garrymny

Interesting. Good info. I will adjust my presentation. My fishfinder is a lowrance elite 4 CHIRP. I set it for medium chirp and found it gives me a bigger cone of view than high chirp. We see bait balls usually (except saturday morning) and we see a few fish, not loads of them though and we've never seen a fish down more than 70 feet.

THANK YOU for all the advice. I have been going out of Olcott. The consensus seems to indicate I may not be fishing quite deep enough with my deepest rigger only at 100, just once in a while, and only 180-200 feet of braid out on the dipsies. Yes, I know I need a probe, but I will have to just take the time to take temperature readings with my thermometer tied to a fishing line (DEPTHERM).

I'm new to salmon fishing. I've been out about 10 times, and I am learning more every time I go out. I never got skunked yet, but I have never caught a mature King. I catch nice big steelhead sometimes, lots of small salmon 24" and under, a couple that were about 10 lbs, but never a large 20 plus pounder. When I come into the ramp, folks have coolers of big 20-25 pounders. I wonder what I am doing wrong? Here's my program: 2 downriggers- one at 50- 60 and one at 80-100. One has cut bait, one has Brads Superbait filled with tuna, both 36-48" behind a spindoctor or paddle. Usually about 20 feet behind the ball, because when I go longer they seem to tangle with my dipsys. Big mast boards. I usually run 10 colors of lead core off one of them, with a flasher and a spoon. One or 2 rods with Chinook divers. Set on the 2nd or 3 rd side hole, and running 150-200 feet of braid . Boat speed I try to maintain 2.5 to 2.7 GPS speed over ground. I have no probe, nor can my marriage allow the purchase of one until my wife gets her new kitchen, and she forgets how much I have spent on this endeavor. I try to maintain 30 -45 degree angle on my rigger cables. I troll NE, NW , N, S, E and west, but have no idea what direction is best relative to the wind direction. Should I got into the wind, against the wind, with the wind? does it matter? I have fished from 100 - 35- feet of water. Most of my luck has come around 125-250. Any help would be greatly appreciated' Thanks, Garry

By the way, I have no probe. Just getting the big reels, line, lures, flashers, used downriggers, and making my own planer mast system, has cost too much already. I have been trying to maintain 45 degree angle on the rigger cables, and 2.5 to 2.8 GPS speed.

I'm new to the LO salmon fishing but I have had some limited success by listening and reading everything I can, and asking folks with full coolers at the Ramp. Some have been very helpful. I also joined Lotsa and went to the seminar thursday night. If you were there I was the one asking lots of questions of Paul from tri Sate Charters! Saturday, we got two 24 inch salmon and one 30" steelhead in about 240 FOW. Slighty west of olcott launch. two were about 60 feet on the rigger, one was on a huge black metal diver with 200 feet of wire line out. (I hate that stuff may take it off). Sunday, took wife for first time on the boat. Trolled from 100 FOW out to 350 and back to 130. NOTHING. She was not impressed with my abilities and the drone of motor irritated her. Why can't we fish like normal people?, she asked. Our best day was 5 fish in 125 feet of water thursday before last. They bit good from 5 am to 7 and then nothing, total shut down.