Main lake 6/7

[OUTCAST]

Started out at valcour. 4 rod salmon setup, 2 riggers, 2 dipsy. 50 degree water 47 down. Trolled south to Port Kent ferry. Riggers set at 52 and 40. Dipsy 150 and 135 on a 3 setting. Temp only fluctuated a couple of tenths of a degree. Didn't mark any bait in the strike zones only bait marked was down deep over 100' +. Caught a few Lakers but no salmon. Trolled from 70 fow out to 150 fow. Not sure where the salmon and bait are. I'm assuming down south still.

[Reelax]

"Not sure where the salmon and bait are."


In comerant's bellies

[keithm87]

I went out solo from Shelburne in the afternoon yesterday, and landed 7 decent lakers in the bay, had 6 more releases in 4.5 hrs. Didnt mark much bait, but the cormorants were out in force and I was marking more fish than I have ever. Could not get most to hit, and they were all just in the mud line from all the runoff. As the mud line moved so went the fish. But to the salmon point, in the last 3 weeks out we have landed over 100 lakers in 8-9 trips, and not a single salmon, mainly targeting lakers mind you but last year we would catch at least one salmon a trip for the most part, fishing the same area, and that was before we had any idea what we were doing.

[OUTCAST]

Your probably right although hard to imagine a bird could wipe them out that much

[Whitey]

5 hours one release lots of commerants!

[BottomDollar]

Several trips for me on the broad lake so far this year. Plenty of healthy lake trout, 0 salmon. I haven't ventured south of Saxton point, though. I'm far from a great angler, but I usually catch a few along the way in years past. And I don't remember many shakers last summer.

Would it be possible to put a poll or survey up here on the forum to see who's catching what? Maybe going back to last summer?

Can any of the biologists who might read the forum chime in on what they think is going on with salmon numbers?

So far this is all anecdotal, but it's not painting a hopeful picture.

[C-Hawk]

I caught one salmon in Keelers back in April, since then nada. Not a release in the Broad Lake when fishing for salmon, in about 8 trips of 3 hours or more. Cold water may have a lot to do with it but I have not only fished but scouted, from Colchester Reef to the ferry. I don't even see any bait worth fishing near. I do see plenty of cormorants everywhere I go.

[keithm87]

I have in some trips marked huge amounts of bait, usually it has been deep 75+ feet, but good size clouds, I don't think its a bait issue as I pick off lakers in those clouds with ease, but the salmon are not there.

[Wdrnr]

Thought it was just me ..... thinking I had just lost it. since late last summer the salmon have been slim to less. What fish we picked were good sized but zip on the 15-20 inches . Not normal! Yesterday we went to Converse, fished the normal track across the island to Thompsons across the abyss to Split rock to Whalens into,and back out , down to snake den, across to Swifts and back across the bay back to Converse. NADA in terms of silvers. if we didn't run not a pod of big lakers we would have been skunked. Not the norm by far for this part of the lake. Today fished from Savage Isle in the inland sea north to the northern head of grand isle ,,, again zippo. Not a single fish other that perch. Sounds like the norm this late spring ..... I,don't get it

ps a trip to Shelburne bay past weekend yielded just one salmon at 3 lbs . Not much in the way of bait that day . Not the case elsewhere most areas showed plenty of feed available

[digitroll (ron)]

27 trips on Champlain since January in the books. Only a handful of those trips produced some nice salmon. The last 3 trips in the last week yielded no salmon in 3 different areas that normally produce. My sample size for trips average 4 hrs from 9 am to 1 pm missing the better first 2 hrs after sunrise. Cold weather has made it challenging with the lake turning over last week after persistant winds Monday - Thursday. Top to bottom same temps. Very challenging. The next two weeks will tell the tale with warmer weather concentrating the salmon 25-40 ft down before and after LCI time.

[digitroll (ron)]

27 trips on Champlain since January in the books. Only a handful of those trips produced some nice salmon. The last 3 trips in the last week yielded no salmon in 3 different areas that normally produce. My sample size for trips average 4 hrs from 9 am to 1 pm missing the better first 2-4 hrs after sunrise. Cold weather has made it challenging with the lake turning over last week after persistant winds Monday - Thursday. Top to bottom same temps. Very challenging. The next two weeks will tell the tale with warmer weather concentrating the salmon 25-40 ft down before and after LCI time.

[OUTCAST]

As of 2 hours before close of the rotary I do know not a single salmon was weighed in at headquarters in Plattsburgh. So something is off. They aren't in up here in great numbers this time of year but some are generally up here.

[fishy1]

27 trips on Champlain since January in the books. Only a handful of those trips produced some nice salmon. The last 3 trips in the last week yielded no salmon in 3 different areas that normally produce. My sample size for trips average 4 hrs from 9 am to 1 pm missing the better first 2-4 hrs after sunrise. Cold weather has made it challenging with the lake turning over last week after persistant winds Monday - Thursday. Top to bottom same temps. Very challenging. The next two weeks will tell the tale with warmer weather concentrating the salmon 25-40 ft down before and after LCI time.

ron how is compared to previous years? lots of weather changing this year so far so it could have a effect on salmon along with the cormorants

[fishy1]

during the rotary we landed salmon and mostly where there was no bait balls and cormorants. we did catch 4 or 5 stockers around 8 or 9 inches. we found huge schools of alewifes by following the cormorants. i didnt fish much on shore this spring for salmon but when i did it produced. the salmon we landed in the rotary were caught in the 15 to 25 foot down in 34 to 47 fow. landed the bigger lakers there also.

[Adkhare]

Not sure of your definition of "down" but bulwagga was crappy this spring and has snowballed from there. Usually we do extremely well in the spring at ice out and this year the fish just are not there and excuses are the same , fish are in the opposite end of the lake your fishing or the water is too cold. I'm not accepting either excuse. However I most certainly agree with the endless flocks of s@%t birds eating smaller salmon and other fish. How about VT and NY get their head out of their a-@&$s and fix it. They do lamprey control how about some cormorant control. LCI will tell the tale with a comparison of previous years and total salmon weighted in.