Tips for a beginner?

[excavr]

Got out yesterday for the first time on Canandaigua, second time ever trolling. Caught one laker one hour into our trip. We concentrated in 150-200 fow and tried to keep our rigs between 40-80 feet deep at 2.5-3.0 mph. We had 2 down riggers set and 2 dipsy divers out. I'm new to the board and the sport. I would really like to learn and improve before getting discouraged and give up. I've read through a lot of helpful posts already but have a couple questions from our outing yesterday. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

We were having a tough time determining how deep our down riggers were actualy set at due to the swing back on the DR line. I am using a 12 lb pancake weight and spectra fiber on the down riggers. We set the depth to 85 feet on the dial and thought we were possibly losing 10 or 15 feet due to the angle of the swing back. Is there a rule of thumb for estimating he depth lost due to swing back of the DR weight? Do I need heavier of different style weight?

We decided to quit after 2.5 hours and only one fish caught. When we pulled in the rigs we had weeds on the DR weights, dipsy divers, and spoons. I suspect the weeds were on the rigs while we were trolling and not necessarily snagged on the retrieve. Are weeds a problem when trolling at 40-80 fow? If so, is there an easy way to tell that you have weeds on your rigs without pulling everyting up to the surface?

[luv2fish]

There's been a lot of weeds and other debris floating around for a couple weeks now due to the storms and run-off. Probably snagged em while trolling, that could explain the low catch rate. Sounds like you are in the right depth range, seems to be a ton of fish in the 50-100 range. First thing I would suggest is to slow down, way down. Try 1.8-2.2 mph. Also dont know what you are running for lures, but flasher/fly on the lower rigger and diver rods is good (any kind of green has been hot). Upper rigger or sliders try suttons in size 22, 41, 31, or nk28 green/black. Keep an eye out, there are still some large logs and branches around......

[ray koziatek]

ant no weeds at 80 ft but your cables probly were loaded up and slid down on retreve..if you have a green spin dctr and green fly put it 6 ft only from ball down 80 and troll 2.2 to 2.4 mph youll get every active laker in the area try to find 100 fow and run the 80 down

[Hookedup]

If you have a sonar unit you should pick up your rigger weights. First you need to know how far off your counter is so with the boat not moving drop the balls down to 80 on the counter then see how deep they are on the sonar. If you you are off ten feet either way you want to know about it. you wont lose much from blow back at 40 to 80 with 12lbs or more. The weeds are most likley the ones you pick up from the top that are just floating around. This time of year thats what you get on the finger lakes. If you see a weed hit your line on the surface you can bet its going to work its way down to the lure. Sean

[excavr]

I was running with spoons on all 4 lines. The only fish we caught was hooked on a ladder pattern flourescent multi-orange spoon (NK maybe?).

I don't have flashers and flies in my box now, but I'll go pick up a few. I noticed the Spin Doctors come in a couple different sizes. What size flasher is appropriate for trooling for trout? Any other colors that I should have handy besides green?

So I will set the flasher 6' off the ball...how long of a leader should I use between the flasher and the fly?

Should a snubber be used on te flasher setup, or is monfiliment okay on it's own?

Thanks guys.

Matt

[711skwerlz]

The 8" Spin doctors are the most common and work well in the finger lakes. typical leads between flasher and fly are 20-24 in. green flasher /green fly; White flasher /white fly Theres alot to choose from there is a post right now peole are listing there 4 favs check it out.

My favs are mt dew, Innovator, green w/crush, lemon ice. But everyday is different.

No snubber needed. I don't use them at all and land more fish than my buddy who does. The only snubber you need is a good rod(not too stiff) and know how to use it.

If you plan on getting dipsy rigs stock up on the flashers and flies. These can get exspensive. Built my collection over the last year, one at a time. Now I lock my flasher box up and leave the rods out in the open.

Don't be afraid to experiment. Learn to tie a tournament tie fly leader.

http://www.fishdoctorcharters.com/templ ... ctor=video

I have caught alot of fish on home made flies. Big weenie and A-TOM-MIK are the best flies out there.

[W.W.IV.]

Excavr,First of all your doing well for a beginner,you only fished 2.5 hrs and you cough a fish that's grate. You have to be patient because there's days when the best of fishermen get skunked. If you aren't willing to put in the time then save your money.I think 2/3s of us on this board had to learn the hard way, no board to go to for help. Go out there and enjoy the day and if you catch fish that's a bonus.

[excavr]

Took the advice everyone offered and my new flashers and flies to Canandaigua on Saturday. We set 2 dipsy lines with flasher and flies and 2 down riggers with spoons. All lines in the water by 10:30 and caught our first laker around 12:00, second at 12:30 and the third (rainbow) at 1:30. We called it quits after 3:00. It was a nice day to be out and had just enough action to keep us wondering if we were doing things right.

Since all three fish were caught on A-Tom-Mik flies and Spin Dr. flashers I made a trip to Gander Mtn yesterday and stocked up on gear. Looking forward to this Saturday to try again.

Thanks to all for the wisdom and continued support!

Matt