Finders Keepers

Got on the water at 6am with a stiff SSE wind. Set up in 45 fow east of Port Bay and worked the 65-120 fow range. Ended at 10am 4 for 7: 12, 18, 22, & 23 lb kings. Riggers started at 25 and 35 ft down when we picked up the 18 lb king (down 25 over 65 on NBK), had 2 others on off the riggers that shook loose (NBK and Dirty White Boy, down 25 over 75 and down 35 over 90), took the other kings on the wires out 120 to 135 with the Dalmation Spinny/Blue Dolphin Fly combos. Dropped the riggers to 65' and 50' and had the 65' rigger go, but lost another shaker on a white echip/white fly.

We were a little deeper than most other boats (35-60 fow), I would guess they were targeting browns or avoiding the higher chop out deeper. We'll be out again tomorrow AM still looking for that 30+ lb'er!

Got out on the water this evening with a newbie and had lines in the water at 5pm. Ten minutes later had about a 10lb king dancing behind the boat and then it spit the NBK at us. Had 2 more releases on a Dirty White Boy and a Magenta Chad. Then I put out a wire rod with the Dalmation Spinny/Hammer Fly - no sooner had I sat down that it got wacked! Landed a dark fall colored 6lb brown. After that the young blood began to get green in the face and we headed in.

Riggers were set at 60' and 70', wire out 135', and we worked 65-100 fow out front of Port Bay. The further west we worked the better the picture became on the FF. Just before pulling lines we were marking lots of bait with suspended marks (40-70 ft down) with more marks on the bottom. At one point there was a hugs bait pod and 5 fish on the screen!! The wind was blowing pretty good out of the SE, but we only had 1's and 2's with an occational 3 out towards 100 fow. Very fishable and it was backing down some as we came in.

We'll be out first thing in the AM looking for that 35+ lb'er!!

After some engine trouble on the main motor, we made it onto the water at 6am. :? Went to start the kicker and the pull string broke, so we headed back in to put a new one on. :evil: :evil: Got it fixed and were back on the water at 10:30. Set-up over 70 fow and headed out to greet the other 15 or so boats in the 200-300 fow range. Hit 200 fow and things started to go. Ended the day at 2:30pm and went 5 for 10. 4 kings (22, 18, 12, 10 lbs) and one really nice 13 lb coho that gave us quite the aerial show behind the boat as part of a double with the 12 lb king!! Early the riggers were set 140 and 125 ft down and the wires out 385 and 420 ft and by the time we pulled lines we had the riggers up to 95 and 115 and the wires out 280 and 320. Stinger NBK, silver prism dodger/aqua fly, JV Cheerleader, and Dalmation SD/SIGGS Blue Dolphin all took fish, with other hits on Yellow Killer, silver prism echip/hammer fly, and white echip/white fly.

The last rip of the day was on the wire out 320 on a #2 setting with the Dalmation/Blue Dolphin fly - that king hit harder than I have ever seen one hit before!! The rod was bouncing and singing something fierce!!! Then 2 very hard head bobs and he was gone, along with my fly! Apparently it hit so hard it broke the clip used to attach the fly to the SD!! :shock: I wish I could have seen that fish in the boat!! Next time!

No pics today, I forgot the camera. I talked briefly with another boat that came in after us and they went 16 for 18 today in the same area that we were at: 180-260 fow slightly east/west of Port Bay, with several in the 24-28lb range. They were running 4 riggers/2 wires at the same depths. Once the wind picked up around 1pm the temps were coming up and the fishing bite seemed to slow down.

We'll be out every morning/evening that the big pond isn't pushing waves. We'll also be participating in the Fair Haven Challenge next weekend. Good luck to all who get out and tight lines!!!

Just wanted to wish everyone good luck in this fall's LOC derby!!! Looks like tomorrow and Sat AM are going to be a little too sporty for us, but I am hoping to get out Sat PM and Sunday to see if we can get a name on the board!!

Hey Woody, thanks for the AM trip today! Too bad we couldn't get into them sooner! If you have any of the smoked salmon left over, I'll gladly take some off your hands next time we head out!!

After an AM outing with Woody I headed out of Port Bay solo at 4:30 and was set-up on the water by 5pm. Started in close at 60 fow and worked out. Didn't go far before the first fish hit my NK28 alewife down 65 over 70 fow - 7lb brown. Continued to work 60 - 80 fow range and managed two more fish: another 6lb brown and a 12lb king. The brown on the alewife again and the king on a silver shiner NK28. Stayed out until 7pm when the flies and tiny bugs drove me crazy!! Didn't mark a single bait pod the entire time and only saw a few fish hovering near the bottom and at 65 ft down. Slipped out to 150 fow water to see if I could find some bait, but the screen was empty beyond 90 fow.

