John Kelley

Yeah, none where I live in South Dakota. Had the boat out for a test run on Saturday. The western shore of Lake Michigan is open as well. We will be fishing in the Sheboygan, WI area.

Hello my New York friends, I just got my boat back last weekend, after having it de-winterized, and a new Troll King throttle control system installed on my kicker motor, and new USB ports installed in my dash. I just laid 2 new coats of paint onto the floor, and gave her a good washing last weekend, and am all ready to take her to Lake Michigan on Thursday, to try for the Browns, Lakers, and hopefully some Cohos. Good luck on Lake Ontario, my friends!! I have attached some pics. Thanks.

Hey, thanks for all of the advice guys!! I do have some of the little coho flies to throw on behind the dodgers, if the flatfish don't work, and I also have the little orange spin docs to try, too. I don't even know if the area I will be fishing will have many cohos this time of year, but I thought it would be worth a try. Good luck on Lake Ontario this year, guys. I hope the ice goes out soon for you guys!!

I have never tried the flatfish behind them either, but have heard of others that have had success with them. I think I am supposed to go pretty slow, like 1.5 MPH with the flatfish.

Hey guys I have always been more of a flasher guy, but decided to try some dodgers for Coho's this spring on Lake Michigan. What do you thik of these rigs? The dodgers are both Luhr Jensen size 00. Thanks for your input.

Nice pike!

Beautiful work once again, Paul!!

Beautiful LL's !!!

Hey Les and Bigfoot, what are some of the biggest rainbows you have seen when they are electro-shocking them?

Is your boat still for sale?

Still for sale?

Is this boat still for sale??

Nice job Les, and some good eating ahead of you, sir!!

Haha, that's how all newbies in my boat earn their salmon stripes, by reeling in the 400' or 500' copper rigs first. After that they can reel in the 300' wire diver, and once they have graduated from those, they are finally allowed to reel in fish off the riggers!!LO

Sweet, thanks for all the feedback, guys. Can't wait to see how they take to Lake Oahe!!

Thanks DJ717. Do they cruise high in the water column like steelhead?

Mostly smelt, with some gizzard shad and Lake whitefish. Shiners and fatheads as well. No alewives at all. I love the taste of Kings, so that will be good.!!

Cool, thanks Gambler. I assume they are pretty good to eat, being closely related to brown trout, right?

I didn't really know the best section to ask these questions, but I figured this area would work. As some of you know, I live in South Dakota, where the Walleye is king, and we don't have very many opportunities to fish for salmon and trout, like you guys in NY do. One of our best cold water resources is the Oahe reservoir on the Missouri River. It is a 231 mile long reservoir, that runs from Pierre all the way up to Bismarck, ND, and it has some nice deep and cold water. The state already stocks Chinook salmon in the reservoir, to give us the chance to fish for Kings. The areas I fish, from the face of the dam, to 20 miles upstream, have over 150' of water in the main channel, and there is an area of just over 200' of water near the dam itself. It is mostly known as a Walleye lake, and also has some enormous Pike, and great smallmouth fishing. The forage base consists of smelt, gizzard shad, and lake whitefish. I just took part in a statewide vote to add Atlantic Salmon(Salmo Salar) to the mix on Lake Oahe, to add another cold water fishing opportunity for South Dakota anglers and visitors alike. Apparently a ton of other people voted on these stockings as well, as the Game, Fish and Parks people here(same as your DEC) decided to go ahead with Atlantic Salmon stocking in Lake Oahe, starting in 2016. I am pretty excited about this, because that will give us salmon addicts out here another species to target. In my two years of working and fishing in NY, I only had the opportunity to catch one Atlantic Salmon out of the Oak, and was awed at it's fighting ability, and it's beautiful appearance. It was a 30" male with a hooked jaw, and I released it back into Lake O. I realize that you people of NY and all over the North eastern and mid Atlantic states have stocked them into several lakes, and call them Land Locked Salmon. My first question is how many years does it usually take for the stocked fish to become catchable sized, like as in 2-3 pounds or so. Also, what is considered a nice sized keeper, what is considered large, and what is generally considered a trophy sized Land Locked Salmon. Do they act more like kings, cohos, steelhead or brown trout in their feeding habits. Thanks ahead of time for any answers and or corrections.