Yankee Troller

Sorry, I'm not a Raymarine guy. Not many guys using that brand anymore that I know of. All the different types of sonar have their place on the Lake, but most people don't get out enough to understand when to use each. Traditional sonar is enough for 80% of the people out there. CHIRP is not recommended due to its narrow cone angles and price. People have enough trouble understanding/tunning traditional sonar. When you get into side/down imaging and live sonar they get much more complicated and require more settings adjustments. Most people don't have the time to dedicate to that.

A buddy took one a week ago out of P-Ville. Saw one taken off Jordan this weekend and one out of Sodus.

April 2nd - It was a tough day due to the amount of chocolate water. Strong NW winds last night churned up the shoreline making it almost impossible for the fish to see our baits. We made a move mid morning putting some miles on the Yankee that didn’t really pan out, but we tried. At 2pm we were 4/5 on cookie cutter Brown Trout, but right at the end a 19.5lb Chinook nailed our Chinook Diver. It changed the mood on the boat very quickly! April 3rd - When we broke the pier heads this morning we decided to try the opposite direction from yesterday. We were hoping the water color was cleaner. After getting set-up we had two people get sick on 1-3’s from the North, so we picked up and headed back to the marina. Once everyone felt better, and hit the head, we tried it again but stayed close to home. The clients were testing the waters to see if they could handle it. The lake seemed to have laid down a little, and everyone felt good, so we picked rods in unproductive water and headed to yesterday’s water on a whim. What a difference a day made! We proceeded to whack and stack the Brown Trout in 10-13'of water. Most fish were cookie cutter 16-20" fish, but we did get a few decent ones. Bay Rat SS’s back 100’ in BT Candy, Green Frog, Citrus Shad, Ayu, Coho Crusher, Can’t Afford It, and Ghost Wipe. On our Chinook Divers we ran a DW SS Rasta Goose and a Bay Rat 3.5 Black Flash 10-12’ back. Our Cannon Downriggers fished spoons back 40’ and down 5’. Glow Frog on one side and Mulatto on the other. Everything took fish!

It's based off that Rapala

It's a custom Bay Rat that Fat Nancy's has exclusivity to.

Lots of Gobies, some Gizzard shad, and small Sunfish.

Ya, not sure why the drop backs were so prevalent last weekend.

Morning - Our group today was a family from Avon, NY. Other than some pond hopping there wasn’t much experience catching fish for them. We wore their arms out, and everyone caught the biggest fish of their lives. We were supposed to have the Yankee in for the weekend, but the upcoming forecast wasn’t desirable. Therefore, six of us piled on the Lund. We targeted 8-15’ today. The water was green and natural colors seemed to work best. Behind our Offshore OR12 inline boards our best Bay Rat colors were Ghost Wipe, Ayu, and Mustard. On our Cannon Downriggers we ran 30’ back/5’ down with UV Green Jeans being our best. Our Chinook Divers were fished 10-15’ out. Our best spoon was a Bay Rat 3.5 in Black Flash. However, UV Sea Sick Waddler held its own on the other side. Afternoon - The second trip for the weekend was with some guys from PA, and everything went back to play again another day. Bay Rat S3’s were the ticket in skinny water. Gold Finger, Ghost Wipe, Ghost Face Killer, and Ayu all took fish 60-100’ behind Offshore OR12 inline boards. Our only downrigger shot was on a DW SS Sea Sick Waddler back 40’ & down 10’. Our Chinook Divers fished 8-12’ back with Bay Rat Lures 3.5’s in Black Flash and Frog.

We run braid

Saturday: It felt great to be back after it this morning! We pulled out of the harbor in the fog and fished in it the entire morning. Lady O greeted us with some healthy rollers from the NE, but she flattened out as the morning rolled on. Water temps ranged from 37-39*. Fishing was good. We found a great mix of year classes, which is a good thing after last Spring. A typical Spring Brown Trout spread was deployed. We ran 6 flat lined sticks behind Off Shore Tackle Company OR12 inline boards anywhere from 70-120' back. Our Cannon Downriggers fished spoons down 5' with 30' leads. Lastly, the Chinook Divers pulled spoons back 10'. Both natural and colored lures caught them this morning as we trolled in and out of dirty and clean water pockets. Our top producers, however, were Bay Rat Lures SS in Ayu and Can't Afford It. Our best spoons were UV Green Jeans SS and Bay Rat's 3.5 in Black Flash. Sunday: I'm ready for 80's and ! One picture is all we need to sum up today. This father and son team joined us from Utica, NY and they were faced with some miserable weather. It was cloudy, windy, and rainy, but they hung in there. The reward was quality Spring Brown Trout, and memories that will last a lifetime. Bay Rat S3's were today's baits of choice. Ayu, Black/Gold/Orange, and Jail Bird were our best colors. They were run 50-90' behind our Offshore OR12 inline boards. Chinook Divers out 10-12' only took a couple fish, but they were our biggest fish of the day. A Black Flash Bay Rat 3.5 spoon was our best behind those divers.

Don't do it! The less those fish get hooked in the tribs the better they'll fight in the lake.

Another question I had is about the strain that certain species put on the Alewife population. In tough years, like most of the lake experienced last season, A LOT of Lake Trout get taken out of the system. At what point does this decrease in bottom vacuums help us to get those Alewife numbers rebounding? Does it even help?

Yes I do