Converse 6/20 report and advise needed

[Caiman (Shawn)]

Launched out of Converse around 7:00 AM (got a late start) Dropped my Fishhawk down to try and find the preferred temp the salmon like (from what I've read) and it showed it to be at 75' down so that's where I started. Trolled for hours with nothing except tons of bait on the screen. I turned on my new VHF radio I just got and tuned it to 68. I started hearing the locals talk of catching fish around the 40' mark so I raised my spoons up. By now it was mid day and the boat traffic was less so I made a big swing back into Converse, rod fired and as soon as my dad got to it a huge salmon exploded into the air. It was prob in the 6lb range (big for a rookie !) SNAP goes the 10lb leader and my heart sank. Trolled for another hour and then headed in for a bathroom break. We headed back out to try for some lakers off of the point next to the ferry landing. "You have to drag your balls if you want to catch lakers" is what I've been told. I tried around the 80' mark and after hanging up several times in about 30 minutes the frustration set in and I headed back across the abyss and made a swing into the bay with the salmon rods again. I was down 44' using needlefish in bikini color I believe when the rod fired. A small steelie rocketed into the air and then raced across and got tangled in my other line. The other line snapped. I played it for another 30 seconds and POP it got off too!! Trolled for another hour and decided to call it a day . better luck next time. Guy's please feel free to evaluate my day and let me know what I may have been doing wrong with both species...I have a lot to learn and your advise is greatly appreciated. Are there certain areas of the lake that are just bad spots to try and drag bottom? I enjoyed listening to you guy's talking to each other on the radio. It's like you're a big family out there. Good stuff !

[digitroll (ron)]

In short.... Your off to a great start. It's trial and error for anyone who has learned the ropes salmon / trout fishing with the fundamentals.

I use 12 lb test Maxima and a 12 lb. 8 ft Fluro leader tied with a ball bearing swivel and a tiny snap on the business end.

Temp. is a starting point. Yes.... but each day is different and you need to try and sample the water column to find the active fish with different presentations ie. slide divers / riggers / cheaters / mini-discs this time of year. Locate the bait and you have a starting point. Don't leave fish to find fish and so on. Let the fish tell you what they want for the day your out fishing. The best lures and the best presentations won't catch fish if you haven't found fish. It's like hunting you need to find the bait and fish first. The fish doctor out in Lake Ontario sometimes spends an hour or more just to locate bait out in the abyss on plane when the bite is tough at times.

One of the quickest ways to learn the ropes is hire a captain like Rob "Thorny" and soak it up.

Some food for thought. Volumes have been typed on this subject on our forum. It took us years to learn what is now learned in one season with social media and opportunities to fish with other folks.

Again, your off to a good start.

[Caiman (Shawn)]

Thanks Ron,
A great boat AND fishing advise....can't beat it.

[Caiman (Shawn)]

I double checked. I thought I had 10 lb line on but it's actually 8 lb. Guess I'll be changing that. For some reason I had it in my mind salmon are super line shy and you can't run anything above 8lb test. Lesson learned !

[digitroll (ron)]

Ask Todd and Instigator who boat more big salmon than most on the lake...... 12 lb test.

Don't forget channel 68 can be your best source of information and drill it down quickly.

Side note:

There is a reason I have fished tournaments on Lake Ontario for 32 years whenever we plan a trip. Your friends and channel 68 can be your best ally. That is a big piece of water and to locate fish can take days for most folks that don't fish there regularly. There is a lot of information during derbies on the big pond and it has helped our cause greatly since 1981.

[Black Ghost (Ken)]

Depending on my spread and the wind, I've kicked the rpm
all the way down when I hook up with a big one.

[4cs]

Salmon are not all that line shy, there are guys who catch salmon using heavier line but as Ron said 12lb test is what you want. Ken also gave some good advice, back off on the throttle when you have a bigger fish on. On windy days back off but not so much that you loose boat control.

As far as the lakers I don't drag my balls thru the mud, what I like to do is lower my ball till it hits bottom then come up a couple of feet, I prefer to have the balls just bumping the bottom, like a bump every couple of seconds. You have to pay attention to what type of bottom you're fishing in. If it's a hard rock bottom you can tell very easily by the way the ball bounces it will hit very hard and you best bet is to keep it just off the bottom. On a sandy bottom you ball will not hit as hard and you can bounce it with no problem. Keep in mind that you have to constantly adjust you riggers when bouncing bottom as the contour changes. Also you have to slow down when fishing lakers, depending on what lures you are using you speed should be between 1.4mph and 2mph. Oh by the way I take my probe off when bouncing bottom.

