ac holmes

sorry Dan...sold last fall

Like to buy some...how do I order

Thanks, Chowder, for explaining what a school of perch looks like on the screen (pictures would be great). In the old days, the big challenge was finding the perch first, and the rest was easy. It seems that sonar can be a way of seeing and staying with a school.

Is anybody Perch fishing on Seneca? I heard gossip about the Lodi Pt. area. I have a great view of a lot of Seneca and seldom see anybody fishing in summer or winter. Does anyone have ideas on how a school of alewives can be distinguished from a school of perch on the sonar screen?

I have moved, and had moved, several boats around the East Coast. My guess is around $2500 to $3000 for a professional boat hauler. Most of those folks have their own adjustable trailer, and you might find a hauler who is dead heading back from the West Coast (unlikely) so in your case all you need is a one way 3000 mile ride in a vehicle with a trailer hitch. I would sell the boat in AZ.

The DEC folks told me on the phone that they have been stocking for several years. In the past (50-60 years ago) The Seneca spawning Lakers were stripped of their eggs and sperm after gill netting to use as spawn for the other lakes. Seneca Lake is now in the center of a huge new industry of wine making and the political/economic/tourist money is the main interest. The DEC folks say what they are told to say by Albany. There is all kinds of stuff going on with the water quality and there is no way to get at the actual truth...follow the money. My late wife was the daughter of a high level USA State Department diplomat (pay grade equal to a 3 star general) and he told me not to ever think that the public can know what is actually going on in government...we are kept in the dark and fed BS like mushrooms.

Glad to hear that Seneca is improving.

There is a mystery regarding Seneca Lake that is not being talked about to the public. I live above the Lake in the Hector area and hardly ever see a fishing boat anymore. The "no fish" in Seneca has to be connected to "no fishermen" also, but I have been out a few times myself and can't catch anything. I know the Lake well and have fished it for more than 60 years and I am strongly leaning toward the idea of something drastic has happened and not made public. I go 15 miles to Cayuga and catch Lakers easily. What is happening on Seneca?

"Stop Lock" Jigging is another way of fishing for the big guys who are too fat to chase after spoons moving at 2 or 3 MPH. I just installed a Minn Kota with Stop/Lock on my 16 footer. I got it calibrated but have not had much opportunity to fish with it yet.

Some thoughts: Like I mentioned, we learned to pull copper when we were kids. There was a hardware store in Watkins Glen that sold the copper wire, Pflueger #4 "record" spoons, the traditional swap out of #5 hooks and also the black twin minnows we used mid summer. Most of the copper wire was wound on two pie plates, back to back, with a spindle and turning handle. The older guys had wooden frames with two handles or the famous Victrola set up which a few locals used to make for friends or for sale. The Pflueger was a heavy spoon meant to bounce the bottom. This was a popular thing at the South end of Seneca and it was easy to catch Lake Trout. Another technique was the "5 leader rig" with bead chain swivels and a heavy sinker (maybe 10 to 12 oz). Typically, this rig was fished slow with "flutter spoons" such as Sutton 88s or other brands of very thin, mostly locally made spoons. I still have some made in Naples, and some made in Geneva NY. Before sonar, this rig helped to find the thermocline and the fish. Also easy to catch Lakers but required finesse and petite motor skills, especially when you had two fish on at once. Often this rig was used with the Victrola setup and the spoons and leaders were kept in a small wooden box with separate compartments. Finally, there was night fishing with gas lights (homemade) extended over the edge of a small boat which attracted the Alewives bait fish. The intrepid fishermen would use a dynamite cap to gather some bait and fish for the Trout which came to the light on the water, for the bait. In the AM there would be lots of kitchen sinks with big Lake Trout. There was an event that was always discussed and remembered where two locals guys sank their own boat with a misplaced dynamite cap. This was always thought of as the competition of the tiny brain of a Lake Trout with the drunk brain of the intrepid fisherman involved. I have a theory, unproven, but tenable. Big Lake Trout don't chase around trying to catch saw bellys. They are too fat and and it takes too much energy to chase bait the way a Salmon or Rainbow might. Low and slow on the bottom with copper wire or heavy rig sinkers and flutter spoons is the way to fish for big Lake Trout. Navy Divers have told me (30 years ago) that there are big fish in Seneca that lay on the bottom and wait for food to come to them. Lake trout live a long time (several decades) and maybe they are still there. I guess downriggers are an option but always a danger of snagging the 10 pound ball on the bottom and pulling your boat apart.

Sure...I can ship it Burdett NY on Seneca call me at 831-241-8018

May we conclude that the abundance of Alewives will result in bigger Lake Trout?

I agree Pappy, Just for clarity there are two things: a bacteria and a virus. But I suspect there is more that remains unspoken and hidden from the public. Certainly politics are involved and the burgeoning wine and tourist industry on Seneca. No one wants to spoil the steep ascent of property values and the development that is rampant. My house has doubled in value in 12 years. I talked to the DEC guys recently for an hour on the phone and they blame the eels and overpopulation of Alewives...it is what they are told to say if they want their retirement. I also know from people who check the streams that flow into Seneca and there is lots of grape farming stuff, pig, chicken and beef manure along with all the crap and antibiotocs those creatures are fed and given. The salinity of the lake has also increased...why?

I have been around Seneca and fished it most of my life, on and off for 80 years. The "sawbellys" (what we kids called the Alewives) used to die from time to time and I do remember them piled up on the Lakeside Park Beach so us kids could not swim. I think it has been a regular event for a long time but I don't know why, or if it is a cycle. I have fished Seneca a couple of time this year (no fish) and there are huge schools of Alewives. The rumor was years ago that they stocked northern Pike in the 50s and 60s to reduce the Alewives. I don't know if it was true but I caught several scary big Pike during that time and saw huge fish in the swamp spawning. I am going to fish out of Lodi next week and troll north. I may resort to pulling copper just to see if the Lakers are still there.