Not bad: 3 for 3. Won't be out again until next week sometime. Until then - tight lines everyone!!

I run 30lb FleaFlicker main line with 30' of 50lb seaguar fluoro before the lure and have yet to have more than an inch or two of fleas on the line at most by the end of the main line with little to no fleas at the lure, while my divers sometimes have feet of 'em!! Just make sure you have level-wind reels when using FF line, otherwise it gets too twisted!!

Hey Al - Those are some great looking kings!! Nice job!! What color echips did they like? Woody and I are heading out of Sodus Tues AM probably similar conditions as you had tonight. Were you straight out front, east or west?

Hey Bill, great looking fish and great report! Man, the fishing in our area has been stellar this year!!

Hey Woody, good to see you made it back out on the water and that your vessel is running smooth!! Hopefully I can get out with you this week and we can nail some silvers!!

Thanks Bill! Have you been out at all this week or are you still re-cooping from the Pro-Am? Way to go that first day!! It's too bad you had the misfortunes on the second day. We've all had those days on the water....

Headed out solo both days to take advantage of the beautiful weather on the lake, and boy are my arms tired!!

7-17: On the water at 6am and washed lures until 10am when I got my first hit. From then until 1 pm it was non-stop action and in those three hours I went 11 for 15 with 6 browns (6 to 10 lbs) and 5 kings (12, 14, 18, 20, 25 lbs)! All but one off the riggers 80-100 ft down over 90 - 115 fow straight infront of Port Bay and slightly east. Most came on silver prism dodgers with either aqua or hammer flies, while I also had hits on the silver prism echip/hammer fly combo and Stinger chicken wing and NK blyue dolphin mag spoons. Called it quits at 2pm with no other hits.

7-18: On the water at 7:30am and a half hour later had a nice 8lb brown floppin' in the back of the boat. From then on it was a slow steady bite, except between 11 and 12 it was non-stop action again!! Had a double going with two decent fish, who then decided to do a doe-C-doe and wrapped both lines together!! :evil: I could see the rat's nest quickly developing.... Surprisingly, I was able to get both fish in the boat: 16lb king and 14lb brown! Ended the day at 2pm and was 7 for 12. 2 browns and 5 kings, biggest being 24lbs. Same depths as yesterday, but worked out to 135 fow and mostly east of Port Bay. Today they wanted green echips with white and green flies set 10-15 ft behind the ball. Chicken wing mag also took several hits, including the 24lb'er. Not much on the screen, as compared to previous outtings, but quite a few fish 80ft and deeper on the FF.

Good luck if you get out, the fishing is fantastic!!! Don't be affraid to work the so-called "Brown Trout" waters, the kings are there too!!

Got a late start today - set lines running solo at about 9am and pulled lines at 11:30am as the T-storms rolled in. Fished west of Port Bay and worked 80-110 fow. Ended 5 for 8: 2 Browns (8, 10 lbs) and 3 kings (12, 14, 18 lbs). Ran a 2-rigger program and all fish came on dodger/flies: 5 fish on pearl dodger/ultra-violet fly combo and the 18lb king came on a green prochip/green fly. Riggers were set at 70 and 80 ft down, 15' leads, 2.3 sfc speed was the best.

Had a great screen on the fish finder the whole time with lots of bait and suspended hooks. I'm hoping to get out tomorrow and/or Friday.

Hey Al,

The red lights (flares) you saw were probably what they call the "Ring of Fire", where everyone on the bay is encouraged to place a big red flare at the end of their dock. I know they do it on Port Bay every year, so I would assume that is what that was.

Sorry for the late report, but later is better than never! Headed out with my buddy Kai and Woody. We ended the day at 1pm 5 for 8: one brown (6 lbs), 2 kings (1, 22 lbs), and 2 steelhead (10, 7 lbs). Fish hit silver prism prochip/hammer fly combo, cheerleader, and stinger chicken wing mag. It was bumpy and after a sloooow start we had a slow steady pick at 'em. Marked bait in 60-90 fow and scattered fish down 45-70 over 100-140 fow. 120-130 fow was our best depth range down anywhere from 40-85 ft.

Here's Woody with the 22lb'er:

Hoping to get out a couple times this week if the storms can hold off.

Nice fish Al!! Way to go!

