Sk8man

Good going Chris

WTG Kevin It made my mouth water just looking at those guys (some Panko, butter, lemon and garlic and baked in the oven....you sure have the warm water species fully dialed in Les

Craig: I scanned in his business card that he gave me. I don't think he'd mind me posting it here: Les

The first few years of copper pulling I did it without anything to protect my fingers but a nice snag in Melons Cove convinced me that I needed finger protection From then on it has been a trip to Tractor Supply or place like that to buy outdoor leather gloves. You cut the fingers off the gloves and just wear two fingers at a time (one of them on the thumb if you're fond of keeping it) on the hand holding the wire....I've been very thankful a bunch of times

You guys are just too kind.....with my $$$$ especially. I'll have to take bottles back to the redemption center just to pay for my addiction (and friends)

We just said about the same thing Mike and you are welcome to babysit the Pfleuger's anytime..... I trust ya You'd know how to put them to best use them for sure I also have a couple extra ACE spoons if you ever need them.

You can tell Mike has done this a few times.....probably burned into his memory bank as if by laser Here is a pic of the book he is talking about....hard to find now but maybe Ebay or even your local library could get it on Interlibrary Loan

In addition to the above points let's return to some basics. Keuka Lake in most parts has a primarily muck or soft bottom. This seasons storms and high water conditions have pushed a lot of leaves and debris into the lake which have probably mostly ended up on the bottom. Fishing with copper wire in the conventional ways it quite reliant on being able to discriminate bottom characteristics to be successful (that is soft bottom areas from cobble and rocks etc.). Frequently lakers hang out on or near bottom feeding on small bottom oriented food sources like fresh water sculpin, smelt, alewives, and even crustaceans (e.g. crayfish) and sometimes appear to be "resting" down there in the depths. Most copper line ( not copper rig setups on rods) methods try to get the lure such as a Twin Minnow, Pfleuger 4 or 5 or "look alikes" like the Ace spoon in both sizes, Barracuda spoons, or other heavy spoons as close to or on the bottom as possible. These spoons are specifically designed with the large hard sturdy hook placed in an upward position so that they can avoid hanging up on bottom (most of the time ) Even the flutter spoons designed specifically for this type of fishing are with the upward facing hook. If you are dragging copper at uneven speeds you will be prone to hanging up on bottom....too fast and you will spend much of the time in unproductive areas, too slow and you will hang up or snag material off the bottom. This scenario is probably what you are encountering. Try using a heavier spoon such as the Pfleuger or Ace (Fishy Business over near the State Park on Pepper Road has a few of them) and use your trolling motor to provide the right speed. You will know this speed when you feel the spoon "tick, tick ticking" the bottom and you keep taking up or letting out wire in light of what you are feeling and with changes in depth. Do not use a leader tie the spoon directly to the copper wire with sort of a loop in it to allow movement but no swivel...this will allow you to feel the spoon and bottom better. The flutter spoon approach is a little different - here you can use a strong swivel on the copper wire and then use a 4 to 8 oz bell sinker on it and then a 10 or 12 ft. 20 lb mono leader with a barrel swivel spliced in about 4 ft from the spoon. tie the spoon directly to the leader. The reason you use 20 lb test is so that if you snag bottom it will break before (and instead of the wire). Slow trolling is essential to guide your wire along the bottom properly. Here are pics of the Sutton flutter type copper spoons (compartment on right side of tackle box) and 2 of the Pfleuger spoons for an idea:

Yes Mike those lures really work great and the new spoons are also pretty unique and the fish really slam them and yesterday especially the new Fire Tiger spoon and the others that being tested - very effective and they performed well at higher speeds as well. Jason really put them through their paces out there rigs, downriggers, core, jug rigs etc. I'm a believer

The thing I'm wondering is do you technology buffs ever catch any real fish or is it just the theoretical masturbation that excites you? A lot of folks were catching fish consistently long before most or all of this electronic gear was even invented primarily because they leaned HOW to fish.

They are nice fish and it looks as though you had a great time getting them WTG

First of all a big thank you to Jason and Theresa my great hosts for the day on the M-Arlene (Great Lakes Lure Maker boat) on Seneca Lake. I'll let Jason provide the details of the fish caught etc. when he gets the opportunity as I lost count and he and Theresa religiously kept diary details Usually I get caught up with the fishing details but today it was even more importantly about the social experience factor and another great dimension of the LOU site....that of meeting and spending quality time with people you otherwise might not have connected with. Today also underscored for me the importance of both extending and accepting opportunities that come your way. I had not personally met either Jason or Theresa before this morning. But Jason had extended the generous invitation in a posting here on LOU to join them testing out some of his lures that he manufactures on the north part of Seneca Lake (which I consider my "home territory"). I met them at 6 AM at Seneca Lake State Park where they had spent the night after fishing and field testing lures yesterday. We exchanged greetings briefly They provided me with some great coffee and we were off down the canal toward the lake. We each set up our favorite 3 rod setups each on one side of the boat. I looked over his varied selection of his Great Lakes Lures the Oakie Doakie, Keuka Wobbler, Silver Soldier and other spoons he is testing out (which looked very cool by the way). I went with my selection of Suttons and Quick Strikes etc and one of my homemade flies behind an Echip flasher on my side of the boat. Early into it I caught a nice rainbow about 4-5 pounds on the Sutton and later a nice laker on the homemade fly and others as well and the morning went pretty well for me but the afternoon the Great Lakes spoons came on strong and started kicking butt with several nice lakers and as we ended our fishing we had a quadruple. It was like a Chinese fire drill. The Great lakes Lures were truly impressive. The fishing was a lot of fun, and I think it was a mutual learning experience and it seemed very "natural" fishing with new found friends who are very competent and know what they are doing. Theresa handled the boat like a pro allowing Jason and I to "do our thing" with our equipment in the back of the boat. It was totally enjoyable chatting about things of mutual interest and I had a blast. This brings me to the main point of this post. To those of you thinking about extending an offer to someone on LOU you don't necessarily know personally but would like to fish with ....do it! To those of you who might be hesitant about accepting an offer of such from someone on here....life is short...enjoy it to the fullest....take a chance on doing something different and perhaps even out of your comfort zone...it can turn out to be a wonderful experience. This one certainly was. We didn't take pics of many of the fish but these are samples of the day. Les P.S. only the rainbow had a lamprey mark a lot of clean native lakers

Great post and very nice laker At least we know there still some big hogs out there...

on Gambler's comment. I love the king fishing as much as anyone (have fished for them since 1975) and I have tremendous respect for them as fighters as I do for stripers in the salt water environment. Diversity is the spice of life and although the humble laker is not as glamorous as the king he surely has his place in the environment as do the other species (there's nothing like atlantics and steelies doing their thing in the air). One of the best things about fishing is something akin to gambling.....you never know what you are going to get when you "pull the lever" ( or in this case throw a lure int he water)....excitement and diversity it is what makes the sport fun. Think about if the other all species weren't there and it was kings ONLY out there...would it really be as exciting and as much fun LONG TERM? I doubt it. I'm as anxious as the next guy for the kings to heat up but as Brian indicated they aren't the only game in town and never should be.