Monster Buster Fishing

A very slow start to Lake Ontario fishing. Didn't put the boat in the water until the end on July.

Dennis and I didn't get started until 18:30. Worked west of the Welland Canal, starting at 160 feet moving inward. Hit the first fish in 100 feet at 42 on the rigger - nice Bow. The next fish hit at 20:10 - 23 lbs King. I need to get a fish clamp. Dennis had one heck of a time trying to hold this one.

Steve, Sean and I started fishing around 14:30. First hour was slow but then we found our first fish. Started off with a small Coho. In all, hit 7 landed 6. Worked west of Welland Canal in 80 - 130 feet of water. Despite the 50 degrees at 65 feet, most hits came off the higher riggers.

Had a bit of trouble getting both boys motivated. The early birds started fishing at 10:30. Worked the same area as Wednesday despite seeing most boats straight out from the Canal in deeper water. Started with the deepest rigger at 60 feet to top rigger at 42 feet. First fish came off the high rigger - a Laker - ??. Steve was not too impressed as this was a typical Laker - a log. Next fish was my very acrobatic Bow, clearing the water several times. I wish I had the video on for this one. Sean's Bow came in fairly quick and saved most of his fight for the cooler and Sean's hands.

After wrestling with it for a bit and then chasing it all over the boat floor, he managed to hold it long enough for the pic. In all we boated 5, lost 4 in the 3.5 hours of fishing. Not too happy about one of the lost fish as it hit quite hard. Maybe next time.

What a day!!!!! Four hours of fishing my biggest king 22lbs, Brent's biggest brown 21lbs ( weighed at Grmsby Tackle) and Brent scores a double header on one line, with one on the bottom spoon and one on the cheater. When they started hitting Brent couldn't set the lines fast enough. Here's three out of the 9 we caught. Check out the brown.......its spawned out already.

Rick

Brent, that is one nice Brown!!

Monday August 21, 2006

What a evening. It had to be one of the craziest runs yet. We started off deeper than Saturday as Rick and Brent hit some nice fish out deeper off of Grimsby. After driving around for about an hours with no lines moving, the first fish hit. We were trolling with the wind toward Niagara. Then it just started. The highlight was the 25+ lbs. double header that Rick and Steve were fighting, and then the other two rods went off on the Port side, one on the rigger and one Dipsy. As I had the net in hand, by the time I pulled on the other two lines, both fish were gone. After the double was in the box, Rick cranked the Dipsy in only to find the Dipsy and lure were gone. A small consolation for the fun we had trying land to the other two. Steve picked up the largest of the night with a 28 lbs. King. During one of the fish fights, Steve was trying to get the Dispy rod out of Rick's way but as he stretched around Rick, he realized that Rick was a little larger than he could reach. In all we travelled in and out of 80 to 200 feet, from the Canal to the US line. The end result was a wonderful night with 14 landed out of 17 releases in just under 4 hours. As we docked the sky was dark, needless to say, the boat is one dirty mess!

Well another great evening on Lake Ontario. Headed straight to the area from yesterday. The weather had changed slightly but we hit our first fish right off. It was Jay's first monster King. As you can see, Jay didn't really want to hold the fish. Either, he realized the smell still lingers the next day as he works beside Rick or, he wasn't sure if the fish wouldn't bite.

After the first one, we had to adjust slightly and located the bait and fish in shallower water but were able to pick a few up. We hit a few smaller salmon then Rick latched onto a King giving us the first 30 pounder for the year.

Jay got his chance to see if he could handle a second big King. He rose to the challenge a was 2 for 2. A couple smaller fish and we headed back to the GPS spot. Steve grabbed the rod on a line screamer. This fish kept going and ran up into the top rigger line. Although we did see a big splash, the fish won the battle and took a new Glow NK lure. In all, the evening was another for the record books with Rick's monster. Tonight's count was 9 for 12. Not as high a yesterday but more time was spent fighting the fish night.

Well getting tired. Working through the day and running down to St. Kits every night is starting to get tiring. Rick, Dennis, Steve and myself started off half way between Weller and Niagara in 80 fow at 16:40. The weather had changed, light winds from the east piling up warmer water. Worked toward the Bar with not a lot of success. Hit a pan size King. This was the second release. After an hour, the first king hit, I grabbed the rod and reeled to get in the slack. I didn't think it was large until it started to run. After about 20 minutes the 22 lbs King was in the box. Not quite as large as yesterday's fish but what a fighter with several runs right until the end. After a few minutes of reviving, it took right off with plenty of fight still left. For the next hour, a couple more pan sized kings. With the warmer water, I started to lower the riggers when the rod released. Dennis was the recipient of this rod and the next half hour was set. After about 15 minutes were started hearing the "It must be getting tired?" After a few times we realized that it was Dennis and the fish who was tired. Well he toughed it out and landed his 25 lbs. King. I think he'll remember this one for a while.

