justtracytrolling

Lack of knowledge? So the rainbows are native to this area? The trout are self sustaining? No they aren't! Furthermore if stocking more fish doesn't improve the fishing then simply the fishery isn't viable for rainbows. Catch rates don't mean that much as fisheries change wildly and the anglers and the DEC typically use the exact same methods year after year. Not every lake has to be a trout lake and furthermore the trout DON'T flourish in every lake. The walleye, bass, and perch are actually flourishing and for every trout troller there are 10 warm water guys. The DEC is not serving the majority of anglers by pushing a trout only agenda on skaneateles.

He was the overtaking boat....and I was anchored

I had a blow boater tell me I had to get out of his way when i wasn't even under power! He ended up learning three things that day...1 sailboats don't always have the right away and 2 that angler harassment is a ticketable offense. 3 there was an eco on the water that day and I have his number...

And this is why we need boater safety...too many people think they know but actually don't....

But if the sailboat is the overtaking vessel he must give way. Overtaking...rule 13

Spot on jimmac!! My friends and family have all taken it. I've gotten to the point that I assume that every boat I see isnt going to follow the most basic or boating laws, and it has saved my sanity and a lot of gear. There have been a few incidents recently on Otisco and none of them should have been possible if the boater had a clue and a conscience.

Yes you will have to take the course...your age determines the deadline for you to take the course. Nobody should be grandfathered...just because someone owns a boat doesn't mean they know boater safety.

The reason trout numbers cycle up and down is because the trout aren't native and aren't self sustaining. Furthermore, exactly what flawed method did the DEC use to come to the conclusion that trout numbers are actually down? Down from what? Pretty easy fix either way...stock some trout!

I had to take it to jet ski even though Ive taken all the guiding classes so I'd say EVERYONE will have to...it's no big deal to do it online.

Awesome!

That walleye looks like its thicker than the Lakers. The big Lakers look like they have an oversized head they are so skinny.

Awesome!!!!! I hope the walleye continue to flourish! I'm itching to get over there to target them. Maybe you weren't targeting them or perhaps wish they weren't there, but sounds like the walleye made the trip! Out of curiosity why do you feel you can't have both warm and cold water species. You already have better perch and bass than trout. They haven't stocked owasco in over a decade and walleye continue on and the trout fishing is good as well. Don't drink all the Kool aid that is served in finger lakes...the evil walleye isn't all that scary...just delicious!!!!

The water is definitely green, but it's not on the surface and stagnant it goes down 20+feet and it's normal. Take a water bottle and fill it and it's clear. Weeds are holding a lot of tigers because they aren't showing up much offshore yet. If aggressive tactics don't produce over the weeds don't hesitate to slow way down letting fall into the holes in the weeds or vice versa. Jerk trolling at up to 4 mph over the weeds or outside of hard weedlines also produces on tough days this time of year. If you catch me in the morning on the dock or let me know when you're coming I can give you some specific options.

We always have a healthy algae bloom all summer. It's not a negative thing at all. We have had a few days where water quality was worse than normal, but I haven't seen any days that fishing was impacted much. The biggest factor for good summer trolling is low oxygen levels. If oxygen levels drop it positions most of the fish above the themocline and it's lights out. Unfortunately that isn't the case this year, in fact it we have had water going over the dam all summer. Massive weed cutting has prevented dying exposed matted areas of weeds, and therefore there hasn't been decomposing weeds depleting the oxygen from the cold water. The algae bloom will be here till after labor day. Otisco has never had blue green (toxic) algae or heavy metals or any pollution incidents. I can't name another lake where that is true.

Anybody know of a planer board release that will hold micro braid...4lb dia? Obviously the application isn't Salmon and adding a piece of mono in won't work as setbacks change dramatically lure to lure and day to day.

The bigger browns I'm catching are no where near temp...they should be 35 feet down give or take if I was using a probe and they have been coming on my shallowest stuff at 17-20 in water that's in the 70s! I believe the fish you mark are the ones on the edge of the cone also so if your graph says the mark is at say 30 the fish is actually several feet shallower and the fish definitely go down and out from under your boat before you get your transducer over em. A great way to see this is to run one graph off your trolling motor and another unit at the stern and watch the difference with the transducers just 20 feet apart. Fish definitely don't like having a boat go over them.

Staying committed to fishing higher in the column than your probe says or higher than your graph says is good advice for more than bows on Owasco. Oftentimes the most active fish are way out of temp and it's not easy to mark boat shy fish high in the column. I seem to remember a day Kevin came over to fish an excellent walleye bite over here and I told him not to get caught up fishing below 20 feet no matter what your graph says. I'll let him tell his side...I did however throw 1 lure of a big spread down where he was just in case....my rods never stopped firing till we had a 4 man ticket except 1 rod...it got just 1 bite...a 12lber. I wouldn't of caught it if I wasn't worried he'd out fish me deep so I kept em honest, and unless you like getting outfished you pull out all the stops to keep up with Kevin. We both learned something that morning!!! In fairness to Kevin he had 3 rods to work with and I ran 10 instead of my normal 9. Point is no matter how good you are it's easy to fall in love with your graph and what you think you know when targeting difficult species! Committing to a zone, your spread, and patience.....

Nice work bud! At least bass are edible....unlike trout! Of course nothing really compares to the evil finger lakes walleye.... tasty, and actually a real reel challenge!

Nice work!

Walleye are pretty tough so far this summer but I'm getting a fish or 2...went 1 for 3 on eyes this morning before the storm. All big fish...the 1 we landed was over 8lbs.