Jigging Report

[Pete Collin]

Hello All,

 

Now that the thermockine has set up, I can resume where I left off last year with jigging big lake trout.

Unless I already know where the fish are, it's a combination of trolling and jigging.  The troll is to locate them before you can catch them properly.  There were piles of bait all along the 100 foot contour.  Enough to conceal any sportfish that may have been among them.  How do they find our lures at all, I wonder?  Trolling yeilded a breakoff that must have been a huge laker.  It actually bent open the split ring!  Gotta upgrade my gear, which up until now was intended only for the Finger Lakes.  I burbled away for hours, wasting all the best early morning light before I found a spot with the kind of dense schools you need for jigging to work.  Once you can lower a jig into a tight pod of a half dozen lake trout, the confidence kicks in.   The strikes began right away at my new hotspot.  They lasted until noon or so, when the expected midday doldrums set in.  The best action was when I got bit on 3 successive drops.  Both biceps actually did get weary by the time I quit with 8 fish landed up to 33 inches and several lost.  That biggest one was a treat.  At first it wouldn't budge off the bottom.  I broght it up to 60 feet from the surface, and had a 10 minute stalemate with it, after which it dove all the way back down to the zebra mussels.  I had a smaller one (the 'small' ones being 25 inches or so) that was being a bit of a boot, so I horsed it in.  I made a grab for the jig, making it wake up and dive all the way back down.  Sea chicken indeed.  Can't imagine how many I would have got had I begun the day there.  Anybody want to come give it another try with me?

 

I appreciate overlooked treasures - When i have found a heavy concentration of lakers, sonar graph churning out fat blips like a player piano scroll, no other boats around, it's hard to feel anything but blissful.  Blissfully busy.  Because each hookup is a fun wrestle to get the fish in.

 

Pete Collin

 

www.pcforestry.com

[BAITNH]

Pete. we used  to have a pacific salmon program  in NH   where they stocked  Coho salmon   we used to jig  these  fish   while   still feeding    with buzz  bombs  I think I still have a bunch in a old tackle box   I gues  ill bring them on my next trip  to the big O

[cdgn troller]

I saw a guy unloading his boat by himself yesterday morning so asked if he needed any help, low and behold it was Pete! Good job Pete and nice to see you again!

[idn713]

Pete I would love to try with you! Inbox me!

[zackblain]

Jigging on the big water sure is a a blast, just wait till you hook into a king

[meatman jr]

I made some jigs for fingerlakes lakers. Basically a trolling weight with a tube jig over it. Got any pics of jigs you use ib the O?

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[King Davy]

Nice to see some of the Old school tactics. You will catch some salmon this way...especially in Aug, when they start staging near river mouths....hang on when you stick Mr. Salmon...it will be a treat to fight it off the take.

[Pete Collin]

Pete. we used  to have a pacific salmon program  in NH   where they stocked  Coho salmon   we used to jig  these  fish   while   still feeding    with buzz  bombs  I think I still have a bunch in a old tackle box   I gues  ill bring them on my next trip  to the big O

Back in the late '80's I used to visit Twin Mountain, NH at the ski lodge my brother belonged to.  We'd go in the summer and mountain climb, fish, drink, and eat huge meals.  The river there in Twin Mountain had a trout stream.  We'd catch brookies and rainbows.  There were also jillions of coho smolts.  There were signs posted at each access point showing what the smolts looked like.  Looking back, I wondered what those pacific fish were doing there?  What body of water would they have swum to to mature?  Did the state have any success with them?  What were typical sizes of the ones you jigged?  I have lived half my life in New England and never met a coho fisherman.

 

Pete

[Pete Collin]

I saw a guy unloading his boat by himself yesterday morning so asked if he needed any help, low and behold it was Pete! Good job Pete and nice to see you again!

Brett, I'm still impressed with that big boat of yours, and how well your crew did yesterday!  Nice to run into folks from the old Sanders board.

[Pete Collin]

I made some jigs for fingerlakes lakers. Basically a trolling weight with a tube jig over it. Got any pics of jigs you use ib the O?

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No need for a pic.  Just a 1 1/2 oz round head jig.  Any plastic body works.  White is a good bet.  I got together with a buddy and poured several years' worth of jig heads.  We got very high quality hooks.  Most commercially sold jigs have hooks that are junk - soft, easily bent wire, oversized barbs, rust away in the original package.

[meatman jr]

Nice thanks. My thoughts aswell on commercially sold jigs. Sounds like I'm on the right track. Good, luck tight lines to ya!

