Slimy Hooks

You can catch Kings at the mouth and up to the river to Kodak until the last week of October probably even another week or two after but that would be pushing it... The biggest king I ever saw in my life was caught on Summerville Pier on November 1st and I have a picture which is why I know the exact date and its probably close to 35-36 pounds and the guy gave it to me so I took it home and the eggs were still in skein and not lose...

Well, What are your preferred methods of fishing??? Do you want to float-fish??? Bottom bounce or fly-fish??? If your float-fishing than I suggest small salmon egg sacks if the water is clear and bigger the dirtier it gets...By small I mean 3-4 eggs and if its dirty you can use 8-10...I tie my own as I have never been happy with any bait shops eggs but I am picky and they do work...If you have browns around and they are in clear water, you can go down to 1-2 salmon eggs in a sack and they'll inhale'em... You dont have to float-fish eggs or the flies I am going to mention...If your going to bounce the bottom use as little weight as possible about 2 feet from your hook...You want to tick bottom 2 or 3 times during a drift and I mean just tick it not get hung up...Some popular flies are estaz eggs and glo-bugs in sizes 8-12 and woolybuggers in sizes 6-10 is all you really need...Experiment with bright and drab colors to find what the fish want...

You can tie a knot called the egg loop... A quick search somewhere and you'll find it...Basically keeps a loop on the shank of the hook that you can open up, slide a piece of skein into and the line pulls tight and cinches in place...

Thanks for sharing your pictures Pops...Sorry to here about your engine issue as well...I can really feel for ya on that one... Seems odd to me that i've caught more spring and summer browns that looked exactly like yours than fall/winter ones...Even caught 10 inch stockers at Powder Mill that were seriously "footballed"...

Jammer, Your article seems to be talking about oncorhynchus which are all the salmon species as well as steelhead and browns are not in the same classification so I really dont see how we can compare these species... http://www.grahamowengallery.com/fishin ... trout.html I fail to see a hump on any of these fish and if it were normal it would be their...They are wider top to bottom and thats the hump they refer to its very slight and not a hunchback deal...One thing I heard at a state of the lake meeting was browns usually grow way to fast for the bodies to catch up to and that can lead to some unusual looking fish as well...The speakers also said thats why they dont live as long as they should because they burn themselves out... Musky, With all due respect i'll pull the trigger to my brain when proven wrong because I seriously doubt I am...I did read your article and it says the hump occurs under the dorsal fin if at all and where is the hump on Jammer's fish??? If the hump was a normal thing, than I would think every male brown over 7-8 pounds would have that hump...I know their bodies seem to get wider or broader when spawning and I am sure that's what they speak off concerning a hump...I've caught browns spring through fall, 2-15 pounds trolling with that busted back hump and it was'nt due to spawning...Also, the article speaks of brook trout not brown trout...I dont see how we can compare Char, Pacific Salmon and true trout at the same time... Ohh, come and take my boat if you can prove me wrong...It needs a COMPLETE wire job and a fuel pump and i'll even throw in my Furuno 582, GPS and every single piece of fishing equipment that I ever bought for the boat...Just prove me wrong with-out a doubt and i'll PM you my address...Its a 21' foot Trophy Bayliner with a 2000 150 HP Mercury Optimax if that'll get you motivated to keep searching to prove me wrong... If nothing else we'll all be smarter for reading articles trying to figure this out...

Excellent release Jammer...I stupidly assumed you kept it from the looks of a door way in your photo...I would sincerely bet my life that fish's back was broken or damaged in someway...I've seen more "odd" browns than I care to and that back does'nt naturally occur...

Well, i've caught thousands upon thousands of spawning male browns and can say that back is not normal...Kype you are right about but never have I seen a trend where male brown's back look like Quazzie Modo unless they have been damaged... I guess we'll have to steal Jammer's fish and perform an autopsy to settle this bet...

Be happy to bet my boat it's back was busted...

