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There are several articles on the net about this... Search "making a boat hard top"... Here's one... https://goneoutdoors.com/build-own-boat-hardtop-5498402.html

absolutely correct. The sawbellies were never supposed to be there in the first place. They are salt water invasives that came into this area initially through the Welland Canal. However, now that they are here, they are the main reason all the trollers can catch big trout and salmon in the great lakes as well as the finger lakes.. Without them, the fish would be smaller and less abundant, and its doubtful the populations would do as well as they do. I see them today as a "necessary evil". The fish in Keuka need a food source thats rich in calories... Landlocked alewives seem the best bet..If they get too abundant?- Do what all the southern states do to help control them-Put stripers in the lakes. NY has never had much interest in them, but a LOT of states do, and the anglers there love them. In any case, Keuka needs help.. Its astounding how depressed that entire fishery has become compared to 15-20 years ago. As I mentioned earlier, I don't even bother anymore.. Switched to Skaneateles when I don't fish Cayuga... For me anyway, the fishing has been better there... bob

big heads thin bodies on fish in any body of water anywhere is bad news.. Underfed fish, plain and simple as we all know... I still say the DEC needs to forget ciscoes and just load the lake back up with sawbellies, so these fish can eat.

Les gave a fine opinion based on long experience.. I am not a kid at 67, and am not native to the FL Region.. I moved here exactly 30 years ago. June 1991. I was amazed at the fishing. As stated, I sold a Wellcraft Center Console I used fishing the bays and ocean in NJ, simply because, i didn't need it to catch fish.. I recall working as a tech/mechanic in Ithaca, and running down to the lake mid day during my lunch hour, casting from shore, and catching big Browns, Salmon, Lakers, SMB, Pike, Pickerel, massive panfish,,, once in a while a 25 pound or better Carp, just wonderful fishing I thought would never end... Until it did... This is a great forum, and there are a lot of great guys that are wonderful, knowledgeable fishermen. The only regret I have is that a lot of guys think the lakes are fine as long as the stocked trout get fat on sawbellies, and hit their deep trolled lures in open water... Those of us that fish for panfish and species like Pike and Bass have noticed that some of these populations are in freefall. Invasives and over development are killing these lakes- its that simple.. More noticable in near shore habitats than in the cold water zones, and it seems to grow worse every year.. I hope things change for the better in my lifetime.... bob

I understand where you are coming from.. I agree with some of what you posted, but have some disagreements as well.. Sawbellies aren't native and don't belong in these lakes. agreed.. However, neither are browns or rainbows, and I think the landlocks are only native in Cayuga.. Once those species were introduced long ago, the natural balance of the lakes had to change as well. Nowadays, if the sawbellies collapse, so might the salmonid populations.. Smelt are decimated compared to years ago, Gobies have infested some of the lakes are have displaced many small bottom dwelling species that can't compete[Sculpins].. Bass and panfish don't need sawbellies and do fine without them.. Not sure this board would even exist without sawbellies in he Fingers and the Great Lakes, as this board is 95% trollers, and the first thing most of them do is find the bait concentrations, which in the modern age is sawbellies... I agree that these lakes would be better off without sawbellies, BUT, they might be useless to the multiple thousands of guys that troll these lakes for the stocked trout and salmon that feed exclusively on sawbellies these days.. yes the are eating gobies as well, but even with lakers, I find 100 sawbellies for every goby in thier stomachs.. All these lakes are not what they were a few decades ago... Invasives and over development have really taken their toll. There was a point in the 90's where I sols my boats, as I was catching all the fish I wanted just by fishing from shore. Yes even trout and landlocks, except for a few ,onths mid summer, and even then I caught a few... bass, big perch, Pike, quarter to half pound bluegills and rock bass, all day every day on both Cayuga and Seneca... Once the mussels, fleas, Gobies, rampant development came around, everything changed, especially around the shorelines.. I have told the story on these pages about how I stood on the shores of seneca with my kids in the 90's ... Tossed a few garden worms into the water and the second they started to sink, there were foot long flashes coming from every direction, just nice fish milling around everywhere.. These days, I do the exact same thing, and watch the worm sink unmolested, all the way to the bottom, where it just wigglkes around... On Cayuga, if I do the same, when the worm gets near the bottom, there are no foot long flashes anymore as the worm sinks, but when it get near bottom, it is torn into by hundreds of Gobies swarming from every direction... Yes the stocked sawbelly fattened trout trolling is still good, which I know is the focal point of this forum, but believe me, these lakes are not near what they should be .. The life in them is not what it was 20 years ago. I fear for their future,,, bob

Not looking to argue.. Too old for that crap!.. I am no fishery biologist, but know the fish need something to eat.... Just wondering why they can't stock sawbellies.. I suppose Ciscoes are native to the lake, but I don't think they are as prolific as the sawbellies..

