Dukdog

Wicked nice fish!!!

I have a 18 ft lund. The kings are very dark. They should be stacking up soon.

Me too on the 18 foot Lund! It can get snotty in a hurry!!

Great report! Can't wait to get over again, only a 10 hour drive for me!!! Wish I was a lot closer!!

Nice fish! I'm counting the days!!

I'm digging those sandals in the second picture!! Did that cute girl loan them out??????????

Nice fish!! Congrats to your daughter!!

Nice Report! Glad to see you got into them. I can't wait to get back over there on the 26th!

Those fish always look so much bigger when being held by a young skinny guy! The same size fish look a lot smaller when old fat guys like me hold them up!!

Nice report, and I'm glad that some of my information helped you out or maybe just coincidental but anyhow I'm glad ya'll got into em. And some nice fish I might add. Congrats on your personal best also. It's nice to be able to give information that actually works. It was a tad bumpy Sunday, we did some teens, a 27 lb 6 oz, a 28 lb 4 oz king and a nice 7 lb steelie. There are some big fish out there. Stop back and se us the next time you get over trhis way.

Thanks for the recommendations Troy!! It was great out there Saturday and we were absolutely hooking them up on that Veggie Gator and moonshines! The Spin Doctor I bought was the hot flasher for us. The kings loved it and it took our 2 biggest fish.

We'll definitely fish over in Sodus again although we've kind of made Catfish Creek Camps our home away from home over there and it's an hour away. It was worth the trip for sure when the fish were all west of Oswego!! Nice Port! I enjoyed your store and the great selection of gear you've got!!!

Fishing Report

Your Name / Boat Name: Shep / Dukdog

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TRIP OVERVIEW

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Date(s): Weds thru Saturday 8/1 to 8/4

Time on Water: Lots!!

Weather/Temp: Hot and Humid, lots of sun!!

Wind Speed/Direction: West the first 2 days, South the last 2

Waves: 3 days of too many and 1 day of perfect

Surface Temp: Mid 70's

Down Temp: 42 to 54, Mostly in mid 40s

Location:

LAT/LONG (GPS Cords):

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FISHING RESULTS

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Total Hits: 25

Total Boated: 14

Species Breakdown: 1 Brown, 8 Steelies, 5 Kings

Hot Lure: Kings, Flashers and flies, green on green, Steelies and Browns on spoons, used a lot of UV stuff. 1 big steelie on a flasher fly.

Trolling Speed: 2.0 to 2.5

Down Speed: 1.3 to 2.0

Boat Depth: 100 to 350 ft.

Lure Depth: 65 to 95

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SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS

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Another fun 4 day trip to Catfish Creek Fishing Camps in New Haven, New York. http://www.catfishcreek.com/index.htm

The Kings were not in the bay yet and so after Wednesday afternoon going 1 for 3 and Thursday morning losing the only fish we hooked, I decided to take our show on the road and hit Fair Haven Thursday afternoon. Pretty Choppy out there in the Westerly winds but we managed to go 3 for 5 for the Afternoon. All were Steelhead but we did hook on King that smashed a flasher fly and put up a wicked 30 seconds of fight before making a super charge and breaking my 30 Power pro and taking my gear with him! He felt really big! I was disappointed.

Friday it was off to Sodus where we launched at the ramp at Warren's Hook Line and Sinker. The ramp is kind of shallow but had plenty of water for my 18 foot Lund.

Troy at Warren's Hook Line, and Sinker, gave us an update on what lures had been hot lately and I picked up a few UV selections that he said were working good for him.

They really worked good with the Moonshine RV stuff and Stinger UV Gators doing some real damage for us.

The waves dropped as the day went on and after starting out at 9 AM, we finished a limit at 4 PM. It should have been much sooner but my buddy lost a nice teener king at the back of the boat.. His inexperience and my too long a leader between the dipsy and the flasher resulted in not being able to get the fish into netting distance. We had the bimini up and I kept telling him to back up and as he did, he had to lower the rod tip get under the bimini.. The King wallowed on it's side about a foot out of reach for probably a minute while we tried to close the gap and as always, he got off and we lost him.

A while later a similar, retrieve and release happened with a corker of a steelhead who threw the hook just as I made my stab with the net. he hung there about 1/2 a second and I made a big poke to get under him and got him 1/2 in the net but not enough!! Another one gone!!

