In April I start seeing them with regularity after the first little subtle drop in the bottom seen on your fishfinder. This depends port to port esp. if there is sand bottom but I would use 30' as my inside edge and 80' as my outside edge to target. In April, the 50' band of water holds a lot of fish. Typically, I catch them all over the water column at that time of year....from a 4-8 colors of leadcore to short copper, divers, riggers...everything. You may not need to dredge them off the bottom until May/June. As others have said, think 2 mph or slower. Pull off the trebles on your spoons and put a single hook on them or use a thin-gauge metal spoon that can troll down to that slow speed.
Ah Baitrigger you are missing out. If you are not bending the cup on a Michigan Stinger Mag you are missing bites.....just an example. Conversely, I don't touch a Stinger Stingray size....works perfect to me
Every spoon has it's sweet spot. Bend them, try different hooks, different swivels etc. etc. and find the result you like. I remember seeing Capt. Jerry's Evil Eye modifications in the water for the first time. Jerry makes an evil eye walk-the-dog side to side in a snapping motion to get browns to bite.
Depends....If you are fishing Steelhead at high speeds, then a NK 28 with its stock split ring will allow for more spinning which is ok with the species. If you are fishing browns, you will be fishing slower with lighter line leaders. Fish will have more time to inspect your bait so have as little unnatural dangling and clanking off the end of the spoon the better. Target browns and the standard is a duolock snap to the lure to a lighter line leader to a small barrel swivel. Browns don't want spinning spoons but seem to prefer side-to-side waggling. Guys will go further increasing the darting snapping motion by adding a bigger treble or deepening the cup (bend) in the spoon.
No because the color scheme is similar to how Whitetails disappear. Dark on top where the light is brightest, green sides and a light bottom will flatten the imprint and make them less visible.
Thanks for the replies. You answered my question about needing a big spread. I don't have the space to store anymore outdoor stuff and don't want to make the investment either.
Information confirms what we all have noticed.....adult Lake Trout are on the uptick. The south shore has a world-class Lake Trout fishery......they really need to paint a rosier picture in their assessment. I would love to take one of the biologists on staff working on the project fishing off Niagara County in March/April as they might change their negative vibe. Very difficult to evaluate the Lake Trout population in a lake as big and deep as Lake Ontario with the sampling methods and at the times of the year they are conducting the sampling.
Finally the weather has allowed a good overhead shot. Looks like the river is still running muddy. Won't be long before Erie freezes and she clears. Looks like the Niagara flow has "normalized" out in the lake.
Depends what type of fishing your are doing...
Casting jigs to Smallmouth.......spinning gear
Casting in heavy wind...............spinning gear
Casting light weight lures..........spinning gear
Using light line...........................spinning gear
Casting crankbaits/heavy stickbaits......baitcaster
Casting/flipping around cover or docks....baitcaster
Casting bait with a bobber...................baitcaster
Vertical jigging spoons ...............baitcaster
Using a Carolina rig.....................baitcaster
Drifting 3-way rigs ..............baitcaster
what did I leave out guys?
$89,000 won't pay for the diesel to do anything, never mind splitting it up into bity pieces......as a taxpayer I would wish they would bank the money until the pot grows to do something more meaningful.
Just like wire, it is always a good idea to let out your braid and reel it back in under tension so it lays on the spool tight with no binding. You can do this on the water with a 1 lb ball, a dipsy or at home at the local school sports field (attach a swivel to chainlink fence and walk 800' back...and crank it back in tight). If you rely on how the braid lays on the reel the first time you loaded it......you will be very disappointed.
Your bait on the 600' copper is 300' away from the bait on the 7 color. The only way they will get together is if the 600' Cu pulls over into the lure on the 7 color. Very possible for this to happen if you do it long enough.