Oh-Baby WHI report...Lucky Enuff version

[Fishtails]

My Lucky Enuff partner Jeff Jackson and myself teamed up with Matt Leclair and his dad Steve aboard their boat Oh Baby to fish the WHI. Thanks for having us guys...good times!!

Wednesday, Matt, Steve and I head to Canada to get te party started. Nobody told the fish about the party though, and they were a no show We fished Canadian four mile to weller, skinny water and deeper water, high and low....nothin. Trolled towards the red can and by afternoon it got plain old snotty and we decided to admit defeat and take a sombering zero. As we pull lines, we hook up on our only double of the entire trip

Not the species we were after, and we would go on to snag 5 alewives on our spoons. We targeted kings, and this would be our decision for the entire week. It was tough not breaking out the coho gear, but we tuffed it out and ran a king program for most of the 4 days we fished.

ThursdayWe are joined this day by Jeff and our observer Bill. We decided to search other waters, so we set up in front of Wilson and trolled north. Had a rip on a Big Weenie Meat Rig loaded with an MC Rocket (Hi-Ho silver), but he was gone before we got to the rod. The screen lit up at 200 fow and stayed that way till 250 fow, but we got no takers. We picked up and ran to Olcott, only to find cold dark water. We never dropped a line, so we gassed up and ran to the Bar. We would spend the rest of the day there, boating only one King (but finally getting the skunk out). I can't recall what that fish came on, but it was on a spoon over 150 fow. Again, we covered everything from 30 fow out to beyond 250 fow. Day two ends and we are scratching our heads trying to figure these fish out.

Friday OK, we leave the dock and I am thinking to myself there is no way today can suck any worse than the past two days. We decide to head west and once again we cover all sorts of water. America, Canada, shallow, deep...we sure burned gas during this tourney. I think we did a coho, but mostly the bite was terrible again. I don't think I ever changed more lures trying to make something happen. We settled into an area east of the red can where we liked the temp, water color and screen. We finally take a major hit on the wire rod parked out 275 ft on a #2 setting. It hit a Big Weenie proctologist fly behind a black spinnie. This was one big bad azz king but I couldn't turn it. It hit a kink in the wire deep in the spool before we could get the boat turned and snapped the leader We all had our big fish friday money spent when that leader snapped....what next?

Tourney Day Saturday After talking over strategy Fri. night, Matt made his decision for Saturday morning and we felt as good as you can feel after boating one king in three days . The fog was bad, but I thought it might help the bite. We fished deeper than the pack trying to stay away from the mass of bait. We went on to have a fair bite (compared to the previous 3 days), boating 6 kings. Three would have to be released to grow up. Two of our boxed kings came on a Mooncricket reg size spoon off the 82 ft rigger. The other fell victim to the black spinny and Big Weenie Proctologist fly on a wire out 220. We head in with three fish, but we find at weigh in that everyone else struggle also. Our three fish ended up being good for 10th place.

Wish I had more fish action to talk about...or pictures to share. The WHI was the best, and I look forward to fishing it next year See ya all in Wilson for the Pro Am.

[rshubuck]

Congrads Rod! Nice report. The Proctologist Best fly ever That really sucks with the kink in the wire. I would have loved to seen that fish. I'm going to have to try the bar fishing soon.

[Fishtails]

Yeah, that is one fly you can always count on to catch fish. You notice that? When nothing else works...the proctologist still pulls fish. Don't know why, there is just something about it. That is the reason we choose to run that fly....the bite sucked, so run the proctologist

That king had about 600 + ft of wire out, and when it snapped we all did this... then this . Then we went to camp and drank alot of these That's fishin !!

Good luck at Cayuga this weekend...go tear em up!!

[rshubuck]

Thanks I will do my best! I never have run the proc behind a black spinny. Always Mtdew. I will have to give it a try. The Proc always produces something. My other favorite is the Chicken wing spoon

I think I would be drinking a lot if these too if I lost that fish during big fish friday. Not to mention the loss of 600' of cable, 1 spinny, 1 fly and 1 dispsy

[fishman08]

Glad you could remember all those fish, it was starting to get to the point were i was losing count lol....it was a very fun and interesting weekend...

[Pike Hunter]

Ahoy Rod,

Thanks for sharing your awesome adventure with the LOU gangs! Darn it, the big one actually has gotten away! I feel for you guys!

[gbill512]

Excellent report Rod!

I had a really good time with you, Matt, Jeff, and Steve, along with Capt Dick and his crew. It is too bad that we didn't get some "sharks" aboard.

This tourny provided me with some new experiences

Saturday was interesting just like Matt described. The fog on Sat had my mind wandering, thinking thoughts of XFiles, ghost ships and vortices taking me and Capt Dick's crew aboard the "Landing Zone" to another dimension.

Congrats on finishing in the $, you guys worked hard, burned lots of fuel, just to catch some fish.

I really like the Leclair's boat.

[TOP SECRET]

Congrats on finishing in the top 10 Rod!

Nick

[Fishtails]

Thanks Anthony & Nick !

Hey Bill, it was great meeting you and having you aboard. We tried hard to get some fish in the boat for you, it was a rough week We had fun anyway, even if the fish didn't join the party. I got your address, and will send you a package soon

[muskybob]

Great report Rod & thanks for sharing the lure info. Congrats on the 10th place win. You guys work hard at it and it comes well deserved. Nice job.

[Jeff J]

Nice report! Couldn't have said it better myself. I do think that king had more than 600 feet out though Thanks again to you guys for another enjoyable time. See you all soon.

Jeff

[ray koziatek]

Its always been a adventure fishing with or near rod..Once in a while things get misplaced , Plugs,Maps, And some tiomes its tuff for him to pull his anchor and move to a different spot..and sometimes its tuff for him to put the anchor out (right) to stay in a hot spot.

Ive had the enjoyment to fish with him on ontario ,new jersy and the keys, dispite his ability to root for some goofy baseball teams, get sick on a moments notice and every towel in his camper is pink,havin sticky fingers and cheeks

He is a man with a good heart tho during tournements he can loose that good nature (so ive heard)......Good for you guys Its Amazing how dispite my wifes warning

"be careful of who you meet on the internet" Some great ,well good , well ...........hmm now that i think of it see might be right

[Fishtails]

That put a smile on my face Ray. I told Matt about the Sodus adventure of a few years back...it still makes me laugh! I've had my share of oop's moments , and thank god you were not with me when the tire fell off the boat trailer coming across long key bridge this winter....I would have never lived that one down I look forward to sharing more good time with ya as the years go by bud

He is a man with a good heart tho during tournements he can loose that good nature (so ive heard)......

Can't we all!! You raise a good point Ray This is probably the single most challenging aspect of tournament fishing to overcome. Not letting the stress and pressure change who you are or how you behave on tourney day when things are not going the way you expect. Competitiveness can cloud your judgement, and while I hear this said over and over about many captians, It's not a badge I personally care to wear. I just work to darn hard at trying to be a good person. This is a topic we never discuss, but probably should. One weak moment can give you a label if it happens in front of the wrong person. Limiting stress and surrounding yourself with the right personallities sure goes a long way in making this task easier and this year has been the most fun I have had tournament fishing thanks to Matt, Jeff, Steve and John.

I look forward to the next tournament and the opportunity to compettitively fish with my buddies like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning

[Trannyman]

Great report Rod, congrats on the 10th place finish.

It definitly was a tough bite. Hopefully things will pick up in the next few weeks..

Later

Al