Sk8man

In a perfect world you are dealing with an initial deployment situation....but when you have say 6 or 8 rods out already and have just brought a fish in one one and have hopefully avoided tangles on the way in the scenario may change greatly as you don't want to have to bring everything in the re-create your original deployment situation. Much of the time you have a changing situation all the way around (wind direction, trolling speed changes, turns, current changes etc. so a "one size fits all" approach or piece of advice may end up being an illusion and may not fit the circumstances. it is no accident that some of us are running coppers that were originally longer than 300 ft or so. The above advice is great advice for those particular circumstances but you will have to re-evaluate the re-deployment situation constantly when deploying your setups depending on what you already have out or are intending to deploy in combination and make adjustments as needed. Sometimes it involves letting the boards out way away from things while deploying something or placing the downriggers deeper etc. I know the most frequent disasters I have witnessed when on other boats has involved the combination of leadcores and coppers getting into each other and what a mess it is when it happens.

If you have a Fishawk TD you should be able to tell within 5 ft or so where you are running

Brian - My wife makes some great ones - Coat the fillets in milk, roll them in McCormicks Fish Fry seafood fry mix (Wegmans or Walmart) sprinkle Old Bay seasoning then fry them in Olive Oil regular not virgin). Absolutely the best I've ever had and I think I've had them a milion ways by now

That looks like a pretty smart way to "bundle" things; especially for trout folks just starting out....nice way to start out without a lot of cash expenditure....cool! Those are good deals right there.

x2 and locating both can be a good answer to the riddle

You mentioned that it is about 15 years old.Carefully check over the electrical wire to and from the rigger to see if there are any cracks in the insulation or possible shorts. The original wire that came with the older riggers was subject to hardening of the outer insulation so that it cracked from weathering or sunlight exposure. The new cable setups are not inexpensive but they are well made and can make a difference if moistureis getting into the wiring. If it is plugged into an outlet plug in the working downrigger and see if it happens there also may be bad connection or ground of the plug. If connected directly to the battery check connections for corrosion or possible wire fraying. If you have an inline fuse try a brand new fuse in it and check for corrosion in the fuse holder. Sometimes the plastic or rubber plug that goes into the downrigger may disengage becoming unsealed and moisture enters the cavity to the internals and the board so having a look inside to check the basics such as whether the wires look like they are firmly attached and aren't corroded isa good idea. Boards and motors can and do go bad sometimes but I'd check these other things first before jumping to that conclusion.

Just the pier itself near the boat tour thing ....unless you can walk on water

Nothing like the yellow gold Kevin

X2 - Just eliminate any curly Q 's or kinks and you should be good. I've had SS wire on one of my Seth Green rigs for over 30 years looks and acts just like new It should be noted that it is 60 lb wire which is much more forgiving than 30 lb which tends to curly que much more easily.

They do in some the Finger Lakes Paul and I think the ones that may be a proiblem could be different than the usuals on Lake O and even the rigger wire can be affected which makes me think some of them may be a different variety and/or more dense concentrations.

As of this date I haven't received my diaries back with their summaries from DEC and they often mention things about upcoming stocking efforts. I'll communicate anything substantial( if there) when I get the reports back.

West of there over near the tour boat etc.. You'll see it once you get over that way Aaron.

X2. You never know what you may hook into off the pier at any time of the year and it is right nearby the Show.

I wonder if that is why boats usually have female names

I know many if not most guys are pretty sold on long leaders with leadcore or coppers, but rather than attaching the weight to the backing of the leadcore line but the "pencil" type (tungsten or lead) weights (with the clip opened up slightly) can be clipped on the leadcore above the leader to mainline swivel and the leader kept to the length of the rod. I know...there are going to be folks that say " Don't ever clip anything to the leadcore itself" but I have never had one do any noticible damage to the core itself resulting in any failure since the sheathing is the strongest part anyway. I also don't think the shorter leader is a problem as you are going deep so "stealth" is not necessarily a critical thing.

Depends on how thick the concentratons are but I've had it stop a downrigger retrieving when knotted up and clogging at the end of the boom while on Keuka.

Try lowering your line with the jig on it right under the transducer while the boat is anchored. If it doesn't display the jig doing that it is possible that if your finder is old that the target separation doesn't detect that small an object. The newer ones should detect small objects like that. Usually if your transducer is shot it doesn't display bottom and fish although it may display hard bottom and not fish or anything else sometimes.