Yankee @ the Oak 7/5 & 7/6

[Yankee Troller]

7/5 - We left the dock at 6am with some friends looking for either a derby winner King, or another Steelhead since ours was knocked off the pedestal. My buddy Anthony joined me today with his buddy Matt, and his girlfriend. I knew that we wanted to head right down to the "flats" and see if we could get the Kings going like we did yesterday.

We set-up in front of the Oak and trolled the 5 miles down to the flats. We ran a 4 diver, 3 rigger, 1 copper program. Our deeper divers were set on 1 for the low divers, and 2.5 for the high divers. All pulled paddle fly combos. Dreamweaver Gator Spind Docto/A-TOM-MIK Green Crinkle, Dreamweaver 42nd Spin Doctor/A-TOM-MIK 42nd fly, Wonder Dot SmartFish/A-TOM-MIK Hammer fly, and a Green SmartFish/A-TOM-MIK Ultra Green Glow fly were the combos we choose and all took fish throughout the day. On one side we ran the divers at 175' and 250' back, and on the other it was 200' and 275'. We ran a mix of spoons on the riggers early then stuffed paddle/fly combos down deep later in the morning. Dreamweaver Midnight Specials, Stinger Later Gators, and Northern King Copper NBK's all had their moments. The copper (400') never took a shot all morning, I put a Green Dot SmartFish/A-TOM-MIK Hypnotist fly on it as it is a go to combo, but nothing wanted to play with it.

We had a great mix of fish today. Our biggest King was about 23 pounds. He was a really short fish with HUGE shoulders and he took Matt for a ride on the wire making runs at Tuna speeds! We also did 2 Atlantic Salmon, which are always a treat. Thanks Canada! The bait, and fish, really moved in to the flats area today. Probably the best screen I have seen out at the Oak in a few weeks. Check out some pictures from today.

7/6 - Steve and his son Tim joined us for a day out on Lake Ontario. They are AVID fisherman from NJ, and Tim wanted to experience trolling Lake Ontario for Salmon and Trout. I can assure you that he will never forget it! You can tell when someone really appreciates the experience because they can't keep the cooler lid CLOSED! LOL

Right away I knew that if we wanted some Kings there was a pile of them down on the flats. We started off right in front of the Oak and did the same troll down to the flats as yesterday. However, today the water chilled down and the temp came up. at one point we had 50 degrees down 50. The screen was blank, and we sat for the first hour and a half with not even a sniff. We finally made the decision to head deeper and that's when we found a little "honey hole" at the 24N/6W line. A great mix of Kings, Cohos, Atlantic's, and Rainbows. There was a break between 60 and 70 that was 15 degrees and the fish were all over it. If it weren't for the rods poppin' you would have never known there were fish there. The screen on our Hummingbird was BLANK the whole time we were out there on that 175-250.

Our program today started out with 4 wires, 3 riggers, and a copper. Once we went deeper we pulled 2 wires and sent out another copper. Our riggers were set between 50 and 80. Northern King Copper NBK was a good one today, but late in the day a Dreamweaver Raspberry Dolphin had a good run. Stinger Later Gators, Northern King Lazer Spooks, and Dreamweaver Midnight Specials all took a few fish. Our Deeper Divers were set out to 180' and 210' on a #2 setting. One had a Dreamweaver Gator Spin Doctor/A-TOM-MIK Green Crinkle the other had a Dreamweaver 42nd Spin Doctor/A-TOM-MIK 42nd fly. Our hot rigs today were the pair of 300 coppers that we fished off our Otter Boats. One had a Green SmartFish trailed by an A-TOM-MIK Pro/Am Glow fly, and the other had a Chrome E-Chip trailed by an A-TOM-MIK Frozen Frog (a Captains Cove exclusive).

We found all year classes of Kings. The biggest King tipped the scale at 20lbs. We did a few really nice Steelhead with the biggest being about 11lbs. We did a few more Atlantic Salmon today, and one tipped the scale at 9lbs. Just a fun day for a father and son out on Lake Ontario. Check out some pictures.

[Silver Fox]

Nice Rick. You let him on the boat w/ that hat?

[Yankee Troller]

He took a beating! Honestly, I HATE baseball. My brother, Uncle Eric, and father are Die-hard Yankee fans.

