South end 4-25

[ReelInvestment]

Hit port Henry launch Saturday morning at about 6. Arrived later than I wanted, but didn’t care I was just happy to be on the water. Did a loop in the bay and it was so full of boats it wasn’t even fun.(Made me kind of upset to see how many boats were fishing and how little people are reporting) Only saw one guy pull the net and decided it was time to find a spot with less, or no boat traffic. So we went exploring. We finally found a spot holding some fish, including nice quality Lakers, salmon and steelhead. Smallest laker we caught was 8 pounds and we caught 3 over 10. Broke two fish off early due to a bad leader which I finally smartened Up to after losing my second speedy shiner for the morning and re tied! Only landed one salmon and we lost a huge steelhead after it jumped 5 times. Bite was mostly spoons for us Saturday with only 1 pike caught on a stick bait. I tried 2 of my custom taped spoons I’ve been working on for a while and they outproduced everything else. We ended up 12-15 and killed one lamprey. We had multiple doubles and even one triple! With only two People in the boat It was hectic a few times!
I wish the docks would go in! While holding the boat to the wall at PH launch a gust of wind blew and I broke a rod holder right off of one of my downriggers. Called Scotty and got a replacement already, so we are back in business. Turkey season starts Friday so we will be busy with that for a week or so, but the ReelInvestment team will be back with force soon! Good luck to all fishing, stay safe, stay healthy and tight lines!
-Tom

630E2F68-9A62-4E52-90F6-ED8CB4ED0596.jpeg (206.28 KiB) Viewed 1952 times

1CD97735-7AE1-4F2E-BFA7-AE23177EC023.jpeg (157.08 KiB) Viewed 1952 times

DCD8C94F-432B-4DD7-9EB7-E805A7758621.jpeg (228.58 KiB) Viewed 1952 times

1E22B91A-CB3F-4BFD-AB80-0A9B301839E9.jpeg (105.25 KiB) Viewed 1952 times

A9A192E2-61D6-4B5F-9542-7A2E3CA7CCB6.jpeg (148.26 KiB) Viewed 1952 times

[Reelax]

Great report guys!!! Love that big ass grill!! I can just see some 18oz ribeyes on that baby.... just make sure and rinse well after wings... the grease can flare up, and open flames on a boat are really bad... we had an issue while fighting a sheepshead last year and it was wing grease from previous use for POC.

Nice Lakers!!!

[Gecha (Gerry)]

Thanks for your report Tom. Great pics.
Looks like fish cooperated and the food was good.
It is a bit sad many fishermen are not reporting on the forum, and very happy you did.

[ReelInvestment]

Thanks for the advise reelax! No need for open flame on the boat for sure, my only trouble with that grill is the breeze likes to snuff out our fire sometimes.
Sorry that the pictures are all sideways and upside down, anyone know the reason?

[Greenhorn]

Nice report and great pictures, thanks!! I would love to offer up a report, but I am one of the "foreigners" from NH and don't feel welcome in VT right now. I have been going to Winnipesaukee lately and catching a few salmon and Rainbows. I do miss Champlain and hope to get back up there soon. As you mentioned, there will be a slight interruption for turkey season. Best of luck to all of you both turkey hunting and fishing

[60Fishman]

Not sure what is up with the docks. Same story at Westport last weekend. I know they are in up at the north launches. I guess we do not rate down here. Luckily the water went in over my boots retrieving the boat and not launching.

[troutcrazy]

I'm glad you found the fish! Can you share any numbers on depth and temperature?

I got to the bay and realized that I'd forgotten my fishfinder battery at home! Dammit. Well, ok, I know the bay well enough to fish blind for a day. But I wish I'd gotten at least a temp reading.

I put my kayak in kinda late. When I got there I saw the crowd of boats you mentioned. I actually paused to replace my leaders before I put in, lol! Most of the boats were gone by the time I was done. I figured nobody was catching, and I was sure I'd start catching now that they'd left. But it didn't happen. Skunked.

Water looked slightly green and bloomy, and there was a green stripe on the rocks. Dammit. My eyes and nostrils even started to get irritated. So I quit after a couple hours and hiked to a pond.

I don't think there's a call to get upset at the lack of reports. Not everybody's on the forum, and usually people don't report if they dont' catch.

[tamiron]

Did a loop in the bay and it was so full of boats it wasn’t even fun.(Made me kind of upset to see how many boats were fishing and how little people are reporting) Only saw one guy pull the net and decided it was time to find a spot with less, or no boat traffic. So we went exploring. We finally found a spot holding some fish, including nice quality Lakers, salmon and steelhead.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING!

Apparently you have used your prior experiences to allow you to find your own fish and not have to go to the only place on the lake that has fish

[fishy1]

THANKS FOR THE REPORT AND AS YOU CAN SEE PORT HENRY HOLDS A TON OF FISH NOT JUST BULLWAGGA BAY NORTH OF PORT HENRY PRODUCES ALSO WITH PLENTY OF ROOM THE ONLY ADVANTAGE ALL THOSE BOATS HAVE IN BULLWAGGA IS SPOOKING THEM IN TO ME WHERE THEY CANT REACH TROLLING. CANT WAIT TO GET DOWN THERE.

[tamiron]

Fishy1 brings up a great concept that very few anglers add to their bag of tricks ... USING A LARGE GATHERING OF BOATS as a different type of structure! That's right structure!! Often as boats give up on the intense concentration in one spot, if you slip in on the inside as they leave and you may find some great fishing. The same is true on the outside of the armada. Once all the noise and commotion stops, the fish will turn on again. Remember if the predators move, but the forage stays, the predators will be back!! Matt must lick his chops, whenever he sees all those boats pushing the fish into shallower water.

Also, if you hear a lot of chatter about a "hot spot", increased boat traffic will drive the predators down, but not necessarily out . Now a really experienced angler would never purposely call other boats to a particular location to help temporarily slow things down ... or WOULD THEY?