Finally, the Starboard side dipsy (300) takes a wicked hit on a flasher fly and I'm on it. It's big!! We battled for a good 15 minutes or more before she showed herself. When I got it to the boat, it took my buddy 3 tries to net it. Finally it was in the bag and came aboard and I knew I had my new personal best King! It weighed in at 26#, 6oz!! A fine looking fish!

Tom hooked up a 10 pound king ( 240 dipsy )and we landed that and finished the day with his first and best ever King.

Saturday, we were off to Sodus again targeting Kings but the wind had come to hard South and the conditions got considerably worse as the day went on. We finally bailed at 2 PM after going 1 for 3.

Now 1 for 3 doesn't sound too great but the 2 we lost were both kings and big ones too boot. The one Tom landed was a fat 20 buck King who's jaw was starting to hook! That was a new personal best for Tom! ( 240 dipsys )

When we got back to Catfish creek on Saturday Afternoon, Wally and Rick told us we could have saved the trip to Sodus because the Kings had just moved into the area the previous day. The King fishing was heating up from about 150 foot out in front of the plants. Wally had a nice charter on Saturday of a father and 2 sons. Wally put his "Sports" on some great Kings and browns.

We were all psyched up to make a run out Sunday morning for a few hours before heading home. Unfortunately there were small craft warning posted and winds were predicted to increase during the day. We gave it a try anyway and we ran out about a mile on calm water in what seemed like not so bad winds! I turned the boat around to see what we'd be facing going in if we continued! It was going to suck!! We headed straight back into what was a building chop and 25 mile and hour wind. I can only imagine what it would have been out another few miles.. Ugly!!

Every trip has to have some low lights and this one was no exception! My VHF radio antenna broke in the middle! Toast!

We got a flat on the boat trailer when it clipped the edge of a washout on the concrete exit of a gas station. Bent the rim and we were instantly flat! Ever prepared, we broke out the spare and changed it out. I beat the bend out of the rim and applied a can of Tire Jizzem which rounded up the tire to about 10 pounds. We later topped it off to 55# so I've got a new spare!!

The other pain was a leftover from when my rigger got torn off the boat up in Lake Champlain. When that happened, it cracked the plug receptacle for the downrigger. When I added the new rigger, it initially worked great but after a while, the rigger quit running. I found the crack. Couldn't fix it there so we band aided it and got it functional. I'm back home now and replaced the bad plug with a new one.

There is always something that will piss you off on a trip like this and the last 3 trips it's been the same thing griping me.

Jerks driving along at breakneck speed texting on their damn phones! I saw at least 4 go partially off the road and another half dozen weaving severely.. People are stupid out there!! I'm glad a don't ride motorcycles anymore because with all that texting going on, more people are going to die!! At least I've got a substantial truck wrapped around me!!

Here's the photo lineup of personal bests including my 26# King and my 8 & 1/2# Brown plus Tom's 20 pound King and 11 & 1/2 # Steelhead.

The weapons of choice that were effective for us this trip!

Tom's 20# King, 10# King and 11 & 1/2 # Steelhead

My 26# King and 8 & 1/2 # Brown

Assorted Scenery shots

And a short video..

Dukdog,

Looking at the forecast this week, about all I can say is I wish I was going to be there! I really expect the bay will break loose this week with the kings. Good luck getting your buddy on a big one

Thanks Fishtails!! I'm hopping in the car in 10 minutes to head to Connecticut to pick up my buddy. Staying over at his house tonight and driving over in the AM. I'm keeping my fingers crossed as my last 2 trips saw a lot of rough water and marginal results on the fish. We should be fishing by early afternoon tomorrow if all goes well and that west wind that's predicted is kind to us!!

I'll post up the results of our adventure when I get back!! I'll be on ch 68 if anyone else is up there and wants to give me a shoot to see how we're doing!!

Not a bad report or placement! Too bad about your battery issues.

I'm headed that way Wednesday to fish the rest of the week out of Catfish Creek. Winds look like they are shifting to out of the south during that period. Of course, you never know til you get there what it'll be like. Hopefully we'll scratch out a few nice kings for our trouble. My buddy has never caught one so it'll be fun to see how he reacts when one of my 10 ft wire dipsy rods doubles up and the reel starts singing!! That can be a real eye opener for a newbie!!

My 18 ft lund has 115 johnson 2 stroke and my kicker is 9.9 nissan 4 stroke. wish my big motor was a four stroke.

