New to Trout fishing...could use some advice!

[JCfish88]

Hey Everyone,

Been reading lots of great stuff here and marveling at the awesome trout action you all have been seeing lately. Very cool!

Anyways, my dad and I have decided that we need to get in on this trout fishing while it seems to be going well. We live right near Canandaigua and have been panfishing the lake for years. While we love bringing in perch and the occasional smallmouth, we're looking to expand our horizons a little bit.

We want to give either trolling or jigging a try sometime next weekend in order to catch something big out there. We'll be launching from the North end in a standard recreational boat.

With that said, I had a couple of questions in order to help prepare for the outing.

1) Would vertically jigging with the drift be a better bet versus trolling? We have one big fish rod but the rest are pretty standard spin-reels currently rigged up with 6lb test.

2) Would it be a good idea to buy any live bait - say like the large shiners? Or should we stick to spoons and artificial stuff?

3) We don't have a fish-finder, but we do have a depth finder. Are there any general areas near the North end where we could just pick a depth and start working 60ft down or whatever?

Sorry these questions are so uniformed, but like I said, we're used to bringing a bucket of fatheads and can of worms out to 15 feet and hoping for a dozen perch and a 14" smallmouth on a good day. This is a whole new ballgame!

Thanks

[chowder]

With the way you are set up now you might want to try jigging b/c you would need to make some pretty serious purchases in order to get trolling. I have some spinning combos set up for jigging that the kids use and they are are ok( I much prefer a good baitcasting reel but that can wait till after you get a decent sonar unit). Use the closest thing you have to med heavy rod w/ fast action b/c you need to set the hook w/ authority! You will want to spool up w/ 12lb super braid (power pro, spider wire,etc) and then tie on a 7-10' 10-12lb flourocarbon leader. you will want to order some jig heads immediately b/c they are a speciality item and you do not want to be w/ out them.I get 1 1/2 oz heads for 80 FOW+ from Bill Alexander http://www.billysmtolures.com/ and the Gamma Ball Jig 4/0 BN 1 oz for 60-80 FOW from Schuberts & Laketown http://terrystackle.com/cart/index.php? ... 20a&page=7. The lighter the jig you can use the better feel you will have for the strike.You can usually get Zoom super flukes and other plastics at Wally World or Gander, you want some white, some blk/silver, and some chartreuse stuff.

W/ out a decent fish finder you will want to work an area that another reliable jigger points you to. I and others have posted some very detailed instructions for this technique, search back and check this out.I think you will find that it is much better to control the boat and make your jig drops w/ out a lot of line angle than to attempt to get to bottom and drift along trying to jig as you go. Although this technique can appear to be simple and easy to pick up, it is not quite that easy. With the right basic equipment , attention to proper technique, and some time you will pick it up and learn to have fun w/ it.

As far as trolling goes (and probably the jigging too) best thing to do is get to know some of the guys on here & get a trip on a boat that is set up to troll and check it out.There are a number of qualified guides and charter captains that also would be well worth while spending a few bucks on b/c they could probably save you what you spend 10 times over in poor choices on gear and technology! -Andy

[JCfish88]

Quick bump - Does anyone know if the North end public launch is totally closed? On the website it said it's active until "mid-October." Does that mean you can't use it at all anymore?

[excavr]

Quick bump - Does anyone know if the North end public launch is totally closed? On the website it said it's active until "mid-October." Does that mean you can't use it at all anymore?

I was told by the FLX Park Director that they will keep it open for launching as late as possible. He said they can close up the buildings in a day so they try to keep the lauch open until the channel ices up.

I'm gonna try to get out tomorrow morning. I have to keep an eye on the wind forecast though. It stinks to drive 1.5 hours only to find the lake is too rough to get out in my 17'er.

[FLXTroutman]

North end launch will be open as long as the Sucker Brook is flowing out to the lake, as far as getting out on the Can. in wind I prefer the south end, you can get out to the drop off much quicker and you can tuck in to the shoreline on either side for some windbreak.