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I have always jigged lakers on Seneca and Cayuga since moving here in 91.. the technique is identical to what I used in fishing NJ salt water for fluke, stripers,weakfish and blues... It was a very natural transition for me to make. Here's a quick how to... You NEED a good fishfinder.. If its a cheapie, ditch it and get a decent one... You can get something that will work well for $150. I start at 60-70 feet on cayuga or Seneca. Find schools of bait that are fairly deep. Usually the lakers won't be far away, but not every bait school has lakers, and lakers are often on bottom nowhere near the bait...In summer sometime the fish are close to 100 feet, but early morning around 70 is a good starting point.. Get some 1 oz jig heads, and a variety of good size twister tails, paddle tails. flukes etc.. Plastic baits that are bass sized. White is a great color, natural shad color is good, chartreuse, and combinations of these colors as well. 1 0z saltwater metal bluefish jigs work great as well..AVA 007 or similar.. 1 to 1/2 ounce Hopkins or Kastmasters are fantastic as well. Some of my best lakers, and an 11 pound brown have hit wheel weights that I paint white, and put hooks in!.. They are as good as a $4.00 jigging spoon! Drop your jig right to bottom, and bounce it, jig it, reel up fast. reel up slow,,, Some days the fish hit all retrieves, sometimes slow jigging is better, some days they will only hit it reeling at light speed up from the bottom.. Vary speeds and jigging methods until you hit the right combination.You can watch all the action including your jig, and the fish racing for it on your FF. Trolling is the best method for catching trout on the Finger Lakes, but on many days I have outfished trollers on Lakers.. It all depends on the day.. If the lakers are on bait 150 down over 225, trolling is the best method... by far. If the lakers are on bottom in 100 feet or less, jigging is just as productive. I have had plenty of mornings of 10 fish boated while jigging. You will lose as many or more than you boat, its just the way it goes with jigging. The BEST thing about jigging is you need no riggers, no wire, no meat stick, no flashers, no dipseys, none of that stuff. Just a good stiff one or two handed rod that you would use for bass.. NO noodle rods!!!... 10-12 pound low stretch line and a 1 oz jig is all you need .. Spinning or casting tackle works fine. Very often once they get the hang of jigging lakers, some longtime trollers never troll again for lakers.. They keep the trolling gear for the other salmonids. Jigging can be every bit as productive as trolling for lakers, depending on conditions... If you want salmon, browns and rainbows, keep trolling... You will catch a brown here and there on the jigs , even a rare salmon, but good sized bows are rare on the deep jigs.. I have seen a few, but don't bet any money. You will catch probably 30 lakers to every brown ,salmon or bow. PM or email me if you want a few specific locations that are productive for me. bob

This unit is not working properly.. It powers up, all functions work perfectly, screen looks great, simulator is perfect. but it doesn't read bottom. It acts like a bad transducer, so I bought a brand new Garmin transducer, but its still doesn't work.. The wire could be bad, or the unit could be I guess. Its also possible I bought a bad replacement transducer I suppose. I got aggravated,returned the transducer, and bought a black and white Lowrance to replace this Garmin.. These are really great units with high power[300 watts RMS] and great graphics and resolution. The head unit can be replaced by Garmin for $99 as a trade. This unit is in good cosmetic shape, comes with original box in great shape, manual, mount, transducer, cover,wire harness , and has the brand new never used Garmin speed transducer still in the box... I never bothered installing it. This speed sensor sells everywhere for $41 on its own... Its possible the problem may be as simple as a corroded pin in the harness, but I bought a replacement, and don't want to fool with this unit.. Take it away, lots of good Garmin parts if nothing else.. $25 bob 607-659-5334

Yes it works perfectly... 5 forward 5 reverse speeds.. Tiller control- Its old looking and ugly, but hey its 10 bucks! I turned the control head around to use it on the bow, and for $10, it stays as is... First $10 takes it out of here! bob 607-659-5334

The fish ID is junk, seriously, ditch it.. it is totally bogus. You 50Hz screen seems to show a trace going into a baitball... I have seen it before..Looks like a laker or other fish, picking a straggler off. Otherwise, its a business as usual screen, baitballs with a few predators nearby

I just bought a new Lowrance Mark 5 X to replace the Garmin 250C that crapped out... After reading a lot one various websites about the reliability of the various brands of fishfinders, I fear I may have made a mistake.. I bought the Lowrance because the resolution was superior to the Bumminbird and garmin units in the same price range... However. I have been reading scores of horror stories about reliability and customer service [ or lack of] withy Lowrance.. Most people think Humminbird is a more reliable unit with far superior customer service... The Lowrance Mark 5X was only $10 more, had double the pixels, and looked far better than the Humminbird 550, but I would take superior reliability over a more refined looking screen any day.. RMS power is the same, so both will show fish and bait.. I have NOT taken the Lowrance out of its blister pack as yet, and can take it back for the Humminbird... any thoughts on this?? bob

Mike.. Keuka is the wrong place to go for big lakers... You are right near Seneca, try that... I have done better on Seneca for lakers over the years than I have on Cayuga my "home" lake.... Seneca Lakers are not quite the size on average as Cayuga, but they are more abundant, more aggressive and IMHO easier to catch with consistency than Cayuga. Others will disagree, but I like Seneca better personally... The size of the lakers there is much better than Keuka thats for sure... bob

Personally, I think the Susquehanna River is your best bet for big channel cats,, They are more concentrated and easier to catch than in the big lakes... Guys can catch a dozen in a few hours on a good night... Use big live or dead minnows or dead sawbellies , cut up suckers or chubs ... that sort of thing... Several access points on the river .. from shore or by small boat... Fish in the dark or don't bother... I have caught 10 pounders but they get a lot bigger..bob

