Seneca Field test trip

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

Today is the start of a 3-4 day stay on the lake field test. This am we launched about 6 am. My dad showed up with no coat and shorts. (it was pretty chilly) At the dock he decided he wanted to go home! Only problem is, my son is his ride back to Elmira. So i'm either solo, or my son runs back to my house for pants and jackets. Call my girlfriend, she packs a "care package" for my dad and son, send my son for the trip,  and by 7 am were fishing. 2 nice landlocks right off the bat and then it just quits. 2 hrs later a couple more landlocks. the biggest was 6.1 lbs. Oddly enough, I have some all white lures I wanted to try. I put one out today, a rattling version of the KW, all white. All our fish came on that lure today. Nap time for now, back in the water around 6pm. (lure I was hoping to be hot, not so hot!) Maybe tonight. I will try to keep this post up to date, when I can. 

 

Jason

[Bellis Program]

Very slow and bumpy 3 Lakers this morning trolled lodi to Sampson

[Bellis Program]

Lots of bait stacked in 90 ft south of long point on west side good screens and lots of hooks around bait just no takers

[Bigfoot]

Good to hear that you're dad got out there.

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

Updated report.

As reported previously, fri morning we went 4 for 6, one 6.1lb landlock, all on white lures (rattling versions) at the Watkins area. (cold front moved in and others reported no fish for the day) 

 

 

So after fishing Fri morn with my dad and son, I headed back home to get my girlfriend ( My right hand ) and our dog Scout. We head back to Watkins to put the boat in for the fireworks. Stopped at Jim Stewart's place to deliver some lures. Jim and his family fed us dinner and some home made wine. After a few glasses, he breaks out the moonshine! Oh boy! So, needless to say sat morning I was cross eyed, and we took the morning off.  Packed the boat and gear and headed to Geneva. 

 

Put the boat in at Geneva around 1 pm,  and started looking for some thermocline. Checked all the good spots, found no thermocline. Finally, after motoring all over the north end, we find thermocline and a good spread of muddy water coming from Keuka inlet. Fish were everywhere! First set up in the water, a 5 leader jug rig. No sooner it was out and it's got a fish. This happened 3 times, and I couldn't get any more gear in the water. Finally we moved away from Long point long enough to get set up, and make some more passes at Long point. Every pass produced fish ( all average sized)  up untill around 6 pm then it slowed down. We fished it till around 930-1000 (945 pm was our last fish logged in the diary) before we packed it in for the night. For the Sat eve troll, we had boated all our fish but 1 on a new, Fire Tiger .060 aluminum KW. This lure got hot and stayed hot for 2 days. Our last fish was on a new color we call "purple Haze". I put 3 out just before dark. (if the sky is pink and purple, I like purple in the water) So that made me feel good, I had high hopes for this one. Back to the marina to watch fireworks and have a couple glasses of wine. Before you know it, its 100 am and Les (sk8man) will be at the launch by 6! Oh Boy!

 

5am Sunday morning, Les arrives early. We great and make room for him and his gear and off we go. This time we set up right out of Geneva, in front of the Country club. Our plan was for Les to rig one side of the boat and I set up the other. Well, no sooner did Les put out a mag dipsy with one of his home made flies out, it fires and puts a decent rainbow in the boat. Within an hr, Les has 3 fish in the boat, and his flies are beginning to look rather appealing! I stick to my plan and get 2- 5 leader rigs out, a lead core and a thumper rig, but the bite slowed right down and we trolled all over picking up fish here and there. We end up at the north end of long point and the water that was there yesterday was gone. The wind was south, then east, then south then west. At one point, it blew up 3 ft waves and my planer board flipped with a 5 leader rig hooked to it! Glad to say we recovered it with no adverse affects. (excellent driving by my girlfriend and Les was quick to help me move stuff around to open a side for the board to come in with boat rigs still fishing) Normally, it would sweep crossed the back of the boat and take everything with it. I had to pull the planer, and rig out by hand as the planer motor wouldn't pull that much weight. The rest of our day was a lot of good conversation and a fish hear and there. (Les is a real good guy to have on your boat)  Then about 3pm (same time as day before) the bite is on! Les has one on the dipsy, and one on the rig, I get one on my jug and he's taking line like a pro, then my dipsy gets a hit and so does my boat rig. 5 on at once! we wound up catching 3 and decided to pack up for the day. All in all we hooked up 15 fish, white was a hot color and the Fire Tiger KW also was hot. Les makes some really nice flies, and after yesterday, I see his flies are real producers. He consistently caught fish on his hand tied flies. We all had a blast and the fishing wasn't the best iv'e seen, but was still pretty steady and made for an excellent weekend. My girlfriend's boss got hurt wed, so our plans to fish today were cancelled because Theresa has to work today, but I needed the break! Good day to clean the boat, un pack and go thru the rigs and the gear. 

