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fri-report

Fished most of the morning but no luck, saw lots of fish on the suface still nothing. Made my way over to moose Island still lots of fish just below the surface but only one hit. then I set up the dowrigger for some lake trout...30ft down I got 2 Salmon around 12pm. Nice day to be on the lake...Dan

Re: fri-report

How fast were you trolling when you picked up the lakers?

Re: fri-report

I caught two nice salmon (1- 21" 1- 19 1/2) Friday AM (in at 5:15 AM) 1 near Varney Point & the rest near Timber Island all on Golden Marvels trolled 1/4 color out & S-l-o-w-l-y <.5mph. The 21 came out of the water well behind the boat looking like a polaris missile BEFORE the rod even bent! Awesome! Not to be outdone my girlfriend caught 1) 22 1/2" & 1) 21" on the same fly/lead core combo. I used more depth (& same speed) as the morning sun got higher. Max I used was 2 colors out for last fish. We limited out by 8:30 AM. Have done VERY well with this method (and a BIG tip of the hat to A.J. for urging this stubborn live smelt fisherman to try it. IT WORKS!! BIG TIME!)
Got three on Wed. Afternoon. & 4 on Thurs 3 in AM- PM was very slow (1). I've had MUCH better luck in deeper water than in the shallows this year (go figure?)

All the Best,

Gary

Re: Re: fri-report

.5 mph? really?
Not sure if my boat will troll that slow but I'm gonna give it a shot. Good for you tankdriver, keep me posted on how your doing. I will be out Sat am. I will post how I do.

Re: Re: Re: fri-report

I caught my fish at 1.6 and 1.3mph at 30ft off my downrigger..

Re: Re: Re: fri-report

I have been doing real well with this method for a couple of weeks. The first ten days after ice out I long lined live smelt on all lines and did excellent but, then there was a fall off. This has happened in the past years (yes, I keep a fishin' diary.) So, I talked to A.J. who suggested the above method which he said was working for him. It worked for me, big time.
I have an 18' (Alum.) Lone Star w/ cuddy cab and a tan canvas top w/ a 2nd windshield (A.J. calls her 'The Tank'.) My kicker motor is a 5 Hp Merc. When it's fairly calm, I tie one bucket (w/ a 2"dia. hole in center) to the rear and idle the 5 hp. motor. The "works when it wants to" paddle wheel speedometer reads out, .5 to 1.0 depending if I'm going up wave or down (when going down I often put kicker in neutral as she kinda turns into an aluminum sail-boat!) so, yes I do go that slow (I think.) If it's choppy I try to maintain the .5 to 1.0 going into the waves but, it ain't easy to do when it's gusty. If I err I try to do so on the slow side. A lot of the hits lately have come when trolling cross-wave (go figure.) Or on a turn (normal).
Hey, I'm NOT saying faster won't work. I'm saying what works for me, if faster works for you go with it! If not, this method might be worth a try. What have you got to lose?
The water is still pretty cold and I've noticed that most of the larger fish (the one's I want) are still a bit sluggish when they come to the net. This indicates to me that they may not want to chase things going fast just yet. (When the top layer of water warms to 50-55 I'll speed up, you bet!! and the fish that are sluggish right now, will fight like H--- and take a long time to come to the net.
I troll live bait on two lines on outriggers and two flies on lead core on fly rods w/ long (100 ft.) 6 lb test mono leaders. That way there's a good 'spread' and I don't tangle up constantly (just occasionally.) The number of strikes on the flies has been 3-1 over live bait. ie; Friday: I had 1 short hit on bait & caught all the keepers (plus, 1 short) and two that got off on the fly set up.
Just trying to share what works for me. In any case enjoy the beautiful lake (saw 2 bald eagles last week) and the sunset Thurs. was awesome.

All the Best,

Gary

Re: Re: Re: Re: fri-report

Hey Gary thanks for the info. I can use all the help I can get. Do you prefer the am or pm fishing? I have never trolled with flies as I do not own any fly rods. It's just been lures for me, with no luck so I might try the live smelt. I will be going out Sunday 5am - 8am. Will you be out?
Thanks again for the insight, keep me posted on how your doing and I will do the same. Do you have an email address?

Good luck!!!

Dennis

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: fri-report

I fish either the AM or PM, without real preference. This year I did better in the PM early in the season & lately I've been doing better in the AM.
I usually use live bait (as I wrote before) and flies/spoons are a standby. I've used spoons in the past but, I find the salmon often get off ("throwing the spoon") while they are jumping and they seem to use the weight of the spoon as they thrash their heads around & manage to unhook the thing on me. Especially, Sutton's which give good results in the strike department.
I bought a fly rod some years back and although I never quite managed to cast it without tieing the leader into a total mess, I put it away (a purist, I'm NOT.) Then, a friend showed me how to load it with lead core and a leader & troll with it. It's a ton of fun, especially the reel noise when they hit it hard and the feel through the rod is something.
I don't usually go out on weekends (I'm retired) & I find weekdays a lot less stressful as I don't have to deal with near as much boat traffic. However, I am going out this Tuesday, and it just so happens I can't find anybody to go with me. Are you able & interested in coming along? If so, we could meet at A.J's Bait at 5 AM. The "Tank" has a canvas top so at least the rain won't run down our necks (actually it's not too bad with the top up, even if it's really pouring.) Let me know either way, my email is Maddog7337@att.net.

All the Best,

Gary

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: fri-report

Tuesday at 5am sounds good. I will be sending you an email, keep your eye out....