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[Gatorbait]

Sounds like a great day Pete. I was on Cayuga last weekend and got some lakers but not quite the size you were getting. Do you fish jigging spoons at all ?

Edited July 11, 2014 by Gatorbait

[Pete Collin]

Sounds like a great day Pete. I was on Cayuga last weekend and got some lakers but not quite the size you were getting. Do you fish jigging spoons at all ?

I use them occasionally.  I have a couple big 2 oz Hopkins spoons that I use when the drift speed is faster than I'd like.  Usually stick to jigs.  They're cheaper, and I like the single hook. You don't pick up mussels with a jig.

 

I know Cayuga has the reputation of being the big fish Finger Lake.  On LO, a 33 inch laker is merely a good one, and most trips I get a 30 incher or better.  Intoxicating stuff when you are used to them averaging 3 or 4 pounds!

Edited July 11, 2014 by Pete Collin

[Gatorbait]

I don't see fish too often reach 30" in Cayuga. We have had good success with Cabelas jointed glow jigging spoons. They have 1,1.5 and 2 ounce spoons. You must love catching those big lakers.

Good luck !

[leadhead]

Pete, what port? Was thinking of giving it a shot myself... Im in rochester

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[panfisher]

Pete, what port? Was thinking of giving it a shot myself... Im in rochester

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leadhead.....any port should do.... just get out on the lake and start trolling with sonar......watch for fish on the bottom (lots of marks) sometimes in really deep water. Helps big time to have light to calm winds.....and make sure like Pete says to have good strong tackle, especially the terminal stuff.....I'm a newbie at Lake O deep water jigging, but tough strong terminal stuff is necessary for big lakers even in the fingers.

[Pete Collin]

leadhead.....any port should do.... just get out on the lake and start trolling with sonar......watch for fish on the bottom (lots of marks) sometimes in really deep water. Helps big time to have light to calm winds.....and make sure like Pete says to have good strong tackle, especially the terminal stuff.....I'm a newbie at Lake O deep water jigging, but tough strong terminal stuff is necessary for big lakers even in the fingers.

Jigging is practical up to about 150 feet or so.  I once caught a fish on the bottom in 190 FOW on Canandaigua Lake.  It was a dead calm day.  I wasn't moving, the fish wasn't moving, just wanted to prove it could be done.  My jigging tackle is lighter than you'd think.  7 foot med. heavy rod and 10 pound braid with 10 pound mono leader.  It's the light tackle that makes comparatively sluggish lakers fun.  Sometimes, they suprise you with their strength.  That light line cuts through the water and makes it easier to get down deep.  I'm sure there';s lakers everywhere in Ontario.  I have marked them all the way from west of Devil's Nose to Braddocks.  They do move around, sometimes from day to day.  So the search is part of the technique.  In the Fingers, you can go straight to where you'd expect tehm to be.  not so in ontario.  I like baitcasting reels, some guys use spinning.  It's the drag that matters.  Must be smooth and reliable.

Edited July 11, 2014 by Pete Collin

[leadhead]

Thanks guys gonna try it tomorrow am after i pick on the shallow browns

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[panfisher]

Pete Collin.....Yes the rod and reel types as stated sound good, and the braid, not too heavy, sound apt. I'm talking toughness with any terminal gear after that, such as hooks or lures with any split rings or bearings or swivels. Good knot tying lines and knots as well. And if a king shows up it's ready. One of my first times at jigging for lakers in Seneca was successful except for the light 6lb. test line and relatively weak hooks on a jig (they looked stout but proved to be easily bent). We managed to get several lakers, the biggest 14lbs. and at least 2 over 9. After making corrections for fish that bent off jig hooks. And one obviously really big one that hit like gangbusters and pulled for a minute like a 20lb king before breaking off at the lure. These fish were at the shad restaurant down there, hitting repeatedly and voraciously. It is surprising how much energy those lakers can hit with on relatively stationary or slow moving jigging methods. Really, it seems they will hit anything you put down there when they are on the feed. I may, for the heck of it, try them with a catfish or carp method; a dipsey or bell sinker at the bottom with a couple of hooks up higher baited with nightcrawlers....I'll bet they love them! And when you see the bottom literally paved with them, and I have seen these huge schools (I cannot think of anything else they'd be) at over 300fow in Ontario, I am very tempted to "drop in" on them with a meal offering just to verify that is what they are! Anybody even dare try that.....?