Canandaigua Canandaigua Kayak fishing

[JJBat150]

Had a few hours to kill this morning, so decided to pass-up Hemlock for the south end of Canandaigua.  Got to the drop -off and was marking good sized bait balls and hooks from 45-55 FOW, so I set-up with the 7 color lead pulling a Rapala x-rap and the down rigger with a gold Sutton  # 22 flutter soon with a custom bend on the tail end.  The custom bend wasn't planned or engineered - it actually got created when the spoon  got caught up in the fold-up rudder on the kayak  - but it's proven itself to be pretty effective. 

 

Followed the drop off east-west weaving from 40-90 FOW and hit a nice 23" bow on the 2nd pass.  Quick picture then released. Pulled up the lead core, and switched to a torpedo diver  pulling a 4" silver steak (?) painted blue & purple to help out with the turns and make depth adjustments easier.

 

A few more passes, then got another bow on the Sutton - this one shorter @ 19 " - again released to fight another day.  Had a little problem reeling that one in, because I was using 12 lb mono and the fleas got so bad at the rod tip that the double-uni knot wouldn't pull through the last eyelet. 

 

As I was heading in, ended up getting a small 15" laker on the painted spoon, and this time had to deal with a big wad of weeds I picked up with the line.  

 

Overall, a nice relaxing morning - haven't been on Canandaigua with the yak all summer, so it was nice to out there.  Off the lake by 11 AM, so missed most of the recreational boats. but did see a few others out mostly still fishing / jigging along the drop off.   Want to try still fishing live bait, but It's been a long time since I've fished with saw bellies - If anyone has any pointers or thoughts on how to keep them fresh & alive while on a kayak,  I'd appreciate any info.

 

https://youtu.be/OCTwSzgplpw

 

https://youtu.be/ZLu2Ioympig

 

https://youtu.be/UxQfQAaQ-SQ