SusanJames

I keep it fun by keeping it simple. Granted it's out of necessity and the limitations of my boat and equipment but I truly enjoy the challenge of pursuing browns, steelies, spring kings and this year, an abundance of cohos. I have been a stream and river guy since I caught the fly fishing bug on a Montana trip in 1975. I caught the trolling bug when a good buddy gave me a 1954 Larson-Crestliner 15' aluminum that had been in his wife's family at their cottage in Canada since it was brand new. It had been sitting in his backyard for several years. I spent the better part of 18 months restoring it and setting it up for trolling and/or jigging on the Finger Lakes and near shore Lake Ontario. I fish almost exclusively solo so my typical "spread" is one planer board on each side and a Chute rod out the back or two planers on one side if I want to run two boards on the beach side to put both baits in the shallows. I built a removable board that I can mount my manual rigger to and have two slide diver set-ups if I need to get a little deeper. 8hp Johnson gets me where I need to go and a 55lb MinnKota with I-Pilot does the steering. A Lowrance Hook7 is my only electronics. My expectations would be abysmal for many guys but If I am able to get out for a 3 or 4 hour trip and am fortunate enough to hook up and/or land a few fish I consider that a win! Hell, I consider just getting out a win. I do sometimes find I enjoy the equipping, rigging, engineering the boat, rods and gear as much fun as the fishin.........on second thought....Naaaah, it aint!

Just curious what you guys think about the use of scent? Specifically for spring browns and salmon. I've very unscientifically experiment by running the same baits on both sides of the boat...one side with scent, the other without. All other variables being as identical as possible. In my limited testing I haven't seen a difference with or without. Interested in your experience.

Thanks for the report Gambler. I found similar on Wednesday outta Hughes. Still plenty of browns around though I did need to slide out to 18' FOW to find them. Frequent enough takes to keep me busy. I poked around in 35 -40" for a while but found nothing. Last pass of the day I had the boat in 18'. Inside board was probably running in 12' over the point just outside of Hughes. Shallow diving Smithwick.....took a nice 5lb coho. Everything else was 2-3lb browns with one 16" steelie.

The requirement to have at least two people on the boat prohibits me from entering as I fish almost exclusively solo in my little 15' aluminum. I realize the odds of ever placing are slim to none for me but I would enter just the same. Obviously the science behind the bigger fish being where they are and the limits of my equipment mean my odds are low but there is always that one in a million chance...worse case scenario, I might stumble into a big brown and I'm having a blast fishing anyways so what more could I ask for.

15 FOW has been on fire. I've been running shallow stickbaits, 75-100" back on 15lb mono..probably running 5-7" deep on average.

Maybe a King that broke you off? They've started to show up in the mix. Great to see the kids involved!

I have run the DT10 in that same pattern as well as a brown one with white belly that I think might be called crayfish. Not this early in the year but as soon as we move out to 12 -15' FOW.

Game on!!! Thanks for the update!

That aggressive hookset pic....Booyah!!!!!

If he already has the feel of holding, setting the hook on bites and retrieving a spinning reel it will be an easy transition to casting. I second the 5' ugly stick combo.

As a young teenager I would take my racoon, fox, muskrat and an occasional mink pelts to an auction house in Alton, NY and walk away with a few hundred $$ in my pocket! Big money for young country kid. If I had ever stopped to calculate what all the prepping traps, setting, checking daily, skinning, stretching and selling yielded as an hourly return, I probably would've been better off staying in bed. Not to mention more than one mid-winter dunking when checking muskrat lines.

I'm just asking...I did a lot of trapping back in the late 70's/early 80's and we would regularly get $80-$90 for red fox, $45 - $50 for greys....few if any coyotes back then. The market went to hell thanks to the PETA crowd. Is there still value in pelts or is it merely for sport/predator control?