Reel Doc

Some great looking fish!! It's been a Winter/Spring with super weather weekdays and not so good weekends.  I'm so jealous of all who can get out on the weekdays!!  Tempting to retire sooner rather than later.  

4 hours ago, hookedupf7 said:

We got him on a stick In shallow for browns. Just didn’t expect an eye I guess

Nice fish.  It seems that Spring fishing Ontario can be like a box of chocolates....only been doing it for 4 years now and in addition to Browns have had Atlantics, Coho, Kings, Lakers, Perch, and a Small mouth.  Never caught a Walleye any time of year so waiting for that!!  I suspect hooking a Walleye that size in skinny water put a good bend in the rod.

Beautiful fish.  I'm jealous after spending the day in the office.....

Point/Counterpoint.  With the number of invasive/stocked non-native fish in the Fingerlakes and Great Lakes, these ecosystems will never be what they were 1 or 2 centuries ago.  Gobies are sensitive to and typically are killed by botulism and predator Salmonids that eat them do not typically contract Botulism.  If we fully cook our Salmonid catch, no human risk.  Also, Gobies do consume significant numbers of zebra mussels.  It takes an invasive to control an invasive......too bad we haven't found one to control the lamprey.

In the end, I applaud the DEC for providing us these Wonderful lake fisheries despite all the issues with invasive species, including plant invasives.   

For me, January through March fishing skinny water on Cayuga has been a poor salmon catch compared to the previous 3 Winter seasons.  Number and size of fish has been way down for me.  Skinny water fishing for Browns were similar to previous years, and lake trout have been up. 

I believe I read somewhere that stocking numbers of Salmon has decreased on Cayuga and Rainbow stocking has increased.  Looking at DEC Diary reports, lake trout dominate the Salmonid numbers in Cayuga with about 95% of the catch.  DEC goal is to have 65% Lakers and 35% Brown/Rainbow/Salmon.   Looks like that may take some time to reach that goal

As far as the salmon/trout fishery goes, does it really matter if the bottom bait fish are Sculpin or Gobies?  Their life cycle and habitat seems identical, unlike smelt vs alewife.

On March 26th at the South end surface temps were 40-41 degrees.  Huge changes in the month of April as lake level rises and warmer air temps/longer daylight.

1 hour ago, stinger said:

Don't fool yourself. Those fish are vary much active at different times of the day. Run both spoons and flies until you see what they are interested in. That will vary as the day moves on. Also don't be afraid to drop down deeper. Another 10', 20', 30' will make a big difference. 

Agreed.  Earlier this month dropped riggers with spoons and a mag Dipsey with fly down 100 plus in the center of the lake and had a steady pick of fish.  And this was after a few hours of minimal action along the shorelines.

It is saying a lot about climate change when the ice is sketchy at Magog.  Did some ice fishing up there in the 70's and ice was 3 plus feet thick!! 

Fond memories as a young teen catching perch and smelt in a solid wood shanty in below zero temps.  The wood stove kept us warm and the stories from the adults kept us laughing all day.  

Enjoy that free time in retirement to get out on the water.  I look forward to the luxury of choosing to fish on calm days rather than hoping all week for nice weekend weather.  

Wanted to get one last trip out of Taughannock before the lake rises and the boat won't fit under the bridge.  Good timing to get out today as lake is up nearly 2 feet since last trip.  Made it under with a solid 6 inches to spare. 

Weather forecast was spot on for strong winds so the game plan was fish tight to the West shore.  Started about a mile North of the Boy Scout camp and went South for the morning.  Lakers started things off hitting downrigger spoons, then some decent sized  Landlocked Salmon followed suit.

  Marked some groups of fish several times but it was not a day to go Crazy Ivan as the wind was too strong.  Lines on the board were quiet until a Brown took a stick off the 2 color.  The clouds broke up and the late morning sun seemed to shut off the bite, but we considered the morning a success, even if my first mate slept for most of the trip......

Those Connecticut lakes are right at the top of New Hampshire so I suspect nice scenic fishing there.  Never been but spent time a little West of there fishing with relatives in Northern Vermont streams and beaver made ponds for wild brook trout.  Also a few trips on Memphremagog.  

New England states do have some nice freshwater fisheries and then there are always ocean spots nearby too.  Thanks for reaching out with some info.  Post us a pic next time you hook up with one of those New Hampshire Landlocked salmon.

