lyk2fish

After getting some much needed rain, got an early Saturday start to get on some fields to pick. For me spring eyes and picking points go hand and hand. Some good finds while I decided where to travel for eyes. Left early evening with my oldest son and decided to tackle some Ontario gold, wind was light and I thought it was gonna be a tough night....started with a few short hits that came unglued quick......played with a few options and found a program. Had a great bite, finished up around 10, great night spending with my oldest, back to the fingers for me.

Great fish and great picture!

Yeah Justin I agree on those, you showed me......these eyes here still spawning, a few hitting but most laying on the points or in the canals still. You had a heck of a night, NW looking good tonight, might hit the cause.....got a bunch of conference calls tomorrow so my all nighter approach is limited......plus if we get rain, I’m running to the arrowhead fields before the competition.......spring is a busy time....we will fish very soon together bud, I promise.

Reel Doc, thanks for the kind words, you reach out anytime. Lot of guys do good out there but might not post results, always happy to help.....really found great success when I learned the copper and core programs.....they make a huge difference in my success on silvers......as far as my luck this weekend, I just made a lucky guess on core length the first time and it worked...........I usually have to adjust multiple times to find were they are........most important as I always say, when you find them, reduce spread so you can maneuver and circle over that same hot area multiple times.....that turn and burn method works good for me.......too many times we troll over them, get one, and keep trolling further away with no results.....don’t leave silvers to find them.

Intended to troll for eyes today but the mud and debris had me making a plan b earlier than expected...ran up the lake found clear water, a few boats and decided to run the cores and copper's.  Adjusted from the summer program and ran skinny, .....as I thought if I was doing the right thing a board goes back and a silver started leaping.......found a program that worked, 2.5 speed, sticks and spoons, no deeper than 40 ft, short cores and copper.....we ended with 5 browns, 2 good bows and a nice eye......decided to go play with perch,  tough bite but a few committed and my youngest son was all smiles. Good day on the water.

Was fortunate to add another 28 to the list lastnight, fish have been finicky last 2 nights and the rivers are clear and prime.  Had a good buddy give me a tip to twitch retrieve with a longer pause to give to presentation of a dying minnow drifting down the current and twitching once an awhile. I was stubborn to try, didnt want to fish my stickbait like a bobber, but finally decided to and was almost immediately hit. They wanted almost no movement on the bait tonight,  crazy......just when you think you have them figured.......she was also released after the pic.

Saw the barameter gonna take a dive tonight and some snow come in so I loaded up and to the river I went. Fish started off pinned to the bottom, no hits on the pause, but almost hitting a snag that starts thumping. Was able to work a few eaters but fishing was slow. As it approached midnight I walked to a different point and was met with a short hit. I saw the fish role and thought it was a good one. Feeling I didnt pick the fish to bad, I walked away to fish another area and let thing settle down. I returned to the point about a half hour later with no bites, as the snow started, I walked just below the point at what appeared to be a small eddy of current and casted, almost immediately I got hit. At first it didnt feel big, then it took off into the river current, twice. Thought it was a big northern,  but as it got near shore I hit my red light and saw a big glowing marble. I was able to get her landed, and at 30.5, she is my best fish of the season so far......a couple of pics and off she went to fight another day. 

Had a great night with my dad. He'll be 80 this year and still plays the young man's game. Wasn't a great bite tonight and with the cressent moon high the thumping was sporadic at best. Bright colors did best, good eaters and a fish just under 26 came to the net. Wind finally calmed down as the last 3 nights it cut right through ya. As the moon set, the ice formed and the night ended which is so common this time of year. All in all no complaints as time with family, especially a parent is so important. Good luck, tight lines.....and if you think your too old,.......think again, my dad's a testament to what you can do!

New moon darkness and some high pressure made for some cold nights on the river this week. The bite has been tough the last 3 nights till tonight. The incoming storms have wakened the eyes and once again they feed. Tonight white and silver huskys and xraps did the trick. Hits on the pause of the retrieve came into play tonight, as the last 3 hits came on a constant reel near bottom. Key is always to find where they are, tight to the bottom bites are tougher but tonight they came up in the column to smack. Window was from 9-11 and produced a great limit of eaters with a great hit that came last. Was able to get her to shore, she measured just over 27, and was released to make more eyes for future night owls like me. Great end to a tough bite week. Dont be afraid of the cold, when ice coats the eyelets, the big girls feed......at least in my experience. 

Don’t fish the Genny, but if I still lived in Rochester, I’d fish it from the lower falls pool. And I’d use bright colors as I remember it was never super clear, especially south of the city. There is good eyes in there though.

This year has been a great open water bite. Rivers have cleared up just in time for a warm up and rain to dirty them up again. Tonight the moon was bright and the bite lasted about an hour. Bright moon nights have not been good to me this year so tonight I decided to go right at dark while the angle of the moon was low, this was key as the last full moon i fished i had to wait till after 1am to catch the moon going toward the horizon,  ......didnt want to wait that long. I ran dark colored huskys, and xraps and got a good bite from 6-7. Cranking lures deep with a slow retrieve worked best, slow enough were my line was freezing on my guides making noise as I reeled. I was rewarded with a good limit of eaters and a final bite that felt pretty good. As I saw her role, i knew it was a good one and i was able to land her. At 28.25 inches, she is my 3rd fish over 28 this winter. After the pic, she was released to give someone else a thrill and keep the walleye fishery going. Remember, fish holes adjacent to shallow rifts. When it's dark run bright colors like white and clown.....and when its bright like tonight, perch patterns,  purples and blues.  45 cast into current, slow retrieve with an occasional pause. When you least expect it, you'll get hit,  and it'll scare the heck out of ya, but it's what we night guys chase.....the tug!

