BreakingBass

Sorry to hear your day was fishless, but a slow cruise up the Genny this time of year is nice regardless.  I like that at some points you can't see many signs of civilization and it makes me wonder what that area was like before it was developed.  

I waited for the rain to stop this morning and squeezed a couple hours in before the predicted PM thunder/rain.  Stayed close to the bay in case I needed to make a run for it.  Saw many marks in the 75 fow range in front of Shipbuilders.  Managed 2 mature kings, both 65' down over 75', both on a DW silver alewife.  19 and 18 lbs.  They did not want to leave the bottom of the lake. 

This is it for me for the season due to some vacation time and the fact that my Furano sonar unit kept losing power and shutting off.  The unit is 10+ years old and I think the strain/curvature on the cables as they are plugged in may have caused some internal wire breakage or poor connection within one of the connectors.  Best of luck to you that keep chasing the chrome.

Nice going Eric, I'm sure those girls will treasure that trip for many years to come!  A great finish to the season.  I hope the nose heals quickly.

Nice job Pike!  It's good to see someone having some luck in that area.  I hope to get out once more this week before pulling the boat, but the forecast ain't looking too good. 

Sounds like you did fairly well for the reports we're seeing recently.

Hey Buster.  I was out of I-Bay this morning, trolled from 180-530 fow about 30 deg NE of the bay outlet.  I marked 2 fish in 266' and maybe another 4 from 380 to 500'.  I ran FF, a meat rig, and spoons.  Never had a hit.  Had 2 releases on the meat rig but suspect they were just the current.  I agree with the temp breaks you saw.  Disappointing morning.  I saw a couple boats out way deeper, I'm sure 600' plus.  Would be interested to hear how things were out there.

Buster, I think I saw you waaay out there Thursday morning.  I wasn't marking much in the 150-250 fow range, and the farthest I went was 340.  I did manage one 8 lb king 80/290 on a DW mag light green spoon.  As you said, on a north troll everything was fine.  The turn to the south was bumpy.  Can't imagine your ride back from 530'.  At least you had some decent action.

I fish out of I-Bay and I don't trust the NWS NOAA wave forecast anymore.  I check the Forest Lawn Beach webcam on WeatherBug to verify.  It's close enough to I-Bay to see what the lake is really like.  Of course 2' waves can look smaller from the perch the camera is on, so look at the video carefully.

Well done guys.  Love to see the biggies show up.

My brother and an old friend were up this weekend to get some Lake O fishing in.  After a very bumpy and unproductive PM trip on Friday, we gave it a shot this morning.  The S winds still raised some bumps out in the 200 row range.  Lost 2 on a mag bloody death spoon and a meat rig, but boated 2 on the meat.  The better range was 180-230 fow, 80 down.  We were just East of the bay.  Had a slight hiccup with a mag spoon hit tangling a FF line and wrapping around the prop, which was fun to undo with waves swamping the back of the boat. Had some good action and good weather despite the forecast, and sent my buddy home with some nice salmon steaks.

Java, I agree with your "yes" on browns and lakers.  I see a lot of people fishing for lakers.  I dock at Mayer's at the outlet to I-Bay so I cruise over on the water.  It's not a bad ride if the lake is relatively calm.  

You did well this morning.  I'm thinking of making a trip to the Braddock's area next weekend from I-Bay, if the lake conditions permits it.  Seems to be somewhat better luck over there.  

And sadly, not fish tacos. 

Like a good mariner I waited until the Special Marine Warning from NWS on possible water spouts expired to go out to fish.  This of course left me with about an hour of worthy fishing time.  Fished 120-170 fow and managed one decent King on a DW mag light green UV spoon, 60/135 on a northern troll.  It was 9.7 lbs and returned to the lake.  Had 2 knockoffs on the meat rig but no takers.  Temp was at 70' down and there was a strong current today midway between Shipbuilders and Webster Park.  Marked a fair number of fish so that was good to see.  Just not much action past noon.  Gentle 1' rollers every 30' or so, but the early morning waves disappeared.  I was attacked by at least 5 varieties of flies out there.  Good reason to cut the trip short.      

