mattym22

It took me way too long but here is my belated update. We did end up getting out for about 4 hours on that Friday (26th) There was a little ice at the launch but backin the trailer in and out twice broke it up enough. Everyhting went well just ran two inline planer boards and two flat lines off the back with rapalas and bass pro xps plugs. No hits but we gave it a shot and everyone was in good spirits and had a fun time anyway. After todays warm temps I am itching to get out soon.

OK here is my update. I took a ride out to Irondiquoit pier on Tuesday (sorry for the delay is posting) and the launch is open on the bridge side and one full section of dock is in place. I walked out on the pier as well and its open all the way out with a few floating ice chunks but not much. Did not see any debris but I kind of expected that as most of the bay is frozen on the north portion still. The weather and wind look pretty good for huggin the shoreline and trolling shallow. I am going to get out around 1:30 - 2:00 pm and give it a shot. I wish I could do a sun up trip but work wont allow it. I am going to run some boards and some flat lines off the back. Not going to try any deeper than 20 foot or so unless things are really flat. I will post after the trip perhaps this weekend or early next week and of course I will make sure to take pictures. I am pretty excited about getting out.

Thanks that was the information I was looking for. I'm going to take a look tommorow to be sure and looks like the next chance to get out is Tuesday afternoon. I'll let you know.

Can't help it.

Looking for some last minute Intel. Does anyone know if I would be able to launch from the north end launch by the lift bridge? Or is there still too much ice? I know there are no docks I can manage without them but too much ice is a deal breaker obviously. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I would like to chime in on this one as well. Those lake trout rigs gambler is selling are spot on. The blades on those don't have the resistance that the northern king brand I have do. I do not know that you really need to have copper though. It will help hold bottom but is expensive. I just use mono and have no problem. Make sure your rigger weights are heavier ones. Trying with 6 or 8lbers would be a pain. Some days are tough to hold bottom with the currents being strong. If your line is going strait back off the boat it means you have a substantial amount of blow back and you will need to let out a lot of line to hold bottom. Most of the time if you are not on bottom you will not get them even if they are there. Constantly check your lines and readjust your rigger depth. Let it bounce on bottom and bring it up 1-3 ft. Wait a minute and do it again. Changing trolling direction can help a lot as well. One direction may be awful and a pain and the other may be much better. Holding bottom in 80ft is much easier that 130ft. So you may want to start a little shallower if currents are strong. Gamblers comment about speed is also an important one. The slow speeds work great and you may find you have a tough time going that slow depending on your setup. I needed to get a trolling plate for my motor so I could go slow enough to get them. You can get them with faster speeds but it is not ideal. When I was starting out I had to play around a lot and I did not get great explanations on how to work everything. (messages like "copper and downriggers" certainly do not explain how to do things) so if you have any questions feel free to message me.