justtracytrolling

Well to say the walleye fishing was slow would be an under statement! We trolled Friday to Sunday zero walleyes. We caught plenty of browns, tiger muskies, and bass though and had a great time.

justin

Im headed to Otisco within the hour. Tigerhunter if the alewives are still going at it on the west side in the evening there will be a surface or sub-surface bite as it gets dark on into the nite, and earlier they have been in the same water just further out. If I get into them today ill give you a heads up from my phone.

justin

This will be out first time fishing at night, could you guys send me a PM with any tips or advice if you don't mind.... Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hope to see you out there!

Thanks,

Trevor

I havent tried leadcore yet but will be adding 2 leadcore setups soon.  Seems like its another valuable technique to try and possibly use alot. 

justin

Went out and casted last night with a buddy till 3am not one walleye.  We werre on the bait big time.  Matt caught a 22.5" largemouth and a 37 " tiger which was a ball.  Couple other boats most everyone caught bass and 1 guy had a walleye. i'll try it again tonight.

justin

Beautiful fish!!

justin

That muskie was off big boards, but i was running riggers all day with no luck. Last year I hooked 3 muskies with same spoon, but got cut off everytime. So I decided spoons were out with out something better that 20 lb leader. With the water being so clear its hard to catch a fish right below/behind the boat.

justin

Mostly muskies

I really dont target muskies at Otisco much because I cant seem to catch one unless I fish for walleyes (trolling).  I am open to all trolling strategies, but the ONLY way ive been able to land one trolling is real slow real deep with large walleye sized lures not muskie sized.  I have boxes of muskie lures and never caught on them at Otisco.  I tried yesterday with a bunch of baits for hours from 2.2 to 3.5 then settled in  for walleye late and then I catch a decent tiger closer to the middle of the lake than shore on a basically stopped bait.  Go figure...whats your opinion on minimum leader for tigers and max for walleye...its a real prob at otisco for me as the walleye are line shy and the tigers love my walleye offerings.

justin

All fisherman should take a lesson...we all have tough days and good days...sharing info and fish is what its about.  Good luck and have a safe trip!

justin

If this doesn't make you want to get out there & fish Otisco...

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Ive caught 6 this season at Otisco 4 on Rapala TDD 11 in foil perch 180-250 of line...and 2 on Reef runners in green perch 250-300 of line all SLOW!  Under 2 gps speed

First of all I have heard people say big walleyes arent great tablefare, that is simply untrue.  These are stocked mostly non-reproducing fish that are perfect to harvest guilt free.  We have caught 30-40 big walleyes from otisco lake and everyone of them was delicious.  I dont use steel leaders.  I run 20 lb copolymer pline for leader and 30 lb braid for main line.  You have to change leaders after every muskie and check it after every walleye, and check split rings and hooks too.  There is actually a nite time casting bite at Otisco right now if you know where to go they are slurping alewives.  Over 30 fish I know of caught friday saturday sunday and monday nights just this past weekend. HAVE to retie after every fish casting light tackle

. Worms are fine on a harness, but its a stickbait bite now mostly

justin

Caught that fish in 65 fow 36 down trolling 1.2-1.4, and it was on the inside of a turn almost stalled. Im still catching 1 tiger per walleye trolling.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

I use otisco lake campground and marina, but both are open.  Ive been doing well 1.5-1.7 Gps speed.  I recommend real early or into the evening as the days with sunshine have been very slow except for the tigers.  Ill be there sunday and out by 5  give me a shout you cant miss me trolling in a pontoon with big boards and riggers.                                          

I have seen the same thing this season at Otisco with the fish suspended off shore and its been a slow pick. The people I have talked to that fished the shallower traditional spring spots have come up zero. If it was easy it would be bass fishing.

justin

Fishin Freak, I primarily troll the west side points, but caught 1 today in the south end in the middle. There a plenty of ways to troll Otisco and I think the walleye can be caught anywhere in the lake. I focus on the deep water fish suspended 25+ feet down in 40-60 feet. Its an easy lake to find schools of bait I just troll the breakline of the lake floor and look for schools of bait. I troll the bottom of the bait. After that its time and pressure, and lots of patience. If you let me know when your goin I can prob get you on em assuming I can get me on em!

