Sweet Caroline

Years ago a 40 plus pounder almost always won the ESLO/LOC. In fact, I think one year in the late 90's there were 8 or 9 entered over 40. I guess I have to ask what has changed between then and now that we are not consistently seeing fish that large anymore? DR

I always use down temp to make sure I'm in the correct zone.

It could be that a lot of the success of the natural reproduction for kings is that they do not have to spend a summer in the river. They are hatched in Oct/Nov and out by May/June. Cohos, steelhead, Atlantics spend at least one summer in the river where I think they are subject to a lot more mortality due high river temps. YOY salmonids cannot withstand water temps in the upper 60’s, lower 70’s for extended periods.

That's awesome!

nevermind. found it. thanks again

Thanks. Do you have a link? I couldn't fidn the video

We've recently experimented with tapping wire to wire using a crimp the same way you would connect the wire to a swivel. We'll tap in 100-200 ft of wire after getting it kinked in a tangle. We caught some big kings already after doing this so it seems to hold up. The only problem is some times the crimp will get caught up while letting line out or getting caught in the guides. Wondering if anybody knows of a better way of splicing wire to wire? I used to replace the whole spool everytime but it can get expensive doing this. Thanks in advance, DR

We had an insane bite fishing the same area, pretty much doing the same thing as you. Salmon did some damage to us as well. At one point, we had both wire dipseys and the 300 ft copper tangled and our planer board broke off all at the same time. Took us out of commission for 1 1/2 undoing that mess. Before that we were getting them 3 at a time. Hope it lasts a few more weeks.

Forecast looks good: Lake Ontario Open Waters From The Niagara River To Hamlin Beach- This Afternoon Northeast winds 10 knots or less becoming north. Waves 1 to 2 feet. Tonight North winds 10 knots or less becoming northeast 10 to 15 knots. A chance of showers in the evening then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Waves 2 feet or less. Saturday Northeast winds 10 knots or less becoming northwest. A chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning. Waves 2 feet or less. Saturday Night West winds 10 knots or less becoming northwest. Waves averaging one foot. Never a sure thing though

All our biggest kings this year and most years have come after 10am. I'd fish all day if I could.

Went out of Braddocks today. PM me. Like to help an out of stater out as I know you probably don't get to fish much on LO.

We must have been just outside of you. Our best morning bite was 180-190 FOW, then 215-225 FOW later in the morning. All big kings for us with a bunch of steelies thrown in. Bigger kings must have been on the outside in deeper water.

Nice fish. I'm sure Tom stayed behind and scrubbed the boat. LOL

Fishing Report Your Name / Boat Name:A-Lure-A ============== TRIP OVERVIEW ============== Date(s):7/4 Time on Water:bout 2 hours Weather/Temp: 90 Wind Speed/Direction:sw Waves: 1ft Surface Temp: 72 Location: Rochester LAT/LONG (GPS Cords): =============== FISHING RESULTS =============== Total Hits: Don't keep counts Total Boated: Don't keep counts Species Breakdown: kings and steelhead Hot Lure: spook and nbk Trolling Speed: 3 Down Speed: 3 Boat Depth: 170 Lure Depth: 80-90 ==================== SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS ==================== Got out at a crack of 9:30am start yesterday with my fishing partners and our wives. This was a first for us and we knew we had to be on fish within minutes to keep their interest. As luck would have it, even in the high sun and calm water, we had non-stop action on Kings and Steelies for two straight hours. Biggest king was around 20lb, biggest steely about 12 lbs, and we lost some screemers. Ended with a nice swim to cool off with a couple beverages. Awesome end to a great morning with good company, perfect weather, and insane fishing. The fishing is as hot as it could get right now. Here is a picture of me and my wife with one of our steelies.

Fishing off Rochester is horrible this year....sorry, can't even say that with a straight face. Fish between 100-200ft and you will have no problem finding fish. Good Luck, DR

Yes, that too. Tough to do with big fish though.

I also like to thrust the fish in head first to force water through their gills. Also sends them down to deeper/colder water faster. Couple things to consider are to burp the fish by rubbing their belly if they are taken from deep water and try and keep them out of the water as little as possible. I don't even net the little guys, just unhook them off the side of the boat. I also know some folks that went to single hooks instead of trebles. Really doesn't have an impact on their hook up rate.

I think you will have better success if you shorten your leads. I run a 4 rigger spread and rarely set back more than 10-15 ft off the ball with spoons when fishing below 50ft. Above 50 ft, I’m back 20-40 ft and above 20ft I’m back 50-100ft. A lot of times the down rigger balls actually attract fish. Salmon typically aren’t boat shy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve caught coho in the prop wash. Salmon are used to attacking large bait schools that create a lot of commotion not individual bait traveling on its own. Running spoons tight to your downrigger balls simulates this. I’m mostly using my spin docs of wire dispeys and copper rods, but if I run them off the downrigger I don’t fish them above 50ft down and I put them back about 15ft. Also, I run the fly 22 inches behind the spin doc. Hope this helps, DR

Put a little epoxy in the crotch of your treble hook on the flys for your spin docs. For some reason kings manage to get the line jammed in there and break off. The epoxy prevents this from happening. Sounds like you had a great time! DR

Thanks. Sorry more questions. Really appreciate the advice. How do you brine your cut bait? Have you brined the familiar bite with better success as far as them holding up? Thanks again, man. DR

Sorry, forgot to ask this on the last repsonse. Are the new UV lures best used in low-light conditions or in the bright sun? Also, how deep down can these be run and still have the benefit of UV? Thanks, DR

Thanks for the tip on the Erie Drearie cut bait. Does anybody near Rochester sell them? Thanks, DR

I have a gift card to Savant Spoons. I haven't used these before. Appreciate any suggestions that anybody can offer on good choices. Thanks in advance, DR

Sounds like fun. A-Lure-A will be in this year

Fishusa.com can have it to you in a a couple days if you live in NY. They are in Ohio