Shiners versus Sawbellies?

[Batroun]

Fellow Trout Hunters, Kensico Watermen, do you have an opinion on the superiority of Shiners over Sawbellies, or vice versa? I'm relatively new to Kensico (2nd season), and have had great success on Shiners.....deep, free-lining them just off the bottom in dep water. So, what makes a sawbelly so special, or doesn't it matter? I'd really appreciate hearing from some you out there. Have a great weekend, btw.

[VinnyH]

My friend successfully fishes with sawbellies on Kensico by using a slip-sinker setup to get them to a desired depth. If he liked shiners, he'd use them because he's a cheap son-of-a-gun. 

I think he feels the sawbellies can be sent near the bottom and then will swim around enough to attract the trout. The shiners may hide more in the weeds and hug the bottom.

Just a thought,
Vinny

[Tom]

Batriun,
What do you mean by "free-lining" your bait for trout? With the recent strong wind my bottom or trolling rigs are being dragged across ther reservoir at a rate faster than trolling.  I am now planning to do my fishing very early in the morning before the wind kicks up. I have even thought about fishing from shore even though I have a boat on Rye Lake in Kensico. Last week I bought some large sucker fish from Wade's. They are supposed to be very good at catching lakers, but the conditions were so poor that I had no luck. 
Tom

[D3ViLzIcOn]

I would have to say Sawbellies are better by far.  You will definalty catch both lakers and browns on shiners but your Best luck for browns would be with sawbellies.  We do alot of trout fishing on both Kensico and Cross River and do catch fish early in the season but once we start getting sawbellies we start nailing the browns.   I know bellies are almost double the price of shiners but its definalty worth it if you want to catch more browns.

[Batroun]

sorry about the delay in replying guys--been on the road in Boston, not fishing! Tom, free-lining is letting the line out, letting the sinker fall, and letting the shiner move around. I leabve the bail open on the spinning reel, and when you have a hit, you can see the line accelerate off the spool. Count to 5 slowly, and set the hook. I'll be out of town until after the long weekend, so the sawbellies will need to wait until then. I'll try going for the sawbellies. Last year I did nail a 5 pound Brown on a rubber shiner lure, so that was good, but I'm enjoying using live bait this season, and the results have been terrific. Tell me--when was the last time (if ever!) that any of you guys nailed a Rainbow in the Reservoir? Now that would make my day!

[Tom]

I caught a nice Rainbow last year on Kensico. It was the first one I ever caught.  I was casting a straight Rapala silver minnow and the Rainbow attacked it as soon as it hit the water not too far from the boat.  It was so exciting to see this beautiful fish jump in the air before I was able to bring it into the boat. Rainbows are aggressive fighters. As I recall the rainbow was about 1 1/2 feet long.
Tom
PS  Batroun,  I was wondering if you are anchoring when you are free-lining with live bait and how deep are you going? Recently the wind has been strong.

[Batroun]

Yes Tom, anchoring because of the wind and in water as deep as I can go....this year ahs been very windy and that makes boat control/depth control very hard. Well, you know that! It seems that we need to be out there very early before any warming kicks up the wind.

[jimmy1]

Free lining, is casting a shiner or sawbellie from shore or boat without float or sinkers,letting it swim uninhibited
Flat lining ,is trolling a lure ,with regular line or braid near surface,no lead core, no weights.