Sk8man

Nice going and great report. I'm sure she will remember that experience for a long long time. Great way to stay connected with kids too. Congrats to all of you

For whatever reason February has been a difficult ice fishing month for the whole time I've been doing it and on every lake I've fished. In the past I even snagged a big perch with a jig and opened up his stomach and it was filled with little fresh water shrimp. I'm not sure that is the case in all the lakes but something seems to shut off until nearly ice out when they start hammering the bait again. It has happened year after year and it is incredibly frustrating.....I also wonder about its relationship to the spawning cycle.....

Nice going and description of your "adventure"... felt like I was right there too

They only wanted minnows yesterday and mostly suspended so in the shallows I'd drop either minnows if you have them or plastic minnow look a likes down midway up from bottom or even just under the surface with your rod off to the side of hole a bit to minimize reflection. They may also be stuffed with fresh water shrimp as they often are this time of year and if so not real interested in much of anything presented. I just finished cleaning mine from yesterday and they either had nothing in their stomach or else digested minnows and all but one were female.

Yes Mike I gave it to my son Mark.....I have a bunch in the freezer already....he's going to do it up on his grill (my favorite too) Almost any fish is great when caught through the ice....

i think everyone is looking for the perch...spent all day with only a dozen keepers to show for it all jigging nothing on tip ups. All but one caught on minnows and in 23 ft. water east side, The tightly packed schools seem to be roaming around at will so good luck locating them. Covered a lot of ice and drilled a bunch of holes.... you have to really work for them or get very lucky and land on a school. Sometimes even when you aren't successful locating the perch you can luck out......on Thursday Admiral Byrd and my son and I went to the south end of Canandaigua in search of perch and despite our best efforts and leaving the area looking like a piece of Swiss cheese from our holes we didn't locate them but I did manage this rainbow through the ice which was a bit of a surprise on 2 lb test line on a little jigging rod

I think it is where the aliens spaceships enter and exit from They have reported Chinooks with three heads near there recently Sorry Big Water I couldn't resist...must have been the coffee...

I don't know how old your dad is or what kind of shape he is in but you might want to check out the south end of the lake (Woodville State launch site on Route #21) the walking isn't as brutal as the north end and access from the parking lot is easy. Most folks are looking around for the perch right now and it is anyone's guess where they are as they seem to be roaming around in tight schools.

Looks like somebody drank the beverage and the bottle

I hear you Mike. I still remember having one snap off my 20 lb leader on an old dock piling in front of Bellhurst way before they put the current dock in there and because the tension released so quickly the copper got all messed up and I spent hours fixing the mess The whole 20-30 ft area out there accounted for a lot of fish on wire....I know Mike C and Frank U would have some stories too....

Congratulations! Pete there really is "life after work"....almost 12 years into retirement and still feeling that it doesn't get any better than this

SCUBASLIM - I didn't mean to hijack your posting and I should add that the victrola you are selling looks very nice and these things are becoming quite rare now days so if someone is interested i'd grab it while I had the chance.....

Basically it is an "auto wind up" (the crank handle is used to create tension in the spring mechanism) system for trolling with copper wire and mainly for bottom oriented lake trout and used primarily (or at least historically) on the Finger Lakes. Mike's (Frogger) joke above about using it for kings is hitting at the fact that when a big fish such as a Chinook hits the wire can become an instant removal of your fingers which is why you don't see many (i.e.any) on Lake O using it Most folks using copper or monel wire use finger protection such as the thumb and forefinger/index finger cut from leather gloves. Depending on which type of lure or technique you wish to use a leader usually of mono can be used with the wire or if for example using a heavy spoon (like those mentioned in my post above) it is usually attached directly to the wire without a swivel snap. This is so that you can feel the changes in the lake bottom (cobble areas seem most productive) and lure action through the wire and any near misses from fish. You troll at relatively slow speed always letting out or taking up wire as the bottom contours and depth change. It is very important to be familiar with how your boat handles (speed-wise) and with the particular area you are fishing (to avoid hanging up on bottom).The object is to keep in close contact with or sometimes just above the bottom (e.g. flutter spoon) and the target is lakers sitting right on or just above bottom. In theory it stirs up bottom and creates a commotion down there mimicking prey. When a set of flashers (cowbells) is used at the end of the wire with a lure or alewive on a gang hook it is thought to resemble a school of fish near bottom and the lure is something "wounded" or"vulnerable" in some way trailing behind the"school"so the predator (laker) instinctively grabs it. I think that when a "peanut' is used behind this rig it is the action itself and trailing position of the peanut rather than the "look" of it that signals vulnerability to the laker. Once the fish hooks up (you lose some because of the nature of the technique no matter how good you are at it mainly because there is no "give" to the wire ) you start pulling him in on the wire and the victrola automatically winds the slack wire up on the reel which is spring loaded (or motor driven electrically (in some cases). The old timers didn't use the victrola they just coiled the wire in the bottom of the boat as they brought the fish in or rolled it up on a piece of wood or other home made "gizmo". There is a certain rhythm or cadence to pulling the wire which is impossible for me to describe....something that needs to be observed visually and doing it right makes all the difference in the world (even subtle differences count) Hope this helps... Pictured below are from left to right (note the large fixed hooks): Hopkins spoon, Barracuda Reflecto #4 Pfleuger Record #4 Pfleuger Record#5 Sutton 88 (flutter) Sutton 43 (Flutter) Leather Stocking (flutter) Ace #5 Barracuda Reflecto Crippled Alewife Johnson Silver Minnow Bottom row left to right: Twin Minnow (jointed version) Standard versions (trebles replaced with SS single) Second photo: variety of Sutton flutter spoons specifically for copper wire use:

Tileman Dan- your question was very legitimate and although this rig is a familiar sight to those of us who may have grown up with it, the victrola is not a common fishing "tool" anymore even on the Finger Lakes where it used to be a "mainstay" and is still one of the most productive and effective methods for taking lakers. I even caught the biggest smallmouth of my life accidentally (and out of season no less) on a twin minnow (7.6 lb smallie) using it. The victrola is a pretty versatile weapon for lakers because as mentioned you can pull flashers (cowbells) with a variety of tackle, troll with flutter spoons on a leader, or use heavy spoons (pfleuger 4/5, barracuda, blade runner, ace etc.) or pull the twin minnow or flatfish with it. It is a bottom-oriented technique and it takes a lot of time to fully master but there is nothing like the feeling of a big laker shaking his head at the other end of the wire and managing the net at the same time by yourself