Russell 7-31-10

[LongLine]

Fishing Report: LongLine

Launched at the river pretty early this morning:

River temp cooking at 76F.

Some clouds, slight SES wind so blew the oil out of the engine as I headed off Russell. (ie full throttle) Set up the rigg’rs in 120 FOW. 54F down 60 ft.

Took a Northerly heading and worked out to 250 FOW then back in. Screen most active 180-200FOW. At 190FOW, 54F was 85 down. (interestingly…) Thermocline pretty thin. Couple fleas at the knot once in a while but nothing to speak off.

Anyways – 12 for 16. 11 kings & 1 Brown. All small ones. Nothing bigger than 6 Lbs. All clean fish except the largest which had a nasty Lamprey wound. Brownie starting to darken up a little.

Kings very feisty. Majority jumped at least once. (even with rod tip down) 2 naturals, rest clipped.

Clean DWSS-purples, down 60-85, 15-20 ft back, 2.5 down speed. Direction didn’t matter.

Off a little after 10. About 30 vehicles in lot. 14 with trailers.

Luck to all,

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[rolmops]

Way to go Tom.It seems like you were in the same place where I was last night.

Cornelis

[woody 184]

Tom whats the deal with all these small kings................... Dale

[LongLine]

Dale,

If you’re asking why there are so many little guys:

1. We had a short winter. I believe survival rate was high with this last stocking that used a couple more pens than past years.

2. Little guys eat little Alewives and their hatch was pretty good this year. (Older Alewives are not as plentiful as the younger ones.) Although there are some “homebodiesâ€, many Salmon often travel in east/west fashion not just in fall for their spawning run. I.e. little salmon will travel E-W gobbling little alewives, which are fairly close to shore, as they go. Bigger fish prefer bigger Alewives which are further out.

3. Lake has been changing. Water is clearer & nearshore is quite warm right now. Big fish are deep & currently being spotted 150+ft down. (Although they do go vertically to eat & will begin sniffing out their home rivers very soon – probably end of this week. If you catch one that is beginning to darken, it’s been in warm water.)

4. 2007 had the eye-up issue in the hatcheries, so central’s allotment was cut. (2008 stocking) I.e. more little guys than big guys right now.

If you’re asking why I post pictures of little guys: I am very interested in the amount of Natural reproduction going on out there. Studies show it varies every year. I’m guessing this year is in the 35-40% range.

HIH,

Tom B.

(LongLine)