As usual, the fisherman waits for that last strike and over exceeds their welcome. Mother nature gave us the window but took it way away as we broke line at 20:15 as the winds kicked up and the rain came. Small price for the privilege of being out there. (Profound or what, eh!)

Footnote: the flies were gone today as Rick gave the boat a quick scrub yesterday as were docking.

What a change in water with two days on east winds. There were remains of the east winds with rollers despite having a south wind for most of the day. Although the surface temp was only 65 degrees in Weller compared to 73 on Wednesday, the warm water was piled up as we went down to 101 feet and only hit 60 degrees. The other interesting fact was the GPS speed read 1.0 and the probe read 2.4 at 90 feet heading west, almost as if the surface water was moving east after the east winds finished. Marked both fish and bait fish deep, sitting down at 150 feet. Anyway, we made a commitment to look for those big Kings still out there and with 3.5 hours of fishing, we had two small kings and lost one after 5 minutes of fighting. Hopefully the water will settle for the evening runs this week.

The winds were from the east for the last two days and continued piling the water up. Dennis, Rick, Jay and myself got a late start due to my forgetting the graph box. We dropped lines at 17:45 in 75 fow. Trolled out to 140' and back into 90' without anything on the screen. The surface was 67 deg. an at the ball the water was 62 deg., similar to Sunday. Dragged the lures around until 19:00. Broke lines and ran out to 200 fow. Dropped the riggers way down as far as 136'. At the 126' mark, we had 60 deg. As we moved west, the water temp dropped to 55 deg at the 126' mark. Needless to say, not a rod went off. At sunset, 20:00, broke lines and came in. We'll be on the hunt tomorrow again. Here's what we saw at 250 fow.

Well Rick, Dennis and I went down to St. Kits to see how the lake was. We did even get out of the truck. Getting too old for the pounding. As I was driving, I said let's go for a road trip. I wanted to check out the launch at Queenston but as Rick mention wings and beer, I got a new idea - Mr. B's, Niagara Fall, NY. We crossed over and our first stop was Gander Mountain. As we were walking around, Rick noticed a pic in their board. It was a guy over a huge moose. He said I know that moose and proceeded to tell us the story. Here is the pic we saw at Gander.

Rick is in white. Big sucker (not Rick the moose). When Rick sends me the larger versions, I'll post those. Then it was off to Mr. B's for wing and beer. The best wings I've ever had, ask either Dennis or Rick.

Well, September is here and the last few weeks of salmon fishing. Rick and I got an earlier start. The boys thought sleeping would be more enjoyable. We hit the water at 08:30 and put the line down just after 9. Water was still piled up from the east wind but the west winds were working which made the boat ride bumpy. We worked out into deeper water. Three boats were already out there. Worked a couple deeper and the other 2 higher. Half way through we switched to flashers and flies. Finally got a release off a purple fly at 45 down in 200 fow. The silver 13 lbs coho came in quick with a minimal fight until it was in the cooler. No pic - left the camera in the truck. Broke lines at 12:20 as we hit the US line. Next run should be closer as I'm sure the water will change and fish will be in.

Well, after a couple of more trips to the lake, mother nature was not playing nice. The winds and water temps were not co-operating. The east winds kept piling the water up. When the winds were out of the west, it was blowing quite hard. Maybe, one or two more weekends before the boat gets pulled from the marina. Hopefully, this won't be the last report.

Well, it was a slow start with the boat going in at the end of July and a shortened season due to some strong east winds at the end of August causing a few bouncy days at the close. We made a couple of runs up the Niagara and tested the waters. We never hit the typical in-shore September runs as the boys were tied up with football. Despite the lack of fish at the end, this year showed some nice fish and was worth the efforts. In all, reports from around the lake say it was a good year. NY state reports are telling us there are natural salmon coming out of their creeks. A very positive sign. Let's hope the MNR get on the band wagon.

I don't now if we are going to get up to Chouch for some fall fishing as Kathy and I are planning a beach run. Maybe, I'll get to post some Gulf of Mexico fish. Here's hoping. Regardless, the ice will be in before we know it and it's hard water time.