8-31-08 Port Bay Report

[Finders Keepers]

Got on the water at 6am and set-up in 40 fow in front of Port Bay. Before I could set the 4th rod, one of the wire rods took off. Fought the fish for a couple minutes then it shook free - felt like a decent brown. Wire was out 150 ft on a 2.5 pulling a white echip/white fly. We were marking fish in the 40 - 75 ft range so we continued to work those waters, sliding slightly east of Port Bay. About 20 minutes after the first hit the 45 ft rigger fired followed by the same wire rig again and we were doubled up! Again the fish shook free on the wire and I landed a real nice 6 lb rainbow. That hit a mupped glow frog. Set back up and headed back through those waypoints - on the way through the 55 ft rigger fired. After a short fight we landed a 16 lb king. This one came on a mupped NBK. Then the screen went blank and the rods stopped moving. So we went into search mode and found nothing in close any more, moved out to the 100 foot area, nothing. So I decided to use an old strategy: head out until we get something or start marking stuff!

So we headed out past 200...past 300...and at 350 fow the 200 ft wire started S*C*R*E*A*M*I*N*G!! 300 ft initial run then major head shakes, another 200 foot run and more head shakes, then gone! :evil: Realed in all 700 ft of cable to find that my lucky fly was bit clean off, like you took a razor blade to the leader! Major bummer - that was probably the 38 pounder I've been hunting down the past 2 weeks! That was the same white on white rig that got bit earlier in the day. Put on another white fly and continued to work the area between 330 and 410 fow somewhere between Port Bay and the Silos with a steady pick. We marked occational fish and hooked up when we did mark one - no bait to be found anywhere today. We called it a day at 3pm and were 3 for 9 at that point landing a skippy king. Other hits came on white glow spin doc/white fly, green echip/green fly, and green gator spoon. We had a decent number of hits, but just couldn't keep them hooked today. White on white was definately the rig of the day!

We'll be out tomorrow at dark o'clock working the same waters to finish out the LOC. Good luck to everyone on the last day!!

[L&M]

I guess all the full time charter captans out of here should come to your class or ride with you to get lessons. Sound's like ya kn what your doin. :roll:

[Finders Keepers]

Thanks Hank! Let's see if I can do a repeat today (with more fish boated hopefully) or if it was mere luck yesterday! If you're out today give me a shout and I'll let you know what we're doing!

[L&M]

Tim: How did you make out Sunday? Didnt see a report. Everyone out of here is still lookin to take lesson"s.

[Finders Keepers]

Hey Hank - yeah sorry I didn't post (got real busy with school starting tomorrow).

Got on the water at 6am and set up in 40 fow right in front. Trolled out to see what we could find on the screen - not much. An occational fish around the 70 ft mark, but nothing like Sunday. Worked the inside waters for a couple hours, but just washed lures and couldn't get the few fish we saw to go on anything, so we headed outward...past 100...past 200...hit 250 fow and the 55 ft rigger fired pulling a RRRed dodger/carnation fly. This fish was jumping and splashing something fierce and I thought we had a derby steely on! However, once in the net we could see the curved beak of a beautiful 13 lb coho. Released that one to grow into the next world record fish in a few years and worked the 220 - 260 fow range for a bit, but the screen was blank and the rods weren't moving, so we headed out again past 300...past 400...got to 440 fow and the 200 ft wire fired. Landed a nice 7 lb steely that was released to fight another day. That one hit the white echip/white fly from Sunday. From there we made it all the way out to 550 fow and back to 220 fow before we called it a day at 11:15 with no other hits and ended 2 for 2.

I don't know if the school will be running the adult ed classes again this year or not, but if they are I will try to do a salmon/trout fishing class and post it here. I'll keep you posted... I'd also be more than happy to come out on anyone's boat and teach/show them what I know. The more we all learn from each other the better off we all will be at landing the big ones.

[maurader]

Tim,

Glad to hear that somebody is catching out of Port Bay. I think I might have followed you out on Sunday morning. I started in 80fow and went all the way out to 230. I think I marked one fish in five hours.

