lyk2fish

Your killin me joe! Woke up this morning at turning stone after my oldest sons 21rst........I looked outside and said I bet this morning would be awesome on the lake.........sounds like it was, way to go, your program is developing quite nice, especially on that awesome boat. Got to love a lake that can successfully support a 2 tiered fishery, makes it for a great variety.

Awesome Ryan, glad to help, and yes the fish were on fire in the morning . Congrats on the eye, they'll start showing more and more as the bait suspends.

Made a quick trip with my sons buddy for a half day troll Sat. Got on the grounds and the silvers were hitting,.......getting them to the net......that's another thing.......the bows beat us up and used every ounce of whit to wrap my copper, my core, and get those hooks unglued. 3 for 13 is humbling to say the least, we landed good eaters but lost 4 great fish that just wouldn't stop jumping. You just have those days, but we were in the right zone so we stayed true and a copper rod bent over with a screamer. Had a great fight and my sons buddy did a great job getting a great brown to the net.....this yearclass has finally gotten in the size that cayuga is producing on a consistent level. A few small lakers in the mix, with small bows and made a good morning. Sky's started to clear and I bet the afternoon bite would be epic. Shout out to camo joe as we passed each other while both fighting fish. 2.6, white spoons did the trick for us today even on short hits, core never took a rip, riggers, and copper took hits, column starting to develop well.

Yes, but I usually just run lead core off the boards, copper tight to the beam and riggers down the shoot.....hence my chaos with rigger fish going into the copper, but I feel I get more hits.....maybe positive ion theory happening, but when I put that copper out on a board, I don’t feel I get the hits and when I do, I lose many due to fighting the board before the fish. Copper is not easy but can be deadly, especially when the fleas get thick. I find as most trollers do, that each technique has its time during the day. Riggers can be hot, then die out, all f the sudden core is on fire, then subsides.....then on days when copper is firing, it will supersede them all, at least on this lake and for me. Boat traffic you have to be conscious of when running copper....had a sailboat run over it a few weeks ago and take my board for a ride, then this weekend I had a man on a motorized hydrofoil surfboard cut across the lake he turned and came right behind my stern......I said to my friend who was with me that he is gonna hit my copper and fall.........all the sudden my copper rod reefs over and that guy did a face plant right into the water.......he didn’t know what happened.......my copper hit the keel of that hydro board and tripped him.....he was ok, got back on and started going again. Can’t make this stuff up.

300 set up, line counter okuma, bought them pre spooled with blood run copper, 45# I believe. I like the line counter because I can adjust how much copper I want out. Based on what the fish hawk tells me, I can look at the copper drop rate and try to adjust the copper to keep it at temp or just above. It’s not a perfect science and you get ware on your copper but for me it beats having multiple copper set ups.

They’re all small Sam, not worth fishing here, ha ha ha ha ha , I’ll do better not to enhance ........ at least my arm is not out straight. Thanks for the support fisherman 21. camojoe, was up in that zone I saw ya at last year, had to escape weed Matt’s, but it’s starting to shape up.

My son and his buddy were later of course and my friend and his girlfriend were at the dock at 6. Full day working rods, wiped!

Finally got back to the lake as arrowhead season comes to a close. Got to camp lastnight and noticed some jade green color out there on the water. Polished off the copper and cores and was at it at 6AM. Morning a bit slow made some adjustments and core board goes screaming for first bow of the day, a nice female to net and the quality just kept getting better. Short copper fires on a screamer that ended up being that quality year class of brown that has been showing itself, a nice surprise and a happy buddy to boot. Great day with friends and family, all took hits today, thise bows love going in the copper, even when on boards.....crazy smart fish, riggers took the least hits, core took the show with greens and red spoons doing the best. Shaping up to be a good summer, fleas manageable and boat traffic as expected in the fourth. Tight lines all.

Nice, that's a good box for this lake, noticed some old school copper rigs in some of those pics.....hand pulling copper is a workout......but fun to feel that hit for sure. Used to fish with a friend on cayuga pulling copper with twin minnows, some fun times over there.

Yeah, saw the big boats out there, figured it was the club. Some really nice rigs out fishing. Saw all of you guys at the south shore doing your weigh in. Who had the heaviest box? Any big lunkers?

Lake starting to set up, still a bit all over but better fishing then last weekend. Temps good from 40-60. Ran copper, cores and a rigger. Fished off the toon again as my truck is in the shop. Saturday started slow and left my phone on shore, picked a few small lakers in the column then hit a jumper. Nice bow hit the net for a quick release. Started circling and I had a small frenzy. Picked 2 more bows and a small brown. Wind started to build out of the north and trolled to the next point, rigger fires with a good bow.......right to the copper she went, jumped and gone.......but she was nice enough to leave the spoon in my copper..........this continued throughout the day and died on me around 4. Sunday morning brought the phone and the wife, hit the water after breakfast and found some good bows concentrated, worked them till the trolling traffic got heavy then called it. 6-8 on bows, 2 small browns and a few small lakers up high. Stayed just above the temp but still couldn't get a solid program set. Rigger was king and the copper and core on boards took a couple hits, that'll change in a few weeks. Fleas not bad at all. Trolling should be good for all in the south shore tourney.....good luck to all.

Nice eyes!

Nice eye.........I mean drum.....ha ha ha, hope all is well Johnny.

