FLXTrolling

Thanks Gene! Hey wouldn't Genny in theory be brewed from Hemlock Lake water? Haha - it has apparently "stunted" my growth - mentally at least.

Not that "I" wouldn't mind having the fish on my wall - it's just that my wife has impeccable taste and really wouldn't allow a fish to be mixed into her decor!

I wasn't going to harvest the fish - so - what else is there to do but release it?

Les - it's always good to get your take. Devo and Dan, thanks as well!

The "state record" thing was really more just me thinking aloud after actually learning of the length of the record - which was after I had released the fish - haha, bad idea apparently -

I more or less figured that including my "thoughts" at the time was good for the overall narrative of the story.

I never meant for it to spin off into something where I was claiming a record - lesson learned.

Just be glad Figura almost wrote a whole article without any grammatical errors.

Nice fish, nice release!

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Thanks! I just got off the phone with a respected member on the board. Together we put the weight around 13.5. The fish has a massive head, but for some reason it's "frame" seems a little light. 36" is the length - the only reason I ever pondered its chance at the state record is because it's length is greater than the State record - and I'm not a Walleye guy.

I just don't want to be Mis-represented as someone making false claims or who even cares about holding a State Record - I should have just said - "hey look, here's an awesome fish!" And left it at that I guess.

Lesson learned!

Haha, so they posted a story on this in the Syracuse Post Standard... 

The writer decided to take an interesting approach to spark debate - For the record I never claimed this be a State record - I stated it had the length and should it have been carrying eggs it could have contended... The top photo is also highly compressed - I look like a squatty dwarf or something!

These Syracuse guys also don't know Hemlock... 

Anyway, let me know what you think!

Matt B

http://www.syracuse.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2015/08/was_monster_walleye_caught_and_released_on_hemlock_lake_a_state_record.html#incart_river

Man what a fish. A30" eye is generally considered a wall hanger and you beat it by a half foot! Congrats on a fish of a lifetime.

Thanks John, Kevin & Justin!

I'm still trying to process the whole thing ...  There are a lot of comments on here like "Beautiful Fish" which "she" was -  I guess...  haha, I know what they mean, but she was more or less just HUGE, and looked like a mutant, alligator Walleye or something..

I'm more of Trout guy myself - for looks and appeal, but that fish was certainly awesome.  I may see if I can get a fiberglass replica made at some point.... though I'd have to fudge the girth  as I didn't exactly get it.  My heart was pounding and I was with a buddy who never gets out, and wasn't thinking clearly enough to get every measurement possible. I had him measure the length while I was holding her, then I sent her back.  As I was holding her tail, she thumped away strong, but then kind of taunted me making a slow descent back to the depths.  It was really cool.  I keep having dreams about watching her swim off - it was nearly as exciting as netting her.

To be honest, I really didn't know how big of a fish I truly had until after I started doing some research.

I've fished Erie my whole life with my Father and Grandfather, who are (and were, RIP) both in Buffalo - and have never caught anything remotely close...  My personal best Walleye prior to this was 28" - Of course I was targeting Walleye then...

FLX, If I remember correctly that brown was 34" and 21lbs-4oz...she was all belly!

I know exactly what your talking about... I like how the DEC is focusing upon the rainbows ...my goal had always been a 12 lb bow from there. I bet very few walleye and browns of that size exist now in there....but hey you never know what going to hit next!

Man, that is an awesome fish..  Hemlock is amazing in that I can run a Lake Ontario trolling program from a 14' Wooden drift boat (I know, I know not exactly), and butt heads with some Lake Ontario caliber fish to boot.

I know there are some giant Bows out there as I have seen some absolute brutes while hiking along the trib...  I just hope those fish are protected & respected...

Great fish! Congratulations! That is one special lake!!

Chuck

Thanks Chuck! To be completely honest, I might trade my Hemlock monster for the Hemlock monster in your profile pic...  Did you get measurements on that Brown?  Good Lord...

I've encountered quite a few Rainbows out there this year but have never caught a Brown.  I know the stocking program was given to Canadice, but there must still be some hog Browns roaming around down there.  What the latest on reproduction?  Is it almost non-existent?

