Sk8man

Just a little side note on the flea issue - A lot of stock is being placed on line DIAMETER or even texture/material but when the fleas are really bad in an area of the lake not just east/west etc. but at certain depths in the water column they will adhere to nearly anything regardless of diameter especially things vertical in the water. The 150 or 200 lb downrigger cable in my previous post above is a good example of this. Most folks get only intermittent variations of concentrations for a variety of reasons. What I'm saying is don't be fooled into thinking that just because something is a given diameter or texture and may work when the fleas are at some level doesn't mean that it will always work that way. I do believe though that they are easier to remove from wire than braid in thick concentrations after experiencing them in both situations.

The slips at Sampson weren't quite ready as of this morning

Could be named "Gumby " lure

The bottom line is that you can't take it with you so enjoy it while you can...life is short... make the most of it....in the end we are all "renters" of what we have.

If we based our concept of normalcy on how much fishing gear we have or compared it's cost with the price offish per pound we'd all be locked up

I didn't install the lights that go with them but here it is on the trailer

:yes:

Yes and Yes The wire runs better with them in my estimation but when the fleas are bad they will stick to just about anything including downrigger cables

Lively 1 Your question is a great one. I'm hoping some of the very capable laker jiggers on here will offer some clarity to this issue. I mainly jig for perch, gills, walleye, and the occasional "accidental" trout or pickerel/perch and usually with 2-4 lb line. Fishing in relatively shallow water most of the time I have various lb test/types of line on my jigging reels depending on conditions. Jigging for trout in deep water requires a quite different mindset and equipment selection. When I used to specifically fish for lakers on Skaneateles and Owasco way back when I used standard Berkley Trilene mono usually 8 to 10 lb test on stiff jigging rods or even on what was considered an "ultralight" rod back then. My current jigging setups for trout are quite different I use either 24-30 inch ice jigging rods (medium stiffness) with ultralight reels with good drags spooled with 8-10 lb Seguar fluoro or a Shimano Bantam bait casting reel on a short graphite rod spooled with 10 lb Power Pro and an 8 lb. Fluoro leader. I know many of the laker jigging experts will have other effective options. The only thing I've noticed with the braid is that it "floats" onthe water and may not get down quite as quickly but using heavier jigs and spoons this may not matter. What does matter is the ability to feel light hits etc. so having line that doesn't stretch and a rod that is stiff enough but still sensitive (graphite in my case). It should be noted however that graphite can get quite brittle in the cold so you can't "max it out " like you might in warmer weather and therefore have to be a little more careful (especially with a big heavy fish)

Thanks for the reminder Bigfoot. I haven't been to one of those in awhile but it is both fun and enlightening. There have been years when I've thought to myself "where are some those big mamas now" when I was trolling in the Spriing

Looks like Hank beat me to it this time.....I must be slowing up That particular one and the one with an orange diagonal lightning stripe and black with silver stripe are deadly for rainbows and landlocks. It is good that Eppinger is still making them. Definitely one of my favorite if not my ultimate favorite spoons. I know others have said that they shouldn't be run at fast speeds but some of the best fish I've gotten on them (i.e. big) have been when they were revolving around (watch your rod tip and it pulsates) They also make a smaller one that works incredibly and I only have one (black with orange stripe) that has teeth marks all over it. Here are a few other colors that work

jusgrinnin - that Optimax should troll down even without a trolling plate. Top end on my 135 Opti on my Whaler was 56 mph new now about 52 or so loaded down yet I can troll at about 1.6 or so if I need to but mainly I use my 9.9 for trolling. It is especially nice to be able to use the Opti max when going against the wind when it is a bit much for the 9.9.

I agree - but then again all these lakes are VERY different than when I was a kid. I fished Cold Brook from the time I was in High School, many of the streams on Seneca with no names and the named ones, and Naples Creek and smelted in many of them as well. All that has changed as well as the lakes. Back then there were small perch, bass, sunfish, and a multitude of minnows right next to shore and around the docks and marinas all through the season in each of these lakes. Now you are lucky to spot ANYTHING in those areas other than brief stays during or around the spawning cycle for the gills, or perch in some marinas. One of the things that has happened and is still happening is that the Zebras and Quaggas have strained out most or all the zooplankton and phytoplankton that the smaller fish depend on and this has severely disrupted the food chain above it. Lakers are in some ways more adaptive than some of the other species in that they will eat almost anything and when grown can compete with pike and pickerel and other trout for available food sources. I have found all sorts of things in their stomachs over time sunfish, perch, other trout, baby pike or pickerel etc. as well as a small rusted flutter spoon. The rainbows, and landlocks can't out compete them and may become "history" as soon as they enter the lakes from the streams and my hunch is that the browns don't get a chance to come up to size before they become a food source probably right after stocking when they hang around the stocking sites etc.. The traditional spawning streams like Cold Brook and Catherine's have had major environmental and structural problems, flooding and other factors inhibiting spawning and continued habitation of the rainbows. All these things taken together have devastated the fishery as it was once known and the continued stocking of lakers which live a much longer life span and which may be more "adaptive" to these particular environments than the other trout has added significantly to the problem in my opinion. When the DEC diary results are looked at for Seneca, Keuka and Canandaigua it becomes apparent that the trout fishery in each of these lakes "tanked" around the mid to late nineties and haven't recovered to this point and I believe this is about the time the Zebras etc. were detected living in these bodies of water. The period leading up to it in the mid to late eighties through mid nineties were pretty stellar trout fishing.

Yes Keith I hope a ot of the lakers are taken out of there. DEC is still thinking over whether to keep stocking browns and landlocks in there because of the poorcatch results and they attribute a good part of it to too many lakers there, I sure hope they don't stop stocking. There have also been significant problems with Cold Brook spawning for the rainbows according to the diary summary.