John Kelley

Chinook

 

  I've caught walleyes going 2.5-3mph while reeling in boards (so the lure was probably going 4-5mph). I've also caught them on the outside board while going 3mph. After water temps hit 70 I rarely troll less than 2.5mph unless that speed seems to be more productive. Last week I caught a 28inch eye in Lake Ontario while trolling 3.5mph. There are other benifits to faster trolling speeds including covering more water. So what I'm getting at is that I dont believe you have to troll at any set speed except for the one that is producing fish at that day/time. I'm sold on the idea that you should experiment with different speeds each time you go out.

I agree 100% with this guy.  The slow speeds are usually the live-bait rigger guys.  You are going for more of a reaction strike when trolling crankbaits/stickbaits.  The walleyes will also crush your lures at these faster speeds, so they are funner to catch going fast, in my opinion!  Good luck.

Haha, yeah Ray, they do some spear fishing right up by the dam sometimes, in scuba gear with the guns and all.  Here is a fat 10 pounder I caught last weekend, about 20 miles north of the dam, in an area called Spring Creek, over 154' of water, 100' down on the rigger, on a magnum Moonshine Double Trouble spoon.  I caught the annoying walleye on a standard Moonshine RV Happee Meal spoon 50' down over 164' of water.  Lots of smelt in this area.

At the Oak, Captain's Cove or Narby's.

Nicely done, mister 'Fancy Pants'!  Did you even try the flapjack xxxxx fly??LOL  I will bet you have made Lake O converts out of those two guys, for sure!!  

Yeah, smelt is the main forage base, but lake whitefish were introduced a few years back, as well as gizzard shad.  There are also the same cast of warm water characters as usual, white suckers, fatheads,and various shiners.

8'6" Okuma Classic Pro GLT work great for both riggers and planers!

Have to agree on the Okumas, and they are cheap enough to replace easily if they break.  I just bought some with the nice chartreuse tips, to see easier.   

Congrats on the win, that is a fun tourney!!      

Nice,

that one resembles more of a basketball than a football!!LOL     

WTG John   You seem to have found a pretty good way to get your "salmon fix" till your return to Lake O someday   Great report and fish. It's also good to keep in practice  for the "big boys" too and hopefully looking on the bright side...NO FLEAS .

Yeah Les, for sure no fleas, brother, but hose pesky walleyes might be worse, because I don't even know they are on, and troll around dragging them for who knows how long!!LOL    

thats pretty awesome, nice work

Thanks man, they don't get as big as the great lakes salmon, but they are still pretty fun.  I think the meat is even darker orange than on lake Ontario, too.  Oh yeah, I left out a couple of little 5-6 pound pike off the spoons as well.  They always hang out around the intakes,  Sometimes they get pretty big.  Here is my wife with a short 13 pounder from this spring.

Great results, man!!

Beautiful work, Paul!

Last Friday I traveled the 120 miles from where I am now working, near the North Dakota border, to Pierre, SD, to fish the Missouri river for some king salmon. In South Dakota, you are allowed 2 rods per person for open water fishing, so I was not able to put much of a spread out, since I was fishing by myself.  I stopped into my favorite local bait shop and actually found some whole frozen Herring, and whole herring trolling heads.    With these in hand, I was anxious to see if I could put what I learned on Lake Ontario to use in Lake Oahe.  I trolled upstream all Friday Evening, fishing a spoon on one rigger, and a meat rig with 11" paddle and whole herring on the other rigger.  Every time I would switch out a spoon, I would have a walleye glommed onto it, that I didn't know was there., and I was fishing 60' down over 150' fow.  The meat rig down at 90' never did fire, even though I saw some nice marks down there between 90-100'.  I did move the meat rig up and down from 90-105' but it never got touched.  So i ended Friday evening with a half dozen 18-22" walleyes, which was not what I was after at all!LOL  Saturday morning I was on the lake at 4:30 a.m. and decided to setup in the dark and troll right out from the dam, with divers and flashers and flies.  Diver rods never twitched, so I switched them out with riggers and spoons at sunrise.  I chose a Moonshine Carbon-14 for the starboard rigger, and a Moonshine Double Trouble on the port rigger, parked at 65' and 55' down.  The early morning was very uneventful, until about 7:30, when I was just completing a loop around the dam water intakes, and the starboard rigger fired off on an obvious fish.  After a short fight, I landed my first Oahe king in some 3-4 years.  It was just a 7 pounder, but not bad for here.  The North wind started to pick up, blowing waves right into the dam, and the bait wit it, so i decided to stay right where I was and troll in 125-145' and keep my riggers set right where they were, since I started to mark some nice fish right from 50-70'.  I think it was about 9:30 or so, and I was trolling west, about midway across the dam, sharpening my Cimeter, when I heard the drag clicking on my starboard rigger.  When I turned to grab the rod, it was throbbing pretty good, and some drag was still going out.  This was a nicer fish, and after a short fight, I netted a fat 12 pound king. That made the trip worth it!  Both fish ate the Carbon 14 spoon.  The wind soon picked up to a low gale, and the waves were getting pretty choppy by noon, so I called it a day.  Here are some cooler shots of the fish and one of the dam.  Really wish I was on Lake Ontario, instead!!     

