Hemlock - What am I doing wrong ?

[JJBat150]

Been out in the kayak from the south end lanch 4 times now and have some questions.

I started using leadcore this year, and I'm pulling Suttons off a 10 ft leader on 3 colors with 50-75 feet of backer off looking for bows.

I been hugging the east shore, staying anywheres from 70 - 25 FOW with lots of bait and hooks showing up on the fish finder. Hard to tell a true speed, thw GPS on the humminbird bounces anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 mph.

Only fish I've gotten so far are lakers, ( actually had 4 hooks and landed 3 yesterday in 3.5 hours of fishing with nice 26 inches long one on a quick measure before releasing).

Not that I'm complaining about the laker action - just trying to figure out what I'm missing on how to target rainbows better.

Also looking to see how others let out their leadcore... from the yak it's not pulling itself from the reel when I'm paddling. I ended up putting the rod in the front rod holder pointing almost straight backwards, it's right in the way of a clean rowing stroke, and still not very effective until the 3rd color is almost fully stripped.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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[jmaggio93]

I have always caught rainbows in this lake with my fownriggers set between 30 and 35 feet trolling in 50 to 55 feet of water

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[Sk8man]

I know absolutely zero about kayak fishing but try increasing your speed 2.5 to 3.2 (if possible) and add some weight to your leadcore to get down a bit deeper and let out more line behind the boat. Use # 44, 22 or31 or even the tiny #8 Suttons if you have them. The real small Honeybee spoons or Alpena Diamonds may also do the trick if you have them.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Sk8man

[Hookedup]

Good advise above. Also this time of year you are competing with the bug hatches and their is nothing they like more to eat.

[Gill-T]

You may want to just troll a spoon with some orange on it with just a couple of split shots in front of it. You may be fishing below the fish with the 3 color. Surface water is in the 50's so they are probably bugging near the surface.

[Skidplate]

Paddle faster. Lol

[Sk8man]

Gill T makes a good point about the bugs and surface orientation of the fish....these hatches are real short lived though so keep your eyes peeled for them but if not there I'd try for the 30 -50 ft or so range.

[Skidplate]

And snap weights and your going to need a ten color

[CoryFLX]

I'm going to have to steal some of this advice. I've never considered being in 50Fow for bows

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[Gill-T]

Rainbows are not structure orientating, they are pelagic. The best steelhead water in the great lakes exists out in the middle of the lakes. The fingers are no different.

[alex1young]

Longer fluorocarbon leader could help too.  

[JJBat150]

Thanks for all the input everyone.

 

Based on what I've been seeing on the fish finder and what folks posted, Looks like I'm gonna work on getting my presentation a bit deeper.

[Gill-T]

JJ, the rainbows up near the surface will not show on your graph

[JJBat150]

JJ, the rainbows up near the surface will not show on your graph

 

Yea - guess I didn't think about that, but makes total sense.

 

 

I  tried pulling floating raps earlier in the season, and the results weren't that great; I'll  try some thin spoons with color and see if that produces better.

 

One of the problems I have with the kayak is that if I'm running 2 rods (especially if they're running at different depths)  is that  it's easy to get tangled up and loose fish.  I actually lost a fish and a brand new Sutton 50 when I tried landing it on the wrong side of the yak a few weeks ago, so I'm trying to keep it simple.

Edited June 6, 2015 by JJBat150