 

Our field test trip was a good one. I have high hopes for the fire tiger and the purple haze paint scheme,as well as the .060 aluminum stock but the white? It was a hot lure, but can you sell all white? Any comments would be appreciated. Would you personally buy an all white lure and fish it with confidence? The # 35 needs a new form if its gonna fish at 2.2 and faster. Has a great slow wobble, but spins once you get to 2.2 and faster. I ran 2.8 - 2.9 sog and that seemed to be the most productive speed. Gonna form some # 35's in a different forming die and see how they do. #44 runs good with its new form, (we refer to it as N44) so I hope the 35 can step up to speed. 

 

I can't say enough about what a great guy Les is. Very knowledgeable about the lake and the area. He knows his way around a boat and works well side by side with you. I would have him back on my boat any day. My girlrfriend and I really enjoyed our day with him, he's a great fisherman and holds a good conversation. Good fella to spend your day with. ( got a few of his flies to try out with the dodgers we make too!  ) Looking forward to fishing with him again some day soon. 

 

Thank you,

Jason

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

Good to hear that you're dad got out there.

Yes Walt, I think he's getting his confidence back. He's had so many back surgeries, they can't do anymore, so he's been afraid to get on the boat and get hurt.  Hopefully, he's past that, and you might see him on the water more often. I never met a fella with such passion for fishing like my dad, it was a shame to see him almost give it up. I don't give up on asking him to go, and it took me almost 2 yrs to get him back on the boat. I hope were past that and we can get back to the business of fishing together again soon. 

 

Jason

[Sk8man]

Thanks for the compliments Jason...it was a lot of fun. I apologize for omitting Scout's name from my post....I couldn't quite remember it but what a great dog and at 14 he has a lot of life to him. In all my times fishing I have never done it with a dog aboard and he was the most well behaved dog I've seen   a big thumbs up for scout!

[Nautitroller]

Great report on an overall poor weather fishing weekend, you and les, two pros exchanging some great stories I bet.

As for all white lures I love em, love to see your selection, fishing Cayuga salvation army tournament and 333 this weekend cannot make Seneca for Flta I will catch up with ya some day

Les selling some of those flies???? Lol!

Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

No problem about Scout, I won't tell him  . I put his name up because Theresa and I were a little concerned that we had our dog with us, and we didn't know how you would feel about him on the boat. He goes with us a lot because he is an indoor dog and we hate to put him on a leash if were gone for more than a day.  He loves to fish, swim, ride on the boat, and he's really a good all around dog, so I was just saying thanks, on Scout's behalf. 

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

Great report on an overall poor weather fishing weekend, you and les, two pros exchanging some great stories I bet.

As for all white lures I love em, love to see your selection, fishing Cayuga salvation army tournament and 333 this weekend cannot make Seneca for Flta I will catch up with ya some day

Les selling some of those flies???? Lol!

Sent from my C771 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

John,

 

Thanks, I would be glad to show you what we have. Any time you get some free time let me know. I'm sure I will see you at some of the next few tournaments, and I will give you our business card, which has my cell # on it. As far as all white lures, I love them as well. They seem to be pretty hot, and hard not to put in the water for me. I wonder if it would sell as good as it seems to produce?