By brand new runners do you mean brand new stringers?

Haha, don't know too many people that ever caught a big sturgeon say they fight like a log.  They are pretty well known as fantastic fighters!!  Nice job, man!!  

Let's see some more pics.  Has there been a survey done?

The longer the leader the longer the shock absorber, as well.  I like 50' leads with my copper, on the off chance I forget to adjust the drag after I set the line out, at least I have some forgiveness with a longer leader.  Not so with a short leader.  Remember that your metal lines have zero stretch to them.

I used to own a 17' Fisher Hawk, and they are great boats.  All welded aluminum, and can take pretty good sized waves!

I live 1 mile from Lake O.  I also think I should be there all the time. LOL.

Haha, I concur!!LOL

Yeah, I got pretty spoiled for a couple of seasons, Mortigan!!LOL  I actually towed a sailboat in one night after dark, that was floundering by the break-wall, too, so two boat rescues in two seasons!!LOL That's nothing any other boater wouldn't have done.  I really miss the lake, and especially all of the friendly fishermen out there, that share information freely.  I come from the walleye fishing world, where everything is so secretive, and people get all bent out of shape if you share information, so this was really refreshing to me.  A world where I could share what I know, and also learn from others, without being harassed by my peers for giving out information!!  I have always been of the mind that "when everybody is catching fish, we are all enjoying our sport that much more!!

Man, that's a ton of boat for the money!  If I were out there right now I would be writing a check out for this beauty!!

Is this boat still for sale?

Dan, I think you will find that you want to use a mono line for the leader, as it is stiffer, and will not twist like the braid, from the spinning of the flasher.  I second Sk8man on the Big game line, very tough!

I traveled all the way from Eastern South Dakota, for work, but I towed my boat with me, because I knew I would be out here for two years.  That was from December 2011 to December of 2013.  I actually snuck back home in May of 2012 to grab my boat.  That was a 1200 mile trip, one way.  I fished the Finger lakes a couple of times, but soon concentrated my efforts on the Oak, and started spending every weekend at the Captain's Cove.  I made plenty of great friends, and caught salmon like I never dreamed of before!  I caught so many Kings, cohos, Lake trout, brown trout, and especially steelhead in two years, that I can't even keep an accurate count!!  I finally got my Tyee to the boat last summer, but had several of them on!  I took plenty of other new friends out and shared the joy of salmon fishing as well.  What really amazed me about Lake Ontario, being from the Midwest, is how we never hear of Lake Ontario back there.  If we hear about any salmon fishing in the media, like TV or magazines, it is almost always Lake Michigan, or the west coast.  I was completely blown away by the average size of the kings in Lake Ontario during the summer.  Before I ever fished Lake Ontario, I had caught the king bug out here on the Missouri river, where they actually stock Kings in Our biggest lake, Lake Oahe, and also the North Dakotans Lake Sakakawea.  These max out much smaller, and a 15 pound fish is a really good one.  I fished for them for about 5 years, and perfected my ways on them on the river, before I finally made my first trip to Lake Michigan.  Lake Michigan was a much better fishery, with a more diversified salmonids population, and I did fairly well here as well, soaking up all the information I could get while I was on my 4 day weekend trips.  The closest Lake Michigan port to me is still over a 10 hour  drive, and about 500 miles away from where I live.  Let me just say that Lake Michigan does not even come close to the salmon fishery of Lake Ontario, and I was amazed and awestruck by the fish swimming in your Great Lake. While I was out there I also got to fish Lake Erie for some perch and smallmouth, and can now say that I have caught fish in 4 of the 5 Great Lakes.  I am only missing Lake Huron.  Anyways, I want you New York people to know how great you have it with this fantastic salmon and trout fishery right on your doorstep!!  Those were the best two summers of my life, bar none, and I am doing what I can to find work out there, so I can move there myself, and never have to be far away from the greatest inland salmon fishery of them all!! I am missing the lake very badly right now, and am Jonesing for some screaming copper and steel line drags, and some downrigger rods getting torn off the releases!!  Tight lines everyone, and go catch those big, nasty salmon, so I can live vicariously through your stories on here!!  These Missouri river walleyes are boring the Hell out of me!! Thanks!!! 

Nice job Kooter crew, keep chewing on those Fritos!!LOL