bucket list quest

[ifishy]

So now that salmon is winding down I always have a couple trips at the end of the year where i like to try different things. Last year we made the decision to try our hand and musky fishing.  we ended up in the pouring rain on waneta and didnt do anything.  This year we decided to Continue that quest.  we took the drive to Ostico to try that lake for the first time.  It was an interesting late to fish.  we ended up getting a late start and launched at about 7:30 we started trolling with a mix of baits to maybe pick up a walleye for dinner.  was a nice morning and we saw a lot of big splashes and I saw one tiger surface right in front of us that was at least 40 inches.  The thing was massive.   Alas we were not able to connect on any we spent some time casting and finished the day trolling we worked all around the lake in  a lot of different depths.  only some smallmouth to show for it.  We have maybe 1 or 2 trips left this year before the boat gets put away.  probably will fish either here or Waneta.    we ran a mix from c5 sized spoons up to 8 inch plugs i have lots of plugs for Salmon and trout to cycle through but only a couple large baits to work with.  if i'm going to do this only a couple times a year can i get away with that or should i invest in more large lures.  given how my sholders feel after all that casting i think next time i want to spend time vertical jigging especially if its windy enough for  a fast drift.  is a swim bait a decent jigging bait?  hopeing to someday post a pic and if i get a big enough one i'll be asking about good replica makers. 

[justtracytrolling]

On Otisco work the outside edges of the weeds 14-16 fow with either jerk trolling or casting.  Walleye and bass sized lures are perfect size.  Usually a slow finesse style works great if the fish are actively feeding, and aggressive jerk trolling will produce reaction bites often times when they aren't feeding.  Deep walleye style trolling also produces big fish, but it takes a lot of hours of fishing per fish.  The lake has been fishing very well all season and 8-10 fish days have been a common occurrence all season if you put your time in.  Jerkbaits (lucky craft pointers, husky jerks and smithwicks), a jig and a keitech, a mepps 5, and glide baits make up most my arsenal casting.  A j13 or hj14 are pretty much the biggest stuff I use on tigers regularly.  You can pm me if you have any other questions...