Great Lakes Lure Maker

Updated report. As reported previously, fri morning we went 4 for 6, one 6.1lb landlock, all on white lures (rattling versions) at the Watkins area. (cold front moved in and others reported no fish for the day) So after fishing Fri morn with my dad and son, I headed back home to get my girlfriend ( My right hand ) and our dog Scout. We head back to Watkins to put the boat in for the fireworks. Stopped at Jim Stewart's place to deliver some lures. Jim and his family fed us dinner and some home made wine. After a few glasses, he breaks out the moonshine! Oh boy! So, needless to say sat morning I was cross eyed, and we took the morning off. Packed the boat and gear and headed to Geneva. Put the boat in at Geneva around 1 pm, and started looking for some thermocline. Checked all the good spots, found no thermocline. Finally, after motoring all over the north end, we find thermocline and a good spread of muddy water coming from Keuka inlet. Fish were everywhere! First set up in the water, a 5 leader jug rig. No sooner it was out and it's got a fish. This happened 3 times, and I couldn't get any more gear in the water. Finally we moved away from Long point long enough to get set up, and make some more passes at Long point. Every pass produced fish ( all average sized) up untill around 6 pm then it slowed down. We fished it till around 930-1000 (945 pm was our last fish logged in the diary) before we packed it in for the night. For the Sat eve troll, we had boated all our fish but 1 on a new, Fire Tiger .060 aluminum KW. This lure got hot and stayed hot for 2 days. Our last fish was on a new color we call "purple Haze". I put 3 out just before dark. (if the sky is pink and purple, I like purple in the water) So that made me feel good, I had high hopes for this one. Back to the marina to watch fireworks and have a couple glasses of wine. Before you know it, its 100 am and Les (sk8man) will be at the launch by 6! Oh Boy! 5am Sunday morning, Les arrives early. We great and make room for him and his gear and off we go. This time we set up right out of Geneva, in front of the Country club. Our plan was for Les to rig one side of the boat and I set up the other. Well, no sooner did Les put out a mag dipsy with one of his home made flies out, it fires and puts a decent rainbow in the boat. Within an hr, Les has 3 fish in the boat, and his flies are beginning to look rather appealing! I stick to my plan and get 2- 5 leader rigs out, a lead core and a thumper rig, but the bite slowed right down and we trolled all over picking up fish here and there. We end up at the north end of long point and the water that was there yesterday was gone. The wind was south, then east, then south then west. At one point, it blew up 3 ft waves and my planer board flipped with a 5 leader rig hooked to it! Glad to say we recovered it with no adverse affects. (excellent driving by my girlfriend and Les was quick to help me move stuff around to open a side for the board to come in with boat rigs still fishing) Normally, it would sweep crossed the back of the boat and take everything with it. I had to pull the planer, and rig out by hand as the planer motor wouldn't pull that much weight. The rest of our day was a lot of good conversation and a fish hear and there. (Les is a real good guy to have on your boat) Then about 3pm (same time as day before) the bite is on! Les has one on the dipsy, and one on the rig, I get one on my jug and he's taking line like a pro, then my dipsy gets a hit and so does my boat rig. 5 on at once! we wound up catching 3 and decided to pack up for the day. All in all we hooked up 15 fish, white was a hot color and the Fire Tiger KW also was hot. Les makes some really nice flies, and after yesterday, I see his flies are real producers. He consistently caught fish on his hand tied flies. We all had a blast and the fishing wasn't the best iv'e seen, but was still pretty steady and made for an excellent weekend. My girlfriend's boss got hurt wed, so our plans to fish today were cancelled because Theresa has to work today, but I needed the break! Good day to clean the boat, un pack and go thru the rigs and the gear. Our field test trip was a good one. I have high hopes for the fire tiger and the purple haze paint scheme,as well as the .060 aluminum stock but the white? It was a hot lure, but can you sell all white? Any comments would be appreciated. Would you personally buy an all white lure and fish it with confidence? The # 35 needs a new form if its gonna fish at 2.2 and faster. Has a great slow wobble, but spins once you get to 2.2 and faster. I ran 2.8 - 2.9 sog and that seemed to be the most productive speed. Gonna form some # 35's in a different forming die and see how they do. #44 runs good with its new form, (we refer to it as N44) so I hope the 35 can step up to speed. I can't say enough about what a great guy Les is. Very knowledgeable about the lake and the area. He knows his way around a boat and works well side by side with you. I would have him back on my boat any day. My girlrfriend and I really enjoyed our day with him, he's a great fisherman and holds a good conversation. Good fella to spend your day with. ( got a few of his flies to try out with the dodgers we make too! ) Looking forward to fishing with him again some day soon. Thank you, Jason

Great lakes lures. # 35's # 44's some aluminum KW's, several new colors. Report of the weekend results is in the topic I posted regarding the Field Test Trip Jason

