lyk2fish

One on a glow alewife stinger, rest on sticks, try to match smelt pattern, as they can be on the menu this time of year.

Well started the shake down looking for perch......the schools left the area I had luck in 3 weeks ago so I decided to troll. Back to the camp for my short cores and planer rods. Set up in 25 ft and as I set the first rod,  the line came out if my hand before I could attach the board....a low jumping flip showed me a nice male brown was on........fight was short at the fish breached the surface again and threw the stick........next few fish were pike, one real nice fish over 10, would love to have got a good pic, but kept it in the water for an immediate release as they are out of season. Weeded through a couple lakers and a few more pike and the bite died on me......wind shifted out of the west.....decided to change it up and run short cores......good choice.....the smashing began......2 for 5 on Browns......this yearclass has finally hit the 7-8 pound range. Fun day with other species mixed in.....temp was 46 at mid day......natural smelt colors worked well. They are full of it and hard to keep glued. Although the handling of the fish was not ideal for a quick pic, I insured a long recovery in a flowing livewell prepped them for release to fight another day.

The river fishing has been hit or miss, conditions are great in terms of water clarity, but the bite has not been consistent during the night. Sometimes its early and sometimes late. Justin and I have been dividing and trying to concur a good fish bite but we have learned one thing.....no pattern yet this year and not as many big fish yet. One night he hits, another I do.......its just how it is this year.....and it's not the same locations, so being mobile is key, more you cover, the better your chances. Ice on the rod tips mean one thing to me.......good thumps will come. Friday's cold and wind with a hint of the moon coupled into a great bite that gave me a first good fish of the winter. As I have always said when the moon goes bright get your lures deep and dark. This was the case and around midnight when I got a thump that was a bit different than the others. Lately these hopeful thumps have been carp I've bumped and lost lures to, so my expectations weren't high until the reflection of that eye graced my headlamp vision. Finally a good fish at 27.5 inches! Not super girthy, typical of the river sometimes, but she had the feed bag on none the less. No 30'z yet but they are out there. She'll fight another day and get bigger. Tight lines all.

You can buy pre spooled combos up north, fat Nancy’s, all season’s, etc. that’s the route i went. Standard 45 pound copper wire leader and backing. Line counter a plus as I do not always let out all my copper. eBay even has pre spooled reels for sale, and sometimes combos.

Walleye, like many fish ambush strike from the side, many times to stun, then eat. I’ve seen them do this at night near shore, when you can see your lure on a bright winter night, I have watched them flash at my stick, sometimes missing it on the strike. Pretty cool to see. Also One of the reasons many are foul hooked in the face or other areas of the head when they hit. Even on small lures they will be hooked on the front treble many more times then the back. I notice when they short hit under a frontal condition they tap at the back of my sticks, hence getting caught on the back hook and not very well. Just my observation over many years of catching these fish.

That’s the best birthday present a guy could ask for, big eyes, multiple rods firing, great weather, time on the water for yourself.......

As you always say Johnny...........” nice eyes”

Thanks bro for the kind words. Everyone on that list you referenced has one thing in common, we’re all hard core fisherman that put in hours and hours to figure out how to be better. Through trial and tribulations we figure it out not because we’re experts but because we are relentless at wanting to be successful at this game we play............by he way is that the fish I’m gonna be working on.....it’s a beauty with an awesome story!

Thanks Johnny, it is great to have a finger lake with this variety. A mesotrophic playground in my opinion, and could be managed as such..........all the suspended small mouths under the bait have avoided my spoons for weeks though. Trying to accomplish the pelagic grand slam........if you do it, post it............that’s a bow, a brown, an eye, and a smallmouth......throw the laker in for good measure since they will come up into the column toward that suspended high bait. What a great challenge!

Yeah, it was me.........I had to stop at camp Today and repair my roof cap from the wind yesterday, I looked at that water and thought I should be on it.......looked prime, especially in that zone nautitroller was in......fish and bait got pushed up there with all hat south wind.......discovered it Sunday........wind machine turned back on Monday and well.....back to work today......water looked prime........but yes those bows slow down when the chop dies........cores on boards start to fire then. Nice work all.

Holiday weekend was, busy, windy, fun. Got some friends out chasing fish. Found my pod of fish moved north but was able to put a program together to bend some rods. Copper and riggers were the ticket as the cores only washed lures this weekend. Temp got down to 65ft in my area that if been fishing and changed a bit when I moved around, no doubt the hurricane remnants mixed the water a bit. With it came some fleas......not bad, but you had to check lines every 20 minutes to clean. Speeds the same around 2.6-3.0 at the surface, quick turns triggered strikes. A lot of quick tips, then gone this weekend. Nothing huge, a ton of good eaters and happy faces. Congratulations to camo joe and his first eye. I saw ya Monday,  was up by your camp had a double with bows trying to battle in that wind when ya came over west. Had to take off after that, good way to end the weekend. Things starting to develop up north. Good luck and tight lines.

