ac holmes

The folks from Holland come to the good ole US of A every summer for a vacation. They were in CA last year, and like upstate NY better...go figure.

I told them to try it around here in January and see if they still like it. Very nice people, and questioned me a bit about my politics. I wisely kept my ultra conservative mouth shut as best I could, but it is getting harder and harder, as I am more and more concerned with the overall.

My Dutch party (mom and dad and 2 teenage boys) had a great time and we hammered the fish pretty good...did not even make it to Peach Orchard...too busy off Salt Pt. and 2 miles N. Both sides of the lake were good over 250-300 fow and all fish were pretty deep, 70-120. Mostly spoon bite off riggers and a few fish off dipseys out 275 feet of wire. 6 Salmon and 3 Lakers in the boat, several lost fish as my folks did not have any experience reeling fish in. One nice salmon at 6 # and one laker about 5#. Some dinks and several fish in the 3# range. Nice day on the water and everybody was happy. Lots of fish off the canal and tons of bait.

Peach Orchard Point is aprox 10 miles N of Watkins Glen on the E side. It is a big point with several year around houses. The next big point is Lodi, going N, and the area between them is usually pretty good fishing this time of year. Quite a lot of structure on the bottom in that area so you need to keep an eye on the sonar...goes up and down.

cheers,

Andrew

Hi Guys,

I have a trip for tomorrow AM with some folks from Holland. I don't know if I want to run all the way north, but will at least check out Peach Orchard and Lodi.

It would be good if I can get those folks into some action.

Nick is correct about evening fishing...it seems as good as early AM, in my experience. If it is so that the fish are more active sunrise/sunset maybe bright moon light would be a good time to fish also. There would be enough light for the fish to see the bait.

There used to be lots of night fishing on Seneca years ago. The setup was a gas latern extended off the row boat a few feet (most of these lights were hand made by the guys at the old Shepard Niles in Montour Falls, and I'll bet there are still some of them hidden away in boathouses and cellars) and once the sawbellys came to the light guys would use a M80 or dynamite cap to stun the bait, and a speed net to gather fresh bait for the evenings fishing. The stunned bait was hooked on a gang hook rig and fished in the light and schooling bait. I remember seeing many boats night fishing summer nights on Seneca, and also remember many big lakers were caught this way.

I fished the south end for 3 hours this AM. Started at the canel and went north for about 7 miles with a light se wind at 2.5 mph. caught a few (3) smallish salmon and one decent laker from 60 to 120 feet down over 250-350 feet of water. All spoon bite on downriggers, no fleas to speak of and the weeds were not too bad at all. I started out late (10am) and am sure I would have done a lot better earlier in the am. Did not mark much bait or fish but it was a nice day on the lake. I am starting to understand that the bite is always better early in the am on seneca and if I don't get out early, it's better to stay home. I think the reason is because the fish don't have eyelids and the water is very clear, so the bright sun sends them deep and they shut down. I saw some guys catching fish anchored fishing bait off the bottom.

Hi Brook Trout,

Looks like you have figured out Seneca Lake pretty good...glad to hear the fleas have backed off. I was about to get my golf clubs out of storage.

The spoon is from R & R tackle...green, black and white, silver hammered back. I have been using Dave's spoons for a couple of years with great results. I like them better than all the others I fish with. The weight is just right for salmon action and the finish holds up like new for a very long time. I catch a lot of salmon on Dave's spoons. I know every body has their own has strong opinions about spoons, but if it has got some green on it and it's from Dave...I catch fish! The smaller sizes set as cheaters have been productive for rainbows also.

http://www.mytacklebox.com/

On another topic: how do you guys clean the fleas off your rigs? Lately I have resorted to cutting out a big chunk of line and re-tieing the rig. It s a lot faster for me to do that than to try and clean them off.

