Pike Hunter

Thanks Yankee for a great fishing trip. My buddy came as in a rookie and came out as a king junkie. He tells me that he wants to go out again soon. The copper experience was interesting. It was fun to watch someone reel in brute king as he swore over at least 600 feet of lines, or two football fields as I called it. Fly, Fly, Fly is the lesson of the day. Kings love em and cant resist em as much as we want to catch them. tight lines.

Thanks for the awesome report! Cant wait to head out tomorrow! Tight lines.

Upgrady: Given the upwelling notice, does this mean fishing this evening is not a good option? Been busy regrouping my fishing strategies. Ordered depth raider and found someone to install it next week. Bought two wire rods and need to buy reels to hold up to 1,000' of stainless steel wire to go with each reels. This weekend, I will be picking up my kids from camping at Old Forge and I hope to get out on Sunday a.m. with or without the little rug rats. Tight lines Anthony

Keep up with the excellent reports! I speak for myself as I ve been having a hard time catching fish the past week. You mentioned in other report about down temp/speed probe being a must have on the boat. Need to get busy on this one.

I am curious about what our fellow fishermen has to say about this. Would you like to set up a poll to yield the responses? Thanks.

Awesome catch! Congrats. Tight lines.

I have to vouch that smallies fishing at Hedges is now nonexistent. I started fishing for smallies back in 1995 and has always landed 10 to 15+ smallies every time we go out for them. Two years ago, I landed 35 gobies and one bass during evening fishing. That is when I gave up fishing for smallies. Very unfortunate situation. My friend went out for dinner at Hedges last week and he said he couldnt believe his eyes when he did not see any boat out in front of hedges. Typically, you can find at least 10 boats at any given day in front of Hedges.

OMG. I am already being charged for treachery and if I am to set my foot on my boat, this will make me a fugitive or in the high seas as you call it: a pirate. I will be sure to NOT mislead my fellow fishermen with my future reports. Please accept my apologies as I will be sure to tread carefully in the future. I have been too comfortable with the fishing grounds between west of I-Bay and the Russell Station. I should try to give it a try to fish off east of I-Bay region. Off topic, I will be taking my kids to our first charter trip with Yankee Troller on Saturday probably out of Sandy Creek. Will keep you guys posted.

Hans: After reading your post, it seems as if I may have inadvertently reported the wrong location of the catches. For all of my trips this season, I have trolled to the area west of I Bay and between Genesee River and Russell Station. Yet, I give my report with a title "I Bay report" simply because of where I dock my boat. I am aware that the waters are much deeper on the east side compared to the west side. I believe the area is called Shipbuilders. Your experience tells me that I should try to venture out to the east of I bay. Anthony

Hans: Only if my deaf ears could listen to the radio, I might find you out there on the water last night. Grin. We started out in 100 FOW per your recommendation and saw tons of bait and fish. Two riggers down 40 and 75 feet. When I put down the first line in, it got hit within minutes but nobody was home. Trolled up to 140 and saw nothing on the screen. Trolled back to 100 FOW and marked more fish. Just right after the sunset, the reel started screaming as I burned my thumb and cut my finger trying to slow down the fish - another rookie moments. Landed a 12 lbs King on spin doctor with atomic green crinkle fly. Bottomline - I gotta get me a Depth Raider. Tight lines.

When it comes to landing the monster Kings, Dean, the guide, would often move his boat toward the kings. As the boat approach the fish, the king run away for several hundred feet everytime. Talk about chasing the fish and reeling in the fish at the same time! Not an easy feat.

Excellent report! I went out last Saturday against your advice and got skunked. Fished for at least four hours in 3 footer plus. My spin doctors on both riggers were tangled each time. A buddy got sea sick and lost his breakfast. On the way back, we saw a school of fish (2 foot long -got to be trouts) jumping out of the water just like as if it were surfing the waves. Awesome sight but no catch either! I guess my lesson tells me to not go out trolling on rough waters.

A good buddy of mine runs the outfit called King of the River at Kenai River, Alaska. http://www.kingoftheriver.com/alaska-fi ... salmon.htm This pictures say it all - 70 lbs female and 86 lbs Male Kings. Its been more than 15 years since the last time I went up to Alaska. One need to make plans for at least two weeks stay at Alaska.

Good report Matt! It is helpful to know that we dont need to go too far to find the kings in our backyard! Lamprey contest: the longest or the thickest wins the prize! Ray you crack me up everytime!

This website offers excellent introduction to catching salmon. http://www.protroll.com/salmon6.html It covers the following: Fundamentals How to Find and Attract Salmon Downriggers, Rods Reels etc. Lures, Attractors and Bait Setups Flashers and Dodgers tight lines!

Went out for a short evening from 6 p.m to 9 30 p.m. straight out of I bay. Lake was calm before the south wind picked up at later in the evening. 2 Kings. My biggest yet - 22 lbs and 16 lbs taken out of 200-215 FOW with downriggers about 90' to 100' down. The 16# king fought harder than the 22#. Dodgers with howie fly - glitter black glow and dreamweaver - kryptonite. This is my first season and King Salmon fishing is the real deal. Thanks to those of you especially UPGRADY who have shared tips which helped me a great deal with landing these brutes.

7/7/07 has proven to be a winner! Went out from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. North of I bay. Cream of crop! 4 for 5. One King, One Brown, One Coho and One Laker all taken between 100 to 180 FOW with downriggers out between 60 to 90 ft. NK 28 firetiger and Monkey Puke. When trolling back to port, saw tons of bait in 90 to 100 FOW. Got hit and l was unable to reel in the fish right away due to white cotton stuff on the line. As a result, lost the possibly my biggest catch of the season.. :evil: This is my first season and I wasnt sure if this pile up on my pole were due to the fleas. "This one got away" doesnt cut it and Im now off to the store to buy more NK firetiger lures. Will head out again tmw a.m.

welcome aboard! Isnt this website awesome! My 20 years plus fishing experience from Long Island DOES NOT apply up here! This is why I pay attention carefully to this website. You may see me sometimes on my Wellcraft V-21 with sailfish logo on both sides and I am docked at Sutters. Tight lines!

Awesome pix! Thanks for sharing!

Very awesome website! Thanks for the great tip.

Woody - I would love a pix of the 20# Pike you landed. The last Pike I caught was just 9 lbs.

what does a spin doctor and fly look like? Thanks.

Questions for the experienced: I am looking at either 9.9 HP or 15 HP for my Wellcraft V 21 boat. Both are Honda 4 stroke motor. I was told that the 15 HP will provide me with extra power in case I need to use the kicker to get me home. I was offered 15 HP for extra $200 because it has a longer shaft than the 9.9hp that they have in stock. I would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks.

Pike action coming up next month! Taken in the summer 2006 in Rochester. I had to hold up the pike while taking pix by myself.

Boat: Wellcraft V-21 Steplift Location: Irondequoit Bay - Sutter Marina Despite my nickname, Pike Hunter, I target mostly small mouth bass in the Big O and Pike in the bay. I grew up in Long Island chasing Blue fish, flounders at Great South Bay and I go for Tuna whenever I ride on my couins's off shore boat. I lived in Rochester for nearly 20 years and have started fishing 6 years ago. The freshwater fishing is a lot tricker as compared to fishing in the ocean. My goal for 2007- having just bought a trolling motor, I will be spending more time chasing trout and salmon this season. I find it very worthwhile to learn as much as I can from the gang on this BB. I wish you all a safe and successful fishing season. Anthony