Blue Knight

Jason there are two launch areas at Port Credit. The nearest to Etobicoke is just off Lakeshore at Lakeshore Promenade where the old generating station used to be. The other launch site is right on the Credit River at Front Street South just on the west side of the bridge. Shortwave's address is 113 Lakeshore Road East, just west of Hurontario St & about two minutes east of the river boat ramp. The Salmon Derby Weigh Station is also located at the River Launch. During the Derby the launch fee is $8.00.

Geespawt gave you some good advice on where to go to get some tackle. I've known Bill & Jerry for years having run charters out of Port Credit for over 25 years. Now I'm Pro Staff for Hot Spot so I'm going to recommend a couple of 8" Hot Spots for flys. I'd suggest you get an 8" green Haze & run that with a green crinkle Howie fly or something similar. Run the fly about 18 inches behind the flasher. For early light get an 8" Bullfrog Hotspot flasher with a white glow Howie fly. If you have a downrigger then I'd suggest an 11" Bullfrog & cut bait for your deep rod. As for spoons, I have just about every spoon on the market. I run a lot of Apex in the 5.5 but whatever spoon you get I'd suggest you get the Mag size especially for this time of year. Bill knows what's hot & will be only happy to tell you. By the way those colours I suggested were my top colours last year & the year before.

"A" is the correct way. Now here are some of the best colours. I was one of the first to use them on Lake Ontario & have been Pro Staff for Hot Spot for almost 20 years. The first one I put down is Bullfrog in the 11" with cut bait. Second rod is usually either White Lightning or Bullfrog again in the 8" with a Glow Howie fly. Once the sun comes up I'll change the 8" over to a green Haze trailing a Green Crinkle Howie Fly. Those were my top producers last year. It's not too often I have to take the 11" Bullfrog off my deepest rod.

Howie's come out with a new copper line that's a great improvement on the regular copper. It's nickel coated, 45lb test line but because of the nickel coating it doesn't kink anywhere near as bad as the regular copper & it's the same diameter as the uncoated copper line. I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet but I've heard nothing but good reports about it. If your local stores don't have it yet you can get it direct from Howie. Copper catches fish but it's been a pain up until now. This is going to make it a lot more enjoyable.

Howie I'm fortunate enough to be the Ontario Pro Staff for Hot Spot & had the opportunity to field test them at the end of last season. I would think they're available at most tackle stores that have salmon gear. If they sell Hot Spot flashers they can get the Apex if they don't have them in.

Had a chance to use the 4.5 #557 Glow Jelly UV Apex at the end of last year & boated 3 Kings over 20lb in the first hour & a half. I've been using Apex for over 30 years & found them to be the most consistent lure I've ever owned. They come in all sizes but I'd suggest either the 4.5 or 5.5. The other Jelly is the #556 Clear Jelly. The tape is UV & is something to see.

I usuually run a Howie behind an 8" Hot Spot. I've always used the 11" for cut bait then in June 2007 I went out to Tofino, BC. I don't think anyone uses an 8" out there. They run an 11" trailing a fly or hoochie about 42" behind the flasher. I tried that last year & it worked well. Might be an idea since cut bait's going to be hard to find this year.

Can't give you any info on the camera but I wouldn't take those Scottys off your boat.

I was told once that Strike Vision won't work with Scotty Downriggers. That info came from a Walker Rep.

In my opinion 8'6" is a little short for a downrigger rod. Most of my rods are at least 9' & out in BC they use at least a 10' rod. This year I got a couple of Rapala Magnum series 9' rods & used them with my Islander mooching reels. I caught most of my fish on them & had no problem with them. All my other rods are mainly Fenwick Riggersticks with twist guides, great for level winds but not for mooching reels. Rapalas are pretty cheap here so I imagine they're even cheaper there.

I don't have one because I don't need one. The Black Box doesn't improve your fishing unless your boat is sending out the wrong electrical charge. Take a look on the Scotty website & there is an article on there on how to check the charge your boat is sending out.

I was told to keep this a secret but since the colours already came out in an article in GLA it's not much of a secret anymore. Presntly they're only available in Michigan, Wisconsin & Minnesota but the LakeO boys will have them next year. I've had a chance to try them out & had good success with them along with some of the boys I've given a few to try out. What I like about them is the glow white on one side & coloured tape on the opposite side. So in fact the only thing I've had to do is change the fly colour from glow to a bright finish & keep it down all day. Blue Bubble, Green Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew, Yellow Mountain Dew

Michel, if you are interested in a quick how to on Lake O I suggest you check out the charters in Darlington. There are a good number who cater to Quebecors & speak French fluently if that's a problem. Fishchallenger, Gettitwet & Sporty Gord just to name a few.