No, that hump back you see is not normal in my belief...It looks as though the fish's back was busted or mangled some time ago...

carpedium, Glad you enjoyed the fish you caught...Lots of people wont touch salmon at this time of year but I here from many people that it can be quite good if prepared properly... I will be making my way to the pier tonight and have my E.T.A. set for 7:15...

Well done...The cleo you mentioned is the only one i've ever taken a king on casting and i've given other colors a fair chance... Going to try hard to get their tonight, hopefully I can manage a fish or two before I give up casting and drift eggs up-river...

Usually skittering bait fish are a sign they are being chased but with kings done feeding the bait fish were likely spooked by other species... Never made it to the pier yesterday due to other priorities but I might go sometime today or tonight...

carpedium, We must have seen each other yesterday...I arrived at around 5, and I took off at around 7...The US AirWay's jacket I wear with orange reflectors stands out fairly well and I set up at the stairs heading out... Water had a good color but it was choppy...I went back at around 1AM and their were good 3-5's breaking over the pier splashing me in the face and I gave that up after an hour...No bites but I am not surpirsed...I will try again tonight as I am liking the churned up water and hopefully it wont be as rough...

Thanks for the info fishinman...Maybe I do have to slow my retrieve down as I have been keeping it moving along with the water being so clear, but when the water was murky I retrieved as slow as I could to feel the cleo thump... Might be back at it tonight and will see what happens...

A big net is the best way to go... I've had friends hold my feet and line while I lean over and grab fish, and they have ladders on the outer stretch of the pier which I think would be a lot of fun to use to try and land your fish... Good luck...

Just Fishin', I cant say I remember seeing you but I am sure you were not in the way...I really dont mind waiting a minute or two for a boat to pass, and I usually average a further distance than most casters and rarely do boats trolling come in range of me... It was Wednesday night their was a couple boats trolling and I believe they all caught fish...Was pretty cool hearing the rumble of engines, then a screaming drag followed by people scrambling around... Teusday I think my first 2 fish were around 1-2 maybe a little later, just going by another person telling me it was 4:30 when I asked...Then from 6-7 I hooked my other 3... Yes, I certainly have put my time in...While its a ton of fun float fishing skein with my pin and having consistent steady fishing, I find it extremely rewarding and satisfying working so hard for a few fish...Just casting into the dark with this brightly glowing lure, feeling the wiggle on the retrieve and waiting for that crunch so I can give a powerful hook set into their jaws then praying I dont get spooled is what I want and i'll give it a fair try when I can...

I fished Summerville Pier every night this week except for last night from 8 pm to about 7:30 in the morning and I was skunked every night except for Teusday where I landed 3 kings and lost 2 others...Water is quite clear now as Teusday I could see my cleo coming from maybe 5 feet away fully charged and the next 2 nights I could see it coming from over 20 feet away...They are getting to good of a look at the lures and we need some colored water or dumber fish... Other people seemed to have the same luck as I and after speaking to pretty much everyone on the piers everynight it did not seem like more than a fish or two were caught by everyone else... If we can get colored water I expect the fishing to be better as Monday it was colored up but it was so cold their was steam coming off the river so I dont blame the fish for not biting...Teusday was perfect and the fish co-operated and the other night's the water was very clear... Good luck if you go...

My diver rods of preference are 9'6" Daiwa Heartland's Downrigger/Dipsy rods...I really like the soft bend through-out the whole rod which helps me feel that fish better and it's more forgiving with a good amount of flex... I dont know what you want to spool with but if your fishing less than 40' or so down 25 or 30 pound mono would be fine...If you want to get deeper, than your looking for wire in 30 pound as I find I use my braid and mono diver's pretty much a like to fish high and wires low... Your 500 Tek's will be fine for braid or mono but I am not sure if they'll hold 1,000 foot spool of 30 pound wire...I know the 600's will take a full 1,000 and than some but I can only speculate that your reels will hold the 1,000' spool...

Started at 7:45PM last night, left at 11:30PM and was 2/3...Landed 2 small kings and broke off another...Glow 3/4 ounce cleo with orange dots caught'em all...