Very solid Glastron 15 1/2 foot boat that just needs a floor.. Old rotted floor has been removed.. Just needs a few sheets of pressure treated plywood and some resin... It can be done in a weekend. Teleflex Steering cable frozen also... May be able to be freed up.. Boat was in storage for many years The hull is in excellent condition. Wash and wax it and it will look terrific!.. This is a walk through windshield, tri hull style boat and will make a great fishing boat, stable and solid in the wind. I have a title for the boat.. Tee Nee trailer is in solid shape, but has some surface rust, and will need paint, and tires... Good spare tire on trailer.. I towed the boat 35 miles on the highway, but the tires are really old and weather checked, and should be replaced.. I have no title or registration for the trailer. All serial numbers are still on trailer tag, so it can be registered that way... Trailer has nice "walk on" feature... The rubber rollers look good but they have been sitting for years.... This is a nice project for someone that can lay plywood, and maybe firm up a few stringers with some glass and resin... This is a project, but really the hull is in great shape, and can be fixed cheaply.. I just don't have the time or interest..bob 607-659-5334

Merc 650 from mid 70's... Looks good, starts instantly, runs strong. idles nicely.. Pumps water well...This motor has been in storage MANY years, and should be looked over by a someone familiar with outboards to make sure all is well.. It runs and shifts smoothly, controls work great, but the rubber water pump impeller, thermostat etc, should be checked before regular use as the motor was in storage for many years... Prop has a big piece out of one of the blades... It caused no problem in the past ..... come hear it run... $300 firm or will trade for small 2-3 HP outboard. bob 607-659-5334..

No need to use any bait... Look in water from 50-100 feet deep.. If you see a few marks at mid depth to bottom, they are most likely lakers... Use 3/4 to 1 oz jigs.. Jig heads with white twister or fluke tails are fine.. Silver or white jigging spoons also work great.. I have caught tons of lakers on a 1 oz car wheel weight with holes and hooks and painted white.. They are not too particular.... Drop jig to bottom.. bounce on and off bottom for 30 seconds, reel up, drop down.. Vary speeds etc... One day they will only hit right on bottom, other days they will hit when it is speeding toward the surface, some days both, some days neither... If you would like a guide, John Gaulke is very good...bob

Found a BIG Walleye in May at the south end of Cayuga fresh dead with the exact same marks.. kinda like lamprey, but not,,,, I reported it to the DEC along with the multiple hundreds of dead SMB, Rockies,Bluegills,Bullheads, Suckers,Pike and Crayfish I witnessed during April and May, but the DEC basically said, "" we are looking into it""... and that was the end of it... If I report it on the forums, I am called an alarmist,troublemaker, crybaby. etc, etc, but its been like this the last 2 springs, and the adult SMB, Pike and Rockbass are pretty much gone from the south end of the lake, so something is up.. I hope the DEC lets us know whats up.... real soon.... bob

Its a somewhat older unit in very nice shape.. [All Terrain Turbo] works perfectly, quiet and strong,,, 5 speeds, forward and reverse, and can be switched from continuous or momentary... 30 ft pounds ,,, 12 volt. make offer. bob 607-659-5334

uglyo... Thats a pretty common scenario... mop them up one day, come back the next and zippo... Lakers are weird anyway/// One day they hit anything, one day thent white next day green naext day they get lockjaw, and then its blitz again.. Like I said, if you can get out a lot, you'll hit a lot of lakers... just be rady for the days when they get lockjaw.. I have hit several days like that this year... bob

The laker fishing is good, but the best fishing is close to bottom in 50-80 in Seneca and cayuga..... Right now the majority of the lakers are tight to the bottom in Seneca and Cayuga on bait... Jiggers are loading up some days.. . There are always suspender lakers, but for the most part any lake trout is a naturally bottom oriented species... if you find an area where the thermocline intersects the bottom and there is bait around,you will find lakers... From what I gather this year, its all a matter of putting lots and lots of time in on the water... Some days are hot some are cold.. The guys that get out several times a week are catching consistantly because they are aware of daily changes in bait distribution, temp, thermocline depth. where fish are stationed in the water column etc... Guys that can get out only sporadically, [ like me!] are not doing as well, but are lucking into good days here and there... On the south end of Cayuga,this was far and away the worst spring I have ever had.. Last year was very bad also.... No Bass i caught in the lake and only 3 out of Fall Creek, 1 nice Pike in April, 1 11 inch stocker brown,and a carp in Fall Creek.. in about 25-30 hours of fishing from April to mid June.. I caught No rock bass perch, sunnies etc.. btw,Dead fish were floating everywhere this spring, at the south end of the lake. I and a friend were I walked the lake with on occassion were so appalled I called the DEC about it... They are aware of the many dead fish this spring and are checking many specimens they collected for VHS... They told me they got a LOT of calls this spring about dead fish in Cayuga.. From what I was told, we can expect an anouncement on what the reason for the dead fish is... anyway, there are plenty of lakers at Deans Cove south to Taughannock. and Seneca has been good certain days from Lodi notrthward, but most fish are on bottom... Find the bait with your FF and get your lures close to bottom.. You'll get lakers.. bob

IMHO, its time to shut down the smelt fishery in the Fingers... Why snatch up the few that are left for breeding stock???.. If we leave them alone for a few years, maybe enough of them will survive the lakers and we can get them back in good numbers..There are too many guys that would happily fry up the few that remain... I say, its time to try and get them back... Shut it down and see if the numbers rebound... bob