Seneca 8-12-13 Evening troll

[Sk8man]

Jb235 and I launched out of Sampson about 4:30 PM and took initial temp readings down 100 ft. We then trolled south  in 120 ft water with a wire rig and yellow puke Spin Doc/ green fly, A braid rig on a Tx 44 board with a black Fish catcher flasher and blue fly , 2 downriggers with spoons and sliders with spoons, and a medium dipsey with a spoon run off an outrigger. We went with only 5 rods because of the reports  that there were masses of grass out there south and wanted a little room to play with  on turns. We mainly trolled from about 90 ft. to about130 for the most part.We marked more fish and bait than I've seen in quite awhile. As soon as I got the wire and braid rigs out the wire rig bent over and started thumping hard.....6 to 7 lb laker Put the downriggers out and trolled south to just north of Lodi Point.....one hit but couldn't get to the rod in time (wire again with Spin Doc). A while later we were busy with other stuff and the 60 ft.downrigger went off but we had our backs to it.....comes up with no slider or main lure....snapped off at the slider apparently> had been down 60 over 105 and we had come through a mass of fish just previous to it...had to have been decent fish....broke 20 lb fluoro leader when it hit and it took 2 of my "one of a kind" nail polish specials with it . Trolled back to Sampson and no takers despite going through massive amounts of bait and fish. Put out two 5 leader Seth Greens and pulled out the other stuff. Trolled north to Reeders with a couple good hits on the way but they appeared to be off. When we brought our lines in later had two lakers about 20-22 inches on the bottom leaders of them. Our impression was that the fish were well fed already tonight ( all the lakers had big bellys and looked very healthy) that we were marking near the masses of bait and may have fed earlier and the lakers were up in the water column foraging.  The lake was beautifully calm, nice sunset, some grass to mildly irritate us while trolling and only minimal fleas on the braid and wire...very doable, very minor amounts on the Seth Greens, and none at all on the 30 lb Blood Run Sea Flee mono downrigger lines. The three lakers swam away when released.

 

Here is a pic of Jim and one of the  lakers and some screens of the fish/bait we saw:

Edited August 13, 2013 by Sk8man

[signalman]

Les does your friend have a penn yan boat?

[Keep'n it Reel]

Nice report and maybe it's just me but I have always found Sampson to be a incredible evening bite so I kinda find it funny that you didn't have more action although the bigger fish I was getting this past weekend did seem to be on the feed at around 11 so maybe they are feeding mid day?!?!? That's fishing always giving you something to think about

[Sk8man]

Mike - Jim has a Grady but my buddy Bob (Admiral Byrd) has a 19 ft. Penn Yan and fishes Seneca frequently)

 

Keep'n It Reel - I sure think they had fed earlier...I know a lot of folks have been getting into the non-lakers during the early morning hours so they also may be feeding at night. There is so much bait there that it is a wonder they even bother expending the energy to go after a lure.

[ERABBIT]

Nice Les , making me antsy........ heading back up later today........

[Keep'n it Reel]

Yeah I don't have electronics on the boat still working on that so I had no idea about the bait I just assumed their was a lot around and I guess I was right!! And the name is joe by the way I'm sure are paths will cross here soon on the lake

[Sk8man]

Cool ...I look forward to it Joe...Les here. Usually launch out of the Chamber at Geneva or sometimes Sampson. See ya out there.

[Keep'n it Reel]

Yeah I'm a south end guy. But all that rain destroyed the fishing down their so play at Sampson for awhile I guess lol

[Sk8man]

I hear ya Joe. The nice thing there is that you are into fishable water immediately and depending on wind can go either way. Good luck with it and hopefully we'll meet up out there.

 

Les

[ERABBIT]

Yeah I'm a south end guy. But all that rain destroyed the fishing down their so play at Sampson for awhile I guess lol

 

Is Nick O  related to you Joe ????

[Keep'n it Reel]

No we are not related just great friend I work a lot of charters with him and we fish all the time!!!

[Sk8man]

That's cool....he is a good guy and and really knows his stuff....hard to find someone as motivated as he is these days and very refreshing. He is a real credit to chartering....as is Sean Brown.

Edited August 13, 2013 by Sk8man

[ERABBIT]

Yep I've met Nick good guy , on and off the water.

[justtracytrolling]

Nice report Les! Im headed to Tupper lake thursday night for walleyes, and I thought Id do some trout trolling there too. Your darn seth green rig has been stuck in my head, so I went thru some stuff I had and I think I can make one. Just had a couple of questions. What can I use for a homemade float so I can run it behind my rigger rods? I plan on running 80 lb braid to the float at least, then I can either segment barrel swivels in heavy flouro or braid or heavy mono? How short can I go with the leaders as that will dictate the spacing? I realize this setup might not be ideal, but I still wanna try as it sure seems like Id cover a lot of water with 1 rod as ill want the other 8 rods for eyes. My only worry is the pike will tear it all up.

