Zebedee

Welcome to the board! Great post! There are a bunch of great guys here and it's fun meeting other fishermen with the same disease....oops I mean passion! I got out with Stoutner last night and we had a lot of those 15-16 "wiggly shakees on the sliders". I'm sure he'll probably throw a post up here somewhere. -Jason

Oh ok

I appreciate your posts. I'm just kind of hanging back and fishing the fingerlakes until things set up.

I'm afraid to ask but I'm gonna anyway! What's a "whoopie" ?

I noticed the same thing. I wonder if a record was set for the average size of all fish weighed in.

Nice Brown! What spoon did he hit?

Had a great weekend with my dad as well as some pre-fishing with Jason and Home Office. We only had a slow pick but we had a lot of fun. I think we logged 30 hrs trolling and I'm ready to get right back out there! I met Double D, Justin, and BlueGhost on Saturday down to Sampson and had a good time talking fishin stories. I was happy to see that some of "our own" took some cash and trophies . I thought we were in the money on Monday. I was driving the boat and the Dipsey-Diver on the wire rod screamed out 120 ft of line. (No Laker has ever done that). I thought we hooked a log or something. Well my Dad grabbed it and was afraid he’d lose it so he handed the rod to me. I had him turn the boat with the waves and felt the fish jerking his head…it definantly was a fish. I had to play him like a Salmon…pulling up slow and reeling down. After a half an hour I could see the fin and knew it was a fish. “We’re in the money dad!†I said. When he got closer I saw that we had him hooked in the back and were reeling him in sideways! He only weighed 8.5 lbs but he had us pretty excited to say the least! -Jason

Congrats man! I'm already looking forward to next year!

Kevin it was great to meet you and your dad Saturday! I look forward to catching some of those Canadaigua rainbows with you guys this fall. I stopped in and saw your fish in the cooler...what a beauty....Congrats!

Nice Fish! The smile tells the whole story!

Got out with Jason today to see what trolling his Big Weenie.......lures is all about! Needless to say, before we got back to the dock I had him rummage through his tackle so i could run a few on my boat! By 9:00 we were 14/20 with 3 fish around 9 lbs. At one point we had a Quadruple! Talk about busy! All I could do is laugh as I tripped over dipseys, stuck a hook in my finger, and untangled the mess! We had a lot of fun! Jason is a great guy and if you ever get the chance to fish with him, take advantage of it! On a more serious note: I'm excited about fishing this upcoming derby with my dad because he has been bringing me out since I was 4 years old and we've fished this derby since I was 8. Jason shared those similar memories with his dad and this year he will be getting off the lake early Saturday to attend his dad's funeral. So I would like to dedicate this years derby to the Father/Son teams out there and certainly the memory of Jason's dad.

A little Lemon-Pepper seasoning!

I got out with the little tin boat for a couple hours this am. There was a TON of cottonwood on the water! I didn't even try to run the boards. I grabbed a small Landlock off the rigger on a Alpeena Diamond. That same spoon hooked a nice brown that I lost at the back of the boat...probably around 5 lbs. I played around trying some new spoons, etc. for the rest of the morning. One of the things I tried was a thumper set-up. I put a 3-way swivel on my wire rod and a 1 lb weight trolling a trash-can dodger and fly. I was using a 9'6" Daiwa Heartland rod...must be guys who run this use a heavier rod? All it did was bounce with the waves...I've heard it's supposed to show the action of the dodger in the tip as a speed indicator. I saw about 5 other boats out this am...It felt good to get out there! My dad and I have been fishing this derby since I was 8...I get excited about it every year. If any of you guys at Sampson are pre-fishing tomorrow and want another guy, give me a ring or txt! (kind of boring out there by myself!) Man those Landlocks are tasty!

LOL Ed! My boat isn't quite ready yet and I needed a break from working on it so I got out with a friend who lives down there...I can't believe I haven't had my Seneca shakedown cruise yet! I had my boat running for a 1/2 hr in the driveway today but started hearing a "Chirp" that sounded a lot like a dry bearing...has me nervous to say the least!

Everyone in the boat needs to be registered. You can get registered at the Chamber of Commerce (north end of the lake) or Roy's Marina (west side of the lake).

Got out with a buddy of mine who lives on the lake for a couple hours this am. We could not move a rod on the riggers today but the Diver bite was pretty decent. Went 4/5 all lakers (Forgot to take pics...sorry). Biggest fish was 7 1/2 lbs. Wires were out 240 on a 2.5 setting over 85-105 FOW. Green Double Crush Glow w/Blue Dolphin Fly and White Double Crush Glow w/Hammer Fly took all hits. Saw some suspended fish down 30 and 50 but they weren't interested in any of our spoons (42nd, Wonderbread, Greasy chix wing, Glow frog).

Double D...Just make sure your Wife is towing the camper IN FRONT of you! I usually use my dad's slip at Seneca Lake state park bc he doesn't drop his boat in 'till June...I'll be sure to hit you guys up on 68 though! Good Luck!

Welcome to the board! I'm gonna pass on the Rapala Question because I don't troll them behind divers or a rigger. I usually pull them behind a planer board. A "church board" or "yellow bird" sometimes works better in the fingerlakes because they don't allow as many weeds to slide down your line and kill your presentation. Cowbells have a lot of drag and I prefer the flashers, Spin Doctors, etc (many here call them "spinnies") but you want to set the leader between your cowbells and spoon so that you can still net your fish when you bring it to the boat. Sawbellies are the preferred bait for Lakers. Grab some #6 or #8 english hooks and thread them through the back just under the skin starting right behind the head and out behind the dorsal fin. Use a slip sinker and put it on the bottom. Some guys float them under a bobber as well. This is probably better early morning. Good luck and come back to tell us about your success!

Lol....post the pic of his boat and we'll troll figure 8's around him during the trout derby! Good post otherwise though! I got my engine to fire...a new starter and waterpump to go yet though. She wasn't happy spending last year out of the water! Not being out there is KILLING me!

Thanks for the heads up Ed. I put a remanufactured engine in Zebedee this last fall and just got the lower unit back on. I can't get her to fire yet but I'm close! The fuel pump is mechanical and I probably should of primed the hoses, Fuel/water seperator etc. Going to check it out tomorrow for Gas and check the plugs one by one for spark. Won't be long now. I do have a 14 ft rowboat rigged with some manual cannons as a backup but it just isn't the same! Posts like yours will give me a place to start when I'm finally ready. I'm not crazy about those deep lakers because of the blowback on the cables but you do what you have to do! I did pick up some 15# weights but haven't tried them on my old Mag 10's yet. Not sure they'll even move them. Tight lines to ya!

Haven't been out on Seneca this year yet but it sounds like they must be deep yet from your spoon depths.

With the amount of spring drownings the last couple of years we should think of "pushing" for a emergency response system. It would only take a few to commit to monitoring 16 and then a call list of available responders closest to the call. I'm sure some who live on the lakes and have boat houses would be available to help. The states answer was the lifejacket law to help them find the bodies faster. This is pathetic.

I've been fishing the big lake for 3 years now and everytime I get out with Hans is a learning experience. I've heard other fishermen say their goal is to get every setup to fire and Friday was the first time I've seen it happen! Hans only switched up 1 rod and had confidence in the rest of the setup. Well it paid off as 1 by 1 they all fired. Thanks again for getting me out Hans! It's always a blast!

Nice report! That's the first i've even heard of lakers caught around Sodus. Thanks!

Nice going guys! Sounds like a fun day!