hermit

This is the part that really bugs me: It will be impossible to get rid of what's already here. But the problem CAN be "fixed" by stopping more species from getting in. There needs to be regulations on blowing ballast in the lakes. It's not hard compared to the alternatives and would make a big difference. Of course the shipping industry is blocking this. I can't see calling it an opinion article. It's a summary of the work of http://greatlakesmapping.org/ You may not agree with it but GLEAM is doing its best to scientifically study the health of the lakes. We may have the best fishery out of all of them in Ontario but that's just a portion of what they looked at- whether or not the overall health of Ontario is better than Superior (for ex.) I have no idea but the work presented here seems to suggest Superior has the edge, at least in terms of "stressors" or potential problems. In addition to being last in the chain Ontario (and Erie) are the warmest of the Great Lakes which increases their productivity in general. They also have a higher population surrounding them which leads more of the runoff etc talked about in the article. The problem is that too much productivity is a bad thing. You may have the best two years of fishing in your life right before the whole fishery crashes to nothing. No way do we need more agricultural runoff in there. Identifying and managing these stressors when possible would go a long way toward helping the lakes. I'd argue that "fisheries management" is a reactive strategy that aims to help keep the lakes in balance. We don't always get it right but given that the ecosystem is no longer natural or native there isn't much of a choice but to try to manage it. It seems they're defining a stressor as anything that unnaturally affects the lake, good or bad. Here's the list: Source

Thanks all. At least I've got a few months to figure this out and compare features, maybe get a sale somewhere. Maybe just wait a little longer and go Saltist. Been using an old Penn Surfmaster but it's in pretty rough shape and doesn't hold more than 7 colors. Sk8man I hear you on the Sealines I have two for dipseys and don't like putting them out past 200... I'll do it of course but I'm not a fan. Got my first 6.2 casting reel last year and liked it so much I'd like fast retrieve on all the trolling gear eventually.

This will be used as a longer core rod, 5-10 so the high speed would be good. I like the regular Sealines so will probably give this a shot as it's one of the cheaper high speed reels. Looking like either this or a regular Sealine. Was hoping someone had used one... hoping it's a similar quality. Thanks for the input! Alec

I'd go to such an event for sure. Just like nice tools you gotta take care of them if you want to keep using them!

Hey guys I'm looking for a leadcore reel and I want a high speed retrieve. A $150+ reel like the Saltist is too rich for my blood but I might be able to swing the low 100's since as I've got a few months to plan and shop. The Sealine-X series has caught my eye, wondering if anyone has run one with leadcore. I'm looking at the 40 size for the Fingers. #SL-X40SHA. Any thoughts on this reel? Thanks Alec

I've whacked them pretty good with rabbit streamers too... tied tandem or with just a hook in the back. Black/white, olive/white, some flash etc. I've used a fly rod before but now just use my trolling rods. Couple of big split shot/trolling sinker or a Jet 10, works great in the spring.

Just my opinion but it's like a 50 foot long trib with one hole. I'd say follow the trib rule and "respect and protect". Probably best not to talk about it much on the inner tubes.

What I don't understand is why you guys are knocking us guys that want the noise gone. I almost didn't post yesterday b/c of blowback like this. Guy had a question, I had an answer, if it doesn't fit your needs let it go. It took 30 seconds to "fix", it's hardly a technical trick. (Also I already had my lifetime share of whiskey and don't drink anymore so that option is out!) I don't like unexpected sounds. End of story. Not being a Grinch, I do things like this all year long. Um, Merry Christmas!

It's not too hard to "fix" using Adblock Plus. If you do use this extension for your browser add a rule blocking "http://www.lakeontariounited.com/js/lights/christmaslights.js". If you don't use ABP, it's awesome, though for sites you use regularly and enjoy, it's best not to block their ads- those ads help pay the bills and running websites isn't free. (That means sites like this one!) You can just block the lights. I like the lights but the sound was driving me nuts. Sure I could mute my comp but there are several reasons why that isn't always practical. Watching Netflix concurrently, or I forget to mute the sound ( that runs through stereo) and lights bursting at 6:00 AM wakes the GF among them. Actually that last one was what got them turned off!

