Sk8man

Dylan - I think you lucked out in getting the information you did from John Powell. He is a MASTER rod builder as well as a very knowledgeable boater and fisherman and I'd say you can take that info to the bank. It is great that John shares his expertise on here.

I was mentioning to my wife yesterday that September has seemed like the usual August and the water temps seem like it too.

Good points jperch

What does the weed situation look like now?

"Determine status of WALLEYE population" ????

Just as little tip regarding priicing - Don't go through a marina for your canvas work go directly to the person that actually does it because the marina gets their large cut on the money so it is much more expensive.

Although the observable impact may be different on individual Finger Lakes, most or all of them are in trouble in differing degrees and perhaps for different reasons and Keuka is no exception.The situation is complex and the factors are hard to pin down as far as specific effects on particular species or populations of fish. One thing appears quite clear though after more than 60 years fishing these lakes....they are becoming more eutrophic or nutrient rich. You can see it in the color of the water which has changed greatly over the years, but more especially lately the amount, type, and distribution of weed growth and cluttering of the water surface with floating pods of weeds. The larger Finger Lakes have never had this amount of weeds on the surface for such long durations (e.g. all summer long into Fall). The shallower lakes have had more acute weed problems historically and to a lesser degree some of the shallower areas of the larger lakes but not spread throughout the lakes as well. We can speculate about who,what ,where and it is complicated. The food chain has been significanly disturbed and disrupted by invasives, the water clarity at certain points in the seasons has changed drastically allowing sunlight to penetrate deeper, the shallower of the lake bottoms have been taken over by zebra mussels perhaps interfering with traditional spawning areas, some of the invasives like water fleas are preying on and decimating smaller zooplankton that the young of fish depend on to survive, larger fish are probably out competing smaller fish or particular species of fish for available and diminishing food sources throwing the whole food chain out of balance and creating "missing links" in it. Another perhaps "silent killer" of invertebrates and fish in these lakes may be pesticides from adjacent lawns , farmland, housing developments, and vineyards. It says right on the packaging of many of these commonly used substances that they should not be used near water sources or drainage to lakes because of their lethality to fish. As fishermen we are seeing firsthand the impact of this out of balance relationship firsthand right now and it is much more than a mere shortage of baitfish at the heart of the problems. Sorry about the rant

Aaron the existence of pre-existing snaps already on the boat could be looked at in a couple ways: one that a very small part of the job has been done, or two that the snaps may be placed wrong for the custom job that needs to be done. The fit of the canvas is really what it is all about once you have selected quality materials so there is a lot of measuring and fitting and even depending on the materials selected a lot of adjusting goes on to get it right. The cost will include the labor for this process as well as taking into consideration the materials you have selected and there can be a great difference in both the quality and price for materials alone. The amount of "canvas" based on the size of the area is also a factor as may be "peculiarities" of the boat design itself. Most guys will want to actually see the boat before a quote for that reason or at least a photo with measurements.

John Mann is certainly the guy to go to if you are unable to find someone real good in the Elmira area. Doing canvas work is one of those things that you want done right as you will be looking at it and dealing with it for years to come. Over the years I have seen some real good canvas jobs and some terrible ill fitting canvas on boats that I would be embarrrassed to have, and the cost itself doesn't necessarily guarantee a great job either. The material used - including the plastic for windows, the canvas type (there are many and not all are good longeivity wise in UV), and even down to the thread used for stitching can make a huge difference in the life span of the covering.The first canvas work I had done by John lasted for the 22 years I had my first boat and it was still in good condition when I sold the boat. Some of this stuff you are lucky to get 4 or 5 years out of. I've never hesitated to recommend John to anyone as in my view he is second to none in the canvas work department. Another thing is being able to look at a boat and size it up as to what may or may not work for that particular person's situation which takes some insight and skill, but more importantly - experience. He has been working with this stuff since the 70's that I know of ; including many of the Lake O boats in the Sodus area and Florida as well over the years and he does great work at a fair price.

Gethenet2 - I believe that Lake O is a very different fishery than the Finger Lakes and other smaller inland lakes and the potential for overfishing perch is quite different too, so I should think it can support the 50 limit without any problems and if they do ever change the regs for the Fingers I don't think they would need to change things there at least given the current status.

Nick a few weeks ago a reputable source told me about the lack of filters at the electric plant and the suspicion that fish are being ground up and spit out as refuse along with the warmed up water. If true sure seems to fit with quite a few of the problems going on with the lake. That recent 35,000 gallon sewage spill down the outlet didn't help either. I hope Mother Nature figures out a solution on her own because we humans seem incapable of managing things properly. The person also said the DEC is aware of the problem.....just wonder if they will intervene or if it may be too late.

Those kids will have those memories for a long time. A lot of times it isn't always real evident at the time it is happening but that stuff can be a real powerful influence later on as well.

WTG John. You saved some perch by catching that toothy critter too and I thank you on behalf of them

I know you said you didn't want to use "wire" but possibly the incredibly thin but strong TITANIUM wire? If it is a big pike they are pretty territorial so may be close in same area as before to be specifically fished for.