Chuck Smth

For numbers on browns earlier the better, May can be a little late - all depends on the weather. But really, by May we're chasing kings and you can do exceptional numbers on them. You'll find browns  all the way into the shore  mud, kings will be out a little deeper in the green water. If you find blueback herring work that area and hang on! Doubles, triples and quads. 

Caught my first fish ever in that lake. The locals call it "Little Lake"

Seager's has never once disappointed me over the last 25 years. Can't say enough good things. 

Generally run them pretty high.  Maybe 10 down and no more than 50 back. A one or two color rods on the boards too if traffic allows. Dipseys maybe 25-35' on a 3 setting. Dipseys can be deadly this time of year. 

Headed out Saturday afternoon around 3pm, heard it was slow inside so we headed out to around 485'.  Good bait and steady action on a mixed bag of kings, coho, and steelhead. 

After the run back we decided to drop the J-Plugs in front of the river. Around 40' the bottom machine was showing lots of fish. Ten minutes later we were hooked up to major. Caught and released and then back to the doc. 

Good company, nice weather and cooperative fish - a good day. 

Chuck

Since my post I've boated several over 4# and some monster largemouth too. Not like Cayuga but if you put the time in you can score.  Boat traffic is the biggest issue now. 

Thanks for the feedback. 

The weather buoys are the best. They give wave height and have cameras on them

Greenhornet73, I have to differ with you on that one. It's the best I've ever seen it, and the fish are monsters. Look at the results from last weekend's Elite Series tournament.  NYS is now regarded as one of the top bass fishing states in the US. Between Cayuga, Oneida, and Ontario you can catch world-class fish on any given day.  Four pound fish don't even impress anymore. Has to be over six to get any attention.

We now return you to atlantic salmon. Ah yes, a controversial little fish that one.  I still say if they can get a summer run fishery in the creeks let's do it. The more fisherpeople we have the better it is for everyone. 

IMHO, YMMV

On 7/18/2022 at 7:11 PM, john1947 said:

I would like a smallmouth stocking program

$4$ smb is what we need

Average fisherman cant justify a salmon boat

If money is needed I'm here for it.

Clearly, you haven't priced a bass boat lately. 

Lake Ontario is already a world-class - and some would argue the world's best - smallmouth fishery.  I don't think they need to work on it.  

With the arrival of Gobys and blueback herring it just keeps getting better and better. 

We discovered just hitting them with the washdown removes them as quickly and cleanly as anything. You can shake most of them off slapping the water but the ones that get on knots and swivels, just hit them with washdown..

They were so bad last week we had them on the hooks. That was a first. 

What about the Seeforellen brown trout?  Anybody else been fishing as long as some if us and remember the predictions of 50# brown trout swimming around? What ever became of that one? 

33 minutes ago, Trouthunter said:

All you have to look to is the Lake Superior State College stocking of Atlantic Salmon in to the Great Lakes this program is doing great strong for thirty years something must be right here 

 Is that a put-and-take fishery or a self-sustaining one?

The thiamine issue is a legit concern. I'm starting to see more and more blueback herring in the lake and I'm not sure if that will make a difference, but it could if they manage to outcompete the alewives and take over as the dominant forage. I have no idea if the thiamine issue is also associated with the blueblacks. 

He he, I've caught one or two. 

Not sure I'm sold guys. Trolling for kings the fish is always in a 3mph current behind the boat that makes a fish seem to fight mor than it really does. I like to jig kings and on a drift they quit pretty easy too. Of course, that's my experience and everyone else's might not be the same.

What say we just pour a lot of salt in the lake and put in reef donkeys? Ain't nuthin' pulls like an AJ, lol.

Well, what Great Lakes salmon fishermen spend on fishing isn't even a pimple on an elephant's but compared to bass fishermen.  When you see a "Salmon Pro Shops" catalog let me know. Or compare how much inventory in most tackle shops is devoted to bass gear vs, salmon gear.

Bass fishing is fun and takes way more skill than most will appreciate.  Salmon fishermen seldom if ever share the same water with bass fisherman so live and let live. What's wrong with people having fun?

BTW, I do both kinds of fishing and I find bass fishing a lot harder to consistently produce bites. 

Chuck

19 hours ago, thork9 said:

Stripers don’t fight near as hard as a salmon ,get rid of LL and keep the KING

That hasn't been my experience, but I respect your opinion.

Chuck

The most concern for boat fisherman seems to be in this paragraph:

"Based on prey consumption every 2.4 Atlantic salmon stocked in Lake Ontario would require a reduction of one Chinook salmon. Increasing the total stocking cap is dependent on concurrent increases in the Lake Ontario preyfish population, and any increases to Atlantic salmon stocking would also be dependent on competing demands by other salmon and trout fisheries."

That said, given the entry barriers to new fishermen to start lake trolling this would be a nice addition for our stream brethren. In the long run, if more people have access to and enjoy great fishing, the more we all win.

Or - do what I'd like to see, stop with the salmonids and put stripers in the lake. THAT would be a fun fishery. Bigguns!

Crypto mining? last I heard that was done on large server farms. Did I miss something?

We did pretty good Saturday, saw a Whaler with a Yamaha assumed it was you. 

Really good action in the morning. We had two nice kings in the boat, yours truly dropped another.  Cohos and small kings kept us going until about 11AM. All in all a nice day fishing. 

We scored them 130' ish, about 35' down seemed to do the trick. Usual mixed bag of Dipsey, lead, stick baits and riggers all produced.

Edited to add: we saw no bait at all where we fished. I'm guessing they're still in the rivers or on the beach so fishing for browns is gonna be tough. 

Chuck

Anyone know if the smallmouth fishing has come back from the die-off? Used to pop some real nice ones there, up to 6#. Last time I was there a couple years ago it was not looking great. 

Thanks, 

Chuck

Or just buy a Ford.

28 minutes ago, GAMBLER said:

1)  bass are rarely kept on most lakes.  Most are catch and release.  
2) Their population in Hemlock is not hurting at all.

3) I'm pretty sure that bass is not 10".  If he had illegal fish, I don't think he would have posted a pic on the internet.

 I'll add, 

Many of the lakes around here are overpopulated with bass to the point that we see them being stunted. 

I'll bet most the people complaining about bass don't use deep water releases on trout and salmon they troll up to reduce the barotrauma on the fish when (if) they do release them.

Anybody who buys a fishing license can keep the fish if it's legal.  That's the law. Really, it's better to harvest a fish that's bleeding and won't survive anyway.

I personally choose to catch and release, but if somebody else chooses to legally harvest a fish that's their choice that they have the freedom to make. 

Seasons, creel limits and stockings are all predicated on knowing that some fish are harvested. Some really smart and informed professionals are in charge of fisheries management. Judging on how spectacular and world-class the fishing is in New York State is right now I'm inclined to say they're doing a pretty darned good job. 

My $.02,

Chuck

The Genesee can be really bad this time of year. Go really slow and stay out of the brown water on the lake. There can be trees, telephone poles, dumpsters, you name it floating just under the surface. 

And you know, the kings hit really good this time of year too. You might want to target them instead of browns. On a good day you can catch more kings than browns. 

Chuck