I just spent some time reading about fishing in the Sea of Galilee. Pretty interesting reading about a completely different fishery. Anyway there were a few articles about poisoning but not many. I'm sure there would be more if I could read the local papers or searched more specifically to the area but general searches for combinations of "Sea of Galilee", "fishing", "pesticide/insecticide", "illegal", "poison", etc, etc found some. Off topic a bit but related- currently they are having serious lake management problems. Commercial harvest of the mango tilapia crashed from 2,144 tons in 1999 to 157 tons in 2009. The government tried to do a 2 year ban of fishing but instead started closing fishing during spawning in the spring. The fishermen want the government to butt out, and blame the cormorants for the crash. Apparently though the cormorants aren't really a threat to the tilapia. The government claims overfishing is the problem. This seems more likely. Poison is mentioned, but most often I read that fishermen were using illegal nets with too-small holes, killing too many juvenile fish. There were just as many articles I found (which doesn't mean a whole lot as previously mentioned) that mentioned gill nets as poison. I hope the fishing ban during spawning helps restore the fish populations. Back on Cayuga, until rolmops mentioned this I was thinking that there is an awful lot of water in Cayuga and there would have to be a heck of a spill/dump to kill lakers 90 feet down as anything dumped would disperse very quickly. Now I'm not so sure as Galilee is also pretty big. I am also not a scientist, this all came from 20 minutes with Google. But my own opinion is that this is a rumor. Maybe folks are worried b/c of the Hydrilla treatments, or maybe something got heard wrong, or who knows. Talking about fishing is a lot like playing "telephone". Anyway I learned a few things today, very cool. Edit Monday- looks like rolmops edited his post that's why there is redundant info...

Thanks for the tip, picked up mine. Great deal for SP regulars.

They won't if it doesn't rain. Doesn't look good either. The last time it rained fish were in digging redds and were gone the next day. Levels are just too low to keep them in. Pretty cool to watch them, chasing and splashing in 8" of water sometimes.

What does it do? I thought those cameras were waterproof already. Is it a rigger ball replacement or something? The underwater videos are pretty cool.

Hey all it sure was fun, never seen anything like it. Like panfisher said it was the perfect day, everything came together. Never seen the bite hold up all day like that before. It was more the fish than anything we did. Thank you fishing gods!

That's pretty cool, looks like the G Loomis logo. I did this one last year- it's not an anatomically correct trout but hey it's on a pumpkin.

Big thanks to guff for bringing me out on Wednesday. It was a ton of fun and a great day to get back on Keuka after several years off. Thank you so much and it was all around a fantastic day. Where to start, well, how about in the beginning. When I left my house the overcast conditions and fog had me a bit worried the bite would be slow today. It wasn't. I met guff at KLSP at 8:30, and after launching and scoping out a few areas we started fishing around 9:30 in 100 FOW near the bluff. During the course of the day we caught fish from 85-125 FOW or so, mostly in the 95-110 range but I wasn't paying real close attention. We also saw fish out deeper but didn't target them. Winds were barely there to nonexistent. A brief rain shower came through but mostly there was just fog on the hills. A few trollers, one or two boats fishing shallow, and we thought we saw jiggers in the distance in a couple spots. Some sun would have been nice to bring out the colors but instead we had cool clouds on the lake and hills. A quiet, muffled, dark day that made all the subsurface activity all the more surprising. To get to the catching bit, we averaged one laker every 7.03 minutes for 7.5 hrs- a total of 64 lakers! One heck of a day and a daily best for his boat. I also set a PB for lakers by far. I managed to use just one lure all day and have already retired it for a job well done. The bite was steady throughout the day as we drifted in and out of fish pods regularly. There was even some decent bait schools which guff says is unusual to see, and the fish were often spitting up aelwives as we reeled them in. What a blast! A few doubles, some good sized fish, a few dinks, and a lot of perfect eating sized Keuka Lake specials. Guff releasing a nice fish: As evening closed in the fog descended on the lake somewhat. Driving home it was patchy but very thick in spots especially in the high country between Penn Yan and Watkins. It was a great trip and badly needed after not fishing for a month. Heading in:

