New to the forum... Advice?

[mbruizer187]

Fish up to Ontario a few times a year, but last Sat. was the first time in 2-3 years. I go out with my uncle and his buddy that have been going for years. We had probably 6 hits, but no takers. We fished 120-170 ftw, with our lines 80-120, marked fish here and there from 60-140, using Flasher and Fly's, spoons, and J-plugs. Trying to get some pointers on fishing styles, good baits, depths, that work certain times of the season and where abouts the fish are hanging out this time of year. Hear allot of talk on the radio, but mostly in fisherman talk i guess cause I don't understand allot of what they are saying, i know no one wants to give up hot spots and what not, but some general info on depths, and what they are hiittin would make the trip up that way worth it lol. The problem is they have they're techniques that use to work for them years ago, but they will beat them to death all day even with nothing hitting. They wont use the radio to try to talk because of people being rude and such when they try to talk or get some info in the bite, a bunch of years back. Anyways we usually launch in Mexico, so any info on what spots are around that area that may produce, or so that i may see in the fishing report forum.

Thanks for any responses,

Rich

[mbruizer187]

Nothing Huh?

[LongLine]

Bruise - Not sure what you saying or asking. Not trying to be snobish but try intro section first. Then read posts in fishing report sections. Go from there with a little more specific questions & I'm sure the guys will try to help you out. Where you from & where you fishing?

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[CBish]

My advice -- Find a kind pleasant, easy to talk to charter captain and hire his boat for an evening of fishing then bug him on the phone before every trip to his port and call him while on the water as well. If he does not think it is a good idea for you to call him, hire someone different!!

CC

[stan]

Watch out for these guys , if you lesson to them . You will be cleaning a lot of fish at home and your hands will smell like dead fish So if you don't want dead fish on your conscience don't lesson to them .

Just my 2 cents worth

[Shade]

MB,

First, what port are you fishing out of? Then check fish reports like LongLine suggested. If you need some tips post a question and it will get answered. If you are new to Ontario take CBish advice and hire a charter first, ask questions and go from there.

This web site has helped a lot of guys put fish in their box including myself. You need to evaluate you equipment and just look over all the threads that posted each day.

Shade

[mbruizer187]

Ok, We start off launching in Mexico Bay, drive out north of the launch till about 120fow, and set up to troll, we usually troll north and west of the launch till almost 200fow,(because of the DEC report saying tons of action between 120-180). The thing is once we are out there and nothing is going on I want to pick up the radio, to try and get info on maybe what depths others are marking, or color of hot lures, but they kind of make it seem like no one will tell anything. Do you know the area i am talking about? If so what are some locations around that area so i can try to keep an eye on the reports from around there.

I was basically looking to see if the fish set up in certain depths at this time, and perfer certain lures, do they hang in schools? that kind of stuff. My uncle knows the basics of fishing for them but not reasoning behind the stuff i am looking for, he try's all the different lures and what not and changes depths here and there but there is alot of lake, and you can be fishing 100 miles from the fish if you dont know why they are not there. We have sonar but that thing was showing fish all day in the 60-160, and it was showing them every couple of seconds 2-3 at a time, but i was saying that it didnt have to always be fish cause the hummingbird shows anything as a fish right?

Btw I am from the Utica area.

Rich

P.S. Guess i am looking to just talk to people who know what they are doing and why they are doing it that way so i can better understand, and sorry if this is jumbled lol i am trying to think of what i am looking for and type it at the same time.

[dieselhp]

If you stop in just about any tackle shop in the area and ask what they are hearing, they will tell you what depth of water their friends did yesterday. That’s a good place to start. Also look for the fleet while out on the water in the AM. It will spread out during the day, but it’s a good place to start. Pay attention to your depth finder to see where you are marking fish. Go from there and change your lures, color, speed, direction and so forth. I prefer to stay away from the fleet, but it will give you a good starting place. Just don’t get on top of people.

Just my $0.02

[mbruizer187]

Cool, thnx for the pointers, ya we dont get to close to the other boats, but are hanging around the locations in the a.m. but then they all scatter lol, and we figure they must have quit or heard something good.

