Yankee's West End Pro-Am Experience

[Yankee Troller]

Niagara:

Practice - Well, I had spent the month of May up there again this year, so you would figure I should know a little bit about the fishing come tourney time? Well, in practice we went out and found fish in the same places we found them the week prior, but the size was still down. The Sea Sick Waddler took it share again! We ended the day with getting our limit. In the Olcott Memorial tourney we entered one nice 17lb King and 2 smaller fish. Not enough to place in the top three.

Day 1 - Headed out and stopped in the inside water to see if we could pull a big king first thing, without any luck we point the boat north and headed out. We proceeded to boat 9 fish in 1 hour between 7-8am. Most took a Dreamweaver SS Goby pattern off the rigger, but again the Sea Sick Waddler took a few fish. On the Coppers and wires we were running all SmartFish with various A-TOM-MIK flies. Again the Ultra Green Glow was hot as was the Hammer. Our program was 3 riggers, 2 wires, and 3 coppers (400,500,600). We lost a good one that got into out 600 copper and I thumbed the spool only to have the hook pop out. We finished out limit by 10am and headed for breakfast. After day 1 we were sitting in 5th place. Highlight of the day was going through the flurry only to have the 400 and 500 copper in the water when everything was said and done.

Day 2 - Do the exact same program as Day 1.....skinny water then work out. By 11:30 we had 7 fish in the box. Now the stress pours on! So we make a decision to run over to 4 mile and work west till time was up and we had to head in. We set down in 100 fow to start trolling and fish were everywhere! Down we go with the same program we had been running. The sea Sick Waddler was the first to go. WE got that fish in and put it down and it went again! Finally we switched every rigger over to it and we did our last 5 fish in an hour! ALL on the Sea Sick Waddler. This spoon was amazing in those green waters off Niagara County these last few weeks I have had the spoon. We ended in 7th place for the tourney.

FYI….I was in Narby’s and Captains Cove this past weekend and I know they have some Northern King Sea Sick Waddlers. I watched people buying them off the counter before they made it to the shelf.

Orleans:

Practice – Well, we were warned before we got there it was tough fishing. So once we got out there we adjusted for the high Stealhead bite we were told about. If you know me then you know I am a Salmon fisherman. I don’t mess with Lakers or Browns or Steelhead very often. So this is different fishing for me. We ran 3 riggers, 6 cores, and 2 wires in practice trying to figure out these fish, and in no time we had rods poppin. We started off with almost a triple. By the days end we were one of the few boats who got into the fish. We went 8 for 17. Riggers down to 50’, 1,2,3,4,10 color cores, and wires out 50-100 on a 3 setting. Lures were the Dreamweaver SS Orange Slurpee (this is a must for those steelhead and browns), NK C5 5 of diamonds, Copper NBK’s, Spooks, and One on the Sea Sick Waddler (the last fish that spoon would take during the weekend).

Day 1 – Headed out to our waypoints and found the water had warmed up from practice. We fished it anyway only to pull one measly fish from it on a 75 wire all day! This fish fell victim to an NK 28 in the orchard paint scheme. So, the thoughts of lat year start flowing through my head. Last year we won the first tourney, and took last in the next. Then on the east end we took 3rd in Oswego and finished bottom of the middle in Sodus. We get a report of fish on the bar with limit catches, so we fill up the boat and plan on heading there in the morning.

Day 2 – Well, 6 guys on board wind in our face and current against us with a full tank of gas and we could only get her up to 17mph. So, the trip to the bar was a long one and we only made it to Wilson by time I realized I had burned a half a tank of gas. So knowing that the can was 12 more miles I knew it wasn’t smart to make the rest of the run. We start trolling and everything looks just right. Temp. is there and the water is greenish. Marks were hard to come by. We started with a 24â€

[Fishtails]

Great report Rich....how long did that ride take to get to Wilson?

See you In Oswego.....

[PennYan89]

YT,

Nice report. Quick question - How are you running your three coppers? (one on each board and one down the shoot?)

