Sk8man

Good luck with it Todd

Maybe hook safety lines to the riggers and test them out to see for real?

and sometimes you can catch trout right off the break wall at the launch.

I had one on my previous 13 ft Whaler with a 35 Johnson motor and it was the spring loaded type that doesn't have a release cord to flip it up. After a while the place on the aluminum plate of the trolling plate where the steel springs attached gave out and back then it was tough to find anyone to weld aluminum so I ended up scrapping it. A lot of guys back then on Lake O were using the other type that you had to pull the lanyard (cord) to release the plate when you were done trolling and about to take off and they would come out of the hole at full tilt and the plate would get bent all to heck because the plate was still down. I think the bags are a better solution and especially for someone considering the trolling plate who hasn't drilled holes yet in their cavitation plate to install one

Keuka is an interesting body of water. It is actually like fishing three different lakes in a way as the "y" shape of it is very significant in terms of wind direction, wave action and underwater currents. It is this fact that can make it difficult to figure out sometimes but also can be a strength as depending on the wind you can usually fish one branch or the other depending on the direction/speed of it. As mentioned you can fish the Hammondsport end (both sides) quite readily after leaving the launch and running lures near shore and way back (jointed Rapalas in orange, silver. perch or gold work well with a couple large split shot placed about 3 ft up helps keep them down a bit as well as deflecting weeds) in the early morning hours before the sun gets high can be productive for the occasional rainbow, brown or landlock and sometimes lakers that have been in there feeding at night. One of the best spots for suspended lakers is right out front of the "bluffs" (where the "y" separates) and usually there will be lakers stacked in there but they can be fussy about hitting too. Further west adjacent from the State Park launch is the deepest point in the lake and around it can be lakers. Across from thethe bluffs angled on the south east side is Marlena Point and out along there in 100 ft or so are usually bottom oriented lakers. Another good area for the lakers is out in front of Keuka College in the middle of the lake in 80-120 ft on bottom. Careful with downriggers riding bottom as there are a couple of significant snags out there too . You may wish to stop by Fishy Business or contact Fishy for an update on the fishing as he is very much "in the know" when it comes to that lake and is a great source of information and he can clue you in to particular tackle that has been effective. He is located at 3737 Pepper Road Bluff Point NY (607) 368-2306 or (315) 719-3673 (closed Tuesdays)

Some of it depends on the quality/design of the mounts. Some of the holders are made from plastic or cheaply made metal mine are stainless. I've had mine for14 years and although if you put a lot of weight on the end of the extended booms on the down rigger they may bob a bit they are solid in the gimbal itself once anchored in them. There are different lengths on some gimbals too and this could be the problem (i.e. too short for the downtube of the insert.

Hop is right on target and the LOU community is a good place to post your notice as the folks here fish a lot of different bodies of water and we all hate thievery. Hopefully you will recover your boat intact. Best of luck with it I for one will be on the lookout for it.

Unfortunately chinook aren't really bottom feeding fish so it probably won't do them any good

You probably can't lose depending on price for the bunch regardless as lead is getting scarce and there are guys on here that make downrigger weights that probably would be interested as the balls can be melted down.

Nice going and that is a real beauty for the Finger Lakes especially.

I found the video interesting but I think it may have been done in California rather than Florida I know the study was well intentioned but one of the things that strikes me is the absence of visual information about how well the fish actually survived. Some were still upside down when they became free so I wonder. Also holding the fish vertically doesn't do them a lot of good survival wise either