Sk8man

Good luck.

Rodents are attracted to the plastic wire covering because it contains urea so covering it somehow with either conduit as suggested or perhaps spraying it with something noxious like WD40 or electrical cleaner spray might inhibit them

There is a launch right there at the park but it is shallow draft and especially when waater level is low. There is another launch about 10 miles south of the park at Deans Cove but it can be a journey to the north end from there depending on the wind direction/velocity. Some smallmouth fishing right near there though and directly across the lake from there. Another option for launching is on the east side of the north end down a few miles called Union Springs. There is some largemouth and smallmouth fishing near there in the weedbeds. All the launches charge to launch. Hopefully you realize that Bass season starts mid June.

" Currents and waves effect the dive curve when you turn the boat more than 30 degrees! ". Another thing often not thought of is that even with slight turns of the boat (e.g. autopilot adjustments etc.) there can be important differences in the "lifting" of the diver/lure as well as changes in the speed and action of the lure depending on the side of the boat and currents/waves etc. It can account for differences in the action and catch results although seemingly a subtle difference.

The Willis is the way to go but the #8 spro swivel is another option that will clear the eylets and tip of most rods.

I'm anticipating negative reactions to the following comments, but the fact that it has worked for as long as it has speaks for itself. I have used Cannon 10A's since 1985. I have 4 of them. I have had the same wire on two of them since I bought them. They all have 150lb wire. The other two I bought after the first two and replaced the cables about 2000. The specs require only 10 pound weights max and I have adhered to this since I have had them (yest there is blowback plus 100 ft but I can live with it). I have run a Fishhawk Bluetooth probe since about 2016 on one of them. I have been able to afford the newest and latest and greatest replacements all along but I have stuck with the 10A's because of reliability. Other than replacement of the electric cables on each - never a problem in thousands of hours of fishing. Are they slow coming up? yes. Do I care about that? no. I use the time to re-rig my lines and actually view it as a "positive". I set my drag so that when it reaches the top the drag kicks in. I do not have autostop and that is also OK because of the drag setting. I also rigged my probe with a "safety line" via an additional separate wire connection rigged so that the probe will remain if the weight goes. The reason I am saying this is that the "newest latest and greatest thing" is not always the most reliable answer to things, and whatever works - reliability has its merits regardless of age or view regarding it's "outdated" nature.

Welcome to LOU! Happy retirement!

I've fished Keuka on and off since the sixties; earlier for trout and later on mostly for perch. Like most of the Finger Lakes, the development along the lake and related intensity of use and recreational boating etc. has changed the very nature of fishing on the lake, but the more (and most) critical factor is the introduction of invasives - especially the Zebra and Quagga mussels which have strained out the most critical link in the food chain the phytoplankton and zooplankton along with other crucial components of the baitfish diet and reproductive cycle. In the late seventies and into the late eighties I used to troll for browns and rainbows as well as the occasional landlock there and I night fished for them as well. There were some really nice salmonids available at the time and a state record brown was even caught there Some really beautiful perch also rivaled those on Seneca and Cayuga too as well as a solid smallmouth population. Keuka was also one of my favorite ice fishing lakes right up until the past decade or so when things really came to a head and deteriorated in terms of the baitfish population really tanking noticibly. When fishing through the ice for perch and panfish lake trout starting being commonly caught regardless of type of jig or bait used in very shallow water. Most telling of the desperation of the trout population was that when them came out on the ice they were spitting up tiny perch and sunfish. Many of these trout had the enlarged heads with skinny bodies further indicating that they had been "starving". This condition has progressed for a number of years and now the population of all species seems to have drastically declined on the lake. Although it appears to have been a number of factors involved from those mentioned above to the lack of baitfish, the central thing is that when you knock out a critical link in the base level of the food chain eventually (and at different rates) everything above it will be drastically effected and eventually possibly totally decimated. and that is what has happened. Whether artificial restoration efforts can be successful in bringing back the previous fishery is a big question mark especially with the same still culprits operating in the lake; and in any event it will probably be a long time turning around if it does in fact occur.