Sk8man

Lively 1 -There you have it....great advice from some of the top jiggers around. If you follow that advice you'll hit the goldmine at some point in the near future. It once again points up and underscores the great value of this website...it would take (and did) folks years to figure this stuff out but everyone here is given that experience freely and generously

Like Tim I recommended Furuno yet I don't have one have a Lowrance....guess we have our reasons

Pap here is what my setup looks like....you can see how far down the kicker shaft goes and it is also out quite aways from the transom

Worth a try Pap it works fine on mine anyway.

A little tip when using these hooks as replacements - Make sure you compress the eyelet completely with pliers when you put it on the split ring otherwise it can hang upon your line or possibly come off if the opening is left large enough.

Get rid of the Stren I stopped using it years ago for the very same reason you mentioned it has lousy breaking and knot strength and the line deteriorates rapidly in the sunlight. Use 30 lb Big Game mono for a main line helps with fleas (unless they are real bad) for main line and a 20 lb Seaguar fluoro leader and you'll be in business. In Spring for brown action in close switch to a 10 or 12 lb fluoro leader. As far as the lb test issue we used 12 lb Hombre (the forerunner of Big Game and used in salt water) on Lake O for many years before the fleas showed up without breakage. If your drag is set properly and is in good condition (many aren't) you shouldn't be having line breaks if the line is good.

Thanks John and Ralph. It is kind of fun having them grab something you make so these are the only flies I use now. They are a little heavier with bigger heads than commercial fresh water flies and that is on purpose to slow things down a bit in the water because I noticed in videos of trout and salmon chasing flies behind flashers and Spinneys that even though the fish are fast swimmers they often seem to have some difficulty with lateral movement in catching the flies. John unfortunately I have no idea where to find green hooks. These red ones seem pretty sharp as I have stuck myself a couple times tying The Lake O ones are a little bigger yet As far as the pros and cons of using red hooks I guess the jury is still out. The whole color thing relating to fish is really a "mess" scientifically anyway. Much of what is in the literature is based on HUMAN vision and yet the eye structure of fish is quite different and how the heck are the fish going to report what THEY see anyway I pretty much use whatever I have on hand as far as trebles and I have a bunch of the reds so I use them...the hardness of the hooks is as important as the sharpness too. Mustad triple X's are actually the strongest and very sharp.

If you look at what the "big boys"use on the ocean it is mainly Furuno units (the high end ones especially) They are pricey but they are good and dependable. If you couple one with an Airmar transducer (exact one dependent on which unit and type of boat application you should be a "happy camper"

I've used the red ones on my home made flies and they work fine

On the Finger lakes I use 10 lb Power Pro braid with an 8 lb fluoro leader and jigs from 3/4 oz to 1.5 oz mostly but I do occasionally use some 2 oz. or more

I should also mention that for the past ten years or so I haven't even needed the EZ Steer as I have a long shaft trolling motor (25 inch shaft) which approximates my 135 Opti Max when in lowered position. All I do is point the small motor ever so slightly toward the big motor and steer with the big one (hydraulic steering) This works for most situations other than high wind or roughness and then I just use the big motor trolling into the wind (seldom need to use) and the small one with the wind.

As with most things you do need to experiment but for lakers I've had the best success doing what you first described "reeling up". It also may depend on what type of jig or spoon etc. you are using. Often letting it drop toward or to the bottom and with heavier jigs I let it free fall to the bottom and then hit hopefully stirring up things when it hits resembling some sort of commotion down there that may attract their attention. Something you didn't mention though is if you are using a fish finder (very important) On mine I can see the jig going down toward the fish and then them going after it and much like jigging in ice fishing when you see them "interested" on the flasher you mess with them to try to get them to hit and it may take some doing sometimes and their responses often tell you whether you need to try a different jig or setup. Much of the time the fish seem to want something a little "above" them if suspended. Hopefully some of the guys that are "expert jiggers" on here will offer their opinions like Pete Collin, Guff, Hermit. andTg8 and others.

Chris, Thanks for all the great posts and videos this season. No matter what the level of experience is here we all have stuff to learn about this incredible complex fishery and the sharing of quality information makes it just that much more interesting for all. For some of us the season is still in full swing and will be right until next Spring

WTG Paul Tough competitors too

There should have been a yellow sticker on the EZ steer indicating that the tension had been factory adjusted and not to mess with it. It was set so that it would hold tension yet telescope when the trolling motor is raised. I'm not sure about the Merc small motors but my OMC motor has a tension screw/bolt at the base of the motor head (top of lower unit shaft) which controls the lateral (side to side) movement of the motor head and lower unit shaft. It is normally adjusted such that it will freely swivel but under some tension so that you can steer properly with the motor if too tight it causes steering difficulties if too loose the motor won't hold position. Even with normal setting of the tension when you are underway full tilt you may see some lateral movement of the motor on the bracket especially when it is under rough conditions.

You've sure had the fish dialed in this season Dan WTG!

You said it Jim Thanks Sean, Dale, Ted and Jim I forgot to add that I didn't mark much and what I did mark was at about 40-60 entirely nothing deeper.

Nick and Theresa - A big "thanks" for sharing your Lake O fishing experiences online with us. The videos add a great added dimension - especially for those folks stuck at home or work Glad things (conditions) finally improved for you at the end.

I just replaced two of my reels with the carbon fiber tournament drags one greased and one dry and I totally agree with buckboards post. The dry one has a little more "tension" to it and that is what I was trying to achieve. They both run very smoothly and are well worth the price and I'll probably put them in dry in another dozen or so reels during the winter.

Nice going on the bows final flight Nautitroller I can't even imaging pulling a boat through the Ithaca traffic especially around places like the Commons. I LOVE Ithaca and would live there if I didn't already live here in Canandaigua but the traffic setup is the absolute worst I have ever seen here in the US or Europe for that matter.

WTG Joe and company!

I was supposed to go to Lake O this morning with Admiral Byrd early but woke up ill at 4 AM bowed out and went back to sleep. Woke up later feeling better and decided to fish Canandaigua so launched at the north end 9:45 AM and started at the water plant and trolled up the west side (south) toward middle....quite a bit of large grass pods floating. A lot of recreational boats out already and a sailboat regatta pretty much as expected. dropped in a 250 copper with spoon and two downriggers one at 45 and the other at 55 ft both with sliders Trolled south until about 12:45 and caught 3 rainbows along the way biggest about 3 lbs others about 17-18 inches. Each rainbow was caught on the same Great Lakes 44 spoon with orange tape. They were down (2) 45 and 55 respectively I had 2 Sutton 44's with the same orange tape on the other downrigger and they weren't touched. Switched out copper for wire rig with flasher/fly and trolled back north on east side and nothing. Quit and picked up my wife and daughter at the Steamboat Landing public dock and went swimming to cool off. The entire north end was more of a "zoo" than I have ever seen and later it took us over 2 hours to get in the canal to the launch because of all the boats waiting to get in and circling around in the canal....unreal! So today my boat joined the recreational boating crew but I looked a bit out of place with the rods etc. but we paid for it too waiting to get into the launch. No fish on sliders and no fleas noted at all