Sk8man

You are correct in identifying the fleas as your main adversary right now ANY braid is probably going to present you with a nightmare trolling right now. With these continued high temperatures the fleas will be more and more concentrated as the days roll on and it appears that the fishook type water fleas are becoming very prominent and they are the most difficult to get off lines regardless of type of line. The line increased diameter approach works some of the time for some concentrations of fleas. When flea concentrations are very dense and especially the fishook variety NOTHING is immune to them clustering on the line or cable. This includes 150 or 200 lb test downrigger cable. Fleas in general tend to be easier to remove on wire line than the other line options and I would recommend changing over to wire on the riggers at least. If it were me I'd just add it to the existing braid and then double check the accuracy of the line counter afterward and then after flea season you can remove it and go back to the braid if you prefer it. The only other thing would be that regardless of the lines that you have out check them VERY frequently while trolling and it will be a PIA to do probably but necessary to minimize huge buildups that prevent the line from coming in with a fish on (or otherwise). It is about all you can do. Look for places where the fleas seem less concentrated or perhaps absent.They vary greatly in concentrations both throughout the lake and within the vertical water column. You might be able to get away on the coppers with running them with minimal braid entering the water. Good luck.

The fishook waterfleas have serrated sharp edges on their hooked tails and they pack on there in numbers and may even cut into the surface of the line so they are VERY difficult to get off there. The Spinys are much easier to clump up and remove.

Don, I'm not sure about the reaction of super glue with the mono or fluoro but with flies that I tie and a few other thiings where I feel there will be extreme stressI use something called Seal All which is impervious to water,oil or gasoline....can be hard to find it though.There is a risk attached though....your friends may say you are the "Master of Overkill"

# 8 or # 10 Spro barrel swivel and carefully cinched down clinch knots (wound around 7 times). High quality SOLID ring black ball bearing swivel on end of fluoro with a small black Duo lock snap.

The Fishook waterfleas are probably a factor and it may be them as well in addition to the cottonwood as they seem to be much more difficult to disengagfe from lines. The Spiny waterfleas seem to clump up and you can usually just pinch them or even just shake the wire line to rid them.

Bandrus is totally correct. Whether it is GPS speed, speed measured by the probe impeller, or on one of the old mechanical devices that has a weight attached to a scale attached to the side of the boat it is all relative to what you are doing. Actually, the speed at the probe vs. GPS measured as speed over ground (in this case the lake bottom) can be useful for assessing strength and sometimes direction of the underwater current when you compare the measured differences between the two devices. This is another reason why folks reporting their particular "exact" downspeed or GPS speed means virtually nothing to others because it is only relative to their own boat and the water conditions at play. In the old days with the old side mounted measuring device we used to carry narrowly cut small strips orange tape and as soon as we got a hit we put the tape on the exact position on the device (coded in colors relating to speed). Again this was a relative measure and better than nothing but not directly comparable to someone elses boat speed. Whether you are looking at the pulsing of rod tips, the angle of downrigger, or Seth green wire in the water, OR speed/temp devices it is repeatability that you need to focus on; which also means you have to pay close attention to what is going on with your equipment. None of this stuff is magic or auytomatic. Calibrating the temperature on the device itself may be another matter and more important because that is an absolute measure.

Thx for the report and stay cool. Happy Fourth and to all the LOU folks out there.

Ah.... I understand. It points out something we may tend to forget sometimes....every boat and situation is different requiring a different solution. So what is good for the goose isn't always good for the gander Good luck this season.

Geez mark I hope it dissipates by the time of the S/A derby....that stuff is nasty.

I think I'd still keep it pretty short the 8 or 10 inches you mentioned should be fine I thought you were referring to the type that fasten on the cable.... I always figured that releases work better releasing when directly on the cable because you get tension from above as well as from the weight rather than have a big fish hit and pull the weight backward or to the side. I'd be using 60-90lb 7 strand wire and crimping the connections with wire crimps. \

Depending on how long the leader is....could get wrapped up in it with a fish on and failure to release getting twisted around it. Are you attaching it to the cable or the weight?

I just received a notification on my cell phone from the Syracuse TV channel that there is a blue -green algae pproblem noted at Long Point State Park on Cayuga Lake - No swimming as of today until further notice.

I guess I'm a little confused....What releases are you using? My blacks are crimped to the downrigger cable itself above the weight using wire crimps (the single hole type) and using a wire crimping tool ti carefully crimp them (never a problem and one of them has been on that same wire cable for about 30 years) (and yes I routinely check it over). Using release with leaders is asking for trouble if you use sliders or a probe on the rigger. It is best to keep things as clean as possible.