Gill-T

I was trying to figure out the last time a 30lb fish has come over the gunnels. When I did the math I couldn’t help but be a little shocked that it has been seven years. Any doubt that the winters of 2014 and 2015 would have a lasting effect have been erased from my mind. The mild winter this past year and super warm summer should have a good effect on bait numbers. I am starting to see algae blooms on satellite images of the lake which I have not seen since 2013. Lake Erie smelt have rebounded this year so here’s hoping lady Ontario is on a course to start spitting out 30’s with more regularity.

Gary you have been found guilty of driving over fish to find fish on both lakes. Tighter on both lakes.

Generally speaking, I try to run into current. First, I want all my gear straight out the back, second, it saves on gas, third, big fish are lazy so if given the same lure action, lazy fish won’t want to exert as much energy in theory. As others have stated, any given day, the fish may want lures presented in a certain direction. If you are over fish, keeping your bait in the zone on a trolling pass as long as possible means trolling slower ie. going into the down current.

Location dependent so fishing the screen helps. I could tell you I was fishing a different part of the lake (Niagara) and the mini rollover drove fish deep that put them in contact with some bottom smelt. Our high divers in low 60’s temp never got a sniff. All fish came deep below the thermocline. The puzzle that day was aided by the fact that I noticed marks near the bottom on the drop. Knowing it would take awhile for those fish to activate and lift with the changing conditions, we left after two swipes on the drop.

Your best video yet.

I would agree on weekends you would want the state launch, but during the week you won’t have too much to deal with at the black north launch

In that case, you probably have some light biters that have an increased chance of coming off due to length of time to reel all that wire up. I use the 50 size Saltist reels that are high speed.

Set your drag like you would for wire dipsy. If you are using big paddles, expect to loose fish from all the counterweight drag from the paddle and thick wire. Keep the connection to the fish with consistent pressure. When you sense the fish is heading for the surface, reel like mad to maintain tension with the rod high to prevent the paddle from whiplashing the hook free as the paddle clears the water.

Got to try slide divers Dan (if you haven’t already). The mono leader builds shock absorption and removes pigtails in wire. You can bass flip them outside your spread as they don’t spin on themselves. The long leads with slide divers allows larger flashers to extend further back so when you send them down they won’t catch rigger lines.

Split rings are a another source of potential failure. Rings come off and I just use a duolock snap. Leader goes to a ball bearing swivel. Leader length is from tip of rod tip to the reel.