Sweet Caroline

Did DEC do the trawls this year? Curious to see what there findings were on bait numbers. Lakers are going to get hammered this year which will lead to even more bait abundance in the coming years as those fish exit the system. 

Saw the same thing off Ibay yesterday. Worked those fish for two hours with nothing then pointed it north for an hour. Popped two kings in 220 on a blank screen then had to leave.  Go figure. 

At least some relief for the new stockers. Maybe they will have 1/2 a chance this year. 

Tons of dead and dying small alewife on surface out of Ibay today.  Is that happening down west as well? The kings I did get were well away from the bait. 

Does seem to be a lot of small alewife around this year. Saw them in the lake and at my marina on the south end of Ibay. I thought the alewife nearshore and in the bays this time a year were the spawners but these look too small to be of spawning maturity. Interested to see what the trawlers come up with. My guess is catch rates will go down with all the bait around and less salmon stocked but there may be some giant kings caught in the next couple of years. Likely need a couple good hatches before DEC considers bumping stocking numbers back up. This year could be good for alewife production with the warm spring we are having.  Low to mid 80s the next few days. 

Went out for a quick shakedown Friday afternoon and did 4 Kings right out the front door 40 over 60 on stinger green tuxedo. Went out this morning and blanked. Go figure. 

Good progress on the launch. A couple docks in now. Should be open for biz in the next week or two. 

Fishing higher in the water column, I’m spoon heavy. Fishing down deep I’m more FF and Meat heavy. Almost always start the morning with spoons on riggers and FF on dipseys. Cores get spoons, copper gets FF. I don’t mess with meat much until August mostly because I’m lazy and don’t want to mess with, not because it doesn’t catch fish any time of year. Never run FF on riggers except in August I’ll run a meat rig down deep on one rigger. 

They need to barge stock browns and spread them out so they stand a chance. Stocked browns are pretty stubborn when it comes to movement after they are stocked. They are sitting ducks for weeks. In streams I’ve seen browns never leave the same hole they were stocked in the spring and be there right through fall. Between the cormorants, blue herons and fisherman  last year I watched the browns that they stocked at Webster park get absolutely hammered for weeks on end. It was like opening day of trout season there. I was also surprised at how easy the blue herons could pluck browns out of the stream just standing there. For the amount of money and effort it takes to raise them it would be wise to take the extra step to run them out on a barge or tow them out in a pen so they stand 1/2 a chance. The ROI from Shore stocking is a huge miss IMO.  The brown fishing should be phenomenal this spring after seeing very little fishing pressure last year. Doesn’t seem to be the case. 

7 hours ago, Rich D said:

In the process of redesigning this reel.

Capt Rich.


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Thanks. Any idea when redesigns will be out?

Called fishusa and they said the Daiwa Saltist has been discontinued. They thought it may be replaced with a different model. Anybody have the scoop on what is going on with them? Was planning on upgrading all my reels to them. 

Should barge stock all browns. They hang around for weeks in a tight area after they have been stocked and just get hammered by cormorants...and fisherman that have access to them. 

Follow the water. Genny or other larger tribs are a good place to start as they usually put out some color through April. This year being a dry year with low water, I-bay and east may be too far out of the Genny. Other areas may be good right after a significant rain or wind event but if there is nothing to murk the water up it is going to be slim pickings in clear water. Good luck. 

I vaguely remember there being a big Atlantic program on I-Creek in the 80s or early 90s that was abandoned due to lack of success. If it didn’t work on I-Creek, Sandy doesn’t stand a chance. I do believe there is a fair amount of natural repro for chinooks in I-creek. I was up in Fisher’s last fall after a rain and saw 15 or so kings blow by in the 1/2 hour I was there. Some decent gravel and year round cold water up there.  I’ve caught smolt steelhead up in powder mill in July and August that I believe were natural or maybe stockers that didn’t smolt in time to make it out to the lake and had to spend another year in the stream. The creek can get high and muddy even up high in the system which I’m told can prevent natural repro to an extent. There is more and more development on and near I-creek which will only make that situation worse. 

Took a walk on the I-Bay pier at 1 pm today and there was 3 young boys around 12 or 13 years old landing an easy mid teens brown on the beach. They had to walk it down the pier to the beach to land it. They were beyond excited. Caught on a rattle trap. Great to see kids that age enjoying the outdoors. I think they are hooked on LO fishing for life now! 

How quick can LO water levels be raised? Checked out the South end of Ibay and there is exposed islands everywhere. Water would need to come up a good 2-3ft for boaters to safely navigate out of any of the marinas on the south end. Some spots in marina have 6 inches of water. 

4 hours ago, paprman said:

Went by there today and it's all fenced in. Doubt it will be available till June?

 

Ditto

So sad to hear this. Way back in the day my father, Mike and a bunch of other guys started a fishing club. I cut my teeth fishing Ginna at night in the middle of the winter, thanksgiving trips to the Genny, and ESLO/LOC week long trips down at the Oak and Niagara. Last time I saw him was at my Dads funeral. Another LO pioneer gone. Rip Capt Mike. 

Thinking about Electric planer board reels. Pros/cons, suggestions? Never had or used them. Big Jon’s look most popular. Also hoping to complete my full ugly stick spread. Just need a few more brown rods, cores and coppers and I will be fully converted. 

Hachimo. You are not too far off. I had 3 Bucks chasing each other around my cars in the driveway today. Put some doe scent in my garage and that might have worked. 

52 minutes ago, Hachimo said:

Dont get much easier then that  maybe if u open ur garage he will go right in. then no draggin hang em up and skin him.  

Lots of chasing activity out of my front window today! Lol. Doe in the street. Sorry don't know how to rotate.

Inside bite was slow this morning. 63 degree water all the way to bottom down to 40ft. Couple browns in 15ft was all on black/silver yozuri. Started motoring out for some offshore steelhead but port water pump went and had to limp back in on one engine. Thought I could make it until Spring before changing. Seasons a wrap for me. Good luck to everybody still fishing. 

I’m at Southpoint too. Will be out tomorrow. I’ll let you know how I make out

Don’t rule out mature salmon just yet either. I occasionally catch them along with browns and occasional steelhead using spring tactics through October. 2 years ago I caught a mature king on a stick trolling by the Ibay piers on Oct 30th. As long as there is some stain in the water you you can have good days shoreline trolling Mid Sept, through the winter and in to the Spring, weather permitting. 

Ran all spoons.  NKs and M Stingers. Frogs were best.  2 color Leadcore was good and rigger down 12ft with 25ft leads. Wasn’t great fishing and died by 9am, unlike last weekend when we had cold water and I lit them up in there.