12/11 SSW wind sucks in Converse boat ramp

[Ludo]

Ready to fish ! I wait for my cousin Mathieu... Oh god, 5h15 in the morning... it's too cold

Arriving at the US Customs, the woman ask:

- Where do you go
A: Fishing in Lake Champlain

- What ? No way, Are you kidding me ? Where will you fish ?
A: In Converse Bay, it's a bay south of Burlington.

- Oh my god... Why ? It's 6h AM in the morning and outside it's 23F ?
A: Because it's my favorite lake and fishes are good !

- No no... You guys are nuts !

Yeah ! She was one of the best person I've met at US customs, quick, not too much question and funny.

Fished all the bays in this region and the ones closed to Vt side was productive. We have caught most of our fish on the lead core.

Saw/chat Thorny on the water with his big boat, he was able to see my little boat near of Thompson Point

We finished the day with this little beast

One of them (4) vomited his last Job X-mass party dinner:

And 1 salmon kept, there was 6-7 very small zebra lampreys ??? (Why am I always catching more lampreys than fishes ???)

And as a part of a lack of preparation, we have to quit the water quickly because of the big gusts coming from SSW, to exactly where we came from, Converse boat ramp... My fault, normally I choose my boat ramp with the wind forecast, but this time, I've forgotten. I really hate to put the boat with big wind in the bad direction.

Special thanks to Raz who gave me the right solution to fix the water pump of the motor who was not working.

And fishes were bleeded, I hope I will see the difference of the taste this week

[raz]

Hey Ludo...I'm always glad to help out. Good to hear you were able to get on the water and fish after your long ride south to Converse Bay.
Those probably aren't Lamprey. I think they look like little "fish cleaners" that are often found late fall and early spring on salmon. I remember they were the topic of discussions in the past but I don't remember what they are actually called.

Thanks for the report...hopefully I'll see you next time!

[dragnballs]

Ludo, that wind did suck! I was out with Thorny yesterday and it was worse when we came in after you guys. great to hear that you got into some and at least got a silver! thanks for the report

[raz]

And as a part of a lack of preparation, we have to quit the water quickly because of the big gusts coming from SSW, to exactly where we came from, Converse boat ramp... My fault, normally I choose my boat ramp with the wind forecast, but this time, I've forgotten. I really hate to put the boat with big wind in the bad direction.

And now you know why I went where I went!

[digitroll (ron)]

It was a cold wind here in Essex yesterday.

I chose to winterize the Digitroll Saturday. There was 149 hours on the Mercury 115 clock for the 2011 season which included 40 hrs. for Lake Ontario. Burned 102 gallons of fuel with lots of central main lake exploring this season as a goal. After 5.3 years with the 4 stroke 115 hp I have 667 hours total. Just startin to break in.

Thanks for the reports Ludo and Razzle and others over the weekend.

[Ludo]

And now you know why I went where I went!

This end of year, I was focusing on fishing instead of security (since I am cured of this stupid surgery). It would be bad if I was alone

I don't know if I will go to fish another time. I've already winterized the engine (Evinrude winterize by itself).

dragnballs : how did you finish your day ??

[digitroll (ron)]

Ludo, Just wanted to mention your reports have been fun and interesting. Especially the Go Pro camera on the rigger. That was very interesting.

Hope to see you at the Jan. 13 taping get together!

Ron

[dragnballs]

Ludo,we finixhed the day with 9salmon,5lakers and 3 ciscos. nothing big,but a fun day on Rob's Sea Hawk

[Cas]

And down 1 slide diver! But we did still catch the fish even though the line broke on the diver. Still not quite sure how we pulled that one off. However that particular fish was not worth sacrificing a slide diver for.

[Ludo]

Thanks Ron, I've made another movie clip today at 70feet of water, I was trying to see how bait fishes looked like. But it failed, we see nothing in the video because I was aiming the horizon, it's only a black video (Is it because of the baits???).

Next time, I will aim to the surface to be able to see the light (maybe my boat). There is a huge difference between 40-50feet and 70 feet.

dragnballs, you've found the salmon I tried to get rid of the lakers by pulling the boat at 3.2MPH, and later the largest lakers came in the boat. Not a matter of speed

[dragnballs]

so right Mike!!!!!

[Brian]

Ludo, thanks for this report and your effort here on the forum. If it was your last trip out for 2011...it was a decent way to retire for the winter.

[plantstone]

Always love a good border story

Thanks for loving to fish LC, it's a great place to be -- even @ 20degrees in the pitch black