jpiatkowski

Courtesy goes a long way. Great to hear a good story!!

I have to wait for the waves to settle down a bit. Waves 1' or less is ideal. We'll see when that is in the forecast.

iPilot controls the boat steering with GPS. I was on a straight course with the wind partially at my back. Most boats heading due north. This boat turned due east on a collision course. He changed course. I then had to turn west to avoid him. Any semi-skilled fisherman can hook, fight, and land a fish solo.

OLCOTT 8/2 MORNING Went right out to 400'. No fooling around. 60' down temp was 46. Perfect. trolled north and as soon as I hit 440 fow it was on. Conditions were rough for me on my 16' boat fishing solo today. Winds and chop were an issue. Landed 7 between 440-480 fow in about 2.5 hours of actual fishing time. Not one single hit on a spoon today. Nothing over 18 lbs. Great day for me. The bonus was landing a king right in front of a charter boat hat had cut me off. That makes 3 times in a row that I let paying customers on a charter boat watch me pull in a nice king as their captain cut me off.

1 steelhead and 3 Kings.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DOWN TEMP AT OLCOTT?? i have my best luck at 46-47 degree water. Today I went 50-55 degrees because there was so much bait there.

I saw bait high this morning, so I fished 50-55 degree water mostly. 50-55' down. That's warm water for me. Boated 4. Lost 2. 2 knock-offs. My best fish was as I trolled back to port. 100 fow at 9:30am.

And I'm guessing the fleas are good today. Ice cold water drives them out, right?

The lake had DEFINITELY flipped. 46 degrees on the surface EVERYWHERE inside 300 fow. The lake has just recovered quickly.

Tuesday morning was not as good. Then I heard there was an earthquake early Tuesday morning. Plus a full moon all night.

The "Big Red Barn" is about 3 miles west of Olcott. That is just a guess. It is a landmark that can be seen from the water. If you are out in a boat, from east to west, you will see the Somerset smoke stack, the microwave tower, Olcott water tower, then the big red barn.

Netting is tough, but getting the fish back in the water quickly is usually the toughest aspect. I don't plan to keep any fish, so I REALLY try to release the fish as quickly as possible. I hate it when the hook(s) get buried in there. Decreases the chance of survival.

OLCOTT JULY 10 Began solo run setting up in front of port at 6:30 am in 120 fow on a north troll. Forecast was pretty accurate. Winds out of the SSW about 5-10. Waves about 1'. I started early to get some fishing in before the waves reached 2'. I have a 16' Tracker, so 2' is my limit. Generally speaking. Temp was 47 degrees 70' down. When I hit 190 fow I headed due west into the waves and wind. As I approached the Big Red Barn....BAM!!!! Line starts thumping and ripping a little line off the rigger. 10 minutes later I released a 20#(ish) King for another to catch. I reset my rigger and before I could sit down....BAM!!!! Rigger released and line was thumping again. This time the 25#(ish) King was a little harder to net. Took me 3 tries. I think I need a bigger net. I turned and headed east to ride the waves and make my return to port a little easier. Waves and wind had picked up as forecasted. No hit until I approached Olcott. Released a skippy. At 8:30 it was time to head in. So ended up 3/3 with a couple knock-offs. All Spin Dr/FF hits. All rigger bites. No spoon bites. No diver bites. Green is my productive color.

Sounds like you need a new net man.

Nice job!! I am hoping to get out when conditions allow. Were you working the bottom?