Thanks

[Yankee Troller]

It took us an hour and a half to get to Wilson. On the way back with the wind and current helping us we did 24mph and it took 45-an hour.

Yes, with 3 coppers you put one off each board and then one down the chute.

[fishman08]

where was that news during the tourny! lol we ended day two about a mile from the bar and only caught kings trolling from wilson to where we ended. congrats on the 7th place finish yankee and we'll see ya in oswego

[Yankee Troller]

Which tourney?

[TrimTab]

Rich,

It was nice meeting you and your team at the tourney. What with the way the fishing was down there, I think the best catch of the weekend was on that spinning rod at Four C's. Best laugh of the weekend watching that battle, LOL. Nice meeting ya.

Nate,

Team Member, Coldwater Affair

[Fishtails]

Rich.....besides the time constraints and such, I was wondering why you didn't choose to gas up on the way back and just finish your run to the bar....but you can't, can you? You can't enter any other port during the competition....reguardless of the distance, etc. Guess you'd have to take extra 5's on board if you lacked the range? I have a similar situation, as I only hold 60 gallons.

[Yankee Troller]

Fishtails - What are ya gonna do? It was fun while it lasted!

TrimTab - Yeah, we had better fishing off the dock than we did on the lake!

[waterlogged]

Rick,

Rodney brings up a good point. The rule 3 states:

Tournament Limits:

3. Teams must enter and exit from assigned ports ONLY.

The intention of this ruleis that your fishing day must begin and end from the same port. As discussed many time at the Oswego Pro Am. You can't leave from Oswego and return to Mexico and weigh in. If you were running out of gas or a huge storm kicked up I don't think you would be penalized for seeking shelter in a different port as long as you made it back to your original port by the deadline time. So why can't you get gas a long as you return to the port from which you left???

Am I all wet here or reading too much between the lines??

Clarke

[Yankee Troller]

I am under the impression that once you go into another port your DQ'd. I was also told I wasnt able to fuel up during the day in another port. Isnt it even rediculous we are talking about re-fueling up a boat with a tank that holds 110 gallons at 4.50 a gallon on the water? LOL

[Shade]

Rich,

I just set up 2 rods on copper. One has 450' of 45lb the other 600' of 30lb. Can you run Spin Doctors or Smart fish with flies that far back on Copper or just spoons?

Howie

[Fishtails]

Wow Rich.....your right, that's nuts!! I didn't think you had a 110 tank seeing you burned almost half of it going to Wilson. I see your point I'm only a foot smaller but I only got a 60 :?

[fishman08]

ouch! thats why im glad to have a four stroke outboard...we have a 10 gallon tank and went through a half tank on the run, definitly hurts the pocket but we went with the go big or go home moto...we did the same thing as you basically fished our marks around the oak and found out they were gone sat...so sunday we ran to wilson where we fished during the first tourny we were next to you...the light blue hard top boat...we set up basically where you set up sunday and started trolling east and found the temp was a little colder down deeper so we ran west more but i guess not west enough

[Shade]

I know I will get critisized but I said before and I will say for the last time. The Niagara and Orleans Pro/Am is to early. These 2 Pro/Ams should be run around the 3rd week of June and last week of June. They can change the rules for fish size and it will not matter, the weather conditions are not right not only for the fishing but for Safety. We all have Observers that we need to watch for their safety as well. There is no gurantee on weather but the odds of having that kind of weather in late June is very low compaired to May. Take it for what it is worth, thats my opinion. I know our team will not fish Pro/Ams until Oswego next year.

[Yankee Troller]

Rich,

I just set up 2 rods on copper. One has 450' of 45lb the other 600' of 30lb. Can you run Spin Doctors or Smart fish with flies that far back on Copper or just spoons?

Howie

Absoutely! I run flasher flies on my copper 90% of the time. I have, however, started running spoons off the board coppers when it gets choppy out. I dont think the start stop action from the board is good action on the paddels. The spoons will just flutter when a board stalls.