I know there is a TON of bait out there, I wouldn't mind seeing a return of some sort of Brown stocking...  or Walleye.  There is probably some room for it...

Then again the size of the fish might start to decline, so for me its a toss up...

Hemlock is more or less my sanctuary, and the chance for one of its trophies is more what it's about for me than numbers...

Thanks fbg!  I am as happy as can be with my decision to release the fish - pictures are good enough.  It may or may not have been a record, but even if it was I don't believe there is any kind of monetary reward that goes along with it! 

As long I have you guys here to toot my horn I'm all good, haha..

They don't reproduce in there.

I wasn't implying they did, I was simply saying that record fish, especially Walleye will benefit from carrying around a baby bump...  This fish was an absolute pig though, but without a scale its weight remains an unsolved mystery...  someone on here will have to catch it again for themselves!

Zack, did you call it a "she" for a specific reason?  is there a way to tell?  The pictures turned out a little disappointing in detail - the fish had a slightly "humped" back like you might see on a spawning male Brown...  you can kind of see it if you look close on the first picture.

Yes good to have some of different sizes. The 71's are good when fish are feeding on larger sawbellies or smelt (rare now) but sometimes they mainly want smaller spoons especially the silvers. I've had good luck with the  Great Lakes #44's and the #35's especially on the Fingers but they all seem to work well and are well made.

Do you know how to contact the owner Jason?  He is on this board isn't he?  One can never have too many shiny new spoons in the gear bag!  Plus I'd like to purge a bunch of gear and shift to a local arsenal.  The Upstate economy needs as much of an infusion as it can get...

Spoon size is funny...  My wife is from Skaneateles and on that lake, it's smaller the better for sure...  on Hemlock it tends to be the opposite for me - bigger the better, especially in July and August..

 Cortland has discontinued the Flea Flicker Line anyhow...  so...

You have more strength than I do.  I would have packed up my gear, taken the fish straight to Avon.  Got it measured and recorded and called my taxi to get his knife ready.

 

Congratulations on the catch (and release) - I love Hemlock.  I wish the south launch was a little deeper pitch.  My cab is almost under water.

I hear on the South end launch..  the water is about 2" below my driver side door when I open it...  not fun in April!

Ha, and thanks -  I'm not sure if it was strength that led me to release the fish, it was a couple of things.

-I didn't have a scale

-I was very unaware of the state record

-I hardly ever keep fish, and space is limited so I didn't bring a cooler

-Lastly, I was just kind of stunned - I pulled it out of the net, my buddy took a few photo's and my gut just said to put it back.  It's actually a super rewarding feeling watching fish like that swim away as you re-gather your thoughts on the whole experience.

If I had a scale, and was aware of the NYS record, it may have been a different story - but to Zack's point earlier, typically those fish of record weights are full off eggs, so who knows.

Great report and great fish and despite the fact that it may have been a record fish I think you did the right thing releasing it to keep the gene pool going That is what true sportsmanship is all about

Thanks for the kind words!  I was kind of in such awe of the fish, the only thing I felt I could do was watch him swim off...

Zack - unfortunetely work is temporarily in the way of me reading the report, haha...  but I'll try to take a few "breaks" throughout the day!

Beauty fish, if she was carrying eggs she would have been a contender for the state record. It's a shame the DEC pulled the clubs permit to stock eyes

Right, she  was girthy, but didn't have that sagging gut you usually see in record fish...  I wish I had a scale, I have no idea the weight.  How long ago was the last stocking of 'eyes in Hemlock?  I assume this fish was that old..

Hemlock is absolutely gorgeous and I've been fortunate to have a pretty good Rainbow program dialed in over there this summer.  The scenery, combined with my luck out there made it the perfect spot to bring my buddy who was in visiting from NYC.

We were running Big Tuff "Jet Style" Divers in the 40 size behind planer boards, back 85 & 95 - Slide Divers on 50# braid, setting 2, back 100 & 125, and 2 downrigger rods parked at 27' & 37' respectively...  We ran a wide array of Finger Lakes Tackle Spoons in both Standard & Magnum sizes.  We caught 2 smaller size Rainbows, both on the 95' Diver behind the board - on a standard size FLT spoon in the "Dirty Goose Pounding" pattern.

