hermit

Most likely! Hmmm why? :shock: Is it my signature? Guess hermit's a jigger too! Might pull some topwater stuff around if it's windy, I'm not set up for much trolling yet though.

Little red Mirrocraft, you got it. Where I'm fishing depends on which way that wind is coming from. A light southerly is forecast but who knows this far out. Bring on spring!

As long as it's not too windy! The forecast for the next week+ looks great.

Aye aye, captain, I'll vote away. Guess I'll leave my secret derby winning fishing gear at home, I'm not sure if it's quite within "the rules". Too bad, the shady military dealer, I mean tackle store, gave me a great deal. :roll: Sure fill out the rest of the crew as you like, need someone to keep these boys (and ladies!) in line. Though I'm sure the ECO would rather be fishing, so everyone behave! I have nothing to hide, or at least I won't by the time I get on your boat! (I'll stash the huge frozen laker in a cooler somewhere. Just swing by the park 2 hrs before "meeting time", I'll jump overboard, swim ashore and defrost the fish. I plan on winning all the derbies this summer with this exact same fish, I caught a 21 lber yesterday and flash froze it, nobody will ever know.)

Hey sounds good, let me know when you start fishing, hope you guys survived the winter okay! I hope to fish Keuka a little more this year, I didn't much last year b/c my truck was too noisy, I didn't want to disturb the ramp neighbors. And I was worried about it breaking down. New quiet truck will help that!

I mostly fish Cayuga, but Keuka also. Only difference is a slightly smaller lure size on Keuka b/c of the slightly smaller fish. Or more accurately a slightly smaller hook size, not necessarily lure size.

Ray, yesterday I was told that Deans' was open. I'm not sure but it seems likely to be true. The launch at Taughannock has been open, and there is zero ice in the marina. Getting the boat off the trailer has been tricky and I know one guy with a larger boat couldn't do it. What with this rain it probably doesn't matter anymore I'm sure the lake is coming up fast. The creeks sure let go I had a heck of a time negotiating icebergs and logs yesterday. Alec

Here's a rule, I believe in most events, organizers and their families aren't allowed to enter or win prizes so despite all the hard work at the keyboard picking on the "little guy" in the small boat (big enough to get the job done ) I don't think Stinger or Chaos should be invited to the so-far-nameless event... and especially the BBQ. Really, though, Stinger's rule #1 and #2 sound pretty good. Something more friendly than competitive is great, shouldn't need more than "have fun" except maybe a start time. From the lack of posts maybe most people don't care and just want to have fun? Maybe we need the simpliciity of a multiple choice poll... clicking a button sure is easier than typing all these letters and words!

Yeah nice job, good fish, best thing you could've done w/ that afternoon!

Sounds to me like they're afraid of us! Also sounding like a good event so far, Chaos thanks for the updates. And yeah, Splitshot has it right, I'm the old whetherman, new name with the new board.

Hmmm... I see the "get me into an Arima" conspiracy is still alive. :shock: I have an idea... make the first prize of the tourney Stinger's boat! I've seen it, nice ride. That'll keep the motivation factor up and with Fishstix as Captain we'll have a good shot at victory! The BBQ idea sounds great, even the forcible assignment as galley slave, I mean cook, is acceptible. It's too hot to fish in August anyway. Fishstix and I will sit around in the shade gradually emptying one of those coolers while we watch you all fish. At the last minute, I'll throw a line in from shore and catch a 50 lb carp to take the "lunker" category and set a new NYS carp record... not bad for a lazy Saturday at the park!

Well I like the "Cayuga Free for All" as a name! Simple, gets the point across. Or "Long Point Fish'n'fest". Cayuga fish'n'fest? Stix has offered me a ride, so I'm putting down the jigs for this one and will hop in with him. Only thought is, if the sunrise is at 0601, why wait until 0700 to start fishing? How about 0500? I just like to beat the sun! (afaik that date's okay... might have a wedding to go to but he's a fisherman himself, if I show up smelly and 6 hrs late it'd probably be fine! )

I'm sure I will eventually! It'd be nice to have options, that's what I'm looking for. I don't see wire happening this year though, I've got a few other purchases that have priority, new fishfinder for one thing. Slowly working up to it... also first is some topwater stuff for this spring. The inlet is (or was until yesterday) starting to open up a little, got me thinking about trying the south end for the first time this year. Alec

I'm interested too. Though not really in fishing it, as I don't troll much. (I want to do some spring top water stuff this year but nothing too deep like in August.) But I am interested in helping out if I can, I could donate a website for it. Can set you up with one no problem. I'll donate the $10 domain name resistration, and the site also. Then you can just send a link to your buddies- cayugafreeforall.net! :shock: Maybe more trouble than it's worth for an informal thing, but what the heck I'm throwing it out there. Regardless, sounds like a good time and a good idea!