[FISHINMAN]

Rick we (Shawn/FX his GF and I) passed you in Shawn's boat after we came back out. That was this knucklehead that was waving at you. Saw the girl fighting a fish as you passed. Should have taken a picture of ya sorry

We couldn't get them going after we came back out from weighing Shawn's fish. Should have done the east thing a bit more it seemed better and I noticed you didn't turn back, but I had to be in by noon to get to work

Nice fish you guys got.

[Yankee Troller]

Rick we (Shawn/FX his GF and I) passed you in Shawn's boat after we came back out. That was this knucklehead that was waving at you. Saw the girl fighting a fish as you passed. Should have taken a picture of ya sorry

We couldn't get them going after we came back out from weighing Shawn's fish. Should have done the east thing a bit more it seemed better and I noticed you didn't turn back, but I had to be in by noon to get to work

I figured it wad someone from LOU. East was best for us the last 3 days. Nice fish FX got there.

Nice fish you guys got.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[FX]

Great report! Nice job this weekend We could see the Yankee emblem on the front of your boat from a ways away. We found that 15 degree temp break from 80-90' over 120 on Monday, but never plugged in the way point when we hooked up with the big king

Shawn

[jdycols]

What better weekend could someone wish for? Having the fun of fishing and that too being successful in the adventure to this is extent is indeed something that you can feel proud about. The fishes that you have caught just speaks for your dedication to this. I too love fishing and move out along with my friends whenever we get a little time. It's a been a while since we went for one, wonder if we could make it sometime soon

[Gill-T]

Rick, I experienced similar blank fish graphs off Wilson this weekend. Had the girls with me Sun. and Mon. .....which meant we started trolling at 9:00 am , and the of course they wanted to jump into the water first before setting lines. So each morning before we set down, I am staring at a blank screen on the graph. No bait, no hooks. The girls and I are swimming out in 200' FOW (68 degrees refreshing) and I keep looking at the graph while we are stationary, and I can't believe the amount of hooks appearing under the stationary boat! The thermocline shows up perfectly as well. What I learned before sending down any Temp probes or downrigger lines was an accurate depiction of where the fish were holding and the thermocline temp break. So we are done swimming and I anxiously set line to where the fish are showing, and as soon as we start trolling.......the graph goes blank again? Stop the boat to swim again (hey it was hot), and hooks everywhere! What I learned from this experience is just because nothing is showing on the graph doesn't mean there aren't any fish around. Next time I am scratching my head to figure out where the fish are, I think I am just going to go for a swim. The best theory I can come up with regarding this irregularity is there was a north current rolling cold water in all night, and a SW wind blowing it back out so the fish were on the move.....too fast to show on the graph.

[Yankee Troller]

Rick, I experienced similar blank fish graphs off Wilson this weekend. Had the girls with me Sun. and Mon. .....which meant we started trolling at 9:00 am , and the of course they wanted to jump into the water first before setting lines. So each morning before we set down, I am staring at a blank screen on the graph. No bait, no hooks. The girls and I are swimming out in 200' FOW (68 degrees refreshing) and I keep looking at the graph while we are stationary, and I can't believe the amount of hooks appearing under the stationary boat! The thermocline shows up perfectly as well. What I learned before sending down any Temp probes or downrigger lines was an accurate depiction of where the fish were holding and the thermocline temp break. So we are done swimming and I anxiously set line to where the fish are showing, and as soon as we start trolling.......the graph goes blank again? Stop the boat to swim again (hey it was hot), and hooks everywhere! What I learned from this experience is just because nothing is showing on the graph doesn't mean there aren't any fish around. Next time I am scratching my head to figure out where the fish are, I think I am just going to go for a swim.

Yeah, it was weird. I'm all set with swimming over 200' of water though. Who knows whats down there! Never know when a shark might show up out of no where!

[Gill-T]

As long as you are not wearing double-crush glow crocs, your feet will be safe.

[Landshark]

Shhhhwwwweeettttt

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[711skwerlz]

Awesome reports. Been watching your tweets all weekend. Great job! Headed up wed night fish thurs-fri. Will be my first trip in my boat to ontario. Watch for the little grey bobber. east of port was hot? Alot of good reports from west of port last week?

[Yankee Troller]

We found our fish East. I'm sure there are fish all over. Find a few and work that area. Fish temp too even if your not marking them. 60 degrees down to 38. If u find a good break put ur spread in it. Good luck!

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]