LongLine

Shoebag - Once you're up here, you'll realize Lake Onatrio is a lot bigger than most people think it is. The obvious advantage to trolling is that it allows you to cover a lot of territory. Big-O doesn't have the typical "structure" that most lakes have. Yes there are humps, drops and rocks in certain places but the real "structure" items are temperature and currents which the Trout & Salmon are attracted to. The fish, especially the majority of salmon are great wanderers. In early spring lake temp is fairly uniform but then in mid spring a thermal bar sets up & moves offshore & finally a thermocline sets up for a couple months. The temperature regime can change in just a couple hours depending on the time of year. Bottom line, a school of fish that was nearshore this morning may be 5 miles offshore in a couple hours. They can also be 10 ft down over 250 FOW one minute then sitting on the bottom a couple minutes later. Trolling allows you to cover a great deal of the water column trying to find them. If you want to hold the rod when some of these salmon hit it then more power to you. If I had to hang on to a rod when one of these beaties hit, I'd have some kind of sting attached to like the "idiot mittens" little toddlers wear in winter. I've been half-spooled on intial runs in just just a few seconds. Tom B. (LongLine)

Absolutely Brian. "Lake guys" have drastically reduced the quest for the stlhds. I think this shows in general that we have a lot more respect for them and the fishery than many give us credit for. Back in '05-06 many said we were out to "murder" them and we did not force through the reg changes. Length limit was a compromise that seems to be working out. (Thanx Steve, I think he was the one to propose it) Tom B. (LongLine)

I'd remove reels and store your rods well supported. i.e don't just lay them upside a wall as they may take a "bent set." Tom B. (LongLine)

You can have as many rods on the boat as you want HOWEVER you can only have 3 lines in the water per angler and the angler must be in immediate attention of them. Tom B. (LongLine)

K.D. – you wrote: Sorry, this is a “spin†the presenter put on the data to show a certain yr period over the previous certain yr period. There was a big jump in 2007-09 but since then it has dramatically gone down. In fact, the 2011 data showed 36.5K which is below the ‘85-01 average of 39.5K caught in the open water. (sect 2, pg 52 of the 2011 report) Here’s the graph from the 2012 highlight report that shows open water catch rates continues downward in the last 3 years: Also at the State of the lake meeting the presenters stated fish captured at the hatchery were smaller this last year because the great majority were males and they blamed this on “low water levels that allowed more selective harvesting down-stream for the un-regulated marketâ€. I.e egg snatchers were getting the females. Tom B. (LongLine)

Tim – sorry didn’t catch it that way. K.D. – Where’d you see the up-tick in lake creel for steelheads? I just looked up the catch rate in the annual reports and see the following for totals caught in the open water: 2009 – 54.9K 2010 – 46.2K 2011 – 36.5K Looks like it’s going down to me – significantly downward! The SR Trib surveys show a different catch trend: ’06-07 – 9.5K 2010 – 32.1K 2011 – 39.7K 2011 (all tribs) - 58.8K Looks to me like the "Lake guys" are laying off the stlhd while the "Trib guys' are kicking their butts. Also of interest is that a lot of them are being caught in the west end tribs. Tom B. (LongLine)

Look at a map of Lake Ontario & locate your port. When the wind comes off the land, you'll find the calmest water. When the wind blows over a large portion of water, the waves will build. Generally in the morning we have off-shore breezes hence the calmest water. The problem with Lake Ontario waves is that they are generally very steep and close together. This makes for some very challenging boat handling situations in a small boat. With my 18 ft'r, anything over a 3 ft chop & I'm gone. Out of the Genny, I dont like N, or NE winds, tolerate NW and love all the rest. Tom B. (LongLine)

Assuming you're going to fish out of Newcastle, I'd guess speeds up to 10 mph wouldn't be too much problem if you have a decent size boat. A really big factor is wind direction. 10 mph out of the North would probably mean calm water for you. But 10 out of the South probably means a decent chop. If I were you, I'd figure to be out at the crack of dawn when it the calmest. Winds generally pick up around 9:00am. Weather sites listed on left hand side of site. (or do a search on NOAA) Tom B. (LongLine)

Welcome to the site Jim. (We related?) Manual rigg'rs will probably be fine for a youngster like you. If you go electric make sure your engine puts out the current required to haul them up. No matter which rigg'rs you get, put a fairly thick aluminum backer plate under the side rail. Dragging a cannonball puts a lot of stress on the rails. If you can cut a piece of wood, then you can cut aluminum. Use at least 1/4" thick. Call the Klein outlet store on Lyell Ave if you don't have access to any. Tom B. (LongLine) p.s. you may want to consider installing a removable board across the back of the boat. There great for mouting other stuff on...rod holders etc.