If they want to stock something in the lake, they ought to keep dumping sawbellies in there, every year until they stick.. That lake needs a forage base... bob

To be honest, I Only fish at Keuka rarely these days.. I simply don't catch fish there anymore, and i just don't see any screens either... When I started fishing there about 16-17 years ago, I caught so many lakers I would get sick of looking at them.. 30 fish in a few hours was no big deal... They were small even then compared to other lakes... Screens would light up like a Christmas tree, with lakers up and down the water column... The bag limit even went to 5 fish on lakers before any of the other lakes if I recall. Past several years, I see no more fish on the color screen, and I just don't catch fish there anymore... I suppose I could always be there at the wrong time, or at the wrong place every time, or all the lures and techniques i used for years there to good effect are no longer valid, or something... I just no longer catch anything there, at least not enough to keep me going back... I might be missing something, and I know the bait is gone, but in my opinion so are a LOT of the lakers..... The screens simply don't lie,, areas I used to fish that were thick with lakers are now totally devoid of them... I usually fish from mid lake north,, I dunno, maybe the lakers have better feed at the south end, and thats why I don't see them ,, Also, I see a LOT less guys jigging for lakers than I did at one time, and thats always a tell tale sign,, Where there are fish available, you can be sure there will be fishermen after them... I simply don't see as many as I did years ago... Honestly it could all be on me.. Perhaps I have totally lost all my skill as a fisherman.. For me, Keuka has become a lost cause, I just can't catch lakers there any longer... Even the bass and panfish don't seem as good, but again, I have lost confidence there, and don't fish it as much as I used to..... I do NOT think taking more fish out of the lake is a long term solution..bob

Like too many other lakes in central NY, Keuka is ringed with development... All that ""progress"" is never good for any fishery anywhere.. Too many fish taken and eaten over too long a period is one problem, and habitat degradation is another.. Does anyone REALLY think all that lawn and garden fertilizer, pesticides, dog crap,Farm effluent, septic seepage from hundreds of houses, just goes away?.. No it goes into the lake.. Skaneateles is similar.. Water was as clean as Gin year round.. No weeds.. Now, there are weeds everywhere, and the lake is green.... Thats what happens when lakes are turned over to individuals for development... I don't see much hope for a better future either.... These lakes are getting over run, and although they are big, they are still sensitive...

I dunno, warm water discharges in cold climates[like ours!] usually help and not hurt the fishing, no matter where they are placed.. Personally I think algae blooms we are seeing more and more of are not caused by too much warm water,, They are caused by too much **** dumped into the lakes.. Houses with their septic systems, lawn fertilizer, dogs, cats etc, and farms are engulfing the Finger Lakes... Too many people living on the lakes, too many massive farms with millions of tons of ****, organic debris and fertilizer going in... It will never stop either because people paid big money for these "rights" .. To use the lakes as they see fit....to live on and work the surrounding land etc.. NY is making big money from these lakes... Do you REALLY think they care if the fishing suffers???? please..... bob

some nice shoulders on the Pickerel

I typically clip off one hook on any trebles I am using, regardless of lure type, or method of fishing.. Never in all my years have I noticed a decline in hookups vs. hits over trebles, and release is SO much easier, with less handling of the fish, and a lot less damage to the mouth.. I look over all my lures well and if the trebles are of good quality, I clip one point off each treble and call it good.. If the trebles are crap, I take them off and simply replace them with a better quality treble sometimes with a slightly larger size from what originally came with the lure, and clip off one point/barb... I know a lot of guys replace trebles with a single Siwash style hook, but personally I find 2 points superior to a single hook when it comes to hookup rates,, YMMV..... bob