justtracytrolling

Thanks Les it means a lot! Of course opinions and results may vary! justin

I use the speed to trigger inactive fish. As Tim stated after the lake flips at the end of spring I checked stomach contents of around 100 walleyes and 100% of them were shriveled, empty, and lacked any signs of digestive fluid. Because Otisco has low oxygen levels below the thermocline the bigger eyes are concentrated in a narrow band of the water column. I also use the walleye's natural instinct to feed in low changing light times. By concentrating my lures in this band at fast speeds during low changing light times I am able to put walleye in the boat no matter what the weather is...they just cant resist their instincts. Ive always associated this pattern with warmer temps, but Zack seems to have disproven this some. Sk8man also makes a good point that irritability may be a factor as the big eyes are females! lol The hard part is running the lure close to walleye as they aren't schooled. The more negative the fishes' mood the closer you have to get the bait. Of course the more lures in the water the better your chances of strikes, and because the lures are at similar depths the odds of tangling up on turns goes up dramatically. Takes a bit of practice to maximize your effort and still turn. Otisco is less than 6 miles long and the portion of the lake that is deep enough to fish the thermocline is more like 2.5 - 3 miles long. Then subtract the area that has floating weeds and you don't have long at 3+ mph before you need to turn. I don't have a temp probe yet so I space my lures to start and dial in when I make contact. The drawback to going fast is its more work and you will lose more fish because its very easy to put too much pressure on the fish, but its been about 100% success rate every time you leave the dock. Spring and fall can produce big numbers if you make the right moves, but zeroes if you don't as the fish aren't any 1 depth and are difficult to pattern. Summer seldom yields more than 3-4 fish but more dependable and you don't have to night fish. Im sure there are 100 other ways to be effective on Otisco, but this works best for me. If you look at the different species in the lake I believe if caught every single one trolling fast. walleye, tigers, browns, lmb, smb, white perch, crappie, yellow perch, catfish, bullhead, rock bass, carp, bluegill, sunfish, and snagged alewives, suckers, golden shiners. You can bet Ill be trying the faster speeds in the spring and fall next year as well, but getting a reaction bite will be tougher when the fish are all over the water column and I doubt Ill get the consistency Im used to in the summer, but I have good luck casting then so its not a big deal. I will make it out to Conesus next summer for sure to try my program there, as I believe the lakes are similar and Conesus doesn't have the hole in the stocking years so I think the odds of an exceptional fish are better there. Though Im not naïve enough to think Fishman930's results are indicative of the average guy no more than my results are indicative of the average guy at Otisco. Ill bet he works very hard also as consistency and walleye fishing aren't usually associated words. Next year Otisco should have a decent run of 10 pounders where this year those fish were 7-9 pounds. Last year my bigger fish were 6-8 pounds. justin

Trevor, Ill contact DEC today, meant to yesterday, you take the Onondaga county folks. We can report back on this thread so anyone wanting to follow along can. If anyone has an interest in this or ideas Id love to hear from you. Ryfuns will definitely allow the signage, and the owner of the marina is a nice guy seems like it's in his best interest too. Anybody from conesus interested? Seems like we should get the signs all together. Same goes for any lake with tigers...speak up and make a difference. Probably better do something on the Susquehanna too being I can see it from my house and it has fishable numbers of both tigers and pure muskies. A lot more access spots though...Ill send a few pms to some guys I know on these waters. justin

Mike, Thank you, I emailed the the NMA conservation director Jim Kinner for some input on this. I would think I could get this done this fall before ice fishing season. I do have a question maybe somebody could answer. I see all kinds of info on handling muskies, but everything I have read is assuming you are in a boat. Shore fisherman I would think have to be extra careful with a thrashing fish on the rip rap, and ice fisherman it seems probably lift every one by the head up thru the hole. I would want to address these issues too on Otisco as we have plenty of both. justin

Not all days are equal that's for sure! Great pics at least you were out there! justin

The people that I tell about my technique in person never believe me and think Im full of S... I can tell by the looks on their faces... Ive even been told that cant be how I do it...or that its luck. Im not exaggerating or misleading anyone...this IS how I do it and luck isn't a factor, as my results are as consistant as it gets. I only know it works on Otisco and Oneida....I tell people what do you have to lose? Give it a try...unless you catch enough big walleyes already. Ive never caught em over 10lbs but I catch a few decent fish. justin

26.5" is that girthy and then some...there is enough forage for sure just not sure if the lake is big enough to get the age/length. Too many are kept in the mid 30's to low 40's. A look on the wall at the store shows that. Everyday that the tigers are really biting I see 1 dragging from a boat that is borderline legal. The state has upped the size but not enough. I talked to Ian Blackburn on this issue at length and he seemed optimistic that this could happen. Tigerhunter, Would you be interested in working with me on some literature to put up around the lake to educate anglers on safe handling practices etc. the way they do for real muskies. This is very important to me as I love these fish and this lake. We could make a difference. Education is the key...could someone from chapter 69 give me some info on how they have done this, and I will fund the signage as well as get them out there. justin justin

I caught fish every trip all summer over 3mph! Rapala deep taildancers, taildancers, shad raps ALL will troll no prob to 3.5. Ive taken many eyes on the outside of a turn with big boards out over 100' going over 3 with the boat making the outside rod going 4 easy. I will say this is best done in very warm water temps when NOBODY can catch an eye. I learned this technique at Oneida Lake the first time I was there. Nobody was catching so I went faster and faster till bingo game on! Been doing it ever since. This is my mainstay all summer. BTW this technique produces the bigger fish, as Ive had only 1 eye under 18" caught going fast. Greg (walleyemagic) said it best the other day....things change for whatever reason and you have to adapt, move, think outside the box. Fish evolve and your uncles and grandfathers techniques may no longer work. We are predators and the fish and game LEARN to survive. If you don't evolve with the changes your effectiveness will drop. Now Ill start trying it in cooler temps thanks to Zack...sharing and posting works guys! justin

Awesome fish!!!!!! Doesn't surprise me a bit I troll those speeds specifically for eyes all summer! Reaction bite! Great job...how deep was it? The eyes on Otisco seem to have gone deeper lately at least during the day. Congratulations again....the finger lakes are awesome! justin

Just read an article on field and streams website about a new record tiger. The fish was 44.26 pounds, 52.5 inches long and a 25 inch girth. Based on those numbers the 50 inch plus claims ive heard from Otisco are either exaggerations or world records as the Ice fishing record had a 26.5 inch girth at only 46.5 inches. Seems to me if we could get a 50 plus fish from an alewife lake it would certainly approach the record as the lakes have fatter fish! I know there wont be any tigers kept from my boat unless they are record fish as I believe its just a matter of time! I don't know how post a link, but a google search will take you there. Sorry if this is old news but its the first I had heard so I thought Id post it! Justin

After dark....I have fished starting anywhere between 8pm and 430am and caught big bass every single trip...within say 2 hours tops...mind you Im fishing for eyes and have no interest in the bass whatsoever...my son on the other hand loves catching them too.