Rich

[Shade]

First of all just because they say the fish are in 120 - 180 ' does not mean there all over the place. Do you have a speed and temp probe? If you do not you are fishing blind. You need to know at what depth the 48 - 55 degree water is. Is it 50' down or 70' down? Thats the temp of the water the fish will be. Next you need to find the bait fish. Once you set up and start trolling , what is your trolling speed at the ball?

Its all about presentation, water temp and lure selection. This is all done by trial and error.

Shade

[muskybob]

MB, very good advice so far. I'd also like to add, when trolling north/south if you mark fish at a certain depth and are not getting hits, set your riggers about 5' above the marks and try trolling east/west. It sounds like your uncle is doing the right stuff & just needs a little fine tuning on his presentations. Like has been said, read the fishing reports section and try to adjust your technique accordingly. Don't hesitate to ask questions when you have a specific question. You're coming into prime time for hook-ups right now so get out there and "get 'er done.

PS: I'm from the Utica area also so if you'd like to stop over sometime I can show you some of the set ups I use. Just shoot me a PM.

[mbruizer187]

Thanks for the invite Musky, and info. have to get some tips on Tiger fishing too, been wanting to do that for a couple of years now.

Shade, yes we use a fish hawk also, sorry for not stating all the specifics, and have been trying to fish in the 55-48* water, must be just a bad day, they cant all be good, i just cant get up there that often, Family time in the summer. So i was trying to see if we were doing anything wrong. Locating the bait fish seems like 1 thing but we might need new sonar to do that effectively, or know what we are looking for/at.

Once again thanks for the tips they are greatly appreciated!

Rich

[GAMBLER]

Rich,

Don't be afraid to fish colder or warmer. Lately a lot of big kings have come on the warm side for me. We also took some fish down in the 42 degree water that were not being marked on the fishfinder last Sunday.

[LongLine]

Well here 2 cents worth. Six short hits you say. Hmm,,. that tells me two things I’d check out first. 1. Dull hooks, better sharpen them. Remember 3 sided & sticky sharp. 2. Speed. (That’s #2 on Ray’s 3 S’s of fishing.) Big-O is warmer & cleaner than I can remember and as such has some really strong currents. As said up above, if you’re trolling E-W then definitely try the N-S trick. You may be traveling 2 miles an hour on your gps yet into a 3 mph current, hence you’re really spinning lures. Salmon can swim at fast speeds but they can’t see what they’re biting only an inch in front of them. (1 thing I would do is pop a lure loose from the downrigger every once in a while & let it flutter downward, when I knew I was over a school of something. You’ll be surprised what this can bring.)

Those fish you mention in fairly shallow….that water is very warm. They may be Browns in which case you better fish them real early and with a lot of stealth. (or they could be something else. i.e. carp, sheepshead. Yes salmon do come up into even low 70’s water to feed but they can’t live there. Their bodies can’t take it. If you catch a “brownish fish†right now, it’s because he’s been in that warm stuff. Another week & ½ or so and you’ll see a lot more brown fish as decent numbers will start coming in to sniff around their spawning grounds. Some of those shallow fish could be salmon taking a first look at their spawning areas but on their way back out.

I know it’s tough to teach us old dogs new tricks, but if you get the chance to drive, gently turn in another direction. (don’t tangle the wires or you may never get the chance to drive again)

As to chatter on the radio, don’t let it bother you. Some people are like that. When you do a radio check, ask if anyone from L.O.U. is out there. You never know…..

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[mbruizer187]

Awesome, thanks for the great tips and info, am looking forward to going out next saturday to give it another shot. Maybe even radio check to see if anyone is out there.

Thanks again

Rich

[bottom-feeder]

rich

i'm usually in the area from mexico to henderson on the weekends give me a shout on CH 68

lots of fish in the 140 fow line this wknd but SLOW action

guys were running from 90-200 fow everybody marking a few here and there

temps were about 105 feet down

cut bait seemed to be the choice this wknd but a few were taken on flasher/fly combos.... greens and whites being most common

todd

[ray koziatek]

how do cut dypsys work this time of year?

[LongLine]

They sink

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[GAMBLER]

The only thing the catch is the bottom!

[bottom-feeder]

well ray as long as they get tangled real good around the DR cable of the IDIOT that cuts behind you ya can get them back after a very loud and NOT so nice exchange of words

only lost 1 fly

BUT had about 200 feet of wire on each rod that was considered useless

todd