salmon on the bottom

[steelfire]

Heading up in 9 days. I'm reading reports of lots of fish on the bottom that aren't hitting. Other thatn the usual j plugs and spoons buzzed over there heads are there any other options to get these fish to hit???????? :?: :?:

[mikejonestkd]

In my limited experience I have found that a good number of the bottom huggers are lakers and occasionally browns, particularly if you are in the 100-120 FOW range and the temp down there is in the mid 40 degree range.

We run cowbells and spoons right off the bottom, so the cannonball is almost hitting the bottom. Go slow- 1.9 to 2.1 or so and you may do well.

Hope this helps.

[Yankee Troller]

Mike, Mike, Mike! Yes Lakers hug the bottom, but there atre a lot of kings down there too once the sun comes up! A loto f times you will catch a king and the bottom of its tail is folded over. That is becasue he was laying on the bottom. I would say I catch more Kings off the bottom in that 50-200' range than lakers, but im not targeting lakers either.

[Paul Czarnecki]

Rich, Rich, Rich......sorry to hijack this thread but the statement you made about a salmon tail being "folded over" caused by the fish laying on the bottom is totally false. The condition you're referring to is a genetic abnormality and normally manifests itself by the fish's second year. I cannot remember the scientific name for the condition but "laying on the bottom" has nothing to do with it.

Look at a live salmonid in a tank. ANY trout or salmon laying near the bottom will actually orient itself (angled slightly down) so that its tail is free and clear of the bottom---squashing its tail into the bottom would impede escape. While some salmon and trout may, occasionally, lay so close to the bottom so as to "fold over" their caudal fins it is physically impossible to actually permanently alter the bony fin rays and their originating roots in the caudal peduncle.

I'll see if I can find the actual name of the condition you're referring to.

Hope you had a good season!

See ya in the spring.

Paul

[steelfire]

Yankee troller, what do you use when you are targeting them on the bottom????

[GAMBLER]

To get those kings to go, you need to trigger a strike. J-plugs or flasher/ fly rigs 5 -10' off the bottom and kick the speed up a little. We took 2 kings last Sunday that were hugging the bottom. All the guys on the radio kept saying look at the schools of lakers on the bottom WRONG! At this time of the year, they are more than likely kings. We saw most of the bottom huggers in 40 - 90 FOW.

[Yankee Troller]

Thats interesting Paul! Im no fisheries biologist by any means and I took the words of some captains over the years. It always seemed to be he case, however, when we were plucking them off the bottom.

For example 2 years ago on memorial day we were up at wilson and we were pulling kings off the bottom in 175-200fow. Yeah, i had 300' of cable out on the riggers, but we were smokin the teenagers. A lot of those fish had that folded over tail. I guess most of the tails I have seen were from fish on the bottom, but I never seen a salmon in a tank so i cant argue with you.

Do you agree though that a salmon on the bottom can be explanied by the scratches and markings on its belly? Casue I have seen this too.

[mikejonestkd]

Nice guys!!!

I guess it is never too late to learn something new about fishing. Thanks for sharing the tips. We'll try Jplugs and run through them faster the next time we find them hugging the bottom like that...

[ray koziatek]

allright the master speaks with 4 years of lo fishing under my belly now(i mean belt) heres what i think there all rocks,,,,,,,,,,,almost all fish rest on bottom hopefully where the thermo intersects the bottom ,BUT it seems like near the 1st and 2 nd week of aug the kings spend a little time there as their going through their phase of shutting down for the spawn cycle of life,outa mexicobay ive seen these marks in a given spot for a few days with little action then after a good blow or front passes you cant get across that spot without several hookups and they all got pinkish bellies, that pink belly is what ive been told is caused by laying on bottom(i think its diaper rash from laying in their pee i get it too).now for some stupid reason the browns like the 70,80 ft water off sodus and if there is a good north blow for a few days and the temp dropes below that, them boys will just lay in the warm water on bottom and go dormant (and pink bottom) wont feed or move ,but give them a good south blow and roll up some cold water and your spring fishing browns in july and there bellies are pink for about a day then back to normal color ,.. anyone who fishes the fingerlakes for lakers will notice the bottom fins are allmost always a pinkish color during the summer but are pure white in the winter monthes ,and if ya dont like my explaning just talk to the fish like i do thell tell ya gotta go my pigon is calling me....................maybe those fish with the folded tails were caught and released by the canadian mounties (sorry skiener)

[big_fishman]

I never noticed folded over tails but will look, as for pink bellies, yes!

Ray, Very observant, you are learning a lot for only 4 years experiance. That is the hardest part of fishing, being ofservant to the conditions around catching fish. I kick myself int he but all the time writting my reports then bam it hits me, you should have done this!!!!!!!

Good luck,

Brian