Sk8man

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?

This has been an unusual year as far as water levels mostly due to the drought conditions plaguing much of the US Pretty much all of the public launch ramps seem to b very low right now and this situation probably will not end anytime soon because Fall water levels in most of the Finger Lakes are notoriously low. If it is a matter of just testing out your boat I should think the launch at Keuka Lake State Park (near Branchport) might work. One of the other problems to be aware of with low water conditions is that you may have to back your trailer farther in and there lies a significant possibility of problems in that often the end of the concrete ends sooner than normal and your trailer wheels could go off the end and the trailer axle might hang up on it. (Don't ask how I know this ).

There is currently an advisory by the sheriff's office because of the shallow water along the shoreline. Some smaller boats have been launching at the north end ramp but the channel is very low. When I went out last Friday I had to trim up my 135 outboard so that the prop was just under the water and some of the water showed as 2- 2 1/2 ft on my finder in the channel near the ramp. My boat 18 1/2 ft Whaler drafts a foot or less.

Catatonk Paul - "Old school" basically refers to doing things the "old way" or something formerly familiar but now other things may have augmented it or taken its place (e.g. wire flasher/fly or Spinney setups, downriggers etc.). In this case "rig" or "Seth Green" or "thermocline rigs" are multi-leader and lure methods which historically are one of the oldest methods of taking trout in the Finger Lakes (1800's) Congratulations Russ and crew and Mike and crew I'm surprised wind wasn't a more major factor yesterday as it was pretty breezy here in Canandaigua.

WTG Jason! Nice laker too Chalk one up for "old school"

Yeah Brian and they need some discipline too. They keep doing the same dumb things to incur penalties and throw away games year after year. My wife is disgusted with them and she is a "die hard" fan.

Hey Stan - the shape and profile of it looks like some of the browns around here though

If the 47H's are the Great lakes LC model you may want to have the drag washers replaced with carbon fiber ones from Tuna Tom....it makes them into a better reel inexpensively.

After over 40 years of using both methods I think Scott hit the nail on the head with his comment. Each method has its strengths and weaknesses on a given day and only the fish can answer "why"

I know everyone has their own answer to this question.... but what if all (or most of it) of it is irrelevant? What if perhaps because our human brains think in terms of "cause and effect" we believe that our actions directly cause something to happen when in fact it may be other things going on.... ah... food for thought. What I am suggesting is that just the proximity or closeness of the lure to the fish (or group of them) by itself may be the critical factor along with perhaps lure action that appears vulnerable or easy to catch and all this other stuff that we do is just sort of "superstitious behavior" (e.g length of lead, fluoro vs. mono, distance from the ball, speed of the boat etc.) and dipsey vs. downriggers is all incidental to catching fish :lol:Then again maybe I shouldn't have had that third coffee

Jason - Let me know the date of that last tourney and I'll try to keep an eye on things on the lake for you. I know a few years back I had to have my ss prop fixed because the water was low in the channel going out even with my lower unit up a bit ($200 for the fix ).