8 leaders? Seneca has been steady for the last few days. Not setting the world on fire, but consistent. New lures being field tested. Post results tomorrow. Hoping to fish one more day, need riders for tomorrow. Leaving for home soon. Seneca is a good bet right now. My thoughts. Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Today is the start of a 3-4 day stay on the lake field test. This am we launched about 6 am. My dad showed up with no coat and shorts. (it was pretty chilly) At the dock he decided he wanted to go home! Only problem is, my son is his ride back to Elmira. So i'm either solo, or my son runs back to my house for pants and jackets. Call my girlfriend, she packs a "care package" for my dad and son, send my son for the trip, and by 7 am were fishing. 2 nice landlocks right off the bat and then it just quits. 2 hrs later a couple more landlocks. the biggest was 6.1 lbs. Oddly enough, I have some all white lures I wanted to try. I put one out today, a rattling version of the KW, all white. All our fish came on that lure today. Nap time for now, back in the water around 6pm. (lure I was hoping to be hot, not so hot!) Maybe tonight. I will try to keep this post up to date, when I can. Jason

Gerry is a good guy. Known him for a lot of years now and hes definitely a business I would promote and support. I bought terminal tackle from him back when he was in hhds. I wish he still had bead chain 3 ways!

Ok, I just checked it mon and they said by July it would be up. Thanks les. Going field testing some new lures this weekend. Tomorrow thru Mon. If you got soe time to kill, get a hold of me. I'd be glad to take you out. Fri-sat am south area. Sat eve, Sun and eve, North end. Jason. Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Yeah les, I saw years of study by Williams and Hobart. From around 1998, til recently. Most of that is sediment and pollutant study. I also know about the bouy, still waiting for it to get back in the water. Should be this weekend. I caught one of there turbitity test drops once. Bunch of PVC pipes with caps, spaced 20 ft apart. Holes drilled in the top caps. They measure debris in the water. how muddy the water is. Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Now that im thinking about it, I bet if you asked some of the "serious" fisherman on Seneca, and by that I mean people who fish it for a living and fish it more than just 10-20 trips a year, you would probably find that most of them have hung gear up on something related to that barge. Probably all of them. And from the sounds of it, you also heard the bull horn! So, if the fishing is good there, you will probably see my boat there, but I won't lose anything there. been there and done that! By the way, what did you think of the 145 pages of info, charts, graphs, and such that was the topic of this discussion? Jason. Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Read the report. 50,000 kw generators supply the power. No cable to shore. Also, when you fish over 60 days a year and things get a little boring on occasion, your curiosity can get the best of you. Im not saying I fish too close to it, bit i do know the danger zone, and i learned it from harmless, but expensive curiosity. Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Ditto, what les said here as well. Were talking back in the 80's, not recently. Although I do like to fish near it, for reasons les already explained, I know the "danger zone" and i stay away from it. Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Does it seem odd that 300 ft down its 48.9 degrees, or is the temp on the screen shot The surface temp? Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Yeah Les, that would ruin a good day of fishing for sure. I have hung stuff up on the cables as well, even had personnel from the barge tell me to move away from it. I've learned to stay away from it. As you just stated, it can be too expensive to get too close to it.

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/769227.pdf This is pretty interesting. Anyone wondering what occurs in the lake with regard to temperature and current should have a look at this info. Some of it is too technical to understand, but the charts and graphs give a lot of info. Jason

Good report. Nice looking box of fish.

Especially the kicker. Lots of interference from it. Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Yes, definitely wire. Another thing worth mentioning is different color mainline than leader. I find it easier to clear knots when I can distinguish mainline from leader. Getting to be in my mid 40's my eyes can't judge the line by diameter anymore. Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Yeah Mike, I'm guessing it is as well. The original post started in NC and was shared by my girlfriends aunt who is also in NC, so I was pretty sure it was a hoax as well. Also, It would be all over LOU and probably the news as well.

I run 5 leader rigs almost all the time. I pull at least 3, sometimes 5 rigs. I wrap my rigs on a board when finished with them. I always tie the rigs with 3 arm lengths of line between each leader, and 3 "short" arm lengths for the leaders. I've tried removable leaders, but takes too much time to get the fish up and the rig back into the water, so I prefer to handline them up and slide them back in. Ideally the leader should be just short of the mainline, by inches. I also use 25# main line and 15# leaders and sinker drop. I want to lose the sinker if it hangs and not the whole rig. As far as dacron, it can be hard to handline, I would stick to mono filament. I use 32 oz sinkers for rigs that are not at the boat and 60 oz sinkers at the boat ( they can be a bear to pull if not use to them). i've used this set up for over 30 years and have fine tuned it over those years. I am always re tieing my rigs to keep them fresh, so if you want, I can show you how I tie them if your interested. Just pm me and I can set something up with you. Jason

Sounds like Duck Weed to me.

There is a post circulating on facebook of a 260# catfish caught on Keuka Lake, near the bluff. The post states it was turned over to the DEC and it had a deer carcass in it. Anyone hear of this? The picture has the landscape cut off, but it don't look like Keuka to me. With all the phony stuff that circulates on facebook, I believe this might be a hoax. I figured someone here would know if it was true or not. Thanks, Jason