momay4000

Thanks Anthony for the net advice - I was really struggling getting the fish in the boat by myself... It was awesome fishing out there last night - I felt like Tred Barta when he went solo tuna fishing. I was talking to myself, yelling at myself, and screaming out loud like a lunatic!!! Take care, - Chris

Jim, I fished yesterday as well (see my I-Bay report) and it seems like the fish were high and "out of temp". It's still nice to see the thermocline setting up... Thanks for the report - Chris

No pics and no camera on board gentlemen - and all fish were released. I honestly thought about mounting the steelhead, but I let her go to fight another day...... - Chris

Chris : Fishing Report ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): 6/14/09 Time on Water: 6:30-8:00 PM Temp/Weather: 70's, bright sun Wind Speed/Direction: calm Waves: calm Surface Temp: 62 degrees Location: I-Bay LAT/LONG: W 32 line =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 8 Total Boated: 4 Species Breakdown: 3 chinook, 1 large steelhead Hot Lure: DW SS steelie dan, DW SS 42 second, NBK cheater Trolling Speed: 2.0-3.2 sog Down Speed: 1.8-2.5 Boat Depth: 100-160 fow Lure Depth: rigger 55 feet, 10 color core, free slider on the rigger ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ==================== I fished solo tonight for the first time on my new boat and fished only an hour and a half. It was the most intense fishing action I've ever had. Fish and bait were everwhere on the screen and they cooperated nicely. As soon as I dropped my probe rigger and found 44 degree water at about 90 feet down, I also dropped a cheater on the same rigger. Instantly fish on and boated on a DW SS orange crush (king around 5 pounds). I wound up putting out a ten color core and within 5 minutes another fish - this time my biggest steelhead of the year (16# on a Rapala digital scale) on a DW SS steelie dan. I continued to have fish hit the rigger and core and I managed another king (around 15#) after I moved up my rigger to 55'. I also managed to lose my biggest fish of the year behind the boat after it slammed my rigger and peeled off 250' on 12# mono. I had to put the pole in a rod holder to grab the net and that was it - lost right at the back of the boat. My last king was around 15-18# on the rigger, right at 8 PM as I was reeling in my other rod to put it away. I lost several other fish b/c I was having difficulty trying to "get the net ready" by myself. If anyone has any better methods for netting big fish "solo", please let me know. Fish were extremely speed tolerant and seemed to like "changes" in speed the most. Honestly, it was the best hour and a half of fishing I've ever had, and I'm sure it's going to be a long time when I have an experience like this again. The fish were out of temp. tonight, were hitting hard and high despite the sun. FWIW there was some nice green water out there. Good luck to all, - Chris

Way to go gentlemen, Thanks for the reports. Congrats Anthony on a nice SOLO trip!!! - Chris

Chris : Fishing Report ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): 6/7/09 Time on Water: 4-8:30 PM Temp/Weather: overcast Wind Speed/Direction: NE 5-10 mph Waves: 1-2 early, then 1 foot Surface Temp:54-56 Location: I-Bay LAT/LONG: 31-36 lines =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 4 Total Boated: 3 Species Breakdown: 3 kings Hot Lure: DW SS Area 51, copper back; 42 second NK 28 Trolling Speed: 2.2-3.3 Down Speed: 2.0-2.4 Boat Depth: 100-170 Lure Depth: 50' on riggers, 10 color core ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ==================== Slow night with a NE wind. Nice looking screen right out of the chute with nice bait pods around the 33 line around 100 fow or so. We had a skipper on our rigger for quite some time and I'm sure it messed up our presentation for awhile. We landed a very nice 20# king after a nice 20 minute fight on the leadcore. It managed to tangle BOTH rigger lines including cheaters and our 600' copper but we still landed the fish......lots o' fun and lots o' laughs afterwards. Othwerwise, only one other small king - 6-8#. Good luck to all - and a special thanks to Mark (Reel Jerks) for some advice last night! - Chris

Chris : Fishing Report ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): 06/06/09 Time on Water: 5:30-9 AM Temp/Weather: 60's, sunny Wind Speed/Direction: W/SW 5-10 mph Waves: <1 foot Surface Temp: 53 Location: I-Bay LAT/LONG: 31-34 lines =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 8 Total Boated: 4 Species Breakdown: 4 Kings Hot Lure: 42 second Spinny/Fly, green dot Spinny/Hammer fly, DW SS Area 51 with copper back Trolling Speed: 2.2-3.2 Down Speed: 2.2-2.7 Boat Depth: 120-200 fow Lure Depth: Wire divers (#3, 220' out and #3, 280' out), 10 color core, 600' copper ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ==================== Nice quality kings today - biggest around 20# or so. Overall, decent day on water - starting to see more marks compared with last week. Water over 200' was barren, but the inside water seemed a little more active. Hottest depth was around 160 fow on a NW troll. Wire was better for us today. We missed/lost two fish on the riggers (presumed to be misses on our cheaters (DW SS dirty white boy and DW SS Steelie Dan). FWIW, the thermocline is starting to set up nicely. Also, I have yet to see a single bait pod this year..... We'll be back at it tomorrow evening - good luck to all, - Chris (Yellow Trophy)

