Cayuga 11/8

[chowder]

Weary of blood & gore filled late day bow expeditions, I got talked into an early Saturday am goose hunt which, after moderate success, led to a trip to the local diner for a late breakfast. After this much needed nourishment was consumed it was concluded that it was far too fine a day for hanging around the farm and that some sort of fishing trip was required. After a hasty attempt to convince my wife that my sense of responsibility had not completely disappeared we hitched up to my 16' and scooted over to Cayuga. Upon dropping the boat in I discovered that all the stuff I had taken out of the boat for some trips to Skinny had not magically put themselves back in. So, no dipsies, no flashers, no copper, no core and no chop and a clear sunny sky. Starting at noon, we worked our way from T-Falls to the Scout camp and back a couple times in different depths and picked up 2 good lakers and 2 decent salmon. Fish came on the larger size Honey bee spoon in a rainbow pattern on the rigger back 40' down 80' over 160-200, Yeck chicken wing behind a slide diver down 40' over 160' and a orange tint rapala also behind the slide diver. Surface speeds were 2.5-3.We tried running some spoons & trolling streamers w/ snap weights off the boards but they would get snatched up by little salmon so we quit running those lines after we had to clear off 5 skippers 10-13". We finished by trolling across to Myers and I have to say from the look of the screen as we approached we probably should have given that point a good going over. Oh well, nice November afternoon on the water despite the lack of preparation.

[perch predator]

Sounds like a good day to me. I'm heading down to t-falls right now to do some shore and possibly stream fishing. will give a report later, and hope to see some guys from this board down there. To warm to sit on stand.

[stinger]

...like you Chowder I put about 4 hours on my boat Saturday.....stripping out my autopilot and some of my steering. Got lil’Buddy all packed up for the winter. Will be installing new hydraulic steering and autopilot around Feb/March. After 2 boats and 17 years of service my autopilot got tired. Time for a new one. My cable steering also is starting to get worn out after 7 years of trolling with this boat and a good time to replace it.

This is not exactly the fishing report I like to make but while I was shifting stuff (rods, flasher/dodger boxes, fly boxes, plugs & spoon boxes) around the boat I kept thinking how I should have been out on the lake instead of tearing my boat apart.

Great report Chowder. Thanks. You made me jealous this morning reading it.

[Hookedup]

Same thing yesterday I sat in the back of my boat in the hot sun doing motor maint and taking out all my equipment . I should of went out and put some fish in the boat. Stinger what autopilot are you going to go with? I am going to put one in this winter to just dont know what one yet. Thanks Sean

[stinger]

Hi Sean,.......I'm pretty much sold on the Raymarine SmartPilot X-5 Sport Pilot. That unit seems to be like a modern day version of my King AP2000 autopilot. I like the idea of a helm mounted unit. No hydraulic lines & fittings to jerk around with. No rudder feedback gizmo adjustments to add to the mix. Although the X5 had some issues early this year Raymarine was quick to get it right. That is important to me. I'll be installing the X5 in my boat unless some more negative stuff develops over the winter.

There are a few posts in the last 12 months about autopilots. Do a search and you'll see that everyone has their favorite just like downriggers, sonar, GPS/Chartplotter. I like simple and this unit sounds simple. Go to Raymarines website and download the installation manual. You'll see how easy it is to install.

http://www.raymarine.com/ProductDetail. ... ODUCT=4177

Good luck on selecting a unit Sean. Love to hear what unit you finally decide on and why.

Mike

[Gezijamez]

Hi Sean,.......I'm pretty much sold on the Raymarine SmartPilot X-5 Sport Pilot. That unit seems to be like a modern day version of my King AP2000 autopilot. I like the idea of a helm mounted unit. No hydraulic lines & fittings to jerk around with. No rudder feedback gizmo adjustments to add to the mix. Although the X5 had some issues early this year Raymarine was quick to get it right. That is important to me. I'll be installing the X5 in my boat unless some more negative stuff develops over the winter.

There are a few posts in the last 12 months about autopilots. Do a search and you'll see that everyone has their favorite just like downriggers, sonar, GPS/Chartplotter. I like simple and this unit sounds simple. Go to Raymarines website and download the installation manual. You'll see how easy it is to install.

http://www.raymarine.com/ProductDetail. ... ODUCT=4177

Good luck on selecting a unit Sean. Love to hear what unit you finally decide on and why.

Mike

Might wanna check this unit out if you have hydraulic streeing

http://www.raymarine.com/ProductDetail. ... ODUCT=3011

[stinger]

Thanks Gez for the heads up on this. Checked out the link. Seams simple enough. Will consider it.