tlox

looks like the one I threw back last week

Fleas are BAD right now. I had them sticking to 30lb mono, sticking to the wire on the dipsys, sticking to everything!!!!!! I don't even want to talk about the mess that was on the coated cable for the probe.

The Steelies are hitting, I was out there Saturday morning as well. Started in about 270 FOW. Dropped my first rigger line down 40, was going to stack a green NK in the top 20 foot of the water column. I let it back about 65 feet, grabbed the line with my hand to put it in the stacker release, and it started pulling back. A 4 lb steelie took it right off the surface.

I run mags, one with the ring on it and one without. I believe the wire with a mag and a ring is close to a 2:1 ratio for diving (100 ft of line out = 50 ft down)

I'll have to check the graph next time but it could have been the loch ness.... my other thought was a russian sub. There wasn't much left of the fly when I got it in, just a few strands of the skirt left on it.

I did have that conversation with the wheel man who got a bit too excited and wasn't paying attention to his job..... i've chased down fish in the past too, this one caught us off guard a bit and turned the boat into a fire drill

Sporadic hooks, some smaller bait pods between 50 & 100, fish were spread in the water column from up high down 30 to some bigger hooks down to 120, the temp was actually better out deeper.

A few days late in posting this, but headed out to the bar Sunday for some Father's day fishing with the old man. Got a little later start in the day due to the weather, but ended up getting set up around 9:30 - I was watching the weather radar and though I timed it right, but mother nature had one good last downpour in store for us. Based on what i've been hearing, we started out deeper in 275 FOW running the standard program, two riggers /stackers, one wire dipsy and one dacron dipsy. The stacked lines on the riggers were running 30 & 35 feet down and started paying off quickly. Running green NK28's we took two nice cohos off the bat. Then we got into a fun 8 lb steelhead, followed by another 10 lb steelhead on the dacron dipsy. Moving between 250 & 300 FOW we were getting occassional bait pods, and would fire a rod after passsing through them. We took a few 10 - 12 lb kings down 75 on the deep riggers. At about 12:45, in 280 FOW the wire dipsy (Mag dipsy w/ ring dragging a mtn dew spin doctor and hammer fly) was back 175 and just got crushed. I have 10'6 pretty stout dipsy rods and the tip went under water and the wire just started peeling off. (A few weeks ago due to a pretty good kink I had to cut about 110' off the wire leaving me with about 850 ft on the spool.) This fish took off unlike anything i've had on the line in a few years and in a short amount of time the counter is already past 500 feet on the initial run. At this point i'm trying to do some quick math while the line is still peeling off and figure if I can't slow this fish down, i'm about to get spooled. I start tightening the drag as the counter is going past 600 and its not having much effect. At 650 feet this fish is still cookin in the opposite direction at which point I take another half turn on the drag, and proceed to pull the hook. I've caught a few 26-27 lb salmon on this dipsy rod and reel combo and never had a fish put a run on like that......... I would have really liked to see that fish. All in all it was a good day, spent about 4+ hours on the water, went 8-10 and got some blood on the deck. Hopefully this is a sign the fishing is starting to turn after a pretty uneventful spring for us.

Agreed with the blow back, i have 13 lb torpedos and at 115 they blow back a lot, can't imagine 175 down.

Same problem here with the scuppers. I have a 23' cobia, with two guys in the back corner, a little water starts to come back in through the scuppers, or taking waves to the stern, a little bit of water will jet in through the scuppers. Kinda nice when fishing in June and July, not so nice fishing this time of the year with 48 degree water.

Quickest way to the Bar is launching out of Youngstown. There is a little motel right in town thats walking distance to the ramp: http://www.outdoorsniagara.com/youngstownmotel.htm There's a few restaurants right in the village or you can take the short drive to Lewiston for a lot of really good food options - Brickyard pub, waterstreet landing, Apple Granny, Tin Pan Alley..... You can either launch at the village boat launch on water st. in Youngstown, or there are a pair of nice launches in Fort Niagara State Park - those launches cost $8 a day to use.

The unit is a Lowrance HDS 5 Gen 2

Fished Sat & Sunday 5/4 & 5/5. Headed out Sat around noon due to some morning obligations. Got set up and hooked up on a nice 20 lb king off a green dr. w/ hammer fly. Ended the day 4/4 with the 20 lb being the biggest, with the rest being in the 12 - 15 lb range. Headed out bright and early sunday morning, we were set up by 5:30. Took a couple cohos off the higher lines. Had a 16 lb king hit on the wire dipsy. Gotta love kings in the spring, the 16 pounder fought like a fish in the mid 20's. After that, everything slowed right down and never fired another line after 10 am. There are a lot of fish stacked up out there, and a LOT of bait clouds, but the action is spotty. Moved from the red can east working in and out from 70 FOW to 225. BAIT BAIT BAIT everywhere.....

The king bite is still very iffy..... water temps are improving and there are tons of hooks in the water, but they just aren't very active at the moment. Took a couple high teens kings over 6 hours. As far as speed, I'm not sure. 3 mph might work, but in the spring, i've always had better luck at 2 - 2.2 mph.

Nothing doing out deeper, we were working 55 - 120 FOW with no action for 3 hours. Ran in behind the green can and took 4 lakers in an hour and a half and then called it a day. A slow day fishing isn't nearly as fun when the east wind gets the lake whipped up.

What satellite imagery you guys using? Modis?

MUD. Have to hit them in the face to get a bite. Water is still very brown.

Not sure what the fishing is like at the bar right now, but I can tell you the water is still very muddy. Clarity is pretty poor, and in the past, that hasn't made fishing (for me at least) very productive. I'm anticipating the calmer weather that's coming will help settle things down a bit though, and the weekend forecast looks pretty good. That said, I'll be giving it a shot on Sunday myself out there.