Seneca lake south end newbie

[IA bowhunter]

hello to all,

new to the area and trying to learn Seneca lake lake trout fishing. I have a 19' boat and a lot of questions. I have never fished for lakers, do I need downriggers, and what are some of the better setups without spilling all your secrets? I have planer boards from fishing east end Ontario and bought a lot of NK spoons and flashers for Salmon fishing East end Ontario but never went-so brand new, does anyone use planer boards on Seneca? i have a crappy depth finder that i will be updating to go along with a handheld GPS. Ray I appreciate all your posts and I am the guy that pm'ed you, I will be getting in contact with you- but I got my son for the whole week so i have been spending time with him.Also like I told Ray for a few of you southern tier guys, I would be willing to trade some help for a newbie for som gas either on Seneca or Southern lake Ontario/ or Eastern lake Erie for Walleyes. First time out this season will be wed as long as wind stays calm with my son on Seneca. Illiterate on deep fishing or big water fishing except for eastern Lake Ontario for Walleyes. Thanks to all who share info on this sight as your a big help and a tight family!

[jekyll]

Downriggers are not necessary. You can effectively troll with dipsies. That said, downriggers are a very good thing to have because of the whacky structure. If the bottom is level for more than 20 feet you must be trolling at the launch

Downriggers are much better than dipsies when trying to hug a changing bottom. On Seneca, you can go from 100 feet to 25 feet in less than 30 seconds of trolling. Electric riggers are invaluable because 1 person can run up 2 or more at the same time which can save balls and tackle when the bottom races up on you. Trolling Seneca can be like trolling over a giant egg crate.

I use light collored spoons and flashers with flies; colors usually have some chartruse or white.

I don't see much of a difference between downriggers and dipsies when run through productive water at comparable depths. On the first pass you may double on the dipsies and the next, double on the riggers or vice versa. The bottom line, you can catch A LOT OF FISH on Seneca. I've heard of boats having 90 fish days (3-4 fishermen).

On a guiet day when wind and current allow, I stow the motors and jig in 50-100 feet with white or green plastics.

Jekyll

[IA bowhunter]

just went out and bought some dipseys, and reading a lot of posts. I was going to go out today but the wind was blowing a little bit more than I care to have, about 20 mph more. have the rest of the week off so if there is a good day i am going to start trying my luck on the south end of Seneca. Sound like anywhere along the western shore in the 80-120' water correct? Thank you guys for any and all input and Sluggo I look fwd to Lake Erie for the walleyes. Also is there any sites that might help to go to to see different setups for lakers and speeds.

[ray koziatek]

i would save your timel looking for laker sites as most lakers from most bodies of water are not exatly a targeted fish due to there nasty taste ,in seneca a different story (all fingerlakes) for the smaller 4 or 5 lb size .the methouds ive mentioned will work 100% ok 99.9% of the time in seneca it dont get no better than that .and if you still have questions call 607 769 7947 ill put you right on top of them with a phone call .you see about 10 yrs. ago i was in your shoes without the advantage of the internet and finding out info was responded with put in your time ,well we all know that stinks. i ant no pro but weve pulled a couple hundred over the side allready this year and i ant got serious yet just some thing to pass the time till i can hit the big pond then ill put the frown on(thinking cap)and start after the fussy boys

[Zebedee]

My tilt and trim sylenoids aren't working....must of corroded over the winter. So I ordered a couple of Solid State relays (should be here Fri.) Hopefully will finally make splash-down Sat. afternoon at the north end. Will have to try that Flasher/fly combo Ray raves about. In the past I've used a NK 28 watermelon which was a pretty good producer, but the most I've done in one day is 9 fish.