Beginner, lots of help needed

[TFRAZ]

My FIL and I are new to trolling, we have been to sodus a few times on charters, but he bought a boat and we are getting into it on our own. We have been fishing Seneca a few times because it is closer to home, but have been skunked. yesterday we fished most of the day and marked a lot of fish on the fish finder, they seemed to be anywhere from 10 to 70 feet of water with a few being deeper. We set the downriggers, using spoons, at depths of 30 and 50ft and tried to be right around 2 mph trolling speed, the radio was blowing up all morning with reports of guys catching fish. We are starting to get a little frustrated, but will continue to try. We need some help, looking forward to your tips and help,

Thank You

[Reel Doc]

Welcome to the LOU I was in your shoes last year, and with the help of this gang, manage to get fish pretty much every time out, though sometimes time of day works against us as my crew likes afternoon trips over the preferred crack of dawn on the water.

We have only fished Cayuga lake, but if you follow the posts, techniques are similar for both lakes. The Seneca fisherman can confirm where the thermocline is currently with their Depth Raider readings. Get yourself 2 wire Dipsey rigs and run at depths of anywhere from 80-110 FOW with flasher-fly setups. Then fill in the blanks where the fish are with downriggers carrying spoons. For Cayuga recently we've been finding them on riggers at 75-100 down and cover a little higher with sliding cheaters.

Scroll down the Fingerlakes section for recent reports, or go back to July/August of last year and look for posts by me and you'll get most of your answers through the replies I was given.

Good Luck,

Greg

[chowder]

Welcome to the LOU I was in your shoes last year, and with the help of this gang, manage to get fish pretty much every time out, though sometimes time of day works against us as my crew likes afternoon trips over the preferred crack of dawn on the water.

We have only fished Cayuga lake, but if you follow the posts, techniques are similar for both lakes. The Seneca fisherman can confirm where the thermocline is currently with their Depth Raider readings. Get yourself 2 wire Dipsey rigs and run at depths of anywhere from 80-110 FOW with flasher-fly setups. Then fill in the blanks where the fish are with downriggers carrying spoons. For Cayuga recently we've been finding them on riggers at 75-100 down and cover a little higher with sliding cheaters.

Scroll down the Fingerlakes section for recent reports, or go back to July/August of last year and look for posts by me and you'll get most of your answers through the replies I was given.

Good Luck,

Greg

Greg's program is spot on. I'd be happy to take a run in your ride & see if I can get you 'dialed in' on Cayuga w/ your own stuff, or you can take a spin w/ me sometime. Take Greg's advice, and get set up w/ a pair of wire dipsy diver combos b4 you put too much more time in, they have a bit of a learning curve but it's time very well worth spending. Simplest solution is to get a pair assembled by A-TOM-MIK. http://www.atommiktrollingflies.com/dip ... _combo.htm

I'd go w/ the Daiwa combo unless you just hit the in the ground...-Andy

[Reel Doc]

If Chowder offers to go for a ride, take it. He took me last year....I still need to return the favor to you, Andy....some day when you don't feel like towing the rig over we'll have to go "Tame the Lake"

Greg

[stoutner]

If you are running spoons at 30 and 50 use small 2.5" spoons in greens and reds. Also run a slider - cheater on each of those. Then run Divers out around 250 feet with flasher / fly. The diver rods must have wire or braided line. The mono is too thick and won't allow your divers to get deep enough. PM me if you ever go out and need some help. I'd be happy to tag along and bring some of my gear.

P.S. Go to Cayuga Lake...fishing is better

[jason]

if you want to catch fish in seneca ill teach you just shoot me a pm.....need to drop your rigger down anywhere from 85 to 110.......greens, sliver , blacks and blues....keep your leads tight to the ball....kick you speed up to 2.5 to 3.0 in the summer....dont worry lakers will still hit at the speed....

[blueghost1]

all Great ideas from Great Group of Guys! Just run planer boards 75' off each side through the group of perch fishermen to make more friends joke, welcome to the lOU. Just keep the programs given working and you will catch fish

[Reel Doc]

First you guys gripe about the Bassers, now you're sending an innocent guy after the perchmen.

Carp fishers BEWARE....You're Next.

[Zebedee]

LOL BlueGhost!

TFRAZ- Welcome to the board! These guys are right on and catch a lot of fish! If you are using your depth finder in "10-70 FOW" just keep in mind you are marking a variety of fish species. Just getting started I would take Chowder up on his offer. There is so much to learn that can help you be more productive.

That being said, I know sometimes it's fun discovering what works on your own...but that can be frustrating if not productive. I remember when I first started trolling, a Northern King brand spoon in a size 28 and Watermelon color pattern did pretty well for me on the fingerlakes...It was a cheap place to start.

One tip I learned from this board was to Zig-Zag from time to time and if you got a hit on your outside rigger, you need to "pick-up" your speed as that one would be going faster....If the inside then obviously the oppositte is the case. There are a lot tricks/tips like that from a great bunch of guys here. I hope the frustration turns to excitement when you are trying to figure out how to net 3 at once!

Tight Lines!

[mtboxess]

TFRAZ

Don't be afraid of constantly changing lure depths and selections. If the fish aren't biting what you are offering, offer something different. And even though you may see fish at a certain depth if they are not biting change the depth. The beauty of running cheaters is that even though you maybe fishing deeper your cheater will still be targetting the shallower depths. And like the others said wires and dipseys can give you an added dimension. Good luck and keep at it. It will come to you.