Anybody can be good at anything if they put enough time into it. I put a lot of time into it, and I’m defeated as many times as I’m rewarded.....these couple of days were on that reward side..thanks for the kind words.

Cold weather has kept them snapping, was able to coax a nice 28 to hit in amongst the ice cakes.....the window was short, had to go right at dark and within an hour the sticks wouldn't even work as the ice cakes would wreck their retrieve. A good hit on the pause and a few pics and I released my 2nd 28 of the winter season. Today, tired I took my son and his buddy to run some tip ups on early ice and as a dad I was blessed with a great bite for them, as the weather warmed today, the flags flew, nothing on a jig, just BIG shiners and suckers doing the work. My son took a pb with a 26.5. His buddy was getting the eaters on his turns then my son said.....go ahead......take that flag.......and his buddy was blessed with his pb......a 29!  I told my son.....your one heck of a friend, ha ha ha.......but a great couple of days none the less.....happy holidays all.

The front had them not too active this weekend, my usual spots only produced small browns, never hit a bow and I was in the zone, even the temp breaks were dead. I fished all high zones for silver.....and didn’t spend much time as the bite was not happening with quality.

Great day Alex!  thanks for the report. Love those orange finned lakers this time of year. Your expertise on silvers hasn’t left you either, way to go.

I couldn’t resist those marks in the temp......you told me to stay high, got two quick and then dropped to the temp and washed lures while you were catching.....a great lesson learned and that is the case on these bows....they are way out of the temp, you don’t mark them and they even feel warm when you grab them out of the net......no wonder they’re not jumping. Stay true to it even when the screen is blank, they are there.

Not this year, but yes, small dipsey on a #3 setting, 90-120 out. Remember to circle, they love hitting on those turns for some reason. Dipsey and wire dont turn well on smaller circles, but I have caught them on them. You will be there at the right time, mid August to September is really good, but remember.....if its silvers you want....set them high and be patient, it's always easy to drop for lakers.....it takes time to find them, most every point holds them though. Good luck.

The bass are fun and go back, a lot in that upper column. Have only gone up to your area once Alex, and it paid off, but the weeds were bad. Stayed south this weekend, great having no fleas, but that jade colored water we get this time of year slows them down a bit. Justin I’m going into walleye withdraws, but soon the fall will come and I’ll be on it again. For now these silvers are fun and cooperating well.

Good silvers still to be had. By no means quantity but good quality. All fired this weekend, core, copper, and high riggers.  Algae had water discolored and none of these bows became airborne. It's like they didnt want to come up into it. I know I sound like a broken record but if you want silvers, fish high, stay committed to a zone, and when you hit one, reduce spread, cover water and circle. Speeds were between 2.6 and 3.2.

At a boy, those browns are nice sized, fun on that lighter gear man. 

Believe it or not , no show......I had a double on.....smallmouth on the main and the big bow on the slider......they were fighting each other, I didn’t know what was going on. Some major runs though.....I saw the smallmouth, and thought to myself, your nice, but damn strong for a smallmouth......then a huge flash of silver underneath and gone they both went again.......I landed the smallmouth by hand, trying to take the hooks out while the big bow was going crazy yanking on me and the bass.....lucky I didn’t loose it.......she buried the spoon and it was in her gills....that might have kept her from getting airborne especially when the bass was yanking on her too. Crazy but that’s what makes a great experience and a crazy story!

Fleas are non existent which is awesome, however the weed mats have taken over. Quantity of silvers dropped this week but bigger fish started to hit with one super fish at 29 inches. Still many small stocked browns are keeping riggers busy. Core was dead and 200 copper fired a few but it was high rigger that was taking quality, 40 and above was key. And bigger ones we lost in the cooper again. No secret,  graph says it all where temp is.....current, that's another story. As always, find that first one, reduce the spread and circle. Bait still sparse.

X 2 on the stingers, I use them, and one day washing them the film and/or finish comes off of them, spend good money on them to have the finish come off in a couple of trips or less.

The flurry continues, found them Friday night, got my son and his buddy on the action, still a lot of small stocker browns but they keep the rods firing.  As usual the upper column producing 50ft and higher, mostly rigger and slider bite but copper stayed busy too. No core for me this weekend, lost 8some good ones wrapping off riggers into the coppers, they know what to do, but when I took coppers out, riggers wouldn't fire, go figure......chaos is better than nothing. Speed at surface 2.5-3.0. Colors didnt matter, as always.....find them....keep circling them.

The night game is a fun game for sure, great job.

Just can't do the heavy line, I know it's better for fleas not to grab on, but man, even the downrigger cables were coated. I run 12lb main, and the flea build up did not deter the silver bite which is crazy......but getting them to the net.....another story......it gets too bad I go more to copper and core which I guess is just as bad as 50 lb test, but at least you can watch the board RIP back. Higher speeds were key for me too, coupled with smaller spoons, color didnt matter......as I always say, once you find them, reduce gear and circle and circle.