Sweet man, needed ya up there to help me persevere through the slow times like we did all winter long. Be back on the fingers soon, the water is getting to warm. We'll touch base when we're both not burried with work.

Got out with a son and his buddy for a few days to fish for some gold. Friday we we greeted with 59 degree water and bait everywhere, was a tough go but I ran till 4 am and put a program together to save the night with 4 great fish. Saturday night started with warmer temps tight to shore with bait and fish in 60 degree water, slow start turned into a quick flurry if hits with 3 landed and one lost, all quality fish again. Couldn't believe the lake level and had to adjust leads as the fish were tight. Not outrageous, but good success each night with a lot of smiles and laughs.

Johnny, nice job on the perch this year, hit em through the ice good, then in the boat after ice out......then work got busy for 3 weeks and I lost them, chased bigger fish instead, but that spot lock is an awesome feature I got to try out this year. reel doc, I saw some carp breaching and though what if I accidentally foul hook one of these things....thankfully I didn’t, but what a fight it would be. Lot of variety in this lake, love the two tiered fishery. Alex, miss ya up here, haven’t even been in your old neck of the woods yet......soon, want to see some jumping bows. stillwater, good to hear from you, hope you fared well through the winter, soon the summer program will start and I look forward to hearing all your great successes.

Hard grind in the cold rainy weather, managed a nice eye in the dark, heavy rain and light cold wind made it feel more like October than May. Surface program in 49 degree water produced pike, some browns, only the one eye and a few surprise fish like bullhead and perch. All in all good day, bright sticks in dirty water behind boards did the trick, 2.5 speed. Great spending some time with close friends. Nothing spectacular but a report none the less.

Got on the fingers Saturday afternoon. Wind died down, fishing was slow, but managed a few nice fish in the afternoon and sunday morning before the front. Mostly post spawn males, did manage a great female that was still releasing eggs, she was released after a quick pic.(pic on fingerlakes topic). Boards and short cores did best with pike and trout mixed in.....that's what's nice about the fingers, ya just dont know what you'll get, speed 1.8-2.0, green/blue sticks and white spoons. Water temp just getting right, still cold in spots. Glad to be on the water.

Afternoon winds died down and I made my way to the lake. Greeted by a muddy south end I worked my way north in search of clear water. Found some a few miles north and hugged the west side to get out of the wind. Ran last weeks program and like always......it didnt work......trolled for about 3 hours, nada.....changed it up, slowed it down and went deeper, found some good temp and circled and circled......finally board went back.......gifted with a huge eye, quick pic and a release and all changed over, adjusted cores and planers and a short but satisfying bite began. Next came a brown, then some pike and I finished the night donating a stick to a good brown that ran on me at the boat and snapped the line..ughhhhhh. great day though, colors were blue and green sticks, white for spoon color, cores went deeper to 3, and speed dropped to 2.0.

One on a glow alewife stinger, rest on sticks, try to match smelt pattern, as they can be on the menu this time of year.

Well started the shake down looking for perch......the schools left the area I had luck in 3 weeks ago so I decided to troll. Back to the camp for my short cores and planer rods. Set up in 25 ft and as I set the first rod, the line came out if my hand before I could attach the board....a low jumping flip showed me a nice male brown was on........fight was short at the fish breached the surface again and threw the stick........next few fish were pike, one real nice fish over 10, would love to have got a good pic, but kept it in the water for an immediate release as they are out of season. Weeded through a couple lakers and a few more pike and the bite died on me......wind shifted out of the west.....decided to change it up and run short cores......good choice.....the smashing began......2 for 5 on Browns......this yearclass has finally hit the 7-8 pound range. Fun day with other species mixed in.....temp was 46 at mid day......natural smelt colors worked well. They are full of it and hard to keep glued. Although the handling of the fish was not ideal for a quick pic, I insured a long recovery in a flowing livewell prepped them for release to fight another day.

The river fishing has been hit or miss, conditions are great in terms of water clarity, but the bite has not been consistent during the night. Sometimes its early and sometimes late. Justin and I have been dividing and trying to concur a good fish bite but we have learned one thing.....no pattern yet this year and not as many big fish yet. One night he hits, another I do.......its just how it is this year.....and it's not the same locations, so being mobile is key, more you cover, the better your chances. Ice on the rod tips mean one thing to me.......good thumps will come. Friday's cold and wind with a hint of the moon coupled into a great bite that gave me a first good fish of the winter. As I have always said when the moon goes bright get your lures deep and dark. This was the case and around midnight when I got a thump that was a bit different than the others. Lately these hopeful thumps have been carp I've bumped and lost lures to, so my expectations weren't high until the reflection of that eye graced my headlamp vision. Finally a good fish at 27.5 inches! Not super girthy, typical of the river sometimes, but she had the feed bag on none the less. No 30'z yet but they are out there. She'll fight another day and get bigger. Tight lines all.

Walleye, like many fish ambush strike from the side, many times to stun, then eat. I’ve seen them do this at night near shore, when you can see your lure on a bright winter night, I have watched them flash at my stick, sometimes missing it on the strike. Pretty cool to see. Also One of the reasons many are foul hooked in the face or other areas of the head when they hit. Even on small lures they will be hooked on the front treble many more times then the back. I notice when they short hit under a frontal condition they tap at the back of my sticks, hence getting caught on the back hook and not very well. Just my observation over many years of catching these fish.

That’s the best birthday present a guy could ask for, big eyes, multiple rods firing, great weather, time on the water for yourself.......