Sandy Cr 6/8

[Ric66]

Took off work early and picked my son up from school getting him out early too, which he hated. Yeah, right! This is only my second year trolling Ontario so I was not brimming with confidence. My plan was to set up in 150ft and put out 6 rods with various delivery systems. Had two dipsy divers, one with clean spoon and one with flasher/fly set out at 200 and 250 on 2 setting. Two riggers, one with clean spoon and one with flasher/fly set at 110 and 130. One 7 color lead core down the middle and one rod with a torpedo, 3 colors of lead core  with spoon and a church planner board. First hour had nothing. Not marking much either. Surfaces was low 60s and had to go down to the 100s to get mid 40s on the probe. Trolled west with the wind for about an hour without any action. Then, finally rigger with clean spoon (evil alewife) goes off, get the fish back to stern of boat and he throws the hook. Few expletives later, and the other rigger goes off and this time line breaks. I am ditching pinch pad releases and only using Blacks from now on. Lost too many fish to pinch pads. Right after that dipsy rod goes off and we get him to the back of the boat and he starts to tangle with the lead core rod. Able to net him so at least not going home empty handed. Not sure now whether to keep trolling with wind or go back through where we got all the hits. Decided to turn around with sun at our back. Trolled for another hour or so and I had replaced the rigger that had the flasher/fly with a spoon-Dream weaver lemon ice and that one goes off. Hand the rod to my son who says he thinks this is a big one. Starts to peel off line and goes from side to side, fearing he is going to tangle with other lines. Son gives the rod to me and I try to maneuver to clear other lines. Give the rod back to my son who brings him close to the stern then salmon runs and wraps around one of the dipsy rods. Have my son back up and able to net him. Whoops and hollers follow. Meanwhile the boat is running in a slow circle ending up tangling some of the other rods. Blood all over the boat to my son's great delight. No matter. Great day on the water. Perfect weather. And one of these days I'm going to get my son to smile for a photo! You would never know if from the photo but he had a great time.

[NymphO]

Typical controlled chaos, sounds like a great trip though !! Nice work dad !

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[Gator]

That's a great "after-school project"! It sounds like you had a bit of everything going on. We find that with only two people on board, it's easier to run a four wire diver set than to mix cores, copper and wire. There will be those who disagree, but for ease of deployment and lack of tangles, it's a hard set-up to beat. We run mag dipseys on 8' inside rods at a 1 1/2 setting and Walker Deeper Divers (or #1 Dipseys with a ring) on 9' outside rods at a 2 1/2 setting. 

 

Oh, and I'm officially nicknaming your kid, "Mini-Rob"...although there was one photo with Yankee earlier this year where I think he cracked a grin. 

[Ric66]

14 hours ago, NymphO said:

Typical controlled chaos, sounds like a great trip though !! Nice work dad !

Sent from my XT1650 using Lake Ontario United mobile app
 

Thanks, Nymph. Now I know why guys spend so much on autopilots!

[Ric66]

8 hours ago, Gator said:

That's a great "after-school project"! It sounds like you had a bit of everything going on. We find that with only two people on board, it's easier to run a four wire diver set than to mix cores, copper and wire. There will be those who disagree, but for ease of deployment and lack of tangles, it's a hard set-up to beat. We run mag dipseys on 8' inside rods at a 1 1/2 setting and Walker Deeper Divers (or #1 Dipseys with a ring) on 9' outside rods at a 2 1/2 setting. 

 

Oh, and I'm officially nicknaming your kid, "Mini-Rob"...although there was one photo with Yankee earlier this year where I think he cracked a grin. 

Yep. That core definitely got in the way. And what you wrote makes a lot of sense. I do like running downriggers when fish are way deep so I can use my temp/speed probe, and its easier netting a line from a downrigger. I had one of my dipseys on a longer leader as an "experiment" and while it did get hit, it was a pain to net the fish. May look into slide divers.

[pikeopay]

Great story! Been there done that!

[kingpossible]

Definitely an exciting trip!  I can see trouble from running a longer core down the chute - especially when the fish this year have been tangling up with my board coppers that I have out 60 ft+ on each side of the boat!

[GAMBLER]

This trip is a memory that will last a life time!  Congrats!

[Sk8man]

Nice going Bob Remeember as far as kids that age facial expressions go "Appear cool at all times despite all the excitement inside"

[Ric66]

22 hours ago, kingpossible said:

Definitely an exciting trip!  I can see trouble from running a longer core down the chute - especially when the fish this year have been tangling up with my board coppers that I have out 60 ft+ on each side of the boat!

I'm definitely not running one down the chute anymore. I'm still gonna run 6 rods though so I can get an idea of what they're hitting. Rather have to untangle a few lines than not catch fish! This fish just kept going from one side to the other.

[whaler1]

That's a great "after-school project"! It sounds like you had a bit of everything going on. We find that with only two people on board, it's easier to run a four wire diver set than to mix cores, copper and wire. There will be those who disagree, but for ease of deployment and lack of tangles, it's a hard set-up to beat. We run mag dipseys on 8' inside rods at a 1 1/2 setting and Walker Deeper Divers (or #1 Dipseys with a ring) on 9' outside rods at a 2 1/2 setting. 
 
Oh, and I'm officially nicknaming your kid, "Mini-Rob"...although there was one photo with Yankee earlier this year where I think he cracked a grin. 

To your point, I prefer four down and tight and two slide divers with 80lb braid out. One mag ring pulling a spin Dr fly and one naked with a long leader an an NK28.
No tangled, no hassles and easy for a two person crew.


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[Ric66]

2 hours ago, Sk8man said:

Nice going Bob Remeember as far as kids that age facial expressions go "Appear cool at all times despite all the excitement inside"

Thanks, Les. I guess we weren't any different when we were their age and "knew" everything. I have to cherish these moments too. Before I know it, he'll be off to college. Wait, do I hear Harry Chapin's Cats in a Cradle?

[Ric66]

7 hours ago, GAMBLER said:

This trip is a memory that will last a life time!  Congrats!

Thanks, Gambler. I hope it is one of many for him!

[Sk8man]

Wow!  Bob that song has always been my favorite and probably has more relevance and meaning than all the others put together Enjoy and savor every moment. My youngest is out in Hollywood and I miss her every day that goes by...

[Ric66]

22 hours ago, Sk8man said:

Wow!  Bob that song has always been my favorite and probably has more relevance and meaning than all the others put together Enjoy and savor every moment. My youngest is out in Hollywood and I miss her every day that goes by...

I'm just glad someone besides me knows the song I was referring to.

As long as she's happy out there, that's the important part, as much as we'd like them to stay near us. I always remember what my uncle told me when I was a kid- "You gotta get out of (insert your home town here)" meaning you can't play it safe, that you have to go out an experience life. I'm amazed at the things I did when i was younger- went to school in Boston at Berklee College of Music, then to Japan on two occasions. Those words he said always echoed in my mind. Unfortunately I just learned he has Alzheimer's.