Erick I'll be in Port Darlington, (Bowmanville) when you get there. If you have a problem come see me & I'll give you the info you need. I'm putting my boat in there by mid June.

In 33 years I've used a good number of releases but for me I'll never change again. Scotties all the way.

Aaron's too good a fisherman to run a fly with that length of leader. That was definitely meat on the 11" Hot Spot flashers. Too bad he didn't show the shot when the Hot Spot changes direction of rotation. I'm pretty sure Aaron took the shots on an "Urban Outdoors" episode where the 11" Hot Spot does change direction of rotation. It's the only flasher that can.

Last season I had the opportunity to use my buddies Islander Reels. An AR/MR2 with the anti reverse & the new MR3. Didn't matter whose boat we took the reels always ended up on the outside riggers. We landed a lot of fish using them & the only problem was that it spoiled me. The quality is top notch & the experience of fighting a good King on a centre pin reel will make you never want to go back to level winds again. Well I didn't need any further convincing so here's a pic of my two reels.

What I was told 30 years ago & I've heard it many times that both the American & Canadian salmon stock congregate on the Niagara bar in the Spring & as the water starts to warm up they start to move. The Canadian fish go clockwise & the American fish counter clockwise. I always fished off Hamilton harbour & Dalhousie when I had the smaller boat I could trailer. Now I've got a 20 footer I'll be going back to the same.

Fishtails if you go on Hot Spot's website they have all the colours & numbers with the pics. www.hotspotlures.com

Fishtails I forgot to mention yes you can run them clean or behind a flasher. You'll find the best sizes for Lake O are 4.5's & 5.5's. Glow ladderback is also one of my favourites as is the hot pink glow belly. I usually start off with either first thing in the morning. For the last couple of years instead of throwing an old piece of cut bait overboard I've trimmed it up & tied it onto the underside of the Apex with spider wire used for tying roe bags. It doesn't affect the action of the Apex but it catches lots of fish.

They come with 25lb test mono already on them. I like to go a little heavier & the lures I get are blanks so I make mine up with 30lb flurocarbon. I've used Apex for over 30 years & even with the stock mono haven't had many breakoffs. I use the same hooks. A buddy of mine likes to run trebles for Georgian Bay fish but changes over to siwash for Lake O. Best producers for me have been Stinnson, green fishscale, watermelon & the new UV's did well this year. Pro Troll "were" the US distributors for Hot Spot until they came out with their own copy of the Apex.

I'm the Pro Staffer for Hot Spot in Ontario. Don't be afraid to run an Apex behind a Hot Spot Flasher. I run them behind the 8" Hot Spot flasher all the time. Don't change the leader length of the Apex. As for speed I normally troll between 2.5 to 3.2 mph but don't be afraid of varying your speed. They're very speed tolerant. The commercial fleet on the west coast are running between 4 & 5 knots. Take a look at their tips & tricks & download "Deadly Trolling Techniques" Go to www.hotspotlures.com.

Howie's "Green Crinkle" has been one of my top producers as has their white glow. Both Howie & At Tom Mik have excellent products. I've used them both. My top producer one year was an 8" Hot Spot Yote flasher trailing a green At Tom Mik. That was the only year an 8" flasher outfished an 11" Flasher.

Woody I wouldn't think of going out without at least one flasher down. The way I usually start off is my deepest rod is an 11" Hotspot Bullfrog & cut bait usually on the outside stbd rigger. The outside port rigger I'll run 5' back & 5' above with an 11" white glow or white lightning Hot Spot & cut bait. The inside rods are staggered exactly the same with spoons, most likely at least one Apex 5.5. Dipsys I'll start off with an 8" flasher & fly, usually a green plaid & green fly & a purple Haze trailing a 5.5 Stinnson Apex. If the meat doesn't work I'll take off the port side & put on an 8" Hot Spot with a fly or another spoon but I never take off the deepest flasher. If it doesn't get the hits it will definitely bring the fish into your spread. Take a look at the Hot Spot website. Their Tips & Tricks shows you how to run flashers either on your rod or just as an attractor attached to the ball.

It's not unusual to find these throughout the season but especially early on before the lake has a chance to stratify. Instead of a thermacline what we see are thermal bars. A mud line attracts all the bait in the area along with the birds & the fish. Anytime I find one of these I'll zig zag through them & usually come up with some good hits. One thing to look out for is the debris. It not only collects scum but logs & all the other garbage in the lake.