Jeff Mick

Thanks for that info on the boards. A few years back when we first tried the lake for browns I had picked up a couple of the mini planer boards from off shore tackle. They didn't seem to get the baits out very far from the boat so I found a used mast set up and tried that out. Worked well but it was hard to use with just me and my dad in the boat. For the in line boards you are talking about are those the ones that you can remove from the line when the board gets near the boat and then you fight just the fish? In the past when we have run that one rod down the chute with a spoon I put a giant split shot (quarter ounce I think) on the main line side of my barrel swivel that connects the main line to the leader. I think that worked okay for us but it has been a couple years since the last time we did that. And yes I am very lucky to enjoy fishing with my dad.

That is really cool! Beautiful fish and boat. Good luck up there this weekend also.

Thank you guys for your responses! We only get up to the lake once a year but love the challenge of fishing Lake Ontario. Can't image a 20 plus pound brown! Any pics? We didn't use boards this trip. Planned on running two stick baits, one off each side at 125 ft back. And then a spoon down the chute in the wash. We ended up just running the two rods with stick baits. We could see the colored up water along the shoreline in certain areas and was wishing we had brought the boards to get in tight. Sometimes things can get too crazy with just me and my dad in the boat when we start adding rods or the boards though. Think next time we may try them just off the shallow side of the boat. Like the idea also of being out there with the sun coming up! Thanks again for the input! Jeff Mickiewicz

Made the trip up to Sodus Bay from CT this past weekend with my Dad. Saturday was windy and cold so we headed up to Oswego Harbor. We were able to troll inside the break walls for a few hours but there wasn't much going on. No fish. Sunday we were able to fish out of Sodus and found some fish over by Maxwell Bay. Water was a bit warmer and there was some color to it also. Trolled that area out to about Boller Point. We did well trolling stick baits. It wasn't fast and furious, but we picked at them. The fish liked the smithwick floating rattling rogues. In AYU Killer. Thank you to Crazy Yankee for suggesting trying out some of the new custom colors. Your videos / reports have helped us out a bunch! Tried some bright colored stick baits also (bayrats and storms) but they didn't seem to want those. Found some water that was about 43 degrees. The rest of the lake seemed to be at 40. We were pretty shallow. Usually under 10 feet of water. The fish we got into seemed to be stocked either 1 or 2 years ago. No big boys. Wanted to ask a general question to you guys. Should we be fishing in deeper water to try and get into some of the bigger browns. 15 or 20 feet of water? Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks, Jeff Mickiewicz

Wow! Curious what the measurements were?

These are some pics of a 21 foot Lund Newport.

Think some of the early 1970's hulls had that flat bottom going on.

No worries. It is always interesting to hear about people's boat journeys! There seems to be a solid following for these Starcrafts. The link below shows a member's rebuild from a couple years back. Pretty impressive!

I hear you! I almost bought one 2 years ago. Ended up picking up an 18 foot Lund Newport. They made a 21 foot model also in the late 80's early 90's. I am from CT and don't get up to the big lake that often so I figured an 18 footer would be better for some of the other fishing I do in the CT area. I attached some pics of the updates I did to my Lund.

Good Morning, Just saw this on facebook marketplace. Maybe a cool project for someone over the winter? I have no connection to the boat and I am not aware of any additional details. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1335058087436031/ Tight Lines

Not super detailed but I just found this. https://wildlife.org/protecting-lake-ontario-fishing-stock-from-avian-predators/

Thanks for sharing that info.

What is the DEC doing currently about the sea lamprey issue? Do they target the lamprey on their spawning runs in order to try and control their numbers?

Jesus!

Great pics! Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to get back up to the big lake.

Appreciate you sharing this article! Will give it a read.

I hear you. That one is my biggest so far. 26 inches. Hoping to get a 30 for a replica mount eventually.

Appreciate the response. That info about the tagged Canadian fish is interesting. I pulled up the stocking numbers from the dec and was surprised that they dont stock more locations. But if they are moving a bit that makes sense. Me and my dad fish out of a 17 foot aluminum so the off shore salmon stuff isnt really for us. And honestly I dont like the idea of combat fishing the river mouths with every one else for the salmon in the shallower water come fall time. We are putting together a solid program for the spring browns. A lot of that is due to this site. I cant get up to the lake in september but I am hoping for october. We will probably focus on the river mouths and maybe even try out the smallies. Sounds like there are some close to shore shoals that can be productive also for a variety of species. I picked up some good maps so it will be time to start looking around for some productive spots.

Copy that. Trying to decide where to spend some time in October doing some trolling in the lake or hitting some of the tributary mouths. Seems like where they are stocked is where they stay according to your response. We have done okay up near the Salmon River mouth area also for browns. After the good fishing this past April near Sodus though I am having a hard time thinking about not going to check it out again this fall and instead heading up to the Mexico area. Thanks for the response!

Curious where the brown trout densities are the highest on the east end of the lake? We were up in early April for browns and did well to the west of Sodus Bay when the weather allowed us to fish. From the info I have gathered on this site that early spring bite down there is due to water temps. Are there more fish there compared to up in the Mexico area though? Is this strictly based on stocking levels in different parts of the lake? Or are these browns moving long distances in order to put themselves in the ideal location at various points in the season?