I saw a fish! Lots of them! There were browns and bows, sure, but also some HUGE salmon, all packed into the runoff ditch thing behind Wegmans. It was really weird because I've never seen a trout there. Probably caught a dozen, one jumped right onto the bank by my feet. Then the waterfall was so loud I couldn't think and had to walk down further away where I quickly entered a thick jungle, got bit by a snake and died. Had some really weird dreams last night.

Mono is okay if you don't have much line out but by late spring you will want braid like the other guys suggested. When I started I used mono but ran into the dipsey tripping problem, split a spool of braid between two rods and kept some mono as backer which I replace every year or two. You could do this too to keep initial costs down but the braid will last a lot longer than the mono making it an even or better deal in the long run. I use the Diawa Sealine reels and feel they are a good deal, not junk but not prohibitively expensive. Also deep diving cranks will get you down 15' and can be run off a regular fishing rod.

lmbo Hey cool hope it counts, I once had to take out a rabid raccoon with a crowbar. In my living room. Those were the days.

Lots of good info. Sk8man's suggestion to make sure your boat can take the gear is a good one. I can't run wire or large dipseys until I upgrade the rod holders on my boat. While wire is the way to go during the summer just think about the fishing you want to do. If you want to troll all summer it's probably worth the investment. For guys on a budget there are cheaper things to do though. I troll until the fleas get bad, generally the end of June or so. Then starting again in the fall. During high summer I jig for lakers mostly, but bass are an option. Not sure if I'm getting this out right but my point is, fishing in general is expensive and trolling doubly so, so pick your spending carefully. Personally I'd say start small, especially if you're on a budget. Wire will get you down 100' but you don't need to be there until late spring. (Or maybe right now but the lake is cooling fast.) Braid is all you need unless you're set on trolling July-Sept. It all depends on you I guess is my real point, figure out when and what you'll be fishing for. You can catch plenty of fish all year without expensive trolling gear, you just have to switch species at times. And don't buy junk! Quality counts. But if you know you'll be trolling deep in August, disregard everything I just wrote. (Except about quality.)

I have no experience with the higher range Lowrance but definitely stay away from the lower end. I got a 5X-Pro and really don't like it. Feel like over the course of two months it lost 30% of it's fishfinding capabilities and it's nearly useless over 90 feet. Lavarock bet you'll love that unit. ERabbit has two nice Humminbirds and I got spoiled just on one trip with him! Maybe next year I can upgrage but I know my next FF will not be a Lowrance.

It's always seemed to me the regs prohibit a cast net except for the Hudson River as stated. Then I see the local stores sell them, and guys using them, so.

If anyone knows where they spawn in the inlet I'd be happy to go down next spring and do some cleanup... tried to find them a few years back but couldn't. Any tips? I haven't been out for a few years but I agree with the others above, fishing this year wasn't the same as it was in the recent past.

Crowbar point has some pretty funky currents. Down there I've drifted against the wind due to a strong current.

Nice fat laker! Wasn't out but I'm guessing your probe was working correctly and I'll take a stab at why. Been pretty breezy recently. If there was 70' of warm water you were trolling with that current moving south, giving you the 1.3 surface vs. the 2.0 gps. Under that warm layer the cold water was headed in the other direction giving you the 3.4 probe speed. That much water moving south is going to displace what is already there so it sets up an opposing current. Since most of the line (both dipseys and riggers) was in the top layer that's the effect you saw on the boat since it was pretty thick. Down deep your cables probably took on a slant that looked more like the 3+ depending on how far into that layer you were running. Or at least that's the picture in my head, who knows it may even make sense to someone else.