Hit the water at 6am working a little west of Post Bay and called it quits at 12:30. Finished 10 for 13 today: 6 browns (6, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10.5 lbs), 3 kings (1, 14, 21 lbs), and one 9 lb steelhead, 3 others on and lost. Browns came in 60-80 fow down 50-70 on the riggers on Stinger glow frog mag and green NBK spoons. Kings came over 115-130 fow down 80-95 on silver prism/aqua fly, white pro-chip/white glo fly combos, and a green NBK mag spoon. Steelhead came on a green pro-chip/glow frog fly combo back 300' on a #2 setting on the wire.

A great day on the water! On our way in we targeted largemouths in the bay and I landed a monster 5.5 lb 20.5" beast! He's now at Streeter's Taxidermy and will grace my wall in about 10 months.

Heading out tomorrow to work the same area. If you can get out, have fun 'cause the fishing is fantastic!!

Headed out solo again today and put the first line in the water at 6:30. Went to set up the second rigger and the first rod fired and started screaming! After a real nice first run and a 20 minute fight, I brought a beautiful 21 lb king into the boat. Any word on solo fishermen being able to enter fish in the LOC's yet?? :?

It came on a white pearl dodger/ultra violet fly combo set 10' behind the ball, down 140 over 145 fow. Thought I was in for a banner day, but I couldn't get into any more majors. A couple skippers and 2 shakers rounded out the day for me. Called it quits at 11am and got in before the storms rolled by.

Got out late this morning for a few hours. Worked just east of Port Bay from 80-150 fow with quite a few bait pods and some hooks on the screen. Couldn't get much to go, but I was out solo and had only 2 rods in the water. Ended up with a nice 16 lb king and 6 lb steelhead. King came down 130 over 135 fow on a silver prism dodger/aqua fly and the steelhead came on a stinger green NBK free slider. Will be heading out early tomorrow and looking to keep the net wet!

Got on the water at 7am and worked west of the chute 15-30 fow with not much happening, so we began our trek deeper and hooked up with a 12 lb brown (down 10' over 40 fow on a NBK green stinger mag set 100' back). We kept moving out and found a decent scum line around 100 fow. We worked the northern edge of it eastward and slightly east of Port Bay over 140 fow the port-side riger fired and the line went screamin' out. It was great to feel the power of a king again!! Landed a 16 lb king with a 2' lamprey still attached (he's been sun-bathing in the hedgerow all weekend). It hit my go-to set-up: down 45' over 140 fow silver prism dodger w/ aqua fly set 10' behind the ball. Surface speed was 2.2-2.5 with surface temps around 60. That was it for us. My dad didn't register for the summer LOC, otherwise I think we would be in 5th place or so. :roll:

I'm hoping to get out again this coming weekend. I heard that they caught a few kings off of Sodus out in the 300 fow area. Hopefully we can get a bit of a blow this week to stir things up a bit out there.

Looks like I will finally be able to get back out on the big pond this weekend and I was wondering what the fishing has been like between Sodus and Fair Haven. From what I have gathered so far, sounds like Browns in 15-30 fow until the sun comes up and then kings out around 180-220 fow.

If you're out in the area Saturday am, give me a shout on channel 68. Last year I had problems responding with the CB, so if I do not respond, please do not be offended. If it is still acting up I will get it fixed asap. I can also give you my cell number, just drop me a pm.

Good luck to all who get out!

Got on the water a little late, around 7:30am, and just ran 4 long lines (no planer boards). Ended at 11am and went 10 for 15: 7 browns between 4 and 7 lbs, one 4lb stealhead, and 2 jack perch about a pound each! Saw every other boat in the area pick up fish - plain and simple: if you get out, you'll catch fish!! Also saw Pier One head out to deeper water for quite some time - I wonder if they picked up anything out there??

Our fish came on T-stick Jr's in white glow, yellow glow, and green glow in the new flash series with the white being the best. Picked up most fish within 1/2 mile of the mouth of Port Bay east and west (6-12 fow), with others coming on either side of East Bay.

Good luck to all who get out - the fishing is fantastic!!!

The southern end of both Sodus and Port Bays are producing big numbers of bullhead. Last weekend did 68 lbs of 'em Friday night and 46 lbs Saturday night in 3-4 hours each night.

Since most of us are planning on putting our boats in the water this weekend and/or cannot make it Saturday, I have postponed the class until June 2nd, same time (12-6pm) and cost ($30). Registration will be available from now until May 30th - call (315) 594-3141. All participants will receive a free Atommik fly/harness. See previous posts for the class description. If you have any questions, please drop me a PM.

Good luck to all those who get out this weekend - looks like it is going to be a banner weekend!

Tom from Atommik has offered to donate a fly/harness rig for each participant in the class! Thank you Tom!

Again, registration closes tomorrow!!