Fishing Report 5-5-2012

[ishoot308]

Hit the water with my brother in law at 6:00 A.M. We didn't land our first fish until 8:30. I guessed we should of slept late and had breakfast instead! Anyway after determining what depth and color they would hit, we boated 4 quick salmon, three shorties and one about 19" in about an hour.

Headed back to camp and had a great breakfast that my wonderful wife cooked up. Ran a few errands and headed back out in the afternoon. We caught four lakers largest one was 20", 1 rainbow at 17" and a good size bass. All fish were returned to the lake unharmed.

Fish were very color and lure picky yesterday and copper was definitely the color of the day for us. All salmon and the rainbow were caught off the planers and all lakers were caught off the downriggers which I thought was interesting.

I hope you all had a chance to get out on the water as it was a great day for fishing, boating, whatever, as the sun was shining and water was as calm as I have ever seen it.

Dan

[Scott's Yott]

Hit alton bay this am and got a big SKUNK

[Rattlesnake Guy]

Welcome to the forum Scott.

Wish you better luck next time.

[ishoot308]

Went out this afternoon with my wife for a couple hours from 2:00 - 4:00 P.M. Caught 3 salmon and one laker all in the 17" - 19" range. Hitting the same color and lure as yesterday 15' down.

Absolutely beautiful out there today!

Dan

[Jonas Pilot]

The days always look better when you're catching fish!

[Broken Glass]

We went out Saturday afternoon and tried everything from 15' - 25', long lines and down riggers. We got skunked. It was a beautiful afternoon in the boat with my wife along so the day was still a win.
Sunday AM. Had a nice fish on the lead at four colors and lost it at the boat. Another small Salmon on the lead, then that was it for us. Later in the afternoon I got a 21" Salmon at 33' in Meredith! What gives with the depth range anyway?

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Broken Glass

We went out Saturday afternoon and tried everything from 15' - 25', long lines and down riggers. We got skunked. It was a beautiful afternoon in the boat with my wife along so the day was still a win.
Sunday AM. Had a nice fish on the lead at four colors and lost it at the boat. Another small Salmon on the lead, then that was it for us. Later in the afternoon I got a 21" Salmon at 33' in Meredith! What gives with the depth range anyway?

I'm not so sure it's the depth range as it was color and lure. I can't tell you how many lure color combo's we tried Saturday before we got something to finally work. I think you can always find one or two deeper or shallower than the majority. We were reading a lot of fish in the 15' - 20' range that just were not biting. Even my old standby lure which is an orange and black dot DB smelt didn't even get a hit Saturday or Sunday (I was stubborn and kept it on one pole both days! ). Probably would of been better off trolling live bait (smelt) real slow but it's such a P.I.A. to get them and keep them alive I rarely bother doing it anymore.

I also did not try any flies this weekend and probably should have. Chris Chapman of Chappy's Guide tied some beautiful custom heron flies for me that I have been meaning to try out, see below. These are a modified wood duck heron fly with black and orange marabou tail. The orange was my idea since orange seems to be a big color on the lake. Hopefully I'll get to try them this weekend.

Anyway, the time spent on the water fishing is always enjoyable whether they are biting or not, especially when the sun is shining and the lake is calm like this past weekend!!

Tight lines!

Dan

[Broken Glass]

Thanks Dan,
I would say that my catch this year has been two to one on the fly. I always use a spoon on one side, and a fly on the other. I have never fished with live bait. Maybe I will try a little more variety with colors as it seems by reading most reports that is the biggest variable in catch or no catch. I really hate to change the lure as I have a terrible time seeing the line to tie. Your right though, it was a beautiful weekend to be out on the water regardless of the bite!!

[MAXUM]

Was out on Sunday, didn't start fishing till around little past noon time, but had stuff to do in the AM. Copper was definitely the color, what was interesting is I'm always using topguns and prefer anything with orange. Nothing hit it, all the fish were caught on copper with a purple/white combo gun. Landed two very nice and big salmon. One at 20" the other big and fat one at 23". Water temp was reporting between 48 and 51 degrees by the transducer, trolling about 3.5 colors of lead core with a 6 lb fluorocarbon leader.

Great day on Sunday, could not have been nicer! Love this time of year.

[MAXUM]

Oh a few other observations from Sunday, as the day progressed the wind died down and the skies cleared nicely. I did notice that the fish that I did see on the finder were suspended about 30 feet in the water column right on the edges of any underwater structure, IE significant depth changes. Flat water and a high sun angle probably drove them a little deeper than you'd normally expect this time of year. Trolling perpendicular to versus along the edges of seemed to be the trigger. Both were caught as I was passing over back into the deeper water versus on the other side as I was approaching. I like to fish areas were I'm seeing a variation of 40+ feet the harder the variation the better, and nothing shallower than about 25'.

I agree with you Dan I'm a HUGE fan of orange and I have a box half full of silver guns that are bright orange with back dots as they have always been never fail for me. Sunday they were having none of that but like you I was being stubborn with one pole not changing that out. I should have swapped over to my second favorite, the ladybug, copper with a shading of red w/ black dots on one side.

[ishoot308]

Great observations Maxum! Thanks for posting!

I agree with you on finding hard changing bottom structure, the harder the better. Then figuring out which side to fish on, across or approach it from. That's all part of the science and what makes it fun at least for me. Are you using the Navionics maps?? That what I use and absolutely love it!!

Hope your enjoying your new place on lake!!

Dan

[MAXUM]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

Great observations Maxum! Thanks for posting!

I agree with you on finding hard changing bottom structure, the harder the better. Then figuring out which side to fish on, across or approach it from. That's all part of the science and what makes it fun at least for me. Are you using the Navionics maps?? That what I use and absolutely love it!!

Hope your enjoying your new place on lake!!

Dan

I wish I could claim I have a bunch of high tech fishing gear in the boat, but all I got is a good quality fish finder and have studied various parts of the lake by chart to plot out areas that look interesting over the years. I have found a few spots that are regular producers as far as seeing fish on the finder. The rest as you know luck, what to use, how to approach and even what speed to troll at. I'm not outfitted with downriggers or planer boards just a couple rod holders and lead core.

Not enjoying the new place just yet... still in the acquisition phase, but crossing my fingers in a few weeks I'll be moving in. Can't wait! Once I get all settled in I hope to get out and fish a whole lot more than I have in the past.