Gill-T

Out of Oswego, you could use either the "c" or "d" page depending how you leave port east or west. These are "general" readings so don't get too crazy with specifics. The thermocline will occur somewhere within the yellow color which should give you a starting point where to put your riggers. Depends also what species you are targeting. You want browns or steelhead, fish the yellow band and higher. Kings and lakers, fish yellow level and lower into the green band.

I rarely use the overhead temp site because as noted by others it gives satellite infared readings so if there is cloud cover the info is junk. Instead I follow the temp transects page on coastwatch for lake O. http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/glcfs.php?lake=o&ext=vwt&type=N&hr=00 The readings are given in meters so multiple by 3 to get feet. During the summer you could almost perfectly translate the thermocline on the graph to the conditions on the water. Comes in REAL handy when an east wind blows things around and you have to decide where to go out of port east-west-north. The data on this page is based on buoy data.

Received the news Jennifer's body was found by Maid of the Mist. Thanks for everyone's thoughts and concerns.

The 23 year old boy from Amherst was found at the devils hole/power vista area yesterday. It took three days for the body to go from point of entry at whirlpool to devils hole. Jennifer went over the falls later in the evening at 10 pm so my guess she is up higher in the river still.

Thanks Vince.

As you probably have heard there have been a couple of people lost to the Niagara. The 37 year old female that went over the falls is my brother's sister-in-law. The family is quite distraught over not having her body back for closure. I spent this afternoon hiking the gorge looking for her. I became apparent to me with all the rain we had the last two months that the Niagara is RAGING and it would not take long to shoot the body down towards the lake. Any charters running out of Lewiston or Youngstown PLEASE be on the look out for the two bodies that went missing over the weekend. Anything that looks like fabric or large floating objects please give a closer look. THANK YOU.

As much as I enjoy a sunrise, getting up real early and then feeling like crap until nap time is not the way I like to roll. Fishing on Lake O has always been better for me for size of fish on afternoon/evening trips. I think a good degree of feeding occurs at night and then there is a hangover. Life is too short to be miserable....sleep in.

July fishing has set-up on the south shore for kings. The picture inside the Niagara flow is fantastic with bait and hooks where they are suppose to be. Water temps have normalized as I got my first traditional summer-time "after fishing....and beer swim" off the swim platform. Temps are around 52 degrees at 80' down. The verticle temp break occurs just outside of 250' FOW. Last night we fished just west of olcott in 160-220' plying waters from 80-100' down. We ran a two man six rod spread with flashers/flies on wire divers, two riggers, an eight color with musky torpedo and a copper with a musky torpedo. All rods took hits on kings. Biggest was 26 lbs. Lost a giant on the copper that straightened an owner hook after a long battle. Whole fight is on video so I can relive my agony. Oh yea.....take your bug spray!!!

Yep. Works good!

Go to the Blood run tackle site and print out their dipsy trolling dive curve figures to figure out your diver program. I like to have each diver 20' apart in depth.

I try not to pass the outside dipsy across the inside. Helps to have a 10' dipsy rod for the outside diver to extend the diver outside the track as you deploy. As others have stated...creep them out slow and make sure you tell the driver you are letting them out and to keep the boat straight. Easier still is to use a mag diver on inside and #1 dipsy with a mag-sized ring on the outside diver.

Welcome to the dance. Looks like you got your boat set up real nice.

With the record class of three year old kings last year behind us, as a percentage....there should be a record number of four year olds swimming out there. I believe most of these tackle busters are just coming to shore from out deep lagging behind the inshore bait migration so check your gear and lighten those drags!!!! With all the rain we have had has resulted in a water color on the south shore that is more turbid in the Niagara flow. Check the depth your flasher disappears as you lower it down on the rigger.....visibility is much lower. Been having success all year adopting east-end color schemes as they have "greener" water off Oswego come summer.....so yellows are hitting. Mountain dews on the flashers, hammer flies (yellow strands), yellow beads under flies, yellow NBK's for spoons etc. For what ever reason yellows are working....my guess is water color. Next, if you have been struggling to put numbers in the boat consider how many east winds we have been having this June. If you can ever get out on any type of a west wind....the fishing has been great. Plenty of 18-20 lbers showing in the 150-225' band of water. With the increased turbidity consider a king is not going to see your bait unless he is within 7' of depth of your bait. You are not going to see huge movements of fish coming up twenty feet to hit your rigger line like years past....because they can't see it. Consider putting out a spread heavier in flashers and limit your spoons to the top 40 feet. Hope this helps....sorry I have been lacking in the report department but I have been really busy.

If you want to exact conservation measures.....start a club and get involved. The DEC has partnered with club interests up and down the lake. It is hard for me to believe that 15 charters could put a dent in a population of fish in an area so vast. Perhaps, as others have suggested the fish are in a different area. I can tell you on Erie the gobie has helped to move fish closer to shore the last few years. Now there are some great locations where you can cast near shore for 'eyes. Try fishing a little closer to shore? You also may want to hear feedback from our Canadian friends about the fishing in Quinte before deciding fish numbers are down. I would think you would see a decrease in population there first as evidenced by returning spawners numbers in November.

Alewives are high in the enzyme Thiaminase which inhibits reproductive success in Atlantic salmon and Lake Trout. Gobies are rich in Thiamine. By feeding on Gobies, Lake Trout reproductive success is probably higher. If they spawn deep enough or in the Niagara...gobies feeding on Lake Trout fry might be a non-factor. I agree....Lake Trout on the grill or baked is good food. I don't eat the big ones due to bioaccumulation of toxins. Lake Trout can live a long time and accumulate a lot of the bad stuff. If the DEC were smart they would place a slot limit to protect the biggest spawners and protect the public from eating them.

Been able to find scattered kings in the 100-225' range down 60'-80'. Full moon, I don't like to go out til 10:00 am. Fish have been well fed and mostly in the 18-20 lb range. Flasher/fly bite. Just not finding the monster pods of last year. Different year....getting small lakers up high on leadcore every trip out. Lots of cohos with steel mixed in. If you want numbers get a bunch of leadcore or copper out on boards and fish the upper layers. If you want size...the 80' down mark seems to hold the bigger fish.

what did the picture look like out there?