Cline down at 65 yesterday, waves were rough, got 2 good bows, a laker and couple small bows in 4 hours. Copper and riggers, core was dead, all in all, Slowwwww. Need the wind machine to shut down and let things stratify again. Would not have wanted to be up on the north end yesterday.

That’s a good setting my man, 😉 congrats!

Sent ya a PM on the clips and deep Raps.

Way to go Billy D, wondered how Saturday worked out for ya. Never been afraid of them blank screens, best surprises always arise from em!

Yes I was, been fishing off that lately...also run a green Lund and will be on that again next week. That paint job on your boat is awesome. Came back and told my wife that I saw a boat with a naval camo pattern on it and it looked bad a$$. If I didn’t see you against the trees, I would’ve had a hard time seeing you......that really blends with the water. I ventured back south and got on a better quality bite, where I saw you I was getting pestered by small bows and lakers. Don’t mind those bites but they don’t release well this time of year. How long is that boat?....looks big, definitely a fishing machine!

Will do Justin, work getting crazy, your schedule crazy too. When your guide season starts to wind down, and my work levels out here in October, we’ll hook up and hit some of the spots.

Hit the lake late friday afternoon and the bite was on, couldn't get the third rod set on 3 different passes. I ran 2 copper, 1 rigger and after a quick TD drop, I set just above the temp at 60. Copper was on fire for 2 hours, then the wind out of the north shut it down. Sat morning was good, temp came up from the wind and bait was all over, most I've seen this year minus large amounts of hooks below and in. Wasnt gonna leave a fish area from friday and after a few adjustments fired a copper on a nice eye, lost a second in the back of the boat......they come right to the surface and you drag em on top, I should slowed it down but a last minute flip threw the hook. Rest of the day was made of bows, smaller browns and lakers. Lost a real screamin bow at dark......wrapped the copper, what's new.....they're smart and know were to go. Sunday was one nice brown, and small bows. Lakers came up in the column, and the hit started to fizzle. Thought the front would fire things up, but I washed lures. Great weekend, fleas not around, speeds 2.6+, and blue/silver hammers kept the rods firing. Should be a great fall.

Great day, those fish are nice and fed up over there.

Great job, working for those kids is always rewarding, memories they make they will never forget.

Another great weekend of fishing. Still some down time but the flurry of multiple bites makes for quite the fire drill. See some folks like Stillwater getting it done with a nice rainbow this weekend. As always found some good temp down 50 to 70 and played with the copper, core and riggers to get it right above the Cline. Speeds went up this weekend near 3mph to trigger but had some great violence in the hits, a lot of which came unglued. Colors were blue and copper this weekend. Copper rods still remain the champ, riggers in second and the core was quiet this weekend. I'm sure due to the depth they were at, even smallys and eyes down deep. Great weekend, catch per unit effort on silvers still around a fish per hour, but the acrobatics are worth the wait. Did have a rigger trigger on a beast of a laker......thought I was wrapped in the copper only to get suprised by a 30 incher!

Spoons this time of year on your set up.....but sticks and cranks will work, just have to figure out the additional dive you'll get from them.

You bet Stillwater,  go get um! That's a great bow......now you need an eye......7 till dark or first light till about 7 am is a great time.

Ryanrobb52, I understand keeping the kids busy, my oldest is 20 and he gets impatient still when we troll, ...that’s one of the reasons I set my pontoon up.....at least it’s comfortable and he can lay down with room if he is board.........but when that rod screams, he’s still up and add it like he was 6. I used to get silvers on a smaller dipsey on wire usually 90-120 ft out on a #3 setting. Turning is difficult with a full spread out including dipseys. Also, going almost 3 mph, you really got tighten the dipsey release. Speed and random turns are key to trigger those silvers.......those 12 inches have big ones with them.......if I start catching shorts, at least I know I’m in the zone.........I then start doing sharp turns, circles, or east west runs, my gps trails look like a scribble, but that is what’s gets it done. Both my boys know when we go out, we’re dedicated to silver fish only........good thing I got a deck of uno cards on board to pass the slow time. Keep at it, a few tweeks and you’ll fire on a good one.

That last fish hit this morning for the short outing I went on........running the pontoon in the wind is no fun........and as I turned to go into the wind, wouldn’t you know the rigger fires and the fish just starts screaming.......couldn’t do nothing but hold the wheel as the rigger was in between 2 coppers not on boards........was a circus for a bit, all I could do was hold on.......I knew if she stayed on the surface too long she would be done, all I could do to get her to the net and stay out of the copper while controlling the boat. Once I got her in and saw her, I made up my mind I was done for the day........even picking up rods was a challenge........but even my Lund would’ve been a challenge in the wind today. She was a beautiful fish.