Serious novice seeking advice!

[genEus]

Hello everyone,

I apologize in advance for this post and expect to be somewhat reprimanded for asking this question, when I should just build up my knowledge and experience by trying out things and reading.

Here's my quick background story... My whole life father-son bonding time involved fishing. It was never anything we took too seriously, although we have landed quite a few big carp and catfish while still-fishing on Irondequoit Bay with corn and balled up bread in the late 1990's. We'd never owned a boat and that was our excuse for never "really" getting into fishing.

Skip to today. Finally, our dream came true when I acquired a 16' aluminum fishing boat (nothing fancy) with a 9.9hp outboard. In a matter of a couple weeks we started absorbing all that we possibly can on fishing, because we NEED to catch big fish. (We have a boat and we feel that now we have absolutely NO excuse not to.) Ha ha. We've taken it out already once on Hemlock Lake, to "test out the waters" so to speak, and ended up catching a smallmouth and some other small fish I couldn't identify, with a worm, and a rooster tail, respectively.

My simple question is... given what we have TODAY, what do we need to at least get us closer to the chance to catch some trout, salmon, or other big fish.

We have:

2 Shakespeare medium action spinning rod/reel combos with 12lb mono line

1 Daiwa medium spinning rod/reel combo with 12lb mono

1 Daiwa light spinning rod/reel combo with 6lb mono

I acquired a variety of Rapala plugs, several little cleos of various sizes, bunch of soft plastics, a huge variety of sinkers, swivels, 3-way swivels, and so on and so forth. What we don't have are planers, dipsy divers, downriggers (all the things I learned about in the last 3 days of reading up on this instead of working!)...

Question is, DO we have a chance, and how to approach it? What should our plan of attack be? Is there any hope here without using the other "higher end" equipment I mentioned above?

I'm starting to read a couple books on trolling as well, so hopefully I'll get "real smart" soon, but looking for some positive comments here on what a good start would be to getting into the sport at a level higher than just casting off shore with a worm and a bobber, if anyone's willing.

Thanks all!

[salmonite]

You are doing great things with trying to read as much as possible but one thing I did is save a little coin and go out with a charter for 4 hrs. You could learn more in 4 hrs from a great captain in 4 hrs than 50 hrs reading in a book..

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[genEus]

You are doing great things with trying to read as much as possible but one thing I did is save a little coin and go out with a charter for 4 hrs. You could learn more in 4 hrs from a great captain in 4 hrs than 50 hrs reading in a book..

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Wow, that is *exactly* what I was thinking about for a while now so it's funny you should mention that... I was also thinking of trying to find an experienced angler and pay him for a couple hours to fish off my boat, but didn't know how the logistics of that would go and where to find one. Perhaps on this forum?

[mr 580]

With a 16 footer and a 9.9 you are starting where many of us did on smaller waters. With what you have for equipment Hemlock and Honeoye are great places to start and get some experience. If you want to try the Great Lakes, either take a charter (money well spent) or make friends with someone with a boat setup to troll big water. If you think you have a lot of tackle now wait and see what a pro has. Pretty big investment to "get real smart" in this game. Nice to see you have interest, but it's a pretty long learning curve. Many of us have been doing this for 20 or 30 years. Make some friends, keep learning and don't try to jump too far too fast. Reading books is great but time on the water is the best teacher. Good luck with it.

