Sk8man

Mike you have a PM

Ah....I used to fish among them in my little 13 ft Whaler. They had much bigger boats that they slipped at John and Mirriam Clark's marina and those times were a blast night fishing for big browns and rainbows in the dark. Those guys left for Lake O and Rochester west to charter in the early eighties when the salmon were turning on.

Your friends that night fished Canandaigua didn't happen to have names like Roides or Oravec did they?

Good points. I think some high end units may even go up to 800 or more in high range.

Lucky - they are netted in the Finger Lakes proper by the distributor (at least around here) and the sellers are certified and give receipts to buyers. I think they are subject to inspection and testing by DEC etc. I don't believe they can be pond raised and survive. Keeping these sawbellies alive can also be tricky and changes in water composition, temperature and even being jostled around in a container or livewell can kill them. They don't usually hold up well over significant time intervals unless kept in large tanks with running lake water and additives and plenty of oxygenation. At about a buck apiece they can be an expensive and high maintenance undertaking. I've seen whole tanks die off in the past without clear indication why other than temperature change in the water.

Hey Hop when you see Pam again tell her I said "Hi" will ya? She is a good lady.

John you have a PM The $10,000 prize is a lot of money... but.....friendships: "Priceless"

The wind speed and direction might be secondary to the possibility of T storms on Sunday and Monday. It may depend on where you are fishing if the wind will be from the west there could be a big difference the further east you fish and if the wind picks up from the NW it can be pretty rough along the south shore.. Also sometimes it is wise to launch near a bay you can fish as a "Plan B" where you can be protected and possibly wait out the higher winds. Sodus Bay is a good example and this time of year a variety of fish are in the bay.

Chas - CHIRP isn't a single freqency. It refers to a RANGE of frequencies. May differ according to different manufacturers and transducers but there are basically three sometimes separate ranges that can be selected on SOME finders: Low, Medium, and High. The 350 you refer to would probably fit in the medium range.

A consideration if you are able to adjust is if you are running other items that use transducers like the Fiahawk Xseries. The 70 khz frequency of the Fishawk may reside in that low or medium range setting and conflict.

Fishnet I think taking out as many lakers as possible is good for the potential future fishery....right now they are a large part of the problem (with increased pressure on the already collapsed baitfish population) which is backed up by the DEC diary report as well.

It is like comparing apples and oranges so it depends on intended use. The Smarttroll is more flexible in that you can monitor indiividual lines and lures while the Fishawk X4D does about all you may need to do for most normal applications the Smartroll is pricey if you get additional probes than it comes with.

First of all welcome to LOU. I think the best advice might be to either get someone with a lot of experience to go with you in your boat or go on a charter and beforehand prepare your questions for the captain.

There is no magical answer.....leadcore like the other "tools' needs to be run where the fish are located and it needs to be run at the right speed for the lure used. The5 color may run at 20-25 ft below surface depending on speed the 10 color should run about 50-55ft. if you figure 5 ft per color at about 2 mph but even the diameter of the backing may influence this.. Just estimations at best. If you have a Fishawk TD or A Smart Trol probe and attach it to the line and record your speeds you can get a more accurate estimate - same with coppers. Leadcores can be run off boards or down the chute but care needs to be taken in their deployment as you can get some horrific tangles with other stuff if care isn't taken letting them out and bringing in.Leadcore seems to sway back iand forth in the water a bit and this may even be what attracts fish but it also may relate to tangles. The lures used also should be compatible so that you don't have say a J plug or flatfish shaped lure running in the chute with your long lead spoons on riggers etc or the sideways movement and turns could mess things up good. Not knowing how long or short your leaders are it isn't possible to know the answer to that one. I usually run 20-30 ft fluoro leaders 12 lb for Finger Lakes and 20 for Lake O. Hope that helps.

Spiders often build stuff in the water output hole. I'd make sure that isn't it by reeming it out with a wire