, and the weeds had been blown out of the area by then, so it was actually a bit easier than the daytime trolling and with no traffic. Finally picked up a smallish walleye at 2:20 trolling tight to shore and hooked and dropped another 15 minutes later. Gave it another pass and trolled back in. Big thanks to Justin for having me along, that was fun. Feels like fall already with these 50 degree nights!

I talked to a guy up in Traverse City last year about it. He says he slams them when they start coming in to shore in the late summer / fall. Uses big jigs, like 4 ounces, and said often the bigger the better. This is in like 20-40 fow, so overkill on the weight but he said it's the size they go for. Don't remember the colors he liked, but I think bright. I bet they do it out west too if you wanted to look for more info.

Ha yeah you know it, I'm fishing somewhere this week for sure, just don't know about Saturday. I hope so! Justin definitely I'll pm you about dates.

Been good, just not fishing enough. Trying to change that very soon. Good luck this weekend!

Great report and fat brown, wish I could have made it. Nice morning!