First Tank of 2021! Friday afternoon 1-4:30 pm. (Video)

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digitroll (ron)
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Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2011 12:58 pm

First Tank of 2021! Friday afternoon 1-4:30 pm. (Video)

Post by digitroll (ron) »

Hit the water and we set lines at 1 pm off Split Rock. Reggie called us on the radio and had just landed a 25" monster! It was 38F and calm and more like early Fall today with the sun beaming in today running the heater on low today for mid January. My guest was Mike Morin and 4:15 pm our turn came with a Master Angler "Tank" 24" and 6 1/2 lbs. Fished till dark at 5:00 pm and called it and joined Reggie at the ramp to load the boats in the dark. Fish hit a Crazy Ivan "Fat Buzzy" at 50 ft. First salmon of 2021! Released to swim away for someone else to enjoy. Love the 5 gallon Home Depot bucket of water to keep the fish alive before taking photos and video of the release.



You tube video 2 min. 22 seconds link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW_Pt0gtDhE

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Last edited by digitroll (ron) on Sat Jan 16, 2021 4:18 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Crazy Ivan
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Re: First Tank of 2021! Friday afternoon 1-4:30 pm. (Video)

Post by Crazy Ivan »

Fantastic Ron! Go deep or go home!
Todd
Todd
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Re: First Tank of 2021! Friday afternoon 1-4:30 pm. (Video)

Post by TruViking »

Yes Sir!!!!
Nice Fish!
My Son and I will be heading out tomorrow. I can only hope for a Silver like that for my Boy! Thanks for the Post. It's always a pleasure. :D
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Reelax
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Re: First Tank of 2021! Friday afternoon 1-4:30 pm. (Video)

Post by Reelax »

Awsome report and pic!!! Glad to hear the big boys are still out there... and the DIGI is still on the water....

I use my live well all winter Ron. As long as you drain it well before pulling out and leave all drains and plugs out while trailering it seems to winter fine without fails or freeze ups between trips.

Fish on!
Matt B
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finsntins
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Re: First Tank of 2021! Friday afternoon 1-4:30 pm. (Video)

Post by finsntins »

thats a beautiful fish ron,congrats!!!!
Miss B.Haven' sportfishing
Gecha (Gerry)
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Re: First Tank of 2021! Friday afternoon 1-4:30 pm. (Video)

Post by Gecha (Gerry) »

Congrats Ron and Mike for catching, and specially releasing that beautiful fish.
Gecha (Gerry North of the Border)
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ReelInvestment
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Re: First Tank of 2021! Friday afternoon 1-4:30 pm. (Video)

Post by ReelInvestment »

Good work Ron! That’s great fish. Lake looked perfect for catching a January monster like that!
digitroll (ron)
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Re: First Tank of 2021! Friday afternoon 1-4:30 pm. (Video)

Post by digitroll (ron) »

Thanks for all the Kudo's from everyone. Yes I am guilty in most years of throwing the towel in near Christmas with the cold weather and snow. This year it's been above average temps and low snowfall and this past week was just killing me to get out with a retired schedule. The combination of dry clean roads / no snow on the ramp / plowed access / Calm warm balmy weather in the mid to upper 30's was just too much of a temptation to pass up. Thanks to Reggie for taking care of the ramp! The motor hasn't been winterized and It came out of hibernation.

The Deep Program revisited this season from years past:

There has been some really nice fish taken in the last 6 weeks from 40-95 feet of cable out. And a few at 30 ft too. This has been very motivating too me since we have been fishing too high for October / November the last 2 years with poor results. Things changed from the best Frostbite season ever 3 years ago. Adapt and change is the motto! 4 rigger program with fixed and free sliders effectively puts 8 lures in the water with two guys. This has been a great strategy with 2 rods for solo trips with 4 lures and 2 riggers. The bait and deep marks are down there at 90 ft and 50-60 feet for the suspended big marks. Another thing is the Lakers are finally slowing down catching them by the bushel basket. Only landed 5-6 lakers the last two days. That is a wonderful thing! If I can get out some more times in the next 2 months I am keeping the 4 rigger deep program going. Maybe even into March early April the way it's going.

I rarely use my livewell Matt. Maybe too lazy to fill the dam thing and the time that takes. It's a big well! Since I release the fish it takes 10 seconds to fill a 5 gallon bucket 80% with water. Makes a great staging medium for keeping the fish alive to take pictures and to weigh with my Berkley fish bag I just purchased recently. A bucket fish is very easy to remove grabbing by the tail while the fish is head first in the bucket. Surprisingly the fish stay very calm in that position till I am ready to remove them.

I have just put an order in with Todd for the trusty Fat Buzzy to add more to my spread. That color deep is taking some nice fish for me and others!

Some motivation to fish deep and catch some of these elusive giants this Winter. :) Good Luck all!
digitroll (ron)
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Re: First Tank of 2021! Friday afternoon 1-4:30 pm. (Video)

Post by digitroll (ron) »

Footnote:

We took that nice Fish Friday off the Winger with optional snubber on the Starboard side rigger with a chrome 10 lb Shark weight at 50 ft running 4 riggers. It's my second time running them and very pleased with a guest in the boat. Surprise "Randy" got me hooked on trying a chrome shark weight 3 years ago in Fishville watching the fish come up to that weight from deep to examine and strike the lure behind it. Because I couldn't bend the tail on these to swing them out a bit on a 4 rigger spread thats where the Wingers play a big role! I did watch a large fish come up out of the deep to examine it earlier in the day. I was impressed! I didn't buy my first Shark weight until late Summer this year and then the Wingers in early December.

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Gecha (Gerry)
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Re: First Tank of 2021! Friday afternoon 1-4:30 pm. (Video)

Post by Gecha (Gerry) »

I like the idea of a chrome fish weight. From the deep it might look like a silver and attracts others.
Gecha (Gerry North of the Border)
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