Probably do just fine sticking up at the North end of the lake there. Early in the season like that most fish are at either end with the North end usually better than the South. That's a general statement about all the Fingers, never fished C. myself. Look in pretty shallow water too. If you've fished Seneca in May do the same things you do there, should work... I think.

It does look pretty low... I stopped by the ramp today myself. How much room do you need underneath? With any luck it'll come up a bit by Saturday! You've got almost 36 hours for this rain and meltwater to bring it up a little.

Oh heck... I just tried to go fishing. Marina is frozen over. Bubbler on, open water near the bridge, the rest frozen except one small spot. Appears to be 1"+ over the bubbler spots, 2-3 elsewhere. Didn't bring any major tools to try to break it. May try again later maybe not.

Thanks for that report, it's exactly the scene I imagined... getting exhausted walking all the way to the channel! I thought about going up there this weekend but the big snow made me lazy. What you describe is why I did something else! Should have a report on the Taughannock launch for you guys later today. It's starting to get a little warmer out, this weekend doesn't look half bad all things considered.

Thanks guys, I'll probably just send it in then. It is under warantee but a cheaper model (< $200) so I don't want to waste too much money on it. I have one trip planned near Utica already so dropping it off wouldn't have been a problem... but picking it up would... and what with that story and the gas I'll just mail it. If the S&H is too much I just may get a new one altogether.

Howdy folks, I've got a problem with my Minn-Kota- last fall it froze up on me. The motor must've gotten wet or something, it was grinding and finally stopped turning. Anyway, the closest Minn-Kota dealer is in Utica- "Boats Unlimited". However I remember some pretty bad horror stories about this place involving the MK service!! Does anyone have any experience with them? Should I call MK back and find another dealer or send it to them direct? Any thoughts on this store would be great... as of right now I don't want to take my motor there. Thanks a bunch- Alec

Bubbler is on, thin easily breakable ice at the one ramp. Ramp salted. Clearance today high point 7' 1". Currently plenty of room underneath the water, it's definitely up a little from last time I saw it. Nice whitecaps from the North.

Hey fellas, didn't make it over yesterday, let alone back to a computer. I'll be there today for sure and report. RR, maybe "so low" was the wrong thing to write, but: a) it is much lower than it was, as they had trouble lowering it with the wet fall, b) when I launched Jan 4 it was a good 24" down from "full summer pool", and even for my 16' the gravel bar was in the way, and c) I see that last week's rain brought it up some, from 382 to 382.6 or so, but 384 is the summer target. True it's above average for this time of year though!

That gravel bar grew a lot last season, what with the lake so low it's in the way but shouldn't be a problem if you're careful. I'm heading over later today, will give a bubbler/ice/height report if you guys are interested. Alec

Hey fellas, Whetherman here, I changed names with the board rebuilding. Still here! (though my reports are ending up somewhere else and always on my site). Sounds like a great year out there! Wish I could've made it more often... honestly one major reason was the loud muffler on my truck, I was embarrassed to launch at the little ramp!! I fished Keuka 3 times last year, not nearly enough. 29 lakers, another handful if you count the other guys fish one day. Twice in spring and once in the fall. April, May, then October.

Stix, anyone really, looking for a little help with some shallow water setups. I don't want to buy much gear (no downriggers) so I figure a pair of dipseys? Or a dipsey/ wire line setup? And I know a lot of you favor wire for the dipseys, but I'm thinking braid for $ reasons. Probably won't be trolling a huge amount. Inline boards? Good idea? If so, who makes a good cheap one? I'll probably fish the South end this winter/spring some. Really just looking to reach the top 50' or less, though I know you've been finding the big fish deeper. Anyway, any tips from you guys would be great. Thanks... I'm sure I'll have lots of questions as I try this stuff out. (Nice fish too!)