lyk2fish

Yeah Reel Doc, I find this happening for me more the last couple years. When boat traffic picks up some days the rods start firing........now it could be due to bait scatter, but for me I feel it is the maneuvering of my boat on quick turns to avoid other boats. The triple I experienced, was when I was maneuvering between 2 boats that were coming down the lake and not giving me time to properly avoid them, I had to make some quick turns that comprised my spread and luckily didn’t tangle everything up and rods went off.......I thought I had a mess to clean up at first..........then the rods started screaming.....turned my frown into a smile real quick.

First of all Long Time, I would tell you your leader is too big, downsize your leader to 10-12 lb. lite line is a gamble, and fleas build on it, but I feel I take more hits and I manage my drags on my reels. Run your core off boards away from the boat. Fish are all over on both sides and the center.........it’s not so much about location on the lake but location in the water column. I use my finder and my fish hawk to determine the thermocline......if you don’t have a hawk.......get a TD model from them, they are inexpensive compared to the base mount units and it will tell you the temp in 5 ft increments, you just hook it on your core and let it out and retrieve it. The classified section of this forum usually has them for sale. You have to determine the temp breaks to set your spread right. 47-52 is usually good temp and I’ll set above it. If I get lakers, I’ll set even higher. Seems crazy to pull away from fish but lakers are not what I personally want to catch, and I have found that once lakers take over a column, they take it over. Through my experience your hits will come out of the temp for silvers and eyes and bass........seeing marks on your finder can sometimes fool you into where to set your riggers, core or copper........alewife are primary forage, match lure to it, sticks or spoons big or small, when you get a hit or hits on same lure, adjust all in hat color and size. Next, know your drop rates for your core and copper. I always start just above temp and adjust my copper and core accordingly or at least I think I do. Remember as I have said in my posts, there are days I troll for HOURS before I get a hit.........during that time I am constantly adjusting my copper and my cores until I get a bite.........then I fine tune and am dialed in..........I don’t troll in straight lines, I zig zag which constantly speeds up and slows down my spread......I pay attention to what speeds and on what part of my turn I’m getting hit on..........and once I find fish.......I stay there circling and circling......you have to have a relentless approach.......and don’t leave fish to find them......as we all know it’s not easy, it’s work and if your not tired after a day of working your spread, then you might not have done enough. If you want silver fish, commit that your gonna put hours in to get the hit....I can tell you I put in years to figure these fish out.....I’m a walleye guy, not a trout guy, so I had to learn....I have noticed that fish have come up out of the temp and are viscous on biting with little effort then they leave and you sit here scratching your head thinking you did something wrong.........that’s fishing.......finally, put hours on the water.......commit to what you want to catch, developed your plan and execute.......you’ll be rewarded.

Yes Stillwater, eyes out deep suspended under bait with smallmouth, even the pike I got earlier in the week was suspended over 150 ft. Alex, only reason I’m dialed in is because your not out there showing those Bows how it’s done. I haven’t ventured much onto your grounds yet, but I know the mega bows are up there.

You did great!, the lakers are very healthy and well fed in there.

Today I got the opportunity to take a solo trip. Got to the waypoints and the temp dropped a touch, pulled out the coppers and the rigger and was all in. Started out slow as I searched and circled but turned on as the rec boats started getting active. Had a triple at one point with 2 jumping bows and a brown, lost one of the bows, got the other 2. Afternoon really turned on, and copper was king, a few walleye came up in the column to play. A couple lakers up high out of the temp, but that's no surprise. All in all a great day, was fun to reel one in for once, kept a box, and let a lot go to play again. Fleas starting to pick up, speeds 2.6 and up, weeds not bad on either side. Blue and chartreuse were the ticket today.

Got another couple days with my brother, mid week storms put the low pressure on the silvers at first, but other surprises filled the upper column, pike, bass, and eyes kept the copper and core firing. Then the sun came out Thursday afternoon and the silvers wanted to play, many small ones released and some good ones with one pushing 30 inches. Fleas not bad, weeds were a pain, especially on east side, but fish are in those slicks of calm water holding debris. 2.6-3.0 speed on surface, blue and silver and copper color did best. Riggers stayed quiet until just before dark when fish rose up in the column. Many hours between pods, but once I found em, I gave it my best and rods fired. Stay true if you want silver, just when you think it's not gonna happen........the rod starts screaming.........a lot of jumping the last 2 days.

Yes I run boards, core and copper away from the boat. Just commit to the top column and be patient. I put almost 5 hours of trolling in on Wed before I found fish that wanted to play. If you stay committed you’ll get them. And I realize lakers will load the column at certain times but if your catching lakers on a consistent basis, your fishing too deep. Slow time can be boring but being rewarded with a screaming drag is a great reward. Good luck.

Finally got a chance to get on the lake and look for some silver. Was honored to be accompanied by one of my brothers who is a retired blackhawk pilot. He hasn't fished much in the last few years and asked him if he wanted to take an exploratory trip for silver fish. Got up to camp Tuesday afternoon and the usual spots didnt produce much except small bows, finally copper rod fires with a good RIP and we bring an extremely skinny Male to the net.......with lack of seeing bait balls this was concerning to me. We finished with another keeper bow and had some thinking to do about today's plan. First thing this morning found my temp and took a chance at staging copper and core above and out of the temp. First spot no takers, second spot, no takers, third........game on.....and the circling began.....bows, browns and smallmouth.....and we lost count......fought weeds, minimal fleas, and red boats but put the plan together......as always....coppers and cores for me......riggers were slow but took some of the biggest. West and east were both good as you'll see by pics......just be patient, stay committed to the top.....if you catching Lakers, adjust, and dont leave em to find them. Remember to circle and adjust speed. Ran 2.5-3.0 on surface.......color didnt matter. Kept a couple, returned most, and they shot straight down to get out of the bath water. Great day over all. Hardly and jumping.....they wanted to stay down and were still full of it in the net.

