Hit the big pond (Black Point area) this morning at 5:15 am in the rain with my good luck charm, wife Nan. Surface temp 78.9F.
By 9:15, caught and released 16 fish; 1 laker, 3 rainbows and 12 salmon. First fish at 5:45, a 22" laker at 8 colors with a silver DB with a green stripe on the edge.
The 3 rainbows caught measured 15, 17 and 17". First and second came at 6 and 1/2 colors, pumkin head TG, the third off the rigger at 36 feet on the NH Guide DB.
Salmon: 1 small and the other 11 keeper size to 21" and fat. 8 of the 12 salmon came off the lead lines at 6.5 to 8 colors max, the 4 others off the rigger at 36 - 40 feet. 8 of the 12 caught with the NH Guide DB, 2 on the pumkin head TG and 2 on the white mother of pearl DB.
Early morning fish were caught in over 60-70 feet of water and up to 110 feet later on.
Early bait pods were found at 35-40 feet and much deeper later on.
The only speed that seemed to work was 2.1-2.2, nothing faster or slower.
We probably had 8-10 other fish on for a couple of seconds then off and the same number of quick hits and misses. No false releases off the rigger.
The rainbows hit the hardest and the salmon fought the best though not very aerial.
All fish caught and released, none with tags or any unusual markings.
It was good speaking with the Peggy C as well, sounds like they were having a good morning also.
All this with only 3 rods, (you can guess what happened to the 4th one soon after getting underway).
We are still newbies at this (2nd year) and still learning every time out. Thank you Travis and AJ for providing this site and info, and thank you YO and all the others on this board for the info you share.
Sorry for the long report but this type of morning is not typical for these 2 newbies and we wanted to share every bit of it with you.
Good luck out there this weekend.
Bob

starfire,
great job. we heard you this morning shouting out the good news, tried to talk to you on the radio about 4 times, i could reach salty no problem but i guess you couln't hear us.

great report, like you this our 2nd year and this site and the people on it have really put us into fish. its great that everyone on this site helps each other out.

ilucas

Awesome report! Keep 'em coming. We like long posts... that means something good is going on (generally). So, let me guess... the fourth pole went to Davey Jones locker?
You were running one rigger and two leadcore?

Did you try running the rigger at the same depth as the leadcore or did you keep it down 40-50'?

Wife and I were on the lake for a bit last night and were marking a bunch of fish in the 24-26 foot depth... not so many down below that. Wondering why? Looked like they were hanging out just ABOVE the thermocline instead of just UNDER??? Is that where the YOY smelt are hanging? Any ideas anyone?

Hi Craig,
Yes, we only have 1 rigger plus the lead core set ups. Based on YO's report the other day, we just kept the rigger at 36 and got the last salmon of the morning at 40 feet. We never varied from there. And YES, the 4th rod was indeed buried at sea as we were setting up...loose rod holder, almost tossed everything else in after it,%$#@! As for marking fish, it was weird as you could see the thermocline but there were as many individual large sized targets above it as below it in some spots. Of course it was totally overcast, dark and rainy, not sure how much that matters but I'm sure it had an impact. Also, all fish off the riggers were only set back 6-10 off the ball. I painted the rigger ball hot pink, loaded it with reflective tape and added a couple sections of spinners above the ball.
Just a great day.

Awesome... Sounds like you guys had some fun!

Cool Water

Thanks to people like you Travis...I'll be in touch.

Oh man... stinks to lose gear... especially first thing in the morning. Good thing you caught a bunch, that must have made up for it?

Ooooh pimped out rigger weight! Hot.

Should be out tomorrow and Sunday... hope to talk to some of ya on the radio.

Good luck everyone.