I form a loop in the end of the line of the fly. Then I tie a surgeon's loop keeping the "loop end" sticking out of the knot about 1/2" in diameter. I then pass the end of this loop through the ring on the swivel of the Spin Dr. and then pass the entire fly through the loop and snug it tight. Unless you add another swivel, on Spin Dr's, you have a fixed ring that you either have to tie directly to, or make a loop and pass it through. It's sort of similar to a Palomar knot. - Chris

WNYsteel, I am a recreational fisherman out of I-Bay and we fish most every weekend. I am not a charter captain nor am I affiliated with any. I am certainly not an expert, but we hold our own on the Lake and you are welcome anytime - free of charge - to join us for some fishing. I'd be happy to help you out in any way I can and give you any pointers I can. You can PM me if you're ever interested, - Chris

I thought that might be you that passed us.... It was definitely a tough day of fishing for us - I'm anxious to see if any of the guys that fished out deep had any better luck. In hindsight, I wish we had focused on a better steelhead program today since our only two hits came up high - on the five color leadcore and our high rigger down 25' and it was at a subtle surface temp. break around 90-100 fow. Live and learn.....we'll be back at it next Sat/Sun - Chris

Chris : Fishing Report ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s): 5/30/09 Time on Water: 6-10AM Temp/Weather: cloudy/50's Wind Speed/Direction: N/W 10-15 mph Waves: 2-3 foot Surface Temp: 47-49 Location: northwest of I-Bay LAT/LONG: 32-36 lines =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: 2 Total Boated: 1 Species Breakdown: 1 steelhead Hot Lure: DW SS orange crush Trolling Speed: 2.5-3.8 Down Speed: 2.2-2.7 Boat Depth: 80-200 ft Lure Depth: five color core ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ==================== Funny how things change after one week. Waves were a bit tough out deep and not one single fish marked. We moved into 80-100 fow and had two hits around 95-100 fow. Only boated one fish today.....water was very,very cold. - Chris

YT, Whenever I'm in the market for new electronics, I use this site for reviews: http://www.cnet.com/ They have fantastic - and non-biased - reviews. Good luck, - Chris Disclaimer - I have no ties whatsoever to CNET

Great videos Mark! Looks like you did well with that Dalmation Spinny.... Thanks for sharing, - Chris

Way to go Mark - great fish!!! - Chris

Hi Mark, Glad to hear you got in the fish, too!! The exception to the rule was one fish on at a time - we had many doubles/triples and non-stop action for the past two hours or so. The nicer kings were deep so we needed that darn copper!!! We found a nice skum-line around 140' or so that us and another Trophy were working and it was loaded with fish... See ya next weekend - I hope this keeps up! - Chris

Absolutely fantastic day fishing - beautiful weather, nice lake, great fishing. It was my cousin's first time ever salmon fishing and we managed a nice mixed bag of kings, coho, and a few nice steelhead. We fished from 5:30 til 10 AM and finished up 15 for 21. All fish released except two. We lost a nice king at the back of the boat - it actually bent the treble hook and that was it. Everything worked today and we managed to finish the day with a triple. Boats were a little tight at times and probably shame on me for running 600' of copper, but it was working so it was hard to put it away.... Location: between the 32 and 36 lines, 100 to 160 fow Speed: 2.2 to 2.9 at the ball Presentations: 600' copper with Green dot Spinny/Hammer fly worked great, 5 and ten color core with DW S orange crush managed a few, two wire bites with a watermellon Spinny/Watermellon fly (280' back, #3 setting), and the rest were on the riggers with free sliders(40' over 120' and 60' over 120', then as the sun came up we moved down deeper 100' over 140'). 42 second, Steelie Dan, NBK, watermellon, and pink alewife spoons all caught fish on the riggers. Special thanks to Missdemeanor for the advice on free sliders - we managed three "bonus" fish that way - Chris (Yellow Trophy)

Missdemeanor, Thanks for the report - glad to hear you did so well today, and the fish will live to see another day! I agree that it has been one of the best spring bites this year. If you look at all of the variability in the posts with many different lures and set-ups, it tells you that it has been stellar this year..... We'll be at it tomorrow AM - I appreciate your report!! - Chris

Gambler, Thanks for the report - we'll be out on Monday. - Chris

PH, You've got some serious stones man. With the S.C.A. for the weekend we stayed away. We did manage to take a peek at the lake at Webster Park and it looked like it was boiling..... Glad you got into some fish! - Chris

Way to go Mark! We didn't get a chance to get out this weekend.....nice to see you got out though! Later, - Chris

Gambler, Yes - he has agreed to pay for all damages. - Chris

Hi Mark, The entire finger pier broke off and my boat was banging on the hoist next to me. It tore up a 4 foot section of my rub rail including the insert and the channel. Luckily, no hull/gel coat damage. Al needs to get his act together - the condition of some of the docks and the entire Marina is sketchy this year.... Good luck this weekend! If the wind subsides we might go out tonight, otherwise we can't get out this weekend...... - Chris

Billy, Great fish, great screen, and great green lookin' water! Thanks for sharing, - Chris

Penn Yan, What you meant to say is the fishing out of Rochester sucks and there's way too many boats..... - Chris

I'm having a little trouble with uploading my pics so this is the same as the previous post) Sorry for "double posting" - Chris