Yankee's Orleans Pro/Am 2011

[Yankee Troller]

6/9 – We left Wilson bright and early looking to troll down to the Oak and fish the “West†stuff on Thursday. We shot straight out to 100’ of water pointed the boat NE and zigged and zagged from 100-250 the rest of the day. Fish were plentiful, but size was lacking. Our spread consisted of rods on our Cannon DT-10s, two wires pulling Deeper Divers, and three junk lines. We went through a mix of spoons and flasher/fly combos throughout the day, but nothing was a smoker like that Dreamweaver Moon Cricket the previous weekend. The picture wasn’t there either, which had us a little concerned. We finally picked up at 30 mile point around 2pm and headed for the Oak.

Some fish please no because there wasn't much after this!

6/10 – Big Fish Friday (Condor Memorial) – We left our slip very early looking to capitalize on an early inside bite with a few big guys. We had heard rumors that a few big ones were lurking around the front door inside the 25N line. We set our gear and it didn’t take long to get into some fish. Mostly a good class of Steelies, but we did manage a few small kings. We had a 20lb King to the back of the boat, but a teammate decided it needed to grow up some more and hit it in the head with the net. That may have cost us a check, but it is what it is at this point. We never really saw the picture we were hoping for as we fished out to the 28N line, so we picked up and ran down to Shadigee. We worked those waters offshore, and eventually slid in late in the afternoon where we found a decent bite with some decent fish.

When fishing slows we find a friend and water-balloon them!

6/11 – Day 1 of the Orleans Pro/Am – We knew where we NEEDED to be, and we knew our new ride could get us there safely and comfortably. So, when they released us at 5:30am and we broke the pier heads we pointed her West at about 25mph and took the 1:45 minute ride past Wilson.

We set down a mile West of Wilson, and the screen wasn’t there. While we were teetering on the thought of picking and moving a little further West the Corner rigger with the Dreamweaver magnum Moon Cricket fires and we are tied into our first King. A few flips, trips, and slips later and he was back to fight another day. We would also go on to boat a skipper that was legal, but we just weren’t feeling it, so we rolled a few more miles West on plane. We set down at 6 mile creek as we noticed warmer temperatures, and headed over to the same waypoints from the week before. Just as we got to 4 mile, where those waypoints were, we got into them HOT and HEAVY! The only problem is every single fish that hit was coming un-buttoned within the first minute of the battle. We were amazed at how bad our batting average was throughout the day, and it wasn’t long before 12pm came around and we had to get going in order to make it back to the Oak. In the end we would box 4 fish (2 steelies, a coho, and a king), loose 12 Kings, and 6 or 7 other fish in the four hours we had to fish. As sick as it sounds after the 6th or 7th lost fish it just go to be a joke on the boat. There really was nothing we could do about it, and it just kept coming! Our 500 copper pulling a meat rig took 6 or 7 shots alone and we never saw one of them! A real brute took our Walker Deeper Diver pulling a Dreamweaver Magnum Moon Cricket for a ride twice only to shake off so someone could battle him another day. The real knock outs of the day were a Dreamweaver Magnum Dave’s Salmon Slapper, and that same Dreamweaver Moon Cricket Mag. We would end up at the scales with four fish, heads hung low, and informed that the leading box was pulled from the same waters we were in. Could we have been leading after day 1? We will never know!

6/12 – Day 2 of the Orleans Pro/Am – Sometimes too much information will hurt you and in this instance it did. It was blowing East for a few days, and we knew we were fishing water right near the border. We watched the NOAA Coastwatch Saturday night into Sunday morning, and it showed that the 58/59 degree water we had on the surface was clear into Canada. At the last minute before we left the dock our plans went from running to the bar to checking out the Shadigee and power plant hoping there was some fish that wanted to play still there from Friday. When we set down in there the screen was blank and we trolled it from 60’ out to 600’ with a few straggler skippy’s and 4 other keeper fish to show for. No MVP’s on this day, but a Dreamweaver SS Green Eyed Ghost did take 3 of the 4 fish we boxed. No temp breaks (like Coastwatch said there was off the plant), and no fish! We ran in around 11:00 to see if we could pick up some Brown Trout in close and that plan was about as good as our first one to go offshore and work temp breaks for steelies.

We would find out that the water was still on the bar to a point, and some of the teams that went down there were able to catch a few kings. In the end we made some bad decisions on day two, and when it comes down to tournament fishing making good decisions are what put you in the top 10 consistently. In the end we all had a blast fishing together, the YT3 ran like a champ, and we ate GOOD! WE are taking a week off from fishing, and then it will be back at it every week through September!

[rshubuck]

Great report as always! LMAO off on the water balloon rig! I want one

[Yankee Troller]

We have those things going at least 250-300' sometimes

[Mortigan]

Also good on the 4th for firing M80s across the Alleghany Reservoir down by the Kinzua Dam. So I've heard...

[skipper19]

Great report Rick. There was some tough fishing out there for sure and the fish were really rev'd up and just trying to come unbuttoned on Sunday as we fished out of Wilson west also. Got set up late and fished in the 225 to 330 fow 7 miles from the red can and had 61 degrees on the surface but a very bleak screen. Put 3 hours in that area and managed only 1 decent steelhead and a couple undersize coho. Then a 25 ft GIANT TREE half submerged came and grabbed into the rigger cables and caused some crap for a bit. Anyway all the lines were back in the boat and I wasn't in the mood for fishing for babies and went back in at 1 pm. Appears that over 13000 lbs of fish are still missing from that water over there

Mark

[ Post made via Android ]

[Gill-T]

NOAA has always had it's moments but this weekend......... . I will forever take online information with a grain of salt.

[stoutner]

When fishing slows we find a friend and water-balloon them!

I was on the receiving end of that water balloon barrage. We tried to retaliate but Bob's balloon launcher broke on our first attempt to fire back at you. I will attest you were getting us at about 200 feet a few times!

Nice Job!

Wayne

[Chromeslayer]

[Yankee Troller]

Awesome video! Can't say we dont have a good time!

[ Post made via Android ]

[dreamsteelie]

Nice report Rick.

Thanks for taking the time to do it with NO SUGAR coating. Just like it is.

Still two left... Go get em down east.

I am sure those 500's will have their chance at em again down there.

Captain Pete

Vision Quest

[yukonstu1]

it was nice to meet you guys at the oak i was on bobs boat as well lot of fun with good people see you at oswego

[Yankee Troller]

Same here!

[RUNNIN REBEL]

Rick GREAT REPORT as usual.

Good to see your Dad again, and see you east soon.

RUNNIN-REBEL

Jerry