John Kelley

Copper sink rates are supposed to be around 22' down for every 100' out, so you should already be dredging the bottom in the depths you have been fishing.  Are you only after Lake trout?  Rainbows can be caught trolling near the surface with spoons.  Good luck.

As the old saying goes, the best thing about copper is, it catches fish, the worst thing about copper is, it catches fish.

That is the perfect quote for copper!!LOL   

Outstanding girth and overall chunkiness on those pike!!  Nice pair!   

I don't know that the brand of flasher matters so much as the colors and glow factor.  I use big 11" paddle flashers in glow/white with green dots and glow/white with black dots.  Meat is usually run deep on copper, riggers or divers, so I like a big profile and glowing meat heads and flashers.

I used to use the big 11" E chip pro troll flashers with a 24"-30" leader and standard sized Pro King spoons, and do really well on Kings and cohos with them.  I would usually try to match the colors, yes.  

Lake breeze marina. Also includes 4Cs now so there are plenty of docks and lodging too.

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

And they are the closest to the lake, and have gas, supplies, and boat and engine repair.  

I have done really well with Double Trouble down deep and in low light conditions, in the magnum size.  Carbon 14 and silver carbon have also been very good to me, along with Arctic Ice, Green shorts and Grean Jeans, all in magnum.  Bad Toad is another favorite, and RV Happee Meal in both standard and magnum sizes.

Great results!!  Sounds like a very productive weekend!!  

happens to me after i spawn too

Hahahaha, thanks for that mental image, Ray!!LOL 

Nice job man, looks like the Oak is really heating up!!

That sounds awesome!!  Any majors? :yes:  

Better yet, lose the snubbers on the divers altogether and just lighten up on your drag, and you will not lose any more fish to break-offs!  

I have also done very well running a white and glow and green and blue salmon fly 20"-30" behind the cowbells as well.  Had just as much action as with a peanut or spin and glow, actually, and just as simple to rig.  Plus, salmon guys will already have some of them in the boat, so if a guy runs out of normal laker candy, they will have a go to lure.  

You don't need either but also set your drag so the copper holds but would go out with even something small (fairly loose drag compared with say downriggers.

And to further what Les is saying, really make sure you loosen the drag a good deal after you let out the copper, because you will have it cranked down pretty tight to reel it in without a fish on, just to hurry the process along.  I know I have been guilty of not checking the drag on my 400 copper after letting it out, and then a big salmon comes along and steals my spoon, because copper has absolutely no stretch.  The rod guides do not get cut from copper, because it is such a soft metal, and will not wear grooves into your guide.  Thanks.

Great job & beautiful chromers there!!     Jealous!!!

Beautiful Brownie!!     

Yes, just prepare to lose their paint!  And don't be surprised if you have one bend on you as well.  Sorry to sound so negative, I just don't think the quality is there, and Kings are hard on baits.  But they do catch fish.

 

If I'm buying spoons for Kings, it's Warrior, Dreamweaver, NK, or Moonshines.  Starting to warm up to Pro Kings as well.  Patterns in Natural Born Killer/Slayer, Wonderbread/Superbread, Gator, Frog, some Dolphin patterns, Carbon 14, etc..

 

I don't have any favorite Steelhead spoons, just a lot of oranges and I catch them casting or trolling very large silver kastmasters.

 

I also like Silver Streak spoons, but the paint just falls off after one good fish.

I must concur here, but I tend to use more of the Moonshines and Pro Kings.  Moonshines have the toughest paint I have ever seen, and the glow lasts an incredibly long time.  Some good colors for me have been "bad toad", "Arctic Ice", "double trouble", "green shorts" and "carbon 14".

As far as spoons go, I would get a few magnum Moonshine spoons and a few standard size ones in colors with green, black chrome and white, in any combination, for king salmon.  You might also want some reds, yellows and oranges for for steelhead and cohos.  Moonshine spoons have the toughest paint enamel that I have used, and the glow lasts a long time on them.  I would also pickup up a couple of Spin doctors to run your flies behind, in Mountain Dew/chrome and white/green dots, to start out with.  You can catch fish on crankbaits, like reef runners and bay rats, and rapalas, but you might want to just stick with the spoon and flasher basics, until you get them down. Good luck!     

I don't know about this thread, but I do know that in the 2 years I got to fish alongside all of you crazies, out of the Oak, I mostly saw courteous and conscientious fishermen.  I remember doing the inside outside dance with Yankee several times, but neither one of us ever cut each other off, and everyone was usually friendly and cordial.  I have seen way worse boat courtesy among the walleye crowds in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas.  I was almost always one of the smallest boats among the fleet out there, and I am sure a bunch of you got to used to seeing my little white Tracker Tundra hanging out amidst your monster hulls!!LOL  I just hope that I was as courteous to everyone out there as you guys were to me.  One of my tricks, though, was to try to be on the water and set by around 5:00 a.m., so that I was already trolling when all the monster boat wakes slammed into me!!  I will have to agree that boards should only be deployed way out, when a guy is out of heavy traffic.  Good luck this season, my NY Peeps!!       

Nice job, Captain Rick!! 

Palomar all the way.

Will you be putting the boat in the water this spring? If so when?  We won't be up until the 1st week of May.  Maybe the wife and I could come and take a look.  We have a camp along the Little Salmon River, How far by boat would Point Breeze be from the Little Salmon River in Mexico Bay?  Thanks, Bob

A very long way, as Point Breeze is on the Oak Orchard river, about 30 miles west of Rochester! 

Nice job, Captain Carl!!     

Once again, thanks for all of the info, guys.  

Will do.  I hope we get a nice mixed bag of fish!!