Around 9:30 am - over 80' of water - the board pulling the 85' diver goes under.  The rod starts bending like crazy, but the fish wasn't taking any drag and there was no splash of silver behind the board.  After I managed to get the board off, we could see the fish was really bull dogging us downward.  I immediately thought we had a decent to large sized Laker on the line.  As the fish got closer to the boat I looked down in the water and saw a flash of yellow.  What the H#!!?  Carp?  The biggest Bass in history?  Walleye was not even on my radar - the next time I saw the fish it dawned on me that there is a mythical population of Walleyes in Hemlock, stocked by some Rod & Club many years ago, and that was what we had on the line!

When I netted the fish, I was shaking - I pulled it in and was in disbelief.  I was terribly unprepared for measuring and weighing such a fish.  I do keep a small measuring tape on board, and we zapped him at approx. 36", give or take a .25"  I released the fish promptly, and he swam away pretty strong -  I was somewhat conflicted on this, because I know the 'eyes in Hemlock are not part of any DEC program, and I definitely could have put him on my wall, but in the end my gut told me to release him.

My buddy doesn't fish often, so I told him that what we had just caught is pretty uncommon.  I told him to do a google image search on "Walleye" to see for himself.  While surfing the web on his phone, he notifies me that NYS record is 34" and 16.9 pounds...  I possibly had it in my hands and released it...  Oh well, somebody with a scale will have to catch him another day!

The Walleye hit a Magnum size, Finger Lakes Tackle spoon in the NBK Bright Green UV pattern -

In the first photo, you can really get a feel for the girth and size of it's head, and in the second photo you get feel for it's length - I also to took a few screen shots of some impressive bait out there!

PS - For what's it worth, I caught this fish on Saturday, which was actually 8/1 - guess I was trying to slow down the summer!

Does anyone use inlines for pulling copper?

I use the Church Walleye boards for shorter coppers....  My rig is only big enough for the finger lakes though and I'm only targeting the top 50'....  but 200' of copper is not a problem when I slide the adjustable keel weight forward... 

Decking out small boats for trolling is a blast.  I used to have a canoe that I ran 4 lines off of, and picked up a 14' wooden drift boat this winter for $500....  Of course I put 5 times that $$ into gearing it up....it's powered by 2 Minn Kota's dropped in on each side of the driver seat...  It's killer on Canadice & Hemlock.

 We run a pretty neat 6 rod spread, with copper and lead off boards, divers off the middle set of rods, and 2 riggers off the back...  I have some cool pics of the set-up I just can't figure out how to post...  I think my files are too big.  New to the site!  How do you shrink images into attachments?  Thanks for helping me out...

Anyway, my post count has jumped up but I dont see my post....  If it comes thru 4 times I apologize!

We've caught nice fish this year on Hemlock...  Lakers have been very active.  Caught a few small bows...  Trying to post pics but I think the file is too big...  how do I shrink into an attachment?

Those are great size fish....

I havent been out enough lately, but lakers have definitely been active on Hemlock - nothing giant, but nice fish...  Caught a real small Bow last time out.

Those are great size fish....

I havent been out enough lately, but lakers have definitely been active on Hemlock - nothing giant, but nice fish...  Caught a real small Bow last time out..

Those are great size fish....

I havent been out enough lately, but lakers have definitely been active on Hemlock - nothing giant, but nice fish...  Caught a real small Bow last time out..

Those are great size fish.... I havent been out enough lately, but lakers have definitely been active on Hemlock...  Caught a real small Bow last time out..

How big is that Rainbow?  It looks like something the Ontario guys would be proud of!  Gotta love Hemlock...  It makes you work, but the fish tend to be as beautiful as the surroundings...

That's a beautiful Rainbow.  Interesting to see a Brown that size in Hemlock.  DEC hasn't stocked Browns in there in at least 4-5 years I want to say (I might be wrong).  When I catch them in there it's typically random, but they are usually very large.