Being a UConn alum, I know you had quite a drive to get up to Ontario.  Glad to hear your persistence paid off in some fish AND you made it back to Port safely.  Where are there landlocks in NorthEast Connecticut?  

Have a couple Accudepth line counters with reset buttons that are slow to engage and feel a little loose?  Is there a minimally invasive surgery to correct/tighten?

Also have a Great Lakes Sealine where the line counter stopped working recently.  Wondering if that is something that can be repaired simply, needs to go for reel repair, or not worth dealing with.

Appreciate any thoughts 

Don't you all get a little nervous adding another knot and create another line change?  When the wire curls start from rod break downs I figure it's a signal that it's time to cut back a few feet of wire and retie to the terminal swivel.

16 minutes ago, adesalvo said:

Thanks so much for posting. I just saved the ones on the DEC site for later reading.

 

[email protected] is my address if you don’t mind sending the more detailed report.

 

I hope they don’t stop stocking brownies in canadaigua.

https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/27875.html
 

 

 

 

Email sent.  Let me know if not received or unable to open the pdf

Attaching the summary of results for Cayuga.  If anyone is interested in the entire report, send me an email address and I'll forward the entire 40 plus page document.  It includes results for Cayuga, Owasco, Skaneateles, and Otisco.  I encourage everyone who fishes the Fingerlakes to become an angler cooperator.  It isn't hard to do and the data becomes more accurate if additional anglers make reports.

Looked like a beautiful day to be out on the water.  Glad to hear you put some fish in the boat. 

You're not alone with a slow shallow water bite.  For me this Winter, the South end  shallow water action has been different compared to the past few Winters.   Many more lake trout in shallows and fewer silver fish.  

48 minutes ago, GAMBLER said:

Quality leader = Seaguar Blue label.  Expensive but strong and very abrasion resistant.  How are you storing your flies when not in use?

30lb test or higher?  Been using 30lb mono for mine with no snubbers and no problems with breaks, just that kinking up after some use.  Often leave the last flies in use on the flasher, wrap the line around the flasher and put in the boat cabin so quick to grab for the next trip

10 hours ago, GAMBLER said:

Black or clear and no snubbers are needed as long as you use QUALITY leader material and swivels.  

What is your definition of a QUALITY leader?  Another ? for all is when a flasher/fly is trailing, sometimes the leader is spinning up on itself.  Does not seem to be an issue in the water, but up on the boat it gets all kinked up.  I'm thinking the swivels at the Dipsey and the flasher are out of sync and twisting in opposite directions..... thoughts?

8 hours ago, Gill-T said:

Healthy looking Laker. 

Agreed Cayuga fish look and act healthy.  Have only noticed one old lamprey mark on a fish caught this Winter.  Only challenge this Winter has been finding Browns and Landlocked Salmon of any size or any quantity.  Lake trout numbers seem strong and in the past year the number of smaller fish with no fin clips, (16-20 inches) that have made it into the boat has risen from very rare to one of every 8-10 fish that size.  Perhaps some naturally hatched fish are surviving, or someone at the hatchery forgot to clip a couple batches.....  

Great start to the morning as moved out under the bridge at Taughannock.  Lake level is up almost a foot since last week so the typical March draw up is underway.  

Started in skinny water similar to last week, but after 90 minutes of trolling had just one hit from an undersized Brown that grabbed a spoon off the rigger.

An hour later and nothing else happening.  Fishing with my first mate Frankie today.  It's our custom to share fresh berries, (Blackberries, blueberries, strawberries)  with every fish caught, so after getting only one strawberry over half the morning, she was giving me dirty looks.   Time to switch to plan B.   Pulled in the Big board, headed for the middle of the lake, dropped the Balls to 100 plus and sent out a Dipsey with a fly.  

Thank goodness for plan B, as a bunch of lake trout were happy to provide some entertainment and Frankie had plenty of berries so I'm not in her doghouse!!

On 3/6/2023 at 8:57 AM, orangediablo said:

Getting there.

That's a great view from the office!

9 hours ago, Trouthunter said:

Were you trolling shinny water when you got browns & landlock

Yup

BTW,  While cleaning one of the lake trout, found an 8 inch perch in it's stomach.  The laker barely measured 21 inches.  I thought that was quite a meal for a fish that size