Sk8man

Good to see this thread resurrected. These days many folks are preoccupied with king fishing on Lake O and filling their boats with the latest and greatest elcetronics and that is a fun part of fishing for sure but Seth Green (or "thermocline" or "rig" fishing) on the Finger Lakes can be a blast too. Yes, it sounds complicated and a lot of work to folks not familiar with it and yes it is "old school" but it can also be VERY productive even in the absence of the latest greatest technology. I recall another previous thread where a lot of the things involved were detailed as well but Second Chance 22 (above) detailed the "basics" very well. For those folks unfamiliar with this trolling method I would suggest going out with someone who has been doing it for a while to get a real feel for it before discounting it as too complicated or too much work. Interestingly, each fisherman doing it has their own "twist" to it and even very experienced folks can benefit from seeing it done on the water. There is nothing like having a couple of big rainbows or Landlocks on one rig at the same time trying to go in different directions and then hand lining them to the boat with your heart in your mouth and adrenalin flowing.....kinda like holding a full draw on a recurve bow on a deer and trying to stop the shaking

Of the two items (camera vs. flasher) the flasher is more essential for overall use. Most of the time the water is very clear during the ice fishing season and muchof it is done in shallow water. Thus a lot can be learned by jigging and actually looking down the hole to observe the fish behavior. What you learn from this can be invaluable especially in terms of translating it to flasher or combo unit use. After awhile the flasher can become your "eyes" and you learn to tell pretty much what is going on down there by what is happening on the flasher (e.g. movement toward or away from your jig, movement of the fish while looking at the jig or bait, the specific movement ( e.g. spinning or lack of it) of the jig itself, anticipation of a strike etc.) and the spatial relationship of the fish to your jig or bait.I'm not saying that a camera isn't a valuable tool but I believe a flasher with a zoom or combo unit in experienced hands is a more overall useful item especially for multi-species use.

Mike - Before you get too heavily into buying equipment it would be a good idea to go with someone experienced in ice fishing to fully check it out and this is for a number of reasons aside from just money expenditure. Ice fishing isn't for everyone, and not knowing what you are doing out there can lead to disaster; especially early and late in the season when the ice condition is "questionable". Hopefully, there will be some good ice this year but wandering around out there without having experience and familiarity isn't a great idea even experienced folks can get into trouble when chances are taken. I'd be willing to show you the "ins and outs" of it if and when Honeoye freezes up (it is usually one of the first lakes around here to do so). It is a lot easier to understand this stuff when seeing it in person and learning by observation rather than trying ot figure it out on your own.....and a lot safer.

Good suggestiuons above but if you do decide to go with just a flasher make sure it has a ZOOM function

Great info and certainly more detailed than I had seen previously. Thanks. Very interesting about the turkeys too....

Yeah I guess things have changed with the fish since I started stream fishing in 1955

Stream fish don't always swim with their mouths open facing the current...sometimes they come across the stream or even downstream to examine a bait. I don't believe there is a way to prove it as far as knowing for sure that the fish is actually seeing the hook but just as an example of the inference watch a sunfish, bluegill perch or even a walleye under the ice some time and closely observe what they do when even a small jig hook point is exposed. They will stop stare at it and circle around it or back up without biting - probably because it looks unnatural to them. Often they will "test" the presentation by bumping it with their nose if they do anything at all. If you are to bait it at the tip of the hook they will usually grab it...this suggests to me that fish dio in fact see the hook point and it looks foreign to them and they become wary of it. If a bait is spinning (as in suspended by a swivel snap) they often will avoid it as well. Fish can be far more cautious and maybe even "smarter" than we give them credit for. I'm not saying this is always the case bt something to be aware of as a possibility.

Not sure about how many "bears" would be caught that way but what I'm refering to is when watching fish in clear water bump or mouth the bait without actually ingesting it (such as sucking it in directly) they sometimes appear to be "testing" the bait and when the hook point is bare and they feel it they spit it. I've seen it with both browns and rainbows in the streams. When ice fishing perch will do it very frequently

Good one Ed

I think a main factor was that they were netted back then with large seins and sold (late 1800's and early 1900's) too.

Always cover the tip of the hook itself with a waxie or other etc. as it prevents the fish from seeing the hook and orients or focuses them specifically to the bait as well as reducing the hard feel of the hook while "mouthing"

WTG Johnny Once again.....perseverence pays off

Worth the trip to have it done right by Hank

Wes you have a PM

Wes - often it is not the groove that gets ya it is that the wire slips between the roller and side plate if the wire diameter allows it. It can happen with stainless wire and especially braid as well. You might want to check that as well as sometimes the little nut needs to be tightened or the side plate may be bent.

or crossbow

Neat bonding moment

I firmly believe it. After shooting them in the azz several times with a Red Ryder BB gun to keep them off my lawn and from eating up my shrubs etc. they now stand at the edge of my neighbors lawn just a tiny bit out of range and it is almost as though they know where the property line is They will also react to my turning of the knob of the kitchen door when they do happen to be on my property and scoot to his property immediately anticipating my actions. I kid you not. They are a bit smarter than most folks give them credit for.

You are very welcome. Good luck with it. The cape is a wonderful place to have a lot of fun fishing and otherwise