Lake Trout Derby 2018 recap

[Frogger]

Well I’d probably would say this was one of hardest, mind boggling yet rewarding lake trout derby’s I have fished. It all seemed to come together though when it needed to.

 

Sat am- started out in the North end trolling downriggers and lead core. Became frustrating due to the amount of debris / scum line. Marked lots of fish in the top 60 ft but couldn’t budge a rod. No matter how many spoons, speed, colors I threw at them, we couldn’t move a rod. Went then went deep with cowbells and started on some fish but nothing of any size.

Sat pm- went back to the area we left off on the east side to middle near high banks and found a couple more fish. Nothing though to weigh in. Uggggg

 

I was some what disappointed for the day. Seeing the boys struggle to stay awake without any action is a dads worst nightmare when fishing. Especially with all of the action going on up on Ontario, what was I thinking we could of been there for the salmon. Heck this is the lake trout derby, we’ll figure it out I kept telling them.

Sun am - talked to a few friends / family the night before or the morning of who were either into fish Saturday or were not who gave me some ideas to think about. So we set out with copper first thing. That seemed to be getting the best result. Lots of boats in the area and difficult with the scum lines. We hit one and gave it about an hour before I realized with the weather and the lake being calm this was perfect timing to be out in the deep hole. Off we went. Put the bells down and within 30 min we had 4 fish with 1 of them being our best for the weekend coming in at 11.68. Released it and went right back at it. That’s where we stayed for the remainder of the derby. 140ft to 210ft with 180ft being the hot spot. Speed was critical as we had to make runs back down the lake on every pass so we could get the blades throbbing right while fighting off the current down there. Slow was the ticket. Probably why I went the entire derby without catching anything on top. We ended up with over 30 fish, all Lakers for both Sunday and Monday. Luck was on our side which is always needed on this lake during times like this. On a positive side, all but one fish were released to fight another day. Also always great to see friends out there talking strategy and who’s going to get on the board. Shout out to Roy’s Marina for their hospitality as well. Kinda brought back the old derby weekend feeling again. Congrats to those who placed. Can’t believe another year is by us. Till next year!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[signalman]

Congrats to Mike and his crew for being great fisherman.

[fisherdude]

nice job Mike and good read . cowbells was the only way i was able to catch fish not one spoon or flasher fly bite .

[proline]

A big congratulations to my BFF Mike, and his boys, for a well deserved great finish in this year's Derby. His never give up attitude certainly paid off.
Except for a few bites on some spoons off the downriggers. Cowbells produced most of our fish as well.

Sent from my XT1585 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Hop]

Congratulations frogger and team. Willingness to change with the conditions paid off for you.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[cinnamon fish]

Congrats.  Great post and great fishing.

[Sk8man]

Congrats Mike and crew. Quite a few good lessons in that post...and number one being "don't give up because persistance pays off"  One of the oft neglected factors in success is "paying attention to your intuition" ;this is a prime example of that as well. Knowing what to do and when to do it played a huge role also and Mikes approach is something for the rest of us to think hard about during these very difficult recent fishing conditions.Having a "Plan B" and deciding when to employ rather than continuing to do things that aren't working; it is another ingredient for success. My hat is off to you Mike and especially the way in which you involved the kids in that experience.

[jimalbert]

Congrats!

[ERABBIT]

Sweet . congrats to you and crew

 

[lakebound88]

Congrats!!!!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Neo1945]

Yo Frogger,

 

Sounds like the kids had fun after all and that is the best news.

 

When you refer to "the deep hole" where is it?

 

thanks!

[blueghost1]

Congrats bud!! You def got a good program together in tough conditions . I never got anything working consistent . Lost a prob placing fish  on copper  sat am at the net  on the north end as well as sunday pm.  Heartbreakers . Saturday my crew of my 22yr old nephew and 18yr old stepson were mainly focused on if Marks pizza delivery  or Grubhub?? would deliver McDonalds breakfast  to a dock if I pulled in somewhere rather than cleaning lines ....damn kids lol. Had a great time as usual and got my daughter in her first derby! Nice job Mike!!  Heres the pic of my shining moment...she pulled in on copper by herself!!

[Sk8man]

Are you still straightening out the copper from the floor Kev?

[Sk8man]

Don it is located on a diagonal southeast from the Country Club out from Glass factory.

[blueghost1]

8 minutes ago, Sk8man said:

Are you still straightening out the copper from the floor Kev?

Les I wish I recorded it, she was all hands and elbows. Yelling aaahhhhh!!!!!  I coiled it behind her and could barely keep up lol. Believe it or not, went back in clean. That's our loop at Sampson in the background, so the family got a front row seat to it from there lol.  Needless to say she is hooked!

Edited May 30, 2018 by blueghost1

[Sk8man]

VERY cool Kevin there is no feeling like having one of those fish on copper. I remember being in those sites a long time ago with my kids. Racoons used to have a big nest in the hollow of  one of those big trees along there and used to raid my minnow bucket at night

[GAMBLER]

Congrats Mike!  What was behind those cowbells?

[Frogger]

I really appreciate the kind words from all of you but as humble as I can be I know how luck played a role as well. Just in this post I’d guess there’s +250yrs. Experience fishing this lake. Les has a 100 of those, not that I’m aging him lol. It’s a privilege to be in the audience of such legacy’s of Seneca.
Don I was able to put up my tracks for the derby to see what I mean by the hole. You’ll notice tracks that had zilch. Brian, I ran them and did well it was that color You hid from Ron for me down at Watkins lol. Glow was key. Lighting them up on the hour.
Kevin nice going with your daughters first copper fish. That she’ll always remember.



Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United mobile app