Sk8man

Despite having spent more than I should trying to win that boat for my son maybe they should consider scraping that idea due to the costliness and instead have a raffle for cash supported by just the ticket sales itself which could help offset personal derby expenses for the raffle winner or winners Cash prizes always seem to go over big with folks as many already have boats and that other arrangement of the $3500 or the boat seems like a "hussle" to me and overly expensive as a propostion.

I think the main consideration relating to the issue of batteries (for me at least) is safety and especially on Lake O. It is an unforgiving environment and lake and if unfavorable circumstances come together like being out in the middle of the lake and having your battery crap out with a storm brewing and the waves building it becomes real clear what the advantages are having "options". Having been through this situation in a small boat in the past the concept of safety options is uppermost in my mind. Luckily my kicker came through for me with the pull start but with my current boat I have made sure I have a number of "options". I have even changed my setup since my previous post. I have a starting battery and a heavy duty combination deep cycle/starting battery. I have just my primary depth finder (which is a low draw) wired directly to the starting battery along with the lights and bilge pump which come through the main panel. The downriggers and kicker etc. are connected to the deep cycle combo battery and the kicker is a 4 stroke with a 6 amp alternator with pull start as well hooked to the combo battery. I also carry a portable D cell battery powered bilge pump with a section of garden hose to reach outside the boat. Even though my boat is advertised as "unsinkable" I don't depend on it with my life

Reelfanatic - the noodle section is a good idea I've had a section of it on both the EZ steer connector and also the extension handle for my kicker throttle just in case I get "clumsy" (which in my case may be highly probable)

I agree with Sean and add to that the fact that they don't seem to have gone out of their way to attract new folks to the derby in the way of advertising it widely. Add to that even many of the folks on LOU have seen info suggesting that it can be pretty tough fishing on Seneca these days especially if you don't frequently fish the lake or are familiar with it. I have tried to share info with folks from out of the area who have PM'd me etc. If the current folks on the committee are really interested in maintaining the derby they should be exploiting every possible avenue of advertising (e.g. newspapers repeatedly, TV news stations upcoming events calendars, or other public venues) and re-examining the structure of the derby prize structure to see if they can offer a change as Sean mentioned regarding the raffle process. I know it may be a bit late for major changes but some sort of "enticement" might help the situation (e..g. blind drawings at everyday for all entrants regardless of entering fish or not). I know that part of the motivation for the weigh in of fish has related to the collection of data by the DEC but continuation of the derby may be a higher priority right now.

Not sure what your exact setup is regarding placement of transducer and side it is located on etc. but probably turbulence from the prop wash is going sideways (forced by the plate itself in the down position)) in the direction of the transducer and presenting as "clutter". If you can locate tyhe transducer to the opposite side away from the direction of the prop it may help. If you can't (for example have a kicker mounter there) I think you may be stuck with the situation but you might be able to minimize the screen presentation by reducing your sensitivity and/or "clutter" setting on the unit.

Tim is right no sense jumping to conclusions a lot of times the stuff just represents more dope to these losers and they just fence the stuff.

I skirted the problem as I too am a bit superstitious. I never actually put a printed name on my boat and maintained the name of my previous boat which was named White Porcupine by a buddy busting my balls about all the rods sticking up

Just buy a sheet of the blue colored styrofoam insulation (e.g. Lowes) the same thickness and cut them to size.

You didn't offer her enough money for a bribe Ed

A year or two ago I tried the recommended stuff on my TX 44's (bending the tow arm etc.) and it sucked and I didn't think it did anything to improve the way the boards worked so I returned to the standard setup and tried slight adjustments on the weights themselves and got them to work pretty well but I don't release the boards with the releases either I manually release them on the way in and crank the screws down very tight (carefully) and set the line way back as far as it will go so it doesn't release. I think it takes some experimenting with different weight positions on the Walleye boards specifically for what you are running to get it right.

You guys bring up some really good ideas. The Veteran's Cemetary is right near by and Sampson served as both a Naval and Air Force training base in the past and currently houses the military museum what better place to hold the derby honoring veterans.... I sure hope something can be worked out but the major concern I have is in knowing how the state bureaucracy works it may take major coaxing to bring anything about especially in a timely manner and they always worry about liability issues, and fending off any expenses etc. The fact that it is a private enterprise operating out of a public facility will be a factor as well. You'd think Geneva and the Chamber would be stepping up to the plate too in this as it brings in quite a bit of $$ directly into the city itself and since it is already an existing function and they have the place already identified for the awards ceremony etc.it would be a "no brainer" to take over the administrative functions.

They will be running close together so I'd add some weight even a few large split shot about 4 or 5 ft up from the lure on the leader to the 4 color to make it a 5 and as said put some more lead line between them.

Thanks Jason.

Yeah Bob and how about when you were handlining those 40 lb kings on the Seth Greens with the 12 ft. waves running solo....don't leave out that part.

i missed the 1964-67 derbies while in the military overseas and a couple while in graduate school in the early 70's but have fished over 45 of them so it has become sort of like the "Olympics" to my son and I and I sure hope this isn't the end....especially since we have yet to win it Aside from the obvious economic input to the area the derby has been a real family building experience for a lot of us including camping out at Sampson for years, joking with the weigh-in staff, eating hotdogs, and sausages at the stands, ogling the fish in the coolers that we wish we had caught etc. It is an important Finger Lakes area tradition that we share and need to maintain somehow.

Great tip Jim Thanks.

Colin is a good guy and has worked hard to keep the derby going for a long time and at his age most folks would have given up long ago. He deserves a lot of credit. I think one of the factors involved behind the scenes is the total lack of support from the Geneva Chamber of Commerce. They are all absorbed in their glamorous building and attracting out of town people to the wineries etc. and have pretty much totally ignored the derby and haven't even supported by letting folks use the restrooms during the derby to my knowledge. I think Colin may have tired trying to deal with them. Speculation on my part not hard data.

The whole invisibility thing in my view is probably marketing hype. I do use fluoro but because it is abrasion resistant and a little stiffer and I believe it may give slightly better action to the lure. I also believe in having a bit of stretch in the line for some applications (e.g. in the case of flies) because of the instantaneous shock from kings or large fish hitting them and mono tends to be stronger at the knot at least in my experience so I tie my own flies with 50 lb. Big Game. Fluoro is more brittle and quite stiff in cold weather too and I feel that knot strength suffers there the most and that mono performs better in most cases in the cold for things like Seth Green leaders but in summer months I use fluoro. Everyone has there own take on it based on their own successes and failures so it is mainly a personal preference issue in the end.

Nice going Joe and crew....not the easiest of conditions or lake for silvers for that matter.

When the board dives point the rod tip downward towards the board and reel quickly . I've found that reeling them in fast right from the start usually prevents the diving.

It could even happen with the boat going back on the trailer wrong or even a stone in the road hitting it. They can be pretty fragile if directly struck by something. Good luck with it.

Congrats on the 3rd place finish and thanks for the report. I was wondering how things went. Congrats also to Joe as those other guys are a tough bunch of competitors