Not to late, just the mature fish will primarily be concentrated in or off the river mouth or slightly deeper staging and waiting to run but I doubt they will be in the depths you fished last weekend... You do also have the option of running off-shore to the 350-600' range and catching steelhead and immature kings...Be careful about running this far off-shore late in the year or anytime as you might be the only person out and its hard to get help or repairs when your 15+ miles off-shore... Watch the weather carefully and often, never know when a squall will show up...I've been 20 miles from port going home in a 2 inch ripple to get back to port and be in 4-6's or the time fishdude4life and me were wondering what the rumbling was we hear??? Less than 5 minutes later were stuck in 40MPH winds and in the center of a wicked lightning storm with a 45 minute ride home...Not fun... So, bring the boat up and go fishing as usually the fishermen end their seasons before the fish are done...

Mike, Never fished Champlain but from seeing it on TV its a gorgeous area and it would be awesome to catch 21 inch atlantic's as I have only ever caught 1 and thats about how big it was...The closest I have come to fishing in Mexico Bay is fishing out of Oswego so it would be hard for me to give you some helpful hints but I am sure plenty of people here can offer you their advice...Best I can say is there should still be some salmon off the river mouth and you should find some browns and steelhead mixed in as October is closer to when they start to run...I'd say come up if you can and troll the river mouth but hopefully the guys that fish out their regularly can chime in... Ecarter, It seems like your fishing by the Salmon River so the Genny is pretty much an hour and a half west of you...Right in the center of Rochester...Genny gets a very, very good run of fish but the Salmon River has more numbers of fish than we get I believe...

Thanks Yankee... We had 5 in the water at one point but did best when we had 2 on the divers and 2 on the riggers... This was on High Voltage as I do the rigging when we fish and for the Pro-Ams...We saw you out their yesterday and I believe the horn was blown for ya a few times... Thanks Again...

Dont stop the boat, if anything just slow down...To pull lines or not is usually a crew decision...If you happen to be new to the game pulling in all your lines is not a bad idea...You'll land more fish with out obstacles in the water and because your doing more rigging you'll become faster and better at re-deploying the spread... I personally will not bring in any lines that are not connected to the fish (copper and lead-core down the chute is the exception but is still left out if possible) being fought but a Captain I fish with wants every-line brought in and another person I fish with would cut your throat for bringing a line in that did'nt need to... So, its really up to you, if you believe the lines in the water are going to cost you a fish pull'em and send it back out after you land your fish...

Both... I seemed to notice a number 4 J will dive a good 5 feet past where your downrigger counter supposedly says it is...So, putting it down 3 back 45-55' should put your lure down 8' feet or so...Try and set up a spread to cover the whole water column while keeping in mind these things diver and wobble all over...When and if you do catch bottom remember the lead length, speed, and depth of rigger to figure your own dive formula for J's... Top line back 100' or so gets you 5 feet down...Next J down 3 back 50, 8 down...Next J 8' down back 50 your down 12 or so...Last J down 10-11' back 50, your down 15-16' and this is pretty much the exact program I use trolling J's and I rarely go over 20-25 feet of water and this spread's got it covered... So, in a nut-shell take into account the diving factors of the J and set a spread to cover the whole column while keeping them away from each other as they do wander... If you want to run a flasher put it on a diver out 25-45' and make sure that drag is lose... Good Luck...

You can run anything behind copper because the copper is the diving mechanism itself so your lure does not need to dive at all...I have a big preference for flashers on copper as all I really ever try and catch are kings... While I know Reel Jerks has caught kings with a j-plug behind a flasher I have never tried so I cant comment but maybe he'll chime in and give you his findings but a clean J off the copper will take fish... Yes, I typically use a 50' mono lead off the copper, I have preferences for longer leads while some people I know use 30' or less...Personal preference it seems, but a longer leader will keep fishing longer just because when you get that 5 inch's of frayed line above the swivel from your latest battle, you can cut and tie many times before the leader gets to short to keep fishing...