Yankee Troller

Article - http://woodtv.com/2015/09/22/dnr-slashing-salmon-stock-in-lake-michigan/ Seems they have the same battle we do. The local government/MNR would rather step aside and take the free federal handouts over standing up to them and requesting a product that brings in more tourist money and interest. Not to mention a product that is uncontrollable for 10+ years. Thank god we are, and will, always be more fertile than Lake MI. I just wish someone would take our side and tell the feds to re-think their plan.

Did my part today Vince Sent from my XT1575 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Another concern of mine are the pen programs. A lot of people (state employees and volunteers) put a lot of time and effort into this program. I personally want to thank you for all of your time and effort as do the Cormorants.

I'm one of the few that fishes both the lake and the streams HARD. This season on the lake it was horrible the last half of the season. April-June was pretty knockout if you fished from Rochester to the West. I kept telling myself all Summer "they are gonna show." They never really did. Labor day weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the season. I try to book 4-6 charters in that 3 day span every year. I fished 4 trips this past labor day and had a total of 18 bites between 4 trips. Where did they go is right?!?!?!?!? Oh, and by the way I bet in one day I went over 30+ pods of bait, and only 1 or 2 had fish on them. This is offshore fishing. Those pods should be loaded with 2yr olds and Steel. Nothing but happy unpressured bait out there. Last season I was dead set on the fact we lost a class, but that wasn't the case this season if you fished this Spring. There were 20lb fish taken in April and it continued to be great Salmon fishing through May. Also, I hate to say it, but last Fall/Winter Steelie die off was worse than we expected. In July and August COMBINED I don't think I cleaned more than 20 Steelhead fishing 3-5 charters a weekend OFFSHORE. Here's my gripe. I'd like to see the state stand up to Uncle Sam. People are not driven to this lake, and spending their hard earned money on Lake Trout. Do I like that they are there? YES! There I said it! However, the population is beyond plentiful! If I can go out and get a 4-6 man limit in under an hour EVERYTIME with only 2 rods in the water there has to be a mega population down there. Show the feds the data, stats, and financial gains. Let that money they have help the state financially with BOTH the Salmon (Chinook and Coho) and Steelbow programs.Those are the sportfish that drive the local economies. Not to mention Salmon stocks can be rotated through the system much faster than Lake Trout in case a predator/prey unbalance. It's proven when Salmon are around people wont fish for any trout unless you're Brian Gambell. I will end with this. Starting in April when we were smoking the Salmon in Rochester. Then it carried on at the first Tourney in Canada through our Summer. We saw two things on the Salmon that are worrisome to me. 90% of the Salmon we caught had "bullet wounds" on them. I saw baby lamprey to a few instances with 2 mature lamprey on one Salmon. They were getting hit hard all Winter by these eels, and throughout the Summer. I didn't notice it on Lake Trout almost ever. I'm sure the lamprey program isn't an easy one, but they need to take a closer look, because it has gotten worse out there. Is it possible the lamprey are killing our Salmon? They were there thick this Spring, but disappeared late in the season. Also, we caught a lot of Salmon in the first half of the season with half a gill plate on one side. I don't know what that means.

I've used a 12" Forchner Cemeter for years to fillet fish, and a 9" Rapala for trimming. Loved the combo. This Summer my teammates RUINED the blade on my Forschner. I had to have it sent out with a buddy to get an edge put back on it. In the meantime I bought 2 F-Dick blades. One similar to my Forschner, and the other is their fillet knife. The Fillet knife has become my go to knife for the whole job unless it's over 20lbs. Then I like the weight of the bigger Cemeter. http://www.dick.de/en/tools-for-chefs-and-butchers/products/trimming-and-filetting-knives I tried a Bubba Blade out for a few days, and although the edge was crazy nice, the handle was too big for me. Although, I loved the material of the handle.

IDK why you wouldn't!

Tough weekend of fishing! A few teams got it done like always. We had 22 boats in the event on Sunday, but only half bothered to weigh fish. Nick's Rigged team took big fish with a 27lb beast. Rob Wescott and his Legacy team took home the King of the Oak honors for 2015. Honestly, this is a fun series with a great group of guys who fish it. I'd love to see 40 boat fields in the future. Sundays scores King of the Oak standings

Mine is not.