[crumcake1223]

im so sorry... your caught. you do know that boat stands for break out another thousand right. i havent been doing this for 20 years yet but i know im well on my way. i say this because that is just where i started 3 years ago when i came home from the army and bought a 12ft row boat ith a 7hp sears with my 2 6ft spinnong rods and my hand ful of lures. the only other thing i did buy where in line planer boards and a small portable fish finder. yes it seams like a investment but this way you can in crease the distance between your lines for when a brown or better takes you for a ride. and it will happen trust me i trolled all over in that boat out of bear harbor from ginna power plant to hungerferd up to 100ft of water. much past that you would have to be crazzyer than i am and yes you do have to keep a very keen eye on the weather, but yes i took that out into the big pond. i too took a charter with some buddies everyone piched in, we learned tons and had such a great time.

now the bad news sence then a few boats later and meny meny meny did i say meny cause theres a lot of freakin lures,paddles,flashers,divers and every thing else you can think of to include the shower and ****er.

small swivels and distance behind the boat help more than you might think, water tempture is big.

im not sure how others may feel but i start with my lure 120 ft back and as far away from the boat to the side with out tangling into the others, bright colors on dark days and dark on bright days

you can go out and get all the other things you want but just rember to fish what you can afford. draw a line somewhere and stay with it. when i said boat stands for bust out another thousand it could get that bad if you let it.

6# on the the light rod might ant to be bumped up to more like 10# and the rod might not handle it to well. this year has been an odd one to say the least but i have been hitting 10lb fish on the norm. great luck and carful out there that big pond can get nasty faster than you think

[Chas0218]

Planers are a good investment for any boat. I prefer the mast with larger boards but on a smaller boat the in-lines might be easier. The yellow off-shore boards work great for pulling heavy lures and leadcore. I had a friend with a 16' starcraft (row boat) and 9.9 4-stroke that we caught a ton of walleye out of. I myself have just started back up fishing for trout mostly because my father used too and he is "too busy" to get his boat out so we pile on mine and troll for hours on end.

Start off buying a few boards and look into the cabelas depth master rods and reels Whuppin stick combo Depthmaster Combo. They are cheap but are great for beginners. Just run some walmart big game 30# mono and you are in business. The line counters work great for figuring out how deep you want to run. These are the boards I was refering too they can also be purchased at Dick's sporting goods In-line Planer boards. These style boards clip right on the line.

[skipper19]

Given what ya got for today, Safety would be #1 with a small boat and motor. You can go on the big lake but be very mindful of the weather. I would say if you watch the weather patterns very carefully and chose the right time when a predictable pattern has set up for a few days with little or no wind no impending fronts of any kind, and you would be safe to go a couple miles from shore. Be sure to get at least a handheld VHF radio so if you need assistance there will be a couple boats nearby usually to help. Keep in mind the 9.9 is not a speedy motor so keep an eye on the horizon for bad weather. Even some large boat wakes can get a little exciting.

Also you mentioned that you are using spinning equipment. You can use spinning reels but they are not designed well for deep water trolling. I have used those reels for dipsey diver presentations but you are limited to using mono fishing line only, and the drags are a little funky for the use of hard pulling divers. next is the rod should be stiff enough to pull the divers. You would be best to upgrade to diver rods and a level wind WITH A COUNTER for the lake and use the dipsy divers for the most economical deep water salmon fishing setup. Get some good clamp on rod holders and use wire on the level winds to keep fleas off. you could use braid but when the fleas are out then it is useless. Early morning forays are best with the small boat. Wind usually low and lake flat, sun low and the fish are quite often in close UNDER 150 FT OF WATER....(FISH FINDER DEPTH FINDER CRITICAL IF YOU WANT T BE ACURATE WITH THE DIPSY) first thing of the morning.

If you change your rod setups to pull dipsey and get the rod holders, you will be all set and as cheap as it can get to get started for the big fish.

Can't stress enough about the safety of the first few lines of this post though, and you should be able to have some chance at the salmon.

Mark

[genEus]

Thanks for the great advice, everyone! I'm really glad for myself that I seem to be following in line with what people are suggesting in here. After doing some research yesterday and finally finding an awesome page on dipsy divers that pretty much explained them in as much detail as one could wish (http://www.landbigfish.com/articles/default.cfm?ID=1026), I am planning on getting a Daiwa Heartland stick and an Okuma Magda DX30 today at Gander Mtn, together with a couple dipsy divers, and see how things go this weekend at Canadice!

