Sk8man

Guff I really don't know the specific answer but I know over the years I have found everything from alewives, smelt, stonecats, crayfish,small sunfish, small bass, and little perch in their stomachs and I even found one big one years back with a 10 inch lake trout in it. In short, they are opportunists and will eat whatever is available wherever they happen to be depthwise or otherwise I've seen them from my boat in summer conditions (very warm water) cruising the shallows in the early AM and that is what may have happened too.....if they are hungry they will go way out of their preferred temp range.

Keith is right on the bullseye with the Walker Deeper Diver. It is solidly made and in my view dives down deeper than any other. I mainly use the 124 mm size (the largest one) and I have bumped bottom in 151 ft of water with it so it will get down there real well. The ratio is about 2:1 with it at normal trolling speeds. I too paint all mine black if they don't come that way and that goes for all my divers. In shallow water applications I use the 0 or 1 size LJ divers most of the time (less drag and don't need to go as deep). I know a lot of folks like the Chinook divers but I haven't used them because friends have had problems with the thin metal edge of them abnormally wearing their line but they cut through the water with less drag according to them and reel in easier.

You sure don't want to use the boards on Bonaparte with that traffic

Congratulations to you both on what appears to be a great day of fishing. I think Mark proves that so called "limitations" really aren't that.. they are opportunities for learning for all of us. Effective communication takes various forms and when the sincere desire is there to communicate at both ends of the process it works remarkably well it is mainly a matter of finding the method that works best. Thumbs up to both of you.

All good tips and the suggestion of small spoons is potentially critical.I would try to find a baitshop in the general area and phone them and ask what bait is actually in those lakes (and what they sell) and then try to match up spoons and sizes to whatever bait is there and at this time of the season. I know that for a longtime acid rain has been a huge problem with many lakes up there for years and it has really colored up the water a lot and that may have impact on the level of bait and trout especially as they are PH sensitive living in those lakes and the color of the water may either change or obscure the color of the lures or ability to see them from a distance. In many places there is little to no boat traffic for the fish to get used to so stealth in your approach may be more important than elsewhere too. The suggestion of planer boards is a good thing to try (e.g. Walleye in-lines) with small spoons trolled at varying speeds and distances with careful but frequent turns. If you have an electric trolling motor that might be also worth trying instead of the noise of a gas trolling motor. I know you mentioned using worm harnesses but if the lake contains rainbows or browns I wouldn't give up on that right away either. Try using both natural night crawlers and also plastic worms about 4-5 inches in blue/purplish color or the "motor oil" ones sprayed with shad scent trolled way behind the boat or off the boards. You may want to try both Colorado blades and willow leaf because they cut through the water differently and sometimes one type will work better than the other.

Might want to consider some gimbal mounts and recessed rod holders installed and mount your "board" across them that way you can take it on and off rather than a permanent mount where you don't have any convenient access to the motor area of the boat. If you go with a permanent mount (e.g board across) consider hinging it (or part of it) so you can have that access when the riggers aren't on.

If my memory serves me correctly there used to be a yellow sticker on the rod itself stating that the tension is factory set and shouldn't be messed with Mike, When I first bought my boat the marina screwed with it and messed mine up so just an FYI if it applies

Mike ... at least you had more action down that way than we did up here. After two days of trolling a total of 18 hours from Sodus to Pulteneyville and beyond with only one brown trout (only hit) to show for it I'm hoping for a better time in the Spring

And hopefully AFTER spawning

Instead of finding fault with things why not instead put a little more thought into offering constructive ideas on this....Ted is asking for feedback so just saying " it is a terrible idea" isn't really fair to him or the process or very helpful for that matter.. I think it is a good idea to have something like that but timing will be important as far as fishing it and attracting more people. For many folks who don't yet have a boat or one that they feel is the one they truly want maybe trying to expand the number of participants and lowering the cost to say $200 per person might be fruitful as contrasted with limiting the number of participants but I realize it also changes the probabilities ratio too.. Also avoiding conflicts like the National Lake Trout Derby on Seneca and the Canandaigua Derby usually held a week or so after or perhaps run it right along with the Canandaigua Derby as a separate entity but taking advantage of the number of boats and people fishing that one and there already who might want to do both at the same time. Boat traffic could be a consideration though. Another possible factor influencing things is the onset of fleas....I think you'd want to have it prior to when they start to get bad or a Fall Derby perhaps before folks start putting away their boats. If they know far enough in advance the details of the derby they could figure out their own time to put away their boat as well as for some folks provide some time to save up the entrance fee. That is a heck of a boat to take a chance on but some folks might have difficulty coming up with the entry fee set at $500 per person. I'm just thinking out loud here and haven't had much time to carefully think it through but that is my initial response.

When Ted says "we" I believe he is talking about Seager Marine in Canandaigua where he works.