I did see a boat start out shallow but I followed another out west.

I was in a 20' Polar Kraft center console. My father has a cottage on Tompkins Pt rd.

Hopefully we will have some luck before the season is over.

Hope to see you out there.

Allan

[Finders Keepers]

Hey Allan - Yeah, we saw you out there. Did you guys get anything in close? On both Sun and Mon we had some BIG marks on the screen between 50-60 ft down around that 70 fow mark, but just coulnd't turn them on, especially on Mon.

I think we got spoiled the past few years with not having to go out very far to hook into the kings. I remember back in the late 90's when the "pack" was well out beyond the horizon and we would run out to 300+ fow before even setting up. I even remember several times making out to the shipping channels and seeing the huge bouys out there (something like 700 or 800 fow - I don't remember, but a lot further than we've been the past 5 years)! This year my gut instinct has been telling me to head out that way, but high gas prices and those marks within the inside waters kept me from heading real deep. If we hadn't started hooking up with fish on Sun we probably would have ventured out there. Oh well, I just hope next year is more like last year's primo king fishing!!

[Finders Keepers]

After reading the reports of those who did manage to hook into the kings this past weekend, it looks as though a REALLY SLOW troll was the ticket. We tried speeds from 1.9 to 3.1, but it seems 1.5 to 1.7 was what they wanted. I haven't heard of running dodgers that slow, but I guess if that is what they want... :roll: Just something to keep in mind the next time we're out and nothing's moving...

[maurader]

Tim,

I just started fishing for the kings last year and I guess I had beginners luck. I ran two wire rods off my Wellcraft Nova and caught a 16lber within 15 minutes! Now I realize how hard it really is.

I have no problem marking small fish in shallow water so maybe I am missing something when we venture out deeper.

I also read about the slower speeds. My father was telling me to go slower but I argued with him and said we needed to go at least 2 to 2.5 at the ball. Live and learn.

btw, what type of boat do you have?

Allan

[Finders Keepers]

Hey Allan - We currently have a blue/white 21' Glastron cuddy cabin, but with any luck we will upgrade to a 26' Bayliner Ciera Classic (similar to the 2452 model) this coming winter (a model my dad has his eyes set on).

As far as marking fish out deeper, do you have dual frequency mode on your FF? Often we will mark the fish on one Frequency and not on the other. I'm not sure of the technicallity of why that happens, but it occurs often and therefore I always run in dual mode if I am out in 100 fow or deeper. Inside 100 fow I use a dual screen with a bottom zoom to pick up on any fish hugging the bottom.

This year the fishing was definitely challenging! I had more fish break off this year than in the past 5 years combined! :roll:

By the way - if you're going to be around next year, I am always looking for someone to go out with, either on my boat or theirs. Let me know if you want to hook up and share tactics!!

[maurader]

Tim,

We do have a dual frequency Lowrance depth finder. Once we get on the lake I usually run it in df mode. That is a good tip though running one side on zoom in less than 100 fow.

I will definitely be around next year. I'm still going to try a couple more times this year.

As to sharing tactics, I'd love to. I'm afraid at this point it would probably be one sided though!

Good luck on the new boat. I'm trying to talk my dad into a penn yan.

Keep the Polar Kraft for smallies and walleyes and the big one for salmon.

I only use my boat for cruising and taking the kids tubing.

I also have a 22' thompson that I thought about turning into a fishing machine.

talk to ya later,

Allan

[Finders Keepers]

Hey Allan - I'm a teacher at heart, so if I can help you put more fish on the deck, that's ok with me!! I don't know if I'll be able to get out again this year or not - I was hoping to get out tomorrow, but a couple things came up and it sounds like it might be a bit choppy out there (my dad's not one for anything over 2 footers). Good luck if you get out, and try running super slow if nothing's biting at the normal speeds. I'll send you a PM with my contact info so we can hook up next year!

[maurader]

Tim,

Thanks for the offer. I'm hoping to get out Sunday morning. My father doesn't care for rough water either. Must be the way I drive. :?

I'll let you know how I made out.

Allan