Sweet Caroline

Ran way west this morning. Set up at Braddocks point and went west from there. Slow pick until we hit Watoma Shoals at around 9am. Steady king bite from there with a laker, coho, and steelhead mixed in. Fished down in the 65ft to 70 ft range over 120-160 fow. Wonderbread spoons on riggers were best and two face spin doctors on dipseys. Good luck.

Lake should be very fishable in any wind that is 10 knots or less.

I got the coated net with the largest hoop and 6-9 ft extendable. Love it

Just got a Beckman from fishusa. Best Net I’ve ever used.

Lil slow today. Went all the way out to 400 fow. Best depth was 150 Fow or so on a 10 degree down break. Right where all the floating cottonwood was is where the fish were. Steelhead on a 3 and 6 color, lake trout down 50-60. No salmon.

Never mind. Searched for some suggestions and went with the Beckman from fish usa

Lost my net today. Anybody have a recommendation? Had a extendable rubber coated net from Dicks that worked good but don’t no the make and model.

Braddocks was my go to spot when I trailered my boat. Can’t beat the Sandy to Braddocks area in the Summer IMO. Easy access to deep water if you head NW. Always good brown and lake trout fishing in close too.

Active fish that are moving fast don’t always mark well on fish finders. Sometimes you see a dot dot dot or “ghosts”, but generally solid marks are stationary or following fish. My observations are the best fisherman usually are very detail minded and will put in the extra effort. Those who change lures often, motor just a little further, tie the best knots, sharpen their hooks often, check lines often, pay attention to patterns, etc, etc tend to have better overall performance. There are always days that despite everything you are doing you just can’t make it happen. I’ve had days when boats around me hammered fish and I struggled and vice versa. Consistently catching fish can be a lot of work. There is definitely a balance of feeling like you are at work and exhausting yourself out there or just enjoying your time on the boat fishing and relaxing. As far as eliminating water is concerned some general tips are stay away from cold, clear water, move further offshore as the season progresses, and know that a NW wind brings warm water in and a NE wind brings cold water in. When searching I typically go N or S and will do a circle if I have a good screen even if I do not get bit the first time through. Maybe change up my spread and continue to circle a couple times to see if I can trigger a bite. As the saying goes, never leave fish to find fish. Sometimes the act of circling itself will get rods to fire as the lure changes direction and pulls away from a following fish. Think of shaking a toy in front of a cat. The cat will watch intently but won’t strike until the toy is pulled away. The thermocline will be set up In July so that helps eliminate a lot of warm water near the surface, usually top 50ft or so. Where you start is a matter of personal preference. In July there is an inside bite with browns and lakers in less then 150. FOW. Kings can be mixed in, especially earlier in the month or Sandy to Braddocks if you are fishing the Rochester area. Or you can start in 150 fow and go out from there looking for kings and steelhead. I prefer the later. As the month progresses the inside bite for kings can be hit or miss and I’ve found going further offshore (up to 500 FOW by the end of the month) is a better bet for finding kings. August, I’m almost always fishing 300-500 plus FOW and then back in to 100 FOW or less, temp permitting, by the end of the month (Usually Labor Day) and September fishing browns and mature salmon. When searching in the Summer, I always do a temp check in 120 fow or so before setting. I’m checking to see if the temp is too deep, 100 plus ft down, or too shallow, above 40 ft. If either of the above is true, I know stable, more productive water where the thermocline is usually 50-80 ft down has moved offshore. That water can usually be found 250-500 FOW. Not to say that fish cannot be caught in those conditions, especially when the thermocline is pushed deep. I just hate fishing 100 plus ft down and prefer to see if I can find cold water up higher so I can run a better spread. I will keep motoring out and do down temp checks along the way until I see the down temps getting better. I then set up and go North from there. Much of this is a matter of personal preference and there are better fishermen on here then me that may have a whole different take. Many times the fish have their own agenda on where they prefer to be and will throw a curve ball to the norm. For lure selection I have a morning/low light lure box (white cups/glow, etc) and a midday/high light (Silver/UV, etc) box. Normal Summer days I’m changing over around 10am to my high light stuff. Also, I never run orange/red/pink below 35 ft or so. Lures don’t stay out more then an hour if not bit. I tend to go “All in” on a color scheme once I find what’s working and will have 8-10 spoons of the popular patterns in my box. Some days I”ll have all my riggers with the same spoon with cheaters if there is a strong preference to a particular spoon. I can go on and on. The best advice I can give you is to ask a lot of questions, always observe and learn and be open to trying new techniques. I’ve been doing this 35 plus years and never thought of running more then two dipseys. Observing others around me that are successful doing it made me think, why not? There are certainly days when the dipsey bite is hot so why not capitalize on it. Hope this helps and good luck.

Buying a new reel for slide diver. The one I have now has braid on it from 15 plus years ago. Any recommendations on what line to get?

I want to purchase a third dipsey rod and run two on the starboard side when conditions warrant. I upgraded all my rods to ugly sticks. I’ve been told to use a shorter rod on the inside. Ugly stick has a 7ft medium action rod that I’m thinking of using as the inside dipsey rod. Any thoughts on using that rod as an inside wire dipsey? It’s rated for 12-20lb. The normal dipsey rod is rated for 12-30lb so I’m not sure it cam handle the stress of wire and a big king. I want to pair that with a saltist 30. Any suggestions on what wire line to get as well. Trying to get everything from fishusa. Thanks in advance

Anybody know if they still barge stock any browns in Lake Ontario. Will they be doing it in 2020? The cormorants just hammer them when they are shore stocked.

https://www.glangler.com/blogs/articles/will-natural-selection-save-our-salmon-by-jim-bedford First I’ve heard of Kings eating gobies. Also reinforces that a warm Spring is best for alewife survival in that an early thermocline traps plankton earlier higher in the water column thus allowing less bottom filtration by mussels. Also, interesting about some of the adaptability in the life traits of salmon populations in certain rivers. Probably less of that in LO due to more unsuitable habitat.