Sk8man

First of all 300 ft of wire sounds pretty short if you are fishing Lake O most folks use 1,000 ft straight wire rather than a shorter section with extensive backing. As mentioned earlier ANY sectioning of your main line introduces possible weakness at any connection which affects the integrity and strength of it and this is true of ANY line situation....the fewer connections the better. When running dipseys on wire in most situations a leader is unnecessary. If you have a line counter reel your best bet is to start over with a new spool of 30 lb 7 strand or 19 strand wire with a strong solid ring high quality swivel snap and avoid potential future headaches (money well spent in my opinion). I'd put on 50-100 ft of 30 lb mono to protect the reel spool first and then the wire (I attach with a #8 Spro power swivel). When spooling the line (if you don't have a professional line spooler) it is best done as a two person job by hand with slight pressure exerted on sides the originating line spool by the second person (NO opportunity for slack). and it is important to start the wire centered on the level wind mechanism not on an angle so the wire comes in straight. ALWAYS keep wire under tension whether in use or not. The best thing to do is the first time you use the wire go out deep and attach a bare dipsey or heavy sinker to the swivel and let out several hundred feet of the wire and then reel it back in under tension so that it will sit properly and tightly on the reel spool. You should then be all set to fish

If you have any reloading equipment namely a shaker for polishing brass with walnet shell husks use that for silver brass or chrome ones (without tape or paint) and they come out real nice. If not wash them in Dawn dish detergent for grimy stuff or use silver polish to shine them and then wash them good in the Dawn detergent and water and then dry them real good

:lol: You nailed that one Brian

I haven't stream fished for a bit but I used to do a lot of it. What I ended up with after using all the commercial things and borax etc. for many years was going back to more natural "basics". After making up my sacks I used small glass jars and placed the sacks in them and then poured vegetable oil and some salt in totally filling the jars and keep them in the refrigerator (no freezer). I have used them three years afterward and they were fine. As long as they don't become exposed to air they hold up real well and when you use them the oil and salt nearly immediately wash off and you then have"natural" soft sacks.

farmerfreddy you have a PM

We stayed in 100-120 most of the time but did get out by you in 150 a couple times. We caught two lakers one over 15 lbs and three browns and most of the time fished about 90-110 over that range. We had 2 break off kings on in the AM but the afternoon everything was very dead despite marking both bait and fish (but not as heavily as in the mornng). Bob and I commented to each other out that you have a nice Grady by the way.....you were "looking good" On the way to Hughes we discussed whether to motor out to the 600's or stay in close and take our chances and we opted for the latter which may have been a mistake of sorts from some of the reports (e.g. Hookedup etc.). We'll get them next time once Bob gets his leaders retied .

We saw you out there today Plan B and you were right near us (21 ft Penn Yan) a couple times but a little deeper . Just wondering how you made out.

Worth a shot Mike. Pretty sad when jerking copper doesn't get them consistently Mike but I wouldn't resort to still fishing just yet either

For many years in the past it was just about always this way in August just the last few years where anything was going on at this time of year it may have cycled back again.

Something you may wish to consider is whether ANY particular line or line diameter is a complete solution to the flea problem. Folks may be assuming that it is their particular "magical" line or its diameter that is providing a flea proof answer when in fact it is really that the fleas vary greatly in distribution and density throughout the water column and across the lakes for that matter. It could be just the particular area of the given lake or the way your lines go through the water and the particular water temps and thermocline location as much as the line material they are composed of or their specific diameter.There are some lines that seem to do a better job of keeping the fleas off (Sea Flee, and Flea Flicker etc.) but at the height of flea density nothing is totally immune to them (including 200 lb test downrigger wire). Some things are just somewhat better than others and there are also more than one type of water fleas which may be an additional factor.

Two real good points there ..... deep fishing and strong current are sure enough very real considerations because they are important factors in fishing Lake O especially. They are also potentially valid reasons for using heavier weight there and I certainly wouldn't argue that point either. Much of the fishing I most frequently do is on the Finger Lakes and usually within 125 ft. range (max.) with downriggers so maybe a case could be made for having multiple weights if fishing very different bodies of water and especially when fishing deeper and in current. When fishing during the Spring in close I sometimes shift from 10 lb weights to 8 lbs when running just spoons or sticks or the very small size dipseys just for ease of handling. It is also worth mentioning that regarding the issue of "blowback" that it isn't only the depth accuracy/weight issue but also on turns the potential for getting tangled when running a lot of stuff close together down there or in the heavy cross currents. Thanks Iceman....I was hoping that issues like this would be brought up so that folks new to this would have things to think about before rushing out to get the 20 lb weights

I probably should have mentioned in my previous post that my son lives within a few hundred yards of the lake and he had quit fishing it already. I only fish it through the ice and during the first couple weeks of walleye season these days. It is a truly eutrophic lake now and because it is so shallow (max. about 30 ft or so) once the water heats up all the other negative forces start to operate (high weed density, illegal raw sewage input and runoff, goose, duck and cormorant droppings (= coliform),algae bloom and various other things) till it becomes nearly unfishable and often no swimming is allowed when it peaks (skin rashes and worse).

After a lot of years of trolling it seems to me that the issue of downrigger weight is really basically a personal preference issue (like many other things in fishing) for most sport fishermen. If you are driving a large heavy boat with your main power supplied by your main large engine a heavier weight may be advisable and justified but for most other common situations (e.g. boats 16-24 ft) weights heavier than 10-12 lbs are probably not truly necessary for these smaller lighter boats using an auxillary trolling motor for trolling . The total elimination of "blowback" is something akin to looking for unicorns and just about as important as far as I'm concerned. Learning to use and interpret a depth finder properly, continual monitoring of the angle of your downrigger cable, listening to the sound of the cable in the water, and tightly controlling boat speed and closely monitoring a down speed probe (if you have one) are much more important than adding considerable weight to your equipment -especially older downriggers. Because of the nature of the electronics being used often times we may not be exactly where we think our riggers are running on screen anyway (cone angle factors etc.). If interested in a presentation fish will come up for it and sometimes even right up off the bottom for a look or horizontally from good distances away ( just look at some of the videos taken of flasher/fly action where they seem to appear out of nowhere). Did the actual weight of the downrigger ball or "blowback" heavily figure in to that situation....probably not. If using a heavy weight gives you increased confidence in your presentation then go for it but in actuality downrigger weight and "blowback" may not be as critical to success as some folks seem to think. It probably is more productive to pay closer attention to ones particular tackle setups and trolling speeds than thinking a heavier downrigger weight is the "magic solution" . I know this view will probably ruffle some feathers of the big weight "die hards" ......so convince me I'm wrong in my belief

It s a personal preference but I usually go with 20-30 ft of fluoro