Sk8man

I know this sounds kinda weird but don't be afraid to crank up the speed for brief periods to 3 or more. When my buddy and I were out a couple weeks ago in his boat I think the lowest we went was about 2.8 and we were connecting. I even had one bang the wire rig with a dipsey and flasher on it (never run that kind of stuff that fast on my boat on the Fingers ..so I was surprised but it does work). Les The rainbows also seemed to like speed at turns too. The rainbow action seemed to be south of German Brothers the last couple times out too.

Hey Vlad the scenery there is gorgeous, the ladies pretty but those fish were pretty small where are the big ones? Thanks.

Thanks for the report. Let's hope things pick up...the rainbow action seems to be south. I haven' t totally given up on things and had some pretty good marks on the finder last time so everyhting didn't go in that die off anyway. Keep at it and good luck! Les

:smile: Your note sounded as though you had just got your boat and were totally new at it....Keep at it with the camera....alot more interesting than fish pics

As with many things in life "moderation" can be a useful concept to keep in mind. Start out with what you feel comfortable with and gradually increase things as you get more and more comfortable. If you have a new or different boat and the set up is brand new too you'd be asking for a mess if you try everything all at once. what's the rush enjoy yourself without "trying to keep up with the Jones' at this point. It will all "happen" as you go along anyway. I 'd start with two downriggers by themselves then maybe try one dipsey to see how it runs and the separation from the downrigger etc. Then GRADUALLY add more setups. I know it sounds attractive on here to run 18 lines etc. at once but there is a lot more to running multiple equipment than you might think and it takes a lot of trial and error practice and time on the water with it to get it right and just reading things won't do it either....it's one of those things you have to actually experience to "get it right".

I guess it kinda like the old boat issue "one size doesn't really fit them all"

Yes I think you are right....differences in the varieties of them is a factor.

The recommended line for them is #500 lb test. My question would be:"if they are pulling that hard how appropriate are they for a smaller boat running other equipment as well"? Even a large king can slowdown small boats.....I'm just wondering since they are aimed in their ad at charter boats?

We did see some weeds near shore at Sampson when we were there the other day on the surface but the way the wind was blowing the probably washed up on shore by the end of the day for sure There was also a mudline outabout 150 ft from shore as well because of the wave action. It seems like the fleas seem to cycle a bit in these lakes. or maybe they are just in different stretches of the water column than where I happened to fish at the time but last time out on Canandaigua I didn't encounter any at all. In any even they are a pain in the a.. whenever encountered anywhere at any time

A slider is a mono leader about 7 or 8 ft. long (shorter than your rod) that acts as a second line with a lure on it attached to your main line with a lure on it. It has a snap swivel at both ends with your "other" lure at one end of it.You first run your main line iut to the desired length (say 30 ft) and let the lure down about 15 ft. and then attach the non-lure end of the slider (the other swivel snap) to the main line and let it down into the water. You then let both lines down to the depth you prefer (say 50 ft). The slider will seek out the belly of the slack in your mainline and for the most part stay there but at change of speeds and turns it can move up or down (hence the name"slider") It gives a lot of action to the lure and most of the salmonid family like it even at higher speeds. If or when a fish hits the slider instead of the lure on the mainline and is fighting he releases the main line from the release and the slider slides down to the other lure but the swivel is too small to go over it so it just stays there. When you bring in the fish the importance of length of the slider becomes apparent.....you need it shorter than your rod so you can net the fish. It is possible to use a longer leader but then you have to pretty much "hand line" the fish once you reach the main line lure. I hope this helps.... I tried to be as specific as I can. It is much easier to be shown I think.