justin

I prefer the large deep reef runners, deep taildancers and magnum wally divers.  In the summer I go away from the reef runners as you cant run them fast enough.  I run alot of lines as otisco is 3 per angler and use a variety until something works, and then zero in on a pattern theoretically.  If you can just catch 1....

justin

Im biased as Otisco is my home lake, but the lake has excellent tigers and walleye.  Was a slow bite all weekend but caught 4 nice walleyes up to 27.5" and 4 tigers to 38".  All caught 30' down in 50-60 all at 1.5 to 1.7 on perch deep cranks.  Sorry I missed everyone last weekend but Tracy had to work and I had nobody to fish with. 

justin and tracy

I run riggers and big boards.  I use sticks almost always, and if i use spoons or harnesses Ill pull em down with riggers or 3 way with the crankbaits.  I use snap weights and dipseys if needed but never tried leadcore.  I prefer the diving crankbaits to everything as they arent speed dependant and they are easy to control the depth precisely

Tracy and I got out friday evening after we made camp and were rewarded with our first Otisco eye of the year, a 27.5" beauty.  All in all it was a slow weekend we managed 10 bites.  We landed 4 walleye from 21-27.5, 4 tiger muskies from 28-38, lost 1 walleye and 1 huge brown when my split ring failed on a Taildancer 11.  Perch patterns down 28-35 over 50-65 fow got every bite.  There were 2 other boats using the same pattern and I know they picked up 5 more walleye with an avg around 24"  Otisco is always a slow pick for me, but for quality walleyes its a great choice.  For numbers its hard to beat the susquehanna or oneida, but I love going after the bigger walleyes.

justin and tracy[

We fished so hard Saturday for 1 fish that Sunday my son and I spent the whole middle of the day on some nice bass.  First time Ive fished for largemouths on Otisco and I was surprised how many nice 3+ lb fish, and the largest about 5lb.  Great weather and a great  start to the season.

justin

Tracy and I caught one ok tiger at Otisco, approximatey three feet.  We forgot to put the big net on the boat so I couldnt bring it up to measure and get good pics.  Tracy did get 2 pics if we can figure out to post them I will.  Caught it trolling the west side points...had 3 rods out for musky and 5 on walleye, tho we didnt get any eyes

Targetting spawning bass can be a blast, but I feel that the DEC might need to revisit this issue as Im positive that fishing pressure during spawning is definitely harder on the bass than catch release fishing other times of the year.  Im not against those who do it as long as its legal, as matter of fact my son and I fished a local pond tonight and caught several largemouths including a 6+ pounder, but I know it wasnt the best idea.  Hard not to give em try when its legal, fun, and easy!

justin

Is trolling allowed and in the rules there was something about measuring the fish in the water, and Im not sure  if we can measure photo and release without bringing the fish in.  I troll Otisco, its my home lake, mostly for eyes but tigers too, but I fish from a pontoon and even laying down its a reach to handle a musky in the water.  We try to fight the fish careful as possible, and net the fish in a large net.  Normally I dont measure the fish or take pics just work fast in get em back in.

justin n tracy

Ill get a picture posted to this...its nothing fancy...2005 21' tracker fishing barge 25hp bigfoot 4 stoke, cannon long electric riggers, big boards n 2 homemade masts,  minn kota terrova with i-pilot so i can use the trolling motor to steer with the remote when im working lines and landing fish when im alone or just 1 person with me plus the trolling motor allows me to fine tune speed. Hummingbird with side imaging transducer mounted in front so in can turn the trolling motor a little and "see whats in front of the boat with side image to follow tight walleye structure.  Need another in the back too...soon.  Only real downfall is it slow and tough in wind and waves to control, but I like to zigg zag anyway and we fish smaller water Otisco mostly. Tons of room we camp from it and fish adirondack lakes with up to 6 easily.  Did it all myself...first boat other than canoes for tripping on rivers and lakes.