Looks like mayfly larvae.......they hammer them when they emerge on that lake.

Sent ya a PM Sean

Sam, I always open App and scroll down to fingerlakes, or my history will show it when I type in LOU, then I select it. I’m sure there is a faster way but that is how I do it.

Line counter with copper, count colors with core. I have my core on counters too and my colors are faded so I keep numbers on my color sets. Good luck. Be patient, and when you find em, don’t leave them.....circle until the bite shuts down.

I run lead core, coupled with spoons or sticks, short cores which are 3-5 colors. Works great early. When bait comes in, they will start to gorge at night making them less active during the day. I used to run worm harness along weed lines and you still could but the population is not what it once was. During late summer, I’ll adjust core and copper to get under the clouds of bait.....do this by looking at depth of bait on finder, calculate your speed and drop of your core and copper so your at a depth just under it. Colors don’t seem to matter, but natural alewife looking baits will always take hits as it’s the core forage.

Yeah, bait plentiful. Starting to show up tight. Depends what you want, Lakers through the column now, silvers.....stay high if you troll, or drift alewife. Eyes stay high too, target the hooks under bait, get a nice rainbow surprise in that zone also. If you go, reach out, I’ll help ya out. Like any pond, she fishes great on some days and slow on others, but the variety is great, never know what your gonna get.

Hit the lake this evening in my pontoon retrofitted with rod holders as I wait for my truck to get out of the shop. Man its comfortable trolling! Four rod holders...2 cores and a copper. Ran east to see if my sunday walleye spots produced. For eyes they didnt, but eater browns were plentiful and kept me busy on short cores. Every point seemed to hold them, caught 6, fought more, all cookie cutter grilles, kept a couple for the grill. Lakers up high in the column too, cought a couple, kept one for a buddy. Great sunset, almost time to pick up and board goes screaming and I mean screaming.........got the copper in so I could work the core board, board off and fish goes screaming again....no jump....hmmmmmm, ....oh crap.....I have no net! Chaos for a bit.....but brought a great brown to hand over 28. Typical long owasco fighting machine....great fight and a great night!

Justin.......youd be proud of me. I ran to the lake today, left fishing boat at home.....got the itch to fish this afternoon and retrofitted my pontoon with some makeshift rod holders so I could run coppers and cores.....no electronics except a hand held GPS for speed. I was blind on temp and depth but put a program together and picked at some cookie cutter browns, small lakers and a few eyes. Short cores and coppers worked well, and were easy to maneuver around rec boats......but how enjoyable it was to be on my pontoon, stereo playing, sons, thier girlfriends, wife, .....the whole crew.....great couple hours, I might be sold on this comfort trolling!

Great fish and great pics, that mud puppy went fir a spin for sure!

Nice job, I love pike, so good to eat too. Those eyes will start to show in your zone soon. Until then, you know where you can go to get them, but the water is warming and the bait gorging will soon begin making it harder to get them.

Like any addiction, I couldn't stay away. Had an opportunity to get both my son's out, with college finals complete. Night started slow with higher water temps, bait present, and no wind. Struggled with short hits for a while. A buddy reached out and finally took a good one on a longer lead, adjusted and it was on. Found a little bit cooler water along the shoreline, got some wind and the browns were present too. Stickbait bite, blk and silver ruled. Hoped the east wind would blow in cooler water, but the temps were in the upper 50's tight to shore and bait was starting to show making it tougher......still worth the wait....havent been out with my boys on a trip in a while.....conversation was great during the slow times. Truly memorable for me.

Thank you, havent weighed.....typical ontario cookie cutter 7-9s I would assume the single one my son is holding solo might be pushing 10. Those fish, like the ones out of the fingers are so girthy, the hits were vicious, love seeing that glow tip rod buckle and drag ripping at night. A lot of fun.

After getting some much needed rain, got an early Saturday start to get on some fields to pick. For me spring eyes and picking points go hand and hand. Some good finds while I decided where to travel for eyes. Left early evening with my oldest son and decided to tackle some Ontario gold, wind was light and I thought it was gonna be a tough night....started with a few short hits that came unglued quick......played with a few options and found a program. Had a great bite, finished up around 10, great night spending with my oldest, back to the fingers for me.

Great fish and great picture!

Yeah Justin I agree on those, you showed me......these eyes here still spawning, a few hitting but most laying on the points or in the canals still. You had a heck of a night, NW looking good tonight, might hit the cause.....got a bunch of conference calls tomorrow so my all nighter approach is limited......plus if we get rain, I’m running to the arrowhead fields before the competition.......spring is a busy time....we will fish very soon together bud, I promise. Reel Doc, thanks for the kind words, you reach out anytime. Lot of guys do good out there but might not post results, always happy to help.....really found great success when I learned the copper and core programs.....they make a huge difference in my success on silvers......as far as my luck this weekend, I just made a lucky guess on core length the first time and it worked...........I usually have to adjust multiple times to find were they are........most important as I always say, when you find them, reduce spread so you can maneuver and circle over that same hot area multiple times.....that turn and burn method works good for me.......too many times we troll over them, get one, and keep trolling further away with no results.....don’t leave silvers to find them.