Pat

[Captain Paul]

The area you tried to bounce bottom in is a tough area for a beginner there are several rock piles there that are big and nasty if you don't no where they are you will lose a lot of hardware you need to find a nice soft bottom to get started and as you learn step up to the rougher places . There is a run just south of Thompsons point that is not to bad and up along the 80 to 90 foot mark from Hill point to Shelburne beach is a soft bottom and let you're rigger bounce the bottom not drag and take you're probe off

[squaretail]

Most of the time I have had a line break it was due to the drag being set too tight on the reel.
It's also a lesson I also have to learn every season. Big fish will pull out lots of line before they give it up.

[Caiman (Shawn)]

Great advise guy's. Thank you. The fishhawk probe I have is only the one that you lower down and then bring back up and it shows the temp in 5' increments. The other probe is on my wish list !! I have been using vertical flashers in silver/blue for the lakers with my release about 3' above the ball and my spoons about 10' back. Does this sound okay to you guy's? do you prefer lake trolls or the vertical flashers?
Thanks
Shawn.

[4cs]

Great advise guy's. Thank you. The fishhawk probe I have is only the one that you lower down and then bring back up and it shows the temp in 5' increments. The other probe is on my wish list !! I have been using vertical flashers in silver/blue for the lakers with my release about 3' above the ball and my spoons about 10' back. Does this sound okay to you guy's? do you prefer lake trolls or the vertical flashers?
Thanks
Shawn.

Shawn

Sounds about right we run the lure anywhere from 5' to 10' behind the verticles. The nice thing about verticles is that when you have a fish on you're just fighting the fish not the fish and blades as with the horizontals but some days one setup works better then others. On the horizontal blades we run a 24" to 36" leader from the blades to the lure and attach the the blades tight to the ball. Play around with both verticles and horizontal blades and see what you prefer or what the fish prefer.

Pat

[MORNIN HOOKER(Marek)]

Try Magnathin from stren 12lbs. Use 4-5 ft leader with smallest swivel to connect to main line. Change leaders often. Good luck.

[raz]

Salmon are not all that line shy, there are guys who catch salmon using heavier line...

Pat

Most of my set ups have #12 floro leader, however I am experimenting with one new set up this year, I have a leader of 20 pound test running behind a .....(fill in the blank), and it is taking fish. Both Salmon and Lakers.

[fishhuntadventure]

Ya, Raz. I have been using heavier for several years because the occasional big fish were breaking off- especially lakers- with 10#. I went to 12# and still lost a few lures. Changed to 15# fluorocarbon and I have only broken off on fish a few times in the last couple years. Losing a big salmon stinks but losing a fish AND a successful lure really stinks!

Granted, I may not be the best fisherman on the lake, but I feel I do fairly well; in my opinion 15# fluorocarbon hasn't lowered my catch rate. I run 30 feet of 20# mono as a shock leader behind a couple of setups- two with braid and another on one of the leadcore rods- but still run 4- 7 feet of 15# fluoro on a tiny kavajecz-type swivel as a leader with digitrol's tiny clip. The clip is a nice aid - I think it helps spoon action and obviously makes changing out lures easier/quicker.

The clip has only cost me once- and that was about three weeks back with timcarpe; I had a walleye on a fixed cheater. At first I thought the bottom lure had snagged the bottom, but as I backed up to try to retrieve things I realized that there was something big on the cheater- it wasn't the bottom after all. Now sure it was a fish, I started getting excited when suddenly the line went slack. After reeling up I had a fully opened and straightened clip. I think those tiny clips 'used to say' 12# on the package. I would have to say my knot on the 15# was good, but the clips are apparently slightly weaker than a 'trilene' knot on seaguar fluorocarbon.

Hope this gives food for thought to the OP. It sure sounds like your are doing a lot right on the salmon game. It's not that you aren't hooking up- you were just unable to net your quarry. You'll get it - keep on keeping on!

[jam1e24]

If you don't want to bounce bottom you could always use storm thunderstricks they will dive about 10' so u can keep ur ball about 7-10 feet of bottom and your lure will still muster up the bottom every once in a while!! We use this technique a lot when we fish lakers and have had some great luck!! I would rather lose a 5$ stick bait then a ball and possibly a rigger!! We have had plenty of 20+ laker days using this technique!! Just my two cents!!! Good luck!!