I'll bet that thing flies with a 115 on it!! My Alaskan is only rated for 90! what model do you have??

I have an 18' Lund Alaskan also and they are great boats for fishing and ducks! What is yours powered with? I have a 60hp Mercury 4 stroke and a 9.9 kicker for safety. It's fine most of the time but with a heavy load it may be a little underpowered. However, it is great on gas economy, trolls very well and is quiet.

I've got a 60 Yamaha and an 8 Yamaha for a kicker and sea ducking backup motor!! For most of my hunting, the 60 is plenty. It could use a little more when I'm running with a following sea, it kind of bogs down in the troughs as you're climbing the back of the wave. A 90 would probably do it but hey, it's what I've got and it's paid for!!!

Here's the rails I added to make my fishing easier and safer. They also double as a rack for our layout boat for duck hunting.

The boat is an 18 foot Lund Alaskan which is a pretty capable unit if you pick your days! I use it to sea duck hunt here in Maine which can be rough sledding too. I'm pretty careful about wind direction and wouldn't head out into anything that would mean I'd have to buck into it going back.

Heading out into the Atlantic when it's 15 degrees and a water temp in the 40's and a ripping tide isn't anything to fool around with either!

Fishing Report

Your Name / Boat Name:

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TRIP OVERVIEW

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Date(s): 7/17 t 7/19

Time on Water: 8 hours total in 3 days

Weather/Temp: Nice

Wind Speed/Direction: 10 and up, West and North

Waves: 3 to 4 with some 5's mixed in

Surface Temp: 78

Location:

LAT/LONG (GPS Cords):

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FISHING RESULTS

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Total Hits: 6

Total Boated: 2

Species Breakdown: 1 King, 1 brown

Hot Lure: New Stinger UV with a yellow stripe

Trolling Speed: 1.5 to 3.8!! The wind and waves were tough!

Down Speed: Tried to maintain 1.3 to 1.8 on my Depth raider

Boat Depth: Out to 150

Lure Depth: 66 to 101

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SUMMARY & FURTHER DETAILS

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The weather prediction for the Lake Conditions was way off this trip.  Waves were supposed to be 0 to 1 footers,  Actual conditions turned out to be 2 to 4 footers most of the time with some 5's thrown in just to brighten up your pucker factor!!  

We got over there on Tues morning and the lake was unfishable.  We only saw 1 boat out there that day and we made 3 tries to get out and finally did make it on the 3rd.   Set up 4 lines,  Had 2 releases and no fish.  Wind came up harder and T storms were moving in so we hauled for shore.  Saved the evening by going over and getting a hot fudge sundae!!  

Wednesday was still rough but we decided to go the Sodus Point and give it a shot since deep water is only a mile out instead of 4 or 5 miles.  It sucked!!  We just got out there and I was putting on my life jacket and my arm hit my son in the face and knocked out one of this contact lenses..  He was blind in one eye so we went back in and drove back over to Mexico so he could get a new eye!   That killed a couple hours but at least we got back and got out.  We ended up getting a nice 4 or 5 pound brown and had a couple more releases that were fishless.

We fished about 3 hours at Sodus and then quit as the waves were approaching 4 to 5 footers.

When we came in, the waves crests were doing 12 mph and I came down the channel in a following sea just maintaining steerage and not get swamped from behind. The local sheriff met us at ramp and wanted to know if I was "the skipper of this vessel". He wasn't real pleasant and I think he was getting ready to ticket us for exceeding the 5 MPH speed limit. My son is a police officer and once that fact was conveyed, the hardass rhetoric eased a bit.

I guess the point of m gripe is, He didn't take sea conditions in the channel into account and I wonder who he's going to ticket for the waves moving too fast???

 

After an afternoon nap back at Catfish Creek, the lake had calmed down to 1 to 2's so we headed out and finally got in some comfortable fishing.  Chris got a nice 10 pound King in about 150 feet of water down about 95 feet on a Stingray UV spoon with some yellow on it.  Same spoon that took the brown in the morning.  The waves stayed manageable until we quit after sunset.  

Come morning on Thursday, The lake was up again but were were getting used to it by now.  We headed out again and set 5 lines,  2 dipsys, 2 downriggers and a 450 ft copper.   As I finished setting the second rod, it immediately fired and I was into a fish that I'm sure was a king in the same class as the one Chris got the night before.  I managed to get it about 1/2 way to the boat and it got off..  The rest of our morning saw building seas and a couple more releases with missed fish.  By 9:30,  The half dozen or so big boats out near us were calling it quits because of the bad conditions and on board pukers!!!  