Warm water does indeed affect the salmon. Where they staged was warmer hence they turned color & lost weight sooner, however, they did not necessarily make the run sooner in the year. The egg take period was extended because the fish stayed out longer waiting for the right river temperature. Runs did not appear to consist of the typical numbers – but it appears there were more runs of smaller quantities made. Look though the report section for dates of successful catches. Survival & survival of the specie is their 1st & foremost instinct. The marking project has yielded much info so far. It has overwhelmingly concluded that there is a tremendous amount of straying throughout the lake. It was graphically shown at the State of the Lake meeting that the great majority of fish caught at any port were not reared at that port. Data also showed the highest amount of straying occurred at the Credit River. (SR to Credit is quite a ways) Further evidence of straying is to look through your log books & pictures then count the number of wild fish you caught & where you caught them. From what I caught off the Genny and saw in posted pictures: 1. If minimal straying then natural repro is occurring everywhere in big numbers or 2. If Natural repro is only occurring on the S.R. then there is tremendous straying. As to cutting numbers at the S.R. The S.R. stocking will be the last place to lose stocking. Remember a couple years ago with the hatchery issue; the broodstock had to be maintained, hence it received the smallest percent cut while others were cut drastically. It has the best spawning conditions AND it historically has the most fishing pressure especially from out-of-state. i.e. think returns, money and “returns on fishing money.†When they stop stocking Kings at the S.R., it’ll be all over. After the State of the Lake meeting I took the opportunity to talk to Patty Riexinger about “having all our eggs in 1 basket†by only raising Kings at Altmar and I was a little surprised by her initial off-the-cuff remark that “half the fish out there are natural anyways.†As for “killing†Browns & Stlhd, The state raises more of them than anything else throughout the hatchery system. Initially the browns were stocked because there was an excess of them and it was thought that they might eat alewives when the alewives came in to spawn in May-June as they’re basically Nearshore fish. (hence might help control their population in that period.) Remember what happened at Rome hatchery? As to Stlhd, we have relatively new regs on them. (I believe Big-O rainbows are also raised at Altmar.) I certainly wouldn’t bet the homestead on either of them for years to come. Lucky for us the alewife population appears to be healthy. Unfortunately, this cold March is not going to help the Alewives much. Also lucky for us the LaMP plans state the requirement for a “diversity†of gamefish with Chinooks as the top pelagic predator. Unfortunately LaMP can be changed. So where does that leave us? ….. Well, how’s your Laker technique? Even with Alleghany out of commission for years, the Feds had no problem supplying the required numbers. Now that it’s back on line, it should get “interesting.†Also given the fact that Ciscoes are being re-introduced and there are some big expectations for that project. i.e target of 500k/yr by 2015. I don’t know how this is going to all shake out. I don’t think the change will happen in my lifetime. However, we have Lake Guys, Trib guys, locals, out-of-staters, North-shore men, a diverse fishery, invasives, Feds, commissions, treaties and a lake that can only support so much. As for me, I’m going to spend the rest of the day sharpening my hooks and dream of that 35 Lb King I’m going to catch off the Genny this year. Luck to all, Tom B. (LongLine)

Tim – One of the main reasons given at the State of the Lake meeting for the smaller 3 yr old returns observed at the SR hatchery and the fact that the great majority were males, this last fall, was the low water being conducive to the “selective harvesting†that took place downstream for the “unregulated market.†Tom B. (LongLine)

No Tim, that's not it all all. What I have a problem with is this: "'I know a guy who says....'; 'This guy I used to drink with says...'; 'I'm telling you the gwad's honest truth so you can believe me...' 'Ya'll know how these commie SO6's will say anything...'; ' Believe me, 20 years ago, we knew how to do it the right way when we...'; 'We were shooting the breeze over dinner last week and this guy says....' i.e. Show me the legitimate data, not the appeals to emotional BS. If you're going to quote some scientific research as "gawd's honest truth" then post a link to it. If you're going to say "Well, I was there..." then post a picture. Enough of that- here's my 'emotional BS": I don't believe anyone in DEC wants Atlantics to replace Kings. I don't. Additionally and more interestingly, NY hasn;t stocked significant numbers of Atlantics in many years (something like 50K avg over last 12-15 yrs) and of all the Atlantics turned in to DEC, none showed genes from Canadian fish per J. Lantry at State of Lake meetings. Tom B. (LongLine)

Also please don't forget the Life Jacket law. Tom B. (LongLine)

No need to apologize Joe. Everyone needs to remember to be safe. If you get hurt on the job, it'll probably take you away from family and fishing for a while. Definitely not worth it. Tom B. (LongLine)

darryl - thanx for your $.02. I hope you're not trying to do to this board what you did on Spoonpulr's. Tom B. (LongLine)

+ JJ. My 9.8 takes my 18 ft'r down to less than 1/2 mph. How slow do you want to go? Tom B. (LongLine)

Difference in length will be minimal compared to differences in hull design and total height above water. I have an 18 ft aluminum & wouldn't trade it. Great to trailer & handle by myself. Also consider depth of boat. Best to have floorboards to top of bulkhead as high as possible. Tom B. (LongLine)

Ditto what Sk8 said. I used to fish a lot of reekers but then like all fishermen I got caught on some others. Tom B. (LongLine)

I'd suggest starting with a flasher -fly combo about 10-15 ft back on only one rigg'r. Fly back about 22" from flasher. Cut bait can be a little tricky and definitely frustrating if not done with a proper roll to it. Spoons can be run with flashers but with much longer leads - in the 3+ ft range. Tom B. (LongLine)

I switched to the longer rods a few years ago and found that I had better landing ratio with lines that don't stretch as much as straight monofiliment. i.e. go with a co-poly line. Tom B. (LongLine)

You can have as many rods as you want. NYS regulations say you are only allowed 3 LINES per person and you must be in attendence of them. note: you can have 50 rods in the boat, but only actively fishing w/ 3 per person) Tom B. (LongLine)