On the topic of the Big O and safety... I am not in a hurry to get out there in a 16' aluminum boat. Even with a little bit of a wind on Hemlock, things got a little too shaky for our comfort. But, when the Finger Lakes offer such amazing fishing opportunities, I think we'll be all right for quite a while.

[Chas0218]

Thanks for the great advice, everyone! I'm really glad for myself that I seem to be following in line with what people are suggesting in here. After doing some research yesterday and finally finding an awesome page on dipsy divers that pretty much explained them in as much detail as one could wish (http://www.landbigfish.com/articles/default.cfm?ID=1026), I am planning on getting a Daiwa Heartland stick and an Okuma Magda DX30 today at Gander Mtn, together with a couple dipsy divers, and see how things go this weekend at Canadice!

On the topic of the Big O and safety... I am not in a hurry to get out there in a 16' aluminum boat. Even with a little bit of a wind on Hemlock, things got a little too shaky for our comfort. But, when the Finger Lakes offer such amazing fishing opportunities, I think we'll be all right for quite a while.

There is a Fingerlakes section on this site. You should give it a look to get some tips and tricks for the area your planning to fish. What makes this sport difficult is every body of water is different and different techniques are needed. Granted there are similarities but different bodies of water have differently acting fish. If you can try to start out with cheaper (but quality) equipment that will save you a bundle in the end and some of the stuff can be homemade (check out the tackle and techniques section.)

[Mortigan]

I'd recommend the Okuma Convector CV-30D reel instead. We have both on the boat and the Convector series is much better made. Gander lists it at $79.99 but they offer a price match - and Walmart lists it for $66.97. Bring a $10 off $50 Dick's Sporting Goods coupon and they'll take that too. Hey, I'm Scottish - we pride ourselves on frugality

Oh - check out the Walker Deeper Divers and the Slide Divers while you're there. The Dipsy Diver quality sounds pretty inconsistant these days (per other threads on LOU).

Good luck.

[bandrus1]

best price I have seen http://www.northwoodsoutlet.com/oscomme ... 38_130_443

[Mortigan]

I agree - but he's talking about using it this weekend.

[bandrus1]

I agree - but he's talking about using it this weekend.

ahh got ya sorry bout that.... I agree those are the best on the market for the money

[genEus]

best price I have seen http://www.northwoodsoutlet.com/oscomme ... 38_130_443

Same price as WalMart after shipping..

Thanks for the advice - a difference in $20 is not a big deal I guess if the quality is that much better.

What about those Cabela's setups that Chas0218 mentioned above? Seems like an awesome deal and they get great reviews. Also, does WalMart carry a combo worth looking into?

Another question - there's this spiral bound book on fishing NY or something like that which has depth charts and fishing spots; it's like $20 at WalMart - is that worth getting I assume? I couldn't find it anywhere else online...

Thanks!

[Mortigan]

I haven't tried Cabela's reel but my wire Convector is on one of their Depthmaster poles. I bought a Cabela's trolling combo because I had a gift card, athough at the time, I could have done slightly better thru FishUSA. Walmart doesn't offer a combo as such, but you can order a Heartland rod through them as well.

If you're talking about this: http://www.sportsmansconnection.com/new ... s/western/ it's ok but not very comprehensive. There's usually a very superficial map of each water body and a bit of information. Not a waste of money but take a close look first. I find this works pretty well: http://marine.geogarage.com/routes

[ifishy]

similar situation I am in now with a 14' aluminum great way to learn is to fish all the fingerlakes. lots of fish and your closer to shore most of the time so you can get out of weather in a hurry. I only go on lake O in the spring for browns and fall for kings because thats when I can fish close to shore. I grew up fishing lake O with my dad on his 24' trophy and the wind and waves could come up in an aweful hurry and make even a boat like that feel like an iffy propsition and with the small motor sometimes you cant even push through it well. That said the fingers are a great fishery and a lot of the leasons learned can be applied to Lake O I would recomend looking for a lead core rig or two best investment I have made so far. got the wire diver late last year and havent had much chance to use it yet so we'll see how it compairs but I have high hopes. the three rod rule definatly opens things up for the small boat two.