We packed it up and headed in and home.

I've been real lucky with my trips to Lake O and enjoyed a lot of great weather and conditions.

This was the payback trip for all that good fishing!!  The lake was so rough you felt like a marble in a paint can most of the time you were out.  

The two best things on the trip were the auto pilot and the rail system I installed!  We could not have fished if it wasn't for those rails.  The AP was awesome keeping the boat on track when we were setting lines and landing fish.  

On the trip over we got some great fresh veggies at an Amish farm on route 104 south of Pulaski.  Great jellies, jam and pickles too!  Also had some great sweet corn from another stand!

The calmest conditions we saw in 3 days!

Nice Report!!

Those are some corker browns!! Nice catch!

Nice Haul! Glad to see things are heating up. I'm looking forward to mid July!

Put a Raymarine X-5 autopilot on my Lund Alaskan 18SSC, I got a recommend for this model from one of the guys on the Lake Champlain United Forum.

I did the installation and setup myself.. Not real difficult and the unit works like a champ! I couldn't be more pleased with the result. It's pretty cool to put your boat up on plane at 30 mph and be able to leave it to OTTO!!

My kicker is turned by a crossbar to my 60 Yamaha and there is no problem with the X-5 controlling both units.

I tried it on a trolling run and you can set your heading then go back to setting rods and riggers with worry about wind or waves turning you around. I'm very happy with this unit!

My buddy caught a deformed Northern like that in Green Bay a few years ago. If the body size matched the head size it would have weighed 20 pounds. As it was, it was probably about 7 or 8!! Weird looking

Nice!! I've hung a few on that sign myself!!

I went to Lake Champlain this weekend instead when I couldn't find anyone to go to Lake O with me. I had a good time on Lakers and one landlocked. Fun but not as nice as the catching fat browns! But it's about 3 tanks of gas cheaper and 10 hours less driving!

When trolling at my favorite speed, 2.1 on GPS, My depth raider always read 1.3 !!

I knew there would be some disparity due to current etc but I discovered yesterday just where most of that speed differential was coming from.

The UPS man delivered a pair of 15 pound Shark cannonballs yesterday and I couldn't get to the lake here in Maine fast enough to try them out. There are slick but the best part is they led me to discover where the lion's share of that speed differential was coming from.

I had been running 8 and 12 pound round balls which resulted in quite a bit of blowback when going over 2 MPH. The 15# sharks cut that blowback to almost nothing and I immediately noticed that my Depth Raider was now indicating 1.8 when I was doing 2.1 on GPS.

I believe that the previous angle on the cable and subsequently on the Depth raider probe caused the pinwheel to not turn as smoothly and resulted in a lower indicated speed than it does now that the cable is more vertical with the sharks.

Not Rocket science but an interesting observation and kind of answers my question about there being so much difference in the past.

What's that give me with 350 ft out on a #1 with no ring at 2.2 mph with wire?? That's where I was really whacking them last year.. I was figuring about 100 ft since I was fishing in 110 to 120 and not hitting buttom with it.

The Big water edition is rare as hen's teeth. I don't know why they don't come out with a new edition or another printing of the 2nd edition ??????????

A few weeks ago I posted up pictures of a rear handrail that I added to my Lund Alaskan.

I liked how it worked so much that I've added sides to completely box in the back. None of the rails interfere with the operation of the downriggers, live well access or gear and rod locker access.

When fishing on the big lake and running my 10' dipsy rods, I have to lean way over to place or remove them from their rod holders. The side rails will make that a lot safer activity.

So far everyone who's fished with me this year loves the idea and the functionality of the rails.

It's all built with Speed-rail fittings and inch and a quarter aluminum schedule 40 pipe. Total cost was about $350.

Here's the original handrail and the other pictures show the new siderails.

4 footers suck!! I can't fish when it gets that tough! You did well!!

We tried the chicken wings you recommended to us but the hot lure for us was a stinger orange killer!! Good to see you guys are on LOU!! Dukdog!

Hey it was good running into you Len! Sunday worked out. Saturday not so much. We tried Oswego harbor in the afternoon but it was grim so we didn't linger long!