It's great when a half-fast plan comes together... Sandy

[BlueDaksi]

Fishing Report

Your Name / Boat Name:

Paul Shipman / Malibu Kayaks Stealth 14

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TRIP OVERVIEW

Since I got my Malibu Kayaks Stealth 14 last year and had a plastic vessel capable of going onto big water, I've been eager to take it out into open water to deep-troll for some of the salmon and trout species that are abundant in Lake Ontario. I got my chance yesterday when a couple of my fellow Western NY Kayak Fishing Association friends, Andrew and Jude, caught the trolling bug with me. Andrew and Jude had gone out on charters the week previous and had a general idea of recent reports about where the fish were.

Other than what I have read about trolling in Lake Ontario, I had no experience or idea what to set up or how to set it up. So, I took an old Quantum baitcast Bill Dance catfish combo that I had laying around and converted it into a trolling rig. I put a detachable line counter on the rod and spooled it up with 200 yards of 40# Sufix Performance Braid, tied on 001 Luhr Jensen Dipsy Diver, added a snubber with a 6-ft 8# fluorocarbon leader, and tied on a 4-in dimpled trolling spoon by Northern King Lures. I made sure that I brought along my fish finder and gps unit so I could pay attention to depth and speed.

Jude was already out on the water when I launched from Sandy Creek at about 5:30pm and joined him about 1.5 miles out in 60-100 ft of water. Andrew joined us soon after and we soon commenced to trolling side-by-side in a half-fast manner.

The first thing I noticed, to my amazement, was that I could actually see the thermoclines on my beat-up old Humminbird PiranhaMax 160 fish finder. I really had no idea about how deep my Dipsy Diver would go with braided line, but I had read about a general rule of thumb to let out three times the amount of line as the depth you want to go. So, I let out 180 ft of line, set the drag, and commenced to paddling. We spotted baitfish and marked some fish 60 ft down in about 80 fow. After a couple of ~300-yd passes in 80-100 fow, I felt a tug and my drag started letting out. I grabbed the rod, popped the Dipsy, and reeled in to find that my 8# leader had been snipped off clean. This time, I tied on a 20# Yozuri Hybrid leader and a new lure and trolled about 100 yds before I got the next hit.

Despite my general skepticism about having any success on my first time out, I had a fish on and managed to boat a King Salmon. It was a dink, but legal (barely), and my first salmon ever. What a beautiful and brilliantly colored fish! Jude told me that it appeared to be a wild-bred fish because all of the stocked fish have their adipose fins clipped. I released it after Jude photographed us.

My first Lake Ontario King Salmon.

I set back up and trolled halfway through my second pass before I got another hit. This time, I could tell it was something bigger. This fish was a bit more of a fighter and I was surprised to see that I had a lake trout. Not my first lake trout, but what a strong fish! I must have been trolling deeper than I thought, because these guys are generally found closer to the bottom.

Lake Ontario Lake Trout.

We wanted to get back to shore before dark, and while I had a couple of what I thought were hits on the way back, I reeled up nothing else. Though I spent about 3.5 hrs on the water, time spent actually fishing was much less and I am very pleased with the success of my first attempt to do this type of fishing. I love to paddle, and I found that I could easily keep my trolling speed between 2.2-2.5 mph that I've been told is ideal. I can't wait to get out and try again!

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Date(s):

28 JUN 2010

Time on Water:

3.5 hrs

Weather/Temp:

Nice, sunny, 75 F

Wind Speed/Direction:

South 5 mph

Waves:

Calm

Surface Temp:

70 F

Location:

North of Sandy Creek

LAT/LONG (GPS Cords):

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FISHING RESULTS

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Total Hits:

5

Total Boated:

2

Species Breakdown:

1 King, 1 Laker

Hot Lure:

Northern King

Trolling Speed: 2.2 mph

Down Speed:

Boat Depth:

80-90 ft

Lure Depth:

60-70ft

[fshnwmn]

congrats on your first trip out trolling in your new vessel.....come sept or beginning of oct. that machine is perfect for staging salmon in creek or river openings....

good luck

fshnwmn

[bloodshot]

Very cool!!!! That looks fun and adventuristic, is that a word? Glad to see that you caught something too!! I agree wait until september then you will be getting moved around!!!

[tcon]

Well done Paul!! Great post ...I enjoyed reading it. Best of luck next time you get out.

Tom

[lilboat]

Paul,

Congrats on the Big O salmon and trout from your yak.

I've been practicing on our new Hobie Yak at our camp and been trying to work up the courage to take it to the BIG LAKE.

I'm shooting for the when the big ones come in closer as I won't have to peddle as much.

I got a sail for it this week and she sails pretty well too.

[Kevin J Legg]

Very cool alternative to fishing the big pond. I've done a little Kayak fishing and it's a blast being towed by a big fish. Wait till you hit your first mature king!

[LongLine]

Very nice Paul. Hope you have a seatbelt on when you get you 1st 20 Lb'r.

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[BlueDaksi]

Thanks everyone. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'll have fun figuring it out - lots of great info here. I plan on going out again tomorrow morning. I added a temperature/depth gauge and a new Daiwa Accudepth Linecounter combo to my equipment. In addition, I reorganized and my tackle and go rid of unnecessary items to streamline and simplify the deck. I'm still unsure about trolling with two rods at a time. I think I'll stick with one until I'm a bit more competent with what I'm doing.

[Deaf Fisherman]

Congrats Paul!!

About time! Glad that you are fishing Lake O right now!

Im Jealous right now...