Sk8man

A good example of persistence paying off Joe and especially how important the social aspects of this great sport come into play (good folks helping out fellow fishermen etc.). Les

It was a long day at the "fishing office" (about12 hours of trolling) on the Admiral Byrd boat with Bob and Scott but totally enjoyable complete with continuous b... busting the whole time and step-by-step instructions from both for how to land a salmon in one easy lesson as well as the finer points of setting your drag properly (while in the midst of fighting the fish) and netting the fish The radio chatter for most of the day suggested that even many of the "big boys" were struggling to get the fish they were marking to hit anything they could throw at them. We put in at Hughes and motored out to about 200 ft or so before we marked a few worthy specimens and tried to find active fish without success out to over 400 ft. with one hit that was gone before the rod was touched. We trolled in and out of depth marking fish at about the 100 ft. range most of the time or up so high that we figured they might be carp or something . We went NE to about 700 plus picking up one15 lb king in the process in about 400 something ft. on a wonderbread E chip with white fly at 340 back. There were lots of intervals of time and space without marks of any kind on the screen but we had a couple brief hits along the way with nobody home. This went on for the entire morning and into the afternoon. We then trolled inward to see if hey were in closer and marked intermittent fish at about 100 ft.down. When we got into the 230 ft plus range. We had some real nice hits which stayed on just enough to get to the rods then gone and a couple we had briefly on the line coming in then off. Everything came on flasher/fly or Spin Doc/fly. They wouldn't touch spoons on downriggers (or anything on them for that matter) so we tried a leadcore with just the wire rigs and never had a touch on the core/spoon setup. Still at about the 230 ft range the wire down 340 with the wonderbread E-chip/ white fly really took off with about another 150 ft of line and it was "game on". It was evident right fromthe start it was a decent king and everything went fine until he got close to the boat and saw the net. He then tried every trick in the book to get off...heading toward the prop, trying to outrun the boat, sideways runs etc. and heading for the bottom while trying to net him. After the 5th attempt Bob skillfully netted the 25 lb plus King with Scott driving and busting him all the way along Bob managed about a 9-10 lb laker on the way back in. We posed for pics but couldn't do all three of us at the same time so had to take separate pics with the fish

Could be a cross section segment of bait coming to the edge of the cone (the different colored densities?) or maybe a "streaker" checking things out but is odd angle...

Ought to at least get a Zebco for the little fella

Nice going! Right now I'd even settle for those "cheeks" you filleted up

yes....57-59 ft to be exact .....good point Mike! or spikes in the Spring... sure does bring back memories.

This time of year usually mainly depends on locating them rather than time of day per se but morning may be a little better without the bright sun...also depends on how shallow you are and water clarity. After the other day (algae problem) who knows what the conditions will be like. They spook easily in shallower water and in clearer water but if you are trolling out deeper and with cloudy water with a quiet motor you should be all right. They aren't real fond of muddy water either.

You know after reading these posts it reaffirms my very positive feelings about the value of the LOU website (in addition to the great fishing info). People trying to help people out, kicking around ideas that we might not otherwise think about or know about, and perhaps saving us time and money in the process. It is a great testament to the website itself and the people using it. Rather than just thinking this to myself I figured I'd say it

Whats it going to be like when you're my age Mike?

Good advice Mike

Most of the perch caught trolling are usually "by accident" while fishing for other species and usually they are big perch. As in most perch fishing locating the schools is going to be key to anything you do. It is still a little early for the big schools of them and given recent water conditions on Seneca the increased turbidity and suspended algae concentrations may keep them deeper than usual. There should be some over near the pipes in the "muck flats" on the west side and east between where you launch and Sampson on the shelves in 20-30 or so (outside the weed beds). I think worm harnessses set up with live nightcrawlers trolled slowly like for walleyes (same family) might work despite the fact that they are probably in a transition from crabs to minnows shortly. Smaller j-7's or9's in orange or perch (the bass will hammer the blue ones) small honey bee spoons or Renegade sticks in black/silver. I'd run everything out long behind the boat and/or on boards at a speed that will make jointed Rapalas wiggle back and forth slowly. If you can skirt the very edge of the weed beds with your inside line (s) you should find action. As with other methods for them you should work them back and forth near where you either connect with one or think you see them on the screen (may be suspended bass in same water) rather than trolling on as we often do in trout trolling....They aren't nearly as solitary as trout can be and they spook easily in shallow water but will stay in the same general area usually. Light leader 6 to 8 lb fluoro I know you probably know all this Ed but I'm also thinking of the new folks that might want to give it a try and serve as a start anyway. I'd use an electric trolling motor instead of a gas trolling motor if you have one- slower and quieter. Les

Paul's mounts are works of fine art !

WTG Nick. You earned them fishing in that stuff Tuesday

Good going John.....I'll bet those guys from Kansas thought they were in "Oz" when they saw that big laker Les Have to get your timing down for the derby though

I thought about it but figured you'd probably bust my B???? even more Ed if we didn't connect with something