Oak Orchard 6/8-6/9/13- Pro am Open

[rdebadts]

So, for the first time I trailered the boat to the oak this weekend for the Orleans Proam.  I went in with basically no idea what the fishing was, with everyone on the entire west end of the lake being tight lipped with the tourney coming.  I wasnt able to pre fish at all during the week because I had to work... so i was truly going out blind

 

On saturday, we met at 4:45, so we could get out and start fishing before the huge glut of boats left.  We started to set up at 5:10 in 80 FOW on a gentle NW troll.  not knowing what to expect, I deployed a wide ranging arsenal.... 3 board lines with small red spoons, 2 dipseys set 120 and 180 with dodger/fly, and 2 riggers, one very deep (90+) with a mag glow UV moonshine crabface and one shallow (typically 50+) with a small DW SS glow spoon and a free slider with a gator.  We got our first hit at about 130 FOW on a top line, but it was just a small slime ball so we worked further NW.  once we crossed 170 FOW we found a nice batch of fish, and we would take about 6 fish between 6 am and 8 am working from 170-220 FOW just west of port (at least I think it was, it was foggier than a bastard out there!!!).  The vast majority of the fish were small to medium sized steelies on top, almost all of which preferred the alpena diamond.  We were able to cull through some fish and upgrade a few times.  I dropped the deep rigger to 110 and we did manage a nice 14 lb king, which took a  moonshine crabface.  by 8 am, we have what we figure to be about a 60 pt box, and we are feeling good.... 

 

So, we kept working that same program most of the morning with almost nothing to show for it for the next 3+ hours.  Finally at about 10:45 we move a little north and took one more steelie in about 270 FOW.  I was really disappointed in our finish and I must say I didnt feel good about sunday based on how things ended, as the water was changing quickly.

 

At the end of day one we weigh in and had a 58 pt box,good for 4th place!  seeing what was coming in, I started to realize what a tough day it was.  My box for the classic would have been low to mid 100s, which would have easily been in contention- nice to know...

 

On sunday, we went out knowing that things would be different, so we started a little deeper at 120 on a NW troll.  Our water from saturday was ice cold (45) and dead, so we kept going north.  My brother and I made the decision that we had money in the bank from saturday and if we wanted to WIN we would need kings, so we kept our presentation a bit deeper to target more kings.  we worked further and further north, and FINALLY when we crossed 550 FOW we started to catch a few.  we would find most of our fish 570-680 FOW.  Even though I only had 3 top lines out I think all but 2 of our hits came on the surface lures.  We would pick away at steelies and lakers again today, but they were much smaller.  we caught a half dozen fish, but only 2 where touranament legal (with one steelie that went 21 3/8 long!!!).  Again a red alpena diamond was our MVP, with one steelie taking a 170 dipsey with a glow green dot SD with fly and a couple misses on a free slider with a DW SS.  At the end of day two we had a pathetic score of 34, which would take 8th place.

 

For our efforts on saturday, we would walk away with 300 cash and about 150 in tackle.... Not a bad haul at all for one good day.

 

I love the whole idea of the open division of the proam.  I will definitely continue to fish the open- maybe even in Orleans AND niagara next year. I love oak orchard-what a great port!

 

Back to sodus next weekend, see you out there!

 

Abe

 

 

[Yankee Troller]

[fishmandan]

Awesome report thanks again for the detailed info, we all appreciate you.

[Sweet Caroline]

Congrats on your finish. Our hook/land ratio was the worst ever! We worked 350-450 a little west and did not have a problem getting bit. Landing anything was a different story:( Only managed 3 legal fish each day with well over 20 bites on Sat and at least 15 on Sun. Solid hook-ups with fishing taking line and/or jumping and then off! Cores were best but fish would come off as we were bringing them in.  Very frustrating. Lots of little kings which was nice to see but didn't help our box. Still had a great time and will be back next year.

[BALLS DEEP]

Good job for what sounds like a tough couple days!

[reelintense]

Congrats on your finish. Our hook/land ratio was the worst ever! We worked 350-450 a little west and did not have a problem getting bit. Landing anything was a different story:( Only managed 3 legal fish each day with well over 20 bites on Sat and at least 15 on Sun. Solid hook-ups with fishing taking line and/or jumping and then off! Cores were best but fish would come off as we were bringing them in. Very frustrating. Lots of little kings which was nice to see but didn't help our box. Still had a great time and will be back next year.

Definitely frustrating Darren....but lots of good information came from all the reports and posts and conversations with Capt's. Hope if it happened again would know more what to try for a program. On a side note, good to meet you at the Black North on Saturday. Tight Lines! Jason