Sk8man

I think most of the motels are at Seneca Falls/Waterloo at the north end of the lake but there is also the Cayuga Lake State Park which has cabins and camping area. The cabins fill up very quickly during the season though.It is located right on Rt#89 so it is a straight shot right down the road to Deans Cove launch.

It sure sounds plausible

I believe there is a listing in the DEC syllabus that mentions the species of bait allowed but it is nested someplace in the material. I have never heard the thing about nightcrawlers which is surprising as many sold in stores come from Canada. You can catch allowed baitfih in a given lake and use it there but not transport it or use it in another lake as you need a receipt from a certified virus free seller. The problem is : "How do you prove if questioned that the bait came from that lake andf not somewhere else in the absence of a receipt"? You can't use just ANY fish or part of one either. For example, a game fish of any speccies. Also even frozen or dead bait requires a virus free receipt. If commercially prepared dead bait is used you need to have the packaging present. Any baitfish bought that is not commercially prepared requires that the receipt is good for 10 days from the date of purchase. At least this is my current understanding. If someone else knows differently please pipe in.

You make excellent points st94. As with lakers, browns are scroungers and opportunists and they feed on a varied diet. fatheads will work on them as will golden shiners and emeralds and even worms or egg sacks etc. if presented right, and that is where most of the "secrecy" comes in...the presentation of the bait combined with indepth knowledge of their habits and possible vulnerabilities. It is true with trolling as well but a much different approach. I would add one thing to this though and that is that big browns don't get to that large size by being stupid or careless; they are quite wary and the methods employed in catching the smaller ones or even other species may not work at all with them. They also may be doing things differently in their feeding habits that separate them from some of the other fish such as being highly nocturnal feeders and once this is figured out success in catching them improves The Ryans are also a real good example of something I have reiterated on here a bunch of times in different ways:in depth knowledge of your target fish, their habits, food preferences, and positioning in the water column at various times throughout the season will trump any of the fancy equipment so heavily relied on these days. Trolling and stillfishing are two very different approaches and each has its own set of strengths and weaknesses and probabilities attached to it. Derbies also have a very different strategy attached and that is it is not about catching the most fish....it is about catching the biggest fish which is VERY different in practice. I apologize idn713 for hijacking your thread but it seemed like an opportune time to discuss things

Suttontroller94 - You are correct about Will Ryan, Will Jr. and their buddy Josh Zach being excellent bait fishermen and especially so with brown trout. My son and I have competed against them in derbies, and in fact did so again this year. Bill Sr. is a LOU member by the way so he may respond if he sees this post. They came very close this year to beating my 16 lb.derby record brown here on Canandaigua that beat their 13 lb. brown in the 2016 derby, and Will Jr. holds the record for Seneca and Josh Zack won the Canandaigua derby this year with a 15 plus pound brown caught stillfishing as they don't troll. The original question on this post was addressing drifting with bait which is a very different "animal" than even basic stillfishing, and derby fishing secrets are something that are seldom fully given out or discussed on public forums so you may be disappointed in this regard but I'm sure you understand why. We have spent a lifetime figuring out some of the fishing nuances that make a difference in derby fishing for big fish and those guys have it down to a science Consistant results are not accidental.....

Don't always get stuck thinking flasher or Spin Doc because the old style dodger /spoon combination can often impart better action to the spoon depending on what you are running and may tolerate speed a bit better within the range of the spoon.

I'd even venture to say "Great guy to deal with" he is right up the road from the Keuka Lake State Park so if anyone is over that way stop by he has a lot of good fishing stuff at his place or he can pretty much get you whatever you need if he doesn't have it on hand. Always good to support our own LOU folks.

thx JK My name came from the fact that I rollerbladed on the streets of Canandaigua and down by the lake nearly every day or evening that was available for about 20 years. The kids who skateboarded out in front of the courthouse steps started yelling skateman at me when they would see me and then other kids around town started doing it so I got some tee shirts made up with it on there and the name stuck so I figured I'd use it on LOU.

If the mudline is still present and with these crazy winds and mixed up water temps I'd be trolling to just the outside of the mudline and in and out of the edge with the lures running dowwn toward bottom for the browns especially if the sun is up bright.

Sounds as though the decision is already made jigstick You can't always worry about ball busting buddies either...I'd be in a mental institution if that were that case because ALL my buddies do it regardless of whether the issue is valid and....I do the same thing to them but I still make my own decisions and let the chips fall where they may. If you have the funds available and are comfortable with the decision...go for it OR break from the pack and take your chances. Even aside from fishing this is kinda what life is all about.

It seems as though this is like a lot of considerations buying fishing equipment now days and the issue of "expensive=quality" combined with "Do I really need this?" I guess if you live in Beverly Hills this may not seem like much of an issue, but for many of the rest of us paying $400 for a set of planer boards may be something to really think over.. take for example the lights on the boards....do you fish a lot for walleyes at night using the boards? If only occasionally then some small cheap LED lights can easily be added to other less expensive boards and still do the job. The main consideration with big boards is: how well do they track and will they effectively pull the set-ups I intend to use. A good part of this is how your mast (or intended place of attachment) and planer reels are set up which is separate from the specific board selection. The entire purpose of the boards is to maintain your lines out away from the boat and water turbulance and many brand name boards will do that that are far less expensive although some may do it a bit better than others. If it were me I'd be comparing carefully and determining whether you feel comfortable laying out that kind of money and whether it is actually necessary. But on the other hand....thats me.

X2 on great Lakes Lure Company. You may also want to check with Pam Brewer at Brewers Sportig Goods in Ovid if you live out that way.