Sk8man

I'm pretty sure in the past they have treated both places (i.e. Catherines and the outlet).

Good going Brian. Glad to see you are back in action bud.

It is probably no accident that you spotted them near the Keuka Outlet as that is a major spawning area in addition to Catherines and they nail the browns something fierce there too. In the past I have had them actually attach to the transom of my little Whaler in the late Fall and winter. They were probably grabbing the first large object they saw for the least energy expenditure. I hope that the large size means the young ones are on the decline from the previous treatments Nick .

As far as kickers go I recently bought a long shaft 9.8 4 stroke to replace my 1987 9.9 2 stroke long shaft. I was able to steer my boat with the 2 stroke long shaft without a steering connector although I had the EZ steer set up on it originally. I found that I could steer the boat in most conditions with the big motor (135 outboard) without it. The exception was in real windy conditions (e.g. white cap stuff) which I had to use the big motor most of the time. The new 4 stroke is able to run it into even stiff wind without having to crank up the big one. It seems to have more torque at the prop I believe as everything else is virtually the same (e.g. 20 inch shaft, similar 3 blade prop, 91 lbs vs. 87 on the 2 stroke). I don't think it pushes the boat as fast top end though but that is important only in an emergency situation and the gas economy is more important there with a separate 3 gal. tank. It works sweet.

Very encouraging news Jason. Thanks for posting it and thanks to all you folks involved in "rescuing" the derby Sounds great!

Hope you had a great one Hank!

The 8 or 8 1/2 ft medium light Daiwa Heartlands or Okuma GLT rods are relatively inexpensive and will do the job. They have responsive tips necessary for a downrigger rod and enough backbone for most trout and salmon setups yet can still serve as walleye rods as well. The Daiwa Sealine series, Coldwater, or Saltists will work well in 30 size. Blood Run Sea Flee in 30 lb (because of the fleas) is a good option for the main line and then leader off of it with Seaguar fluoro leaders 20 lb for Ontario (12 for Spring browns) and 12 lb elsewhere (e.g. Finger Lakes). I use the 20 lb fluoro on worm harnesses as well. Although line counters aren't necessary for the downrigger stuff they can be handy for walleyes and for top lining in the Spring and late Fall. I have about a dozen of the older Diawa 47H's and they work fine for everything.

Zack are you sure that is the right unit? It is listing for $2,600 and new and you're asking $1100?

I'd like to throw my two cents in here....my first fishing experience on Lake O was from shore in 1955 long before the salmon were put in there and we fished for pike and bass and perch and panfish during the summer out on the Sodus Point pier and along the lake shore near the bluffs. It was a great experience and the fish were plentiful and being a young kid I sucked it all in and looked forward to it each summer. I also lived very near Seneca Lake for much of my life and again I clearly remember fish all along the shoreline little and big fish and being able to catch all sorts of warm water species right from the docks and shoreline. There were minnows everywhere of many species and you could catch crabs at will in the shallows under rocks. These days the situation on both lakes is very different. You see very few minnows and pan fish and very few people fish from shore any longer because there is little point in it other than a few over fished places like a certain marina. I for one am thankful that I have a boat and am able to get to where there is a chance of catching fish. I have fished for salmon and trout on Lake O since 1975 and have seen many changes along the way. There have been many ups and downs along the way and severe fluctuations in the bait and fish availability cycles. In the seventies many folks thought the lake would "die" because of the Mirex (toxin) scare and folks unloaded their cottages for almost nothing and now some of those places are worth big bucks. We are definitely in a down turn of the cycle on Lake O but also on some of the Finger Lakes as well and possibly for some of the same but also different reasons. These lakes and their fisheries are under much stress from many different aspects some perhaps natural in origin (e.g.fluctuations in bait levels due to severe weather) but others attributable to human actions (e.g. introduction of invasives and pollutants). There has been a noticeable change in water quality. There are now many more boats on these smaller lakes than there used to be with fishermen using much more sophisticated equipment to harvest the fish and much more knowledge available to help in this activity. I kept DEC diaries for many years and during the late 1970's it took something like 6 hrs on average or so to catch a legal trout on one Finger Lake if my memory serves me correctly....it was tough fishing but we hung in there and during the 80's stocking improvements etc. led to good fishing in subsequent years. In short, things are vastly different now on the Finger Lakes and Lake O from earlier times but we shouldn't lose perspective things can and hopefully will improve. We have one of the largest amounts of fresh water nearby (right on our door step) on the entire planet and overall unusually good fishing by many standards. For those folks who give up on it and move off to other places best of luck to you and that is what life in America is all about :"To each his or her own" but lets not give up hope on New York State waters just yet.....the jury is still out

If you go the lake I wouldn't try the public ramp at Sodus Point. there is a rockpile created by the power loaders right in the middle of the dock area and a pothole on the ramp itself Hughes Marina is fine.

What type of connectors and how long a rod Mike?