[Mortigan]

We're in an 18' and the weather's turned suddenly & sent us scurrying for shore a couple times. The first piece of equipment we added last season was a VHF radio and antenna.

[BAZOOKAJOE]

My opinion...buy a bigger boat or stick to the smaller lakes.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[genEus]

Got an 8'6" Daiwa Heartland rod but Gander Mtn didn't have the Convector reels. I got the Magda Dx 30 for $39.99. I've read a lot of good reviews on them and I think I'll quickly want to buy another rod/reel set anyways, so I'll get the Convector then as the second one? I just feel like I don't want to lose a weekend by waiting for the Convector one to get ordered. Add a couple Dipsy Divers and snubs, Stinger spoons, a spin doctor, rod holder, 30lb mono, a set of boots and a hand pump, and $220 later I was outside Opened a credit card w/them too, to get 10% off and a $20 gift card... i have a feeling i'm gonna need all the spare cash I can get.

[bandrus1]

just wait till you decide you need different rods and reels for the Finger lakes than lake O

Ohh and then you need spring kings rods and fall king rods

then you need finger lake brown reels and lake O brown reels

then you wand different rods for Finger lake riggers than you lake O rigger rods

[genEus]

I got a couple quick questions...

1) The Magda DX30 is rated at 310yds/25lb test. Does this mean I can't spool the 30lb mono I bought yesterday and need to get 25 instead?

2) This might be a stupid one, but when trolling with dipseys, how do you know when you got a hit?

[skipper19]

I know you want to keep things on the least expensive route, but would seriously recommend 30 lb braid on your reels for divers. If you are just fishing Hemlock or most any lake besides lake O. You will be able to achieve much greater depth and be able to trip the dipsy much easier for retrieval. Mono is a pain for dipsy. Also, with the heartlands you got, don't use snubbers the rods are very flexible and take the hit no problem. You get better hookup.

You will know the hit when it comes. Pole thrashes and if drag is set right...it sings FISH ON with the clicker on..

Mark

[ Post made via Android ]

[Lund SSS]

I got a couple quick questions...

1) The Magda DX30 is rated at 310yds/25lb test. Does this mean I can't spool the 30lb mono I bought yesterday and need to get 25 instead?

2) This might be a stupid one, but when trolling with dipseys, how do you know when you got a hit?

you can run any line you want that JUST the rated capacity of the reel you've bought. As far as a hit on your Dipsey when the rod is BUCKLED OVER and the drag is SCREAMING you will know . This dipsey fish had so much torque on the holder my brother couldn't get it out of the holder

[TOP SECRET]

The second biggest thing to life jackets for safety is to ensure when you go out you have another boat out there with you that you can call quick to help you if you need it.

We're over in Sodus starting next weekend, please feel free to stop by anytime. I'm far from a pro, but more than willing to share as much as I know. Btw, we upgraded from a 19' to a 24' in big part because the 19' got iffy a few times out there. Please be careful.

Nick

[BAZOOKAJOE]

I got a couple quick questions...

1) The Magda DX30 is rated at 310yds/25lb test. Does this mean I can't spool the 30lb mono I bought yesterday and need to get 25 instead?

2) This might be a stupid one, but when trolling with dipseys, how do you know when you got a hit?

you can run any line you want that JUST the rated capacity of the reel you've bought. As far as a hit on your Dipsey when the rod is BUCKLED OVER and the drag is SCREAMING you will know . This dipsey fish had so much torque on the holder my brother couldn't get it out of the holder

WOW...what a fish!!!

[ Post made via iPhone ]