The Grease Trap - Lake Ontario's finest
Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 5:51 pm
This past weekend was the shakedown cruise on Lake O. for RippleEffect, my Lund ProV. Despite the South Shore of the lake from Jordan Station to Niagara-on-the-Lake holding the right ingredients for early season salmon and trout (water warmth and color) I stayed somewhat local and targeted the early season Lake Trout closer to home. I picked up a ticket for the SCGFA spring derby so I was planning on doing some bounty hunting at the same time.
An unusual start to the season for me as I had 2 issues right at the launch!
First was after parking and returning to the boat that was now unusually low in the butt end, until I quickly realized what was happening when I saw the plug sitting in the splash well! I NEVER take the plug out of the boat, but I had it in for leaky rivet repair in the fall, and they didn't replace it after draining the boat from testing!
Then the sonar wouldn't turn on! turned out the + lead for the sonar wasn't connected
Anyway...on to the fishing. I was out solo, as I often do, and I knew roughly where to find the fish from prior experience, but I always like spending some time scouting on the way there. I didn't mark much until hitting about 70' of water where there were fish being marked suspended as well as on bottom. I kept it simple with 2 riggers and spoons and got lines set as quick as I could.
It wasn't long before the subdued roll and shake of a Laker fight was apparent on the rod that was scraping bottom, woohooo! first boat fish of the season
Just a little guy to start, maybe 2-3lbs
Then another...
Double header!...easy to deal with compared to Salmon
It was non-stop! I had no time to drink my coffee
love it when that happens! It makes up for all the skunked outings
To keep a steady flow of fish to the net, my routine was to net and keep the fish in the water, unhook it while in the net, and then reset the downrigger and spoon, then retrieve the net and fish into the boat for a quick picture before releasing them In a way, this is practice for tournament fishing, and just about ultimately being efficient on the water. Yes it's hectic, but lots of fun!
Eventually I noticed that the main battery level was getting quite low, so I called it a day. wife and I had plans that night to visit some friends, and I got into some tequila! and that pretty much ended the first-light trip plan the next day Eventually got out late morning after doing some maintenance on the battery terminals in case that was part of the problem...I decided to also troll with the main to see how the battery behaved...it wasn't holding a charge as I started working the riggers the voltage would start dropping. I am not sure if it's the battery or the main not charging at this point...so I have to get that sorted.
Sunday was much calmer and there were a handful of boats near where I fished Saturday, so rather than crowding them I went off in a different direction, found myself eventually over by 50 point! Also found some more Lakers, but in deeper water this time.
While I did catch some suspended Lakers, I would say 85% came on the deep rod and when I marked more than 1 on bottom I would drop the other rigger down deep too. You could target these fish with Dipsy Divers or Downriggers and it's quite easy fishing for these beasts of the deep. If you can't target the best early season Salmon spots, there's nothing wrong with hitting up your local 'Greasy spoon'
I hope everyone has a great 2015 fishing season,... and I hate to say it as a Leafs fan...but Go SENS Go!
Tony
An unusual start to the season for me as I had 2 issues right at the launch!
First was after parking and returning to the boat that was now unusually low in the butt end, until I quickly realized what was happening when I saw the plug sitting in the splash well! I NEVER take the plug out of the boat, but I had it in for leaky rivet repair in the fall, and they didn't replace it after draining the boat from testing!
Then the sonar wouldn't turn on! turned out the + lead for the sonar wasn't connected
Anyway...on to the fishing. I was out solo, as I often do, and I knew roughly where to find the fish from prior experience, but I always like spending some time scouting on the way there. I didn't mark much until hitting about 70' of water where there were fish being marked suspended as well as on bottom. I kept it simple with 2 riggers and spoons and got lines set as quick as I could.
It wasn't long before the subdued roll and shake of a Laker fight was apparent on the rod that was scraping bottom, woohooo! first boat fish of the season
Just a little guy to start, maybe 2-3lbs
Then another...
Double header!...easy to deal with compared to Salmon
It was non-stop! I had no time to drink my coffee
love it when that happens! It makes up for all the skunked outings To keep a steady flow of fish to the net, my routine was to net and keep the fish in the water, unhook it while in the net, and then reset the downrigger and spoon, then retrieve the net and fish into the boat for a quick picture before releasing them
In a way, this is practice for tournament fishing, and just about ultimately being efficient on the water. Yes it's hectic, but lots of fun! Eventually I noticed that the main battery level was getting quite low, so I called it a day. wife and I had plans that night to visit some friends, and I got into some tequila! and that pretty much ended the first-light trip plan the next day
Eventually got out late morning after doing some maintenance on the battery terminals in case that was part of the problem...I decided to also troll with the main to see how the battery behaved...it wasn't holding a charge as I started working the riggers the voltage would start dropping. I am not sure if it's the battery or the main not charging at this point...so I have to get that sorted.Sunday was much calmer and there were a handful of boats near where I fished Saturday, so rather than crowding them I went off in a different direction, found myself eventually over by 50 point! Also found some more Lakers, but in deeper water this time.
While I did catch some suspended Lakers, I would say 85% came on the deep rod and when I marked more than 1 on bottom I would drop the other rigger down deep too. You could target these fish with Dipsy Divers or Downriggers and it's quite easy fishing for these beasts of the deep. If you can't target the best early season Salmon spots, there's nothing wrong with hitting up your local 'Greasy spoon'
I hope everyone has a great 2015 fishing season,... and I hate to say it as a Leafs fan...but Go SENS Go!
Tony