The spoon is from R & R tackle...green, black and white, silver hammered back. I have been using Dave's spoons for a couple of years with great results. I like them better than all the others I fish with. The weight is just right for salmon action and the finish holds up like new for a very long time. I catch a lot of salmon on Dave's spoons. I know every body has their own has strong opinions about spoons, but if it has got some green on it and it's from Dave...I catch fish! The smaller sizes set as cheaters have been productive for rainbows also.

http://www.mytacklebox.com/

On another topic: how do you guys clean the fleas off your rigs? Lately I have resorted to cutting out a big chunk of line and re-tieing the rig. It s a lot faster for me to do that than to try and clean them off.

sorry about posting in the wrong place

Seneca south end, therm at 65 feet. 2.5 MPH. Fleas are the worst I have ever seen.

Took wifey out for a boat ride on Seneca south end this am and set the riggers in the thermo at 65 feet. Fleas were the worst I have ever seen,

but hooked a big fish just as I was about to quit in frustration. 30# flea flicker did not do much good and even the rigger wires got jammed up with fleas. Fish hit R&R green black and white spoon, 2.5 MPH at the ball. That is the biggest LL I ever caught on Seneca. It took awhile to get the fish to the net...big, strong, healthy fish, full of sawbellys. I marked an awful lot of bait and fish over 300 feet of water.

The older X-5 (last year) was recalled because the gears failed and locked up. I had one and it worked ok for me but was noisy. Make sure you don't buy an old one by mistake. I sold that boat and got the re-designed X-5 for my new boat in April 2011. It works just fine, a little noisy but all auto helms are, and I also have the wireless remote which makes life a lot easier. There are 2 versions of the remote (I have had both) and currently I have the version that displays lots of data that I cannot use. The other version of remote is just for steering and has useful pattern and steering options. I can keep a good course trolling at 2MPH with my 27 foot Eastern on the big engine. With remote ($400+ for remote) the system is $2300-$2500 depending on vender. Defender Industries usually has the best price. Read the manual carefully and the install is quite easy. The calibration and settings are a little complex put well explained in the user manual. The hardest part for me (having installed 4 of them) has been getting the steering wheel off...finally bought a wheel puller tool at NAAP...too easy!

What fun...fishing and BS talk are twin sisters!

fished the south end hard for 4 hours this AM...nothing much...lots of bait deep

Jason,

good luck with your new boat...I'll look for you on the water.

I ruined a set (4) of brand new radial tires on a 300 mile trip to Toronto with a 22 footer 2 years ago. The axles were not tracking straight ahead and it wore them out, scuffing along a little sideways like that...pulled hard too. I don't know how to align trailer tires/axles but I know it's good to do.

I think 10 feet may be pushing it, depending on weight. You can adjust the bunks for the width, but the bottom line is: this trailer can handle a 5000lb. boat easy and I was thinking 6000lbs. was OK because it has been beefed up a little. It also depends on the use. My boat travels a mile or two twice a year. If the boat is going over the road, a 10 foot wide boat needs 3 axles for stability (in my opinion).

There is a 10,000lb. trailer for sale on this site and that would be great for a 10 footer.

I have learned the hard way recently to get the right trailer from the get-go and save a lot of frustration and money in the end of it.

Yes indeed the brakes are fine. They are drum style on one axle only. I have carefully re-furbished this trailer for my own use with the help of a mechanic friend, and made things right. As mentioned, my boat did not fit without big modifications and I found another trailer that was easier to deal with. I will take $2500.

As to question of the actual length...it is 24' 6" from the bow stop to the back roller (just measured it)...the bow stop could be moved forward a few inches. My boat is 27' 6" and that is where I came up with 28 feet. The bow stop could easily be slid back 3 or 4 feet to accomadate a smaller boat...very easy to adjust for anything 21-27 feet. The cross braces are also quite easy to re-position to adjust the rollers fore and aft. Also, the trailer has all new wiring and new brake lines.

I don't take it wrong at all...thanks for mentioning it, but I shopped around last year for a new one and could not find anything for less than $6500.

I also asked a couple of marina people to give me a estimate of value and both told me $2500-$3000. I will be happy to sell it for what it's actually worth in today's market. I know that I will take a hit on it because I put quite a lot into it.

bump...new price of $2500

This trailer is as good as a new one, which will cost around $7000

The old version was junk and was recalled...had one...mine didn't break but it sounded terrible. I have the new one now and it works very good. The gears have been redesigned.

sorry about the photo...I tried to combine them into one image and made a negative...duh?