One trick I use to shorten picture time is using a GoPro camera.  It's set in ready to record mode and when I have a fish near the boat I hit the button so it starts to record.  I grab still shots from the video clip later at home.  I only keep 2-3 fish per season for myself, and find that leading them alongside the boat on the Bogo clip for a few minutes does the trick.  I get immense pleasure from seeing these fish revive, tug on the clip, and then dive deep back to where they came from.

Glad it calmed down in the PM.  It was bumpy out there in that area in the AM.

Java - thanks for the tip on Windfinder.  I have not used that before and it has a more refined wind speed than the NOAA-NWS Marine forecast I usually use (which has <10, 5-10 mph, etc. ratings).  Of course, a forecast is a guess, no matter who is giving it, but nice to have another tool.  I always look at the Forest Lawn Beach webcam via WeatherBug and I see that is linked on the Windfinder site for Webster. 

Hey Chinook, I too am a new meat rig user as of a month ago.  I also fish solo most of the time with 2 downriggers running a spin doctor/fly on one and a spin doctor/meat rig on the other.  I sometimes put a dipsey with a spoon out there too if the conditions are not too bad.  I find that the meat rig takes hits 2:1 over anything else I have out at the time.  All my meat rigs are A-Tom-Mik and have the UV glow on them.  I use Familiar Bite herring cut bait strips and they sure seem to last on the line.  Even after taking a fish they can be reused sometimes.  A long leader on the meat rig on a 8.5' rigger rod can be a problem when landing a fish alone, so I've shortened the leaders to about 48".  It helps me a little when trying to handle the net and rod at the same time.  I run the meat rig 18-20' back from the DR weight.  I think one of the challenges in fishing solo is that you have less "flash" in the water than a boat with 2 or 3 people.  I know you can load up with sliders, etc. but my goal is to not lose the fish I hook, and too much hardware to deal with when a fish is hooked is not good for me.  Good luck with the meat rigs this season.  I really enjoy fishing with them.    

Thanks guys.  It seems that 150-200 fow range has been decent lately N or NE of I-Bay.

My brother came up from Jamestown to squeeze some fishing in between forecasted rain this week.  Went out NE of I-Bay late afternoon on Sunday the 16th from 4:30 to 8 PM.  Nice water conditions and temp was at 80'.  Trolled 150 to 360 fow for a little over 3 hours covering about 11 miles and marked 4 fish the entire time.  Never moved a rod.  The smoke was moving back in and the lake looked eerie on the ride back to the bay.  Monday morning the 17th the lake was not ideal with 2' chop and some big rollers.  Temp was 75' down and we covered 180 to 260 fow, not wanting to get too far out because the ride back in wouldn't be fun.  Didn't hit anything until the troll back toward the bay around 10:30 when the area directly N of the bay outlet was productive.  Took 2 nice Kings 70'/143' and 80'/150', 9.6 and 15.4 lbs, on a meat rig and SD/fly.  We had 2 other knock-offs in the same area, making 4 round trips all together.  Marked many more fish in the morning than in the previous afternoon.  Maybe the storm on Sunday AM pushed them out deep.  Glad to see him be able to boat a couple and go home with some fish.     

Beautiful fish Tip-Sea!  I had a similar experience out of I-Bay yesterday, fishing solo.  Large king, diving deep then coming back up, around the boat then under the boat.  Managed to get it along side and when I reached for the net - POP! - it was gone.  I look down and the hook from the meat head is hanging on the downrigger ball.  You fared much better than me.

Took a short trip this morning just NE of I-Bay from 120 to 250 fow.  The waves were barely tolerable on the northern troll out and not tolerable on the return trip south, back to the bay.  Managed one small Atlantic 70' over 220' on a Dreamweaver magnum monkeypuke spoon.  Had knockoff around 200' on the same spoon.  Was surprised anything hit today, and the fish I did catch was hooked in the gill, most likely from the bouncing of the lure.  The 3' waves and westerly wind made a 4.5 lb fish feel like 15 lbs when reeling it in.  Happy when I got back to the dock. 

HB2, you get the hard core trophy for today!!

Fished from 170 to 300 fow, marked fish mainly in the 180 to 220 area.  Caught 2 kings 7 and 8 lbs and a small Steelhead that was about 5 lbs.  Kings were taken 65/190 and 55/220, and the Steelhead at 65/170.  Kings on FF and the Steelie on a light green/gold mag UV spoon. Temp was at 75' in the 180 range and 65' at the 300' range.  

Thanks for the reports guys.