Justin

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[Sk8man]

Hi Justin,

 

For an impromptu rig you could use a gallon milk jug (perhaps a half gallon  if the weight isn't too great)...maybe a 16-20 oz sinker. To attach it to the main line take a piece of downrigger wire or something similarly strong and  use crimps make a couple loops in the handle of the jug with a large strong swivel snap on it.I'd use 50 lb braid (less resistance in the water and should be plenty strong and if you don't have bead chains strong barrels will do it but they have to be small enough to go through the eyes of the rod easily . I'd use something like #6 (80 lb test) Spro power swivels (for non-roller tip) or #4 (150 lb test) if roller tip if you can get them.  Don't use the fluoro for the main rig line use 30 lb Big Game mono instead the fluoro is too brittle and the fish will be a distance from it anyway. The spacing is a matter of preference but I do mine 12 ft apart so that I can run them in a close band if going in shallower (or if I want to run right in the thermocline straddling it) than usual or at 24 ft. intervals if deeper. This requires double the number of bead chains or barrels (10) (and potentially increased risk of separations if knots aren't right but to me it is worth it for the flexibility). If running 5 leaders and you go with that setup make the leaders 12 ft long or if spacing them say 15 ft make them that long so that if your motor stops for some reason and they hang down they won't get badly tangled. I'm not familiar with the depth profile of Tupper but keep in mind if you went with say 20 ft intervals you'll need about 90 ft. or so depth at trolling speed at all times to clear bottom. That is why I use the 12,24,36 etc, setup for shallower coverage. You can also run just 3 leaders in close and go into say 45 or 50 ft of water. Seth Greens are mostly used deep to avoid problems.  Instead of the spring clips I showed you many folks have used a small swivel snap at each end of the leader and snap it through the eye of the barrels. I don't know if Tupper has fleas etc. ..if not 12lb fluoro should be sufficient for your leaders there or mono will work too. Let me know if anything isn't clear here. Les

[Keep'n it Reel]

Sean and nick are both huge assets to have in a contact list when fishing lol. And I am not a rig fisherman at all but I was with a guy about a month back that decided to use one and we used a large Gatorade bottle with a treble hook stuffed down through the cap then took a swivel and planer board release to hook it up to the line worked well in a a pinch to get it behind the boat aways!!

[justtracytrolling]

Thanks guys! Les, Tupper looks to me as tho it would tough to troll deeper than 60 though its 100 feet deep. I was thinking every 8 to 10 feet....this will mean no stopping...ill prob try floating crankbaits with single trebles too just to see if I can catch a walleye that way...cant wait to tangle it all up! Lol

Justin

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[Sk8man]

Justin - I forgot to mention you need a rod with a stiff backbone and tip section. and rod holders that would work for say a large size dipsey setup. For the depth setup you mentioned if you do it... I'd stay with just 3 leaders 12 ft apart and if small to medium spoons or stickbaits (with singles and I've had better luck with jointeds staying in line) you wouldn't need as much weight either or as heavy a rod. Regarding the tangling - :smile:   been there done that! Good luck with it.

Edited August 14, 2013 by Sk8man

[justtracytrolling]

I have a 1 lb downrigger ball, a st croix extra heavy with a fast action tip, and a okuma convector so i think im good. My rod holders hold up to musky strikes at 4mph and ive run magnum dipseys at cayuga many times so i think im a go. Ill be sure to take pics of my tangles and or success...lol! Thanks for the ideas and help. Im goin up to get the boat tomorrow morn and to grab a few eyes if you are interested Les?

Justin

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[lakebound88]

Ed, Joe and I fish together religiously...

I guess you can say related!!!

Nick

Sent from my XT907 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[lakebound88]

BTW, thanks for the kind words Les and Ed.

Nick

Sent from my XT907 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[ERABBIT]

any time Nick , you and Les know how HARD it is for me to play nice............  

[Keep'n it Reel]

Fishing is my religion!! Lol

[Sk8man]

:smile: Ed

[Rainbow Kid]

Hi Justin,

 

For an impromptu rig you could use a gallon milk jug (perhaps a half gallon  if the weight isn't too great)...maybe a 16-20 oz sinker. To attach it to the main line take a piece of downrigger wire or something similarly strong and  use crimps make a couple loops in the handle of the jug with a large strong swivel snap on it.I'd use 50 lb braid (less resistance in the water and should be plenty strong and if you don't have bead chains strong barrels will do it but they have to be small enough to go through the eyes of the rod easily . I'd use something like #6 (80 lb test) Spro power swivels (for non-roller tip) or #4 (150 lb test) if roller tip if you can get them.  Don't use the fluoro for the main rig line use 30 lb Big Game mono instead the fluoro is too brittle and the fish will be a distance from it anyway. The spacing is a matter of preference but I do mine 12 ft apart so that I can run them in a close band if going in shallower (or if I want to run right in the thermocline straddling it) than usual or at 24 ft. intervals if deeper. This requires double the number of bead chains or barrels (10) (and potentially increased risk of separations if knots aren't right but to me it is worth it for the flexibility). If running 5 leaders and you go with that setup make the leaders 12 ft long or if spacing them say 15 ft make them that long so that if your motor stops for some reason and they hang down they won't get badly tangled. I'm not familiar with the depth profile of Tupper but keep in mind if you went with say 20 ft intervals you'll need about 90 ft. or so depth at trolling speed at all times to clear bottom. That is why I use the 12,24,36 etc, setup for shallower coverage. You can also run just 3 leaders in close and go into say 45 or 50 ft of water. Seth Greens are mostly used deep to avoid problems.  Instead of the spring clips I showed you many folks have used a small swivel snap at each end of the leader and snap it through the eye of the barrels. I don't know if Tupper has fleas etc. ..if not 12lb fluoro should be sufficient for your leaders there or mono will work too. Let me know if anything isn't clear here. Les

All good pointers,...

   It is not a home-made float but it cannot be beat,,,Check out my post woodville 7-26...I took a pic of my Tupperware Rolling Pin,...

  Works great on cookie dough and Rainbows and upper level fish,  ..( H2o Temp Dependent of course.!)

I use 30 lb Dacron...25' spacers and bead chains.....In lakes like Hemlock where bottom is 60-70'...I used to go 15'...but would have tangles when catchin jumping fish like Rainbows,,,and back in the 80's...an a occasional Landlock....!

  Best of luck..!

         Rk