A couple things come to mind....the speed at which you are trolling and how you are running your equipment. i don't know whether you have a water temp meter of any type but it would be helpful to find out where the thermocline .is located at right now (point in the water column where the water changes greatest between consecutive depths) . This is not the scientific definition but hopefully it works for you (can change even in the course of a day some places but can also be stable for a bit too from one location to another or one day to next). Lake trout are going to be preferring something like 42-48 degrees while the landlocks will prefer 50 to 56 degrees or so (these are rough mid ranges not the low or highs they are found in). This suggests that you fish for each species differently, and also that you can try fishing for each species exclusively or both at the same time but with different tactics because they will probably be located in different "layers" of the water column. My suggestion is to fish exclusively for each at first (either lakers or the landlocks) until you start connecting with them fairly consistently. They each for the most part respond to different speed ranges and tactics as well as the temps differences. Hopefully you have something to somewhat accurately gauge your speed GPS or speed impeller on your fish finder. Lets look at the lakers first: Lakers are often "bottom huggers" but also suspend in deeper water. Lake George is somewhat similar to the Finger Lakes (rather than Lake Ontario) so many of the things that work real well in the FL's will work there. Try to find bait suspended or bottom-oriented and fish near it. Look for them on the fish finder to be deep in the water column and/or on bottom and compare your temp readings of the water column with where the preferred temp range either meets or is just above the bottom. There are many versions and sizes of cowbells and I'm not sure what (or how you are running them) but with downriggers you need to get near but not on the bottom and you need to know the bottom real well where you are fishing too to avoid hanging up your weight. A way to minimize this is to start in a little shallower from where you are marking the fish and fish from shallower to deeper gradually with the ball say a couple or 5 ft. off bottom and gradually keep lowering the weight as you go out deeper. This is assuming that you are running your cowbells close to the weight (say 10 ft or less). If you are using something like the flatfish behind it or something that dives erratically run a little higher off bottom than you would for say a flutter spoon to avoid hang ups. My strong suggestion is to order some "peanuts or wobble trolls or spin n glows" to use behind cowbells and run them 18 inches to 24inches behind the cowbells. Run the cowbells at about 1.8 or 9 to 2.3 or so. It can change depending whether going across current or against it....Don't fish WITH the current if possible. Frequently (and carefully) raise or lower your downrigger just slightly (say 5 ft.at most) and travel in "s" patterns with turns. If you are in a smaller boat and it is very calm try rocking the boat back and forth a little in case something is following and may hit because of the change in action. Landlocks: Again look at the temperature profile. Look around at the depths suggested by the preferred temps.Try to find bait and if possible suspended or bottom oriented fish around it (the preferred temp and/or bait). Try a combination spoons (e.g. Stingers Small Evil Eyes, Sutton 22's or 44's or 8's or 11's and stickbaits (e.g. Rapala J-9, Small to medium Yozuri's, Renegades, or Rebels etc. ) Especially with the spoons - use sliders about 7 or 8 ft long (depending on rod length) with smaller and light spoons about 12 or 15 ft from your main lure) (you want them "whipping" around near the prop wash area down).I run stickbaits back from 50-100ft and spoons from 15-75 ft back depending on conditions and the particular spoon (remember though more slack whenthey are run further bach and the first thing you may see is a jumping fish way in back of the boat . If you run sliders with stickbaits leave more room between them say 20ft.) Most of the time the landlocks will be roaming around near bait or structure such as points or stream mouths. They often respond real well to speed of lures (although Sutton's are not known for doing well at speed the smaller ones mentioned do OK) so I'd say start at 2.0 and go up to 3.0 or so. They have even been known to hit at much higher speeds but those aren't the lures for it. They often hit at a change of speed and on fairly radical turns. I sometimes go into idle for a second or two and then give it some gas and make a bunch of turns and this works for rainbows as well. I know other folks will perhaps have very different ideas and things that work but over the years this has been my BASIC approach and it has worked quite well. Les

Yes ditto on the above and the wire is easier to get rid of them with...cuts through them ( Just slide them down in a bunch and pull and it cuts through them. The worst part is getting the smell of your hands afterward

Thanks for the report Ed. Yesterday Justin and I were at Sampson intending to go real early but it just wasn't worth it with the wind and then it kept getting worse as we waited to see what it would do. Hopefully we'll get another chance sometime. At least I picked up some good tips on the walleyes Les

For mine the 2/0 on the Nk28's and 3/0 on mags - single Mustad stainless steel 3x or 5x Siwash Salmon hooks work fine.

The 309's are a heck of a lot better drag and higher capacity etc. than the 209's and the Penn 320GTI's are are not bad reels with an improved drag over the other two. Do yourself a favor though and ANY Penn trolling reel you use get power handles for them from Penn or an after market reseller. They will make your life easier on the retrieve cycle. I'd also put at least 50ft or so of 30 lb mono on the spool first to reduce slippage and binding.

John is right on target (as usual) and there have been a lot of previous posts regarding many aspects of using braid and wire....I'd check them out first then if there are further questions.... they'd go here.

I'm willing to bet that it was "staged". That guy is an ego maniac and is an old school KGB dude and has the "little man syndrome" thinking the macho image and puffing himself up is proof that he is "macho man" and is the way to impress the world (how many other world leaders take their shirts off and flex their muscles for pics?