Lake Ontario Salmon Fishing…, in the Depths!

This Lake Ontario salmon hit one of my favorite deep water spoons, the NK28 Spook.

If you fish the east end of Lake Ontario where prevailing westerly summer winds push cold water deep, you know all about fishing the depths for trout and salmon. 

Fishing deep water has been a way of life out of Oswego lately, with temps in 200 feet of water, 60 degrees at 100′ , 50 degrees at 160′, and 43 degrees at well over 200 feet, give or take 20 to 50 feet depending on which day we’re talking about in the last seven days or so.  Throw in an increase in the number of water fleas we’re seeing lately, plus some serious subsurface currents, and this deep water  fishing can be tough. 

Nobody wants to fish a standard size Dipsy on the #1 setting with 400 feet of wire to just barely get to temp 120 feet down.  Riggers take that much  longer to set and retrieve, if they’re down  over 200′, and major snarls using multiple riggers are common.  With copper, better get out your 500′ and 600′ sections, and keep some spare spools on the boat because tangles with Dipsys are not uncommon. 

These challenging conditions discourage lots of anglers, but there are some simple way to cope with them and enjoy some great fishing.

My approach is to go back to basics and keep it as simple as possible.   Here are a few things that help keep me in fish when they’re deep, the fleas are nasty, and the currents severe;

1. Use only two riggers, and use at least a 12 lb. rigger weight that is tunable to make the weights swim away from each other slightly, avoiding tangles.

2.  Use a good speed/temp probe to monitor temp and maintain optimum trolling speed.

3. Use stout releases like the Capt. Jax to handle the extra pull on the line caused by the added resistance caused by all the line in the water, plus fleas.

4.  Use mag Dipsys with 7′ roller rods.  These Dipsys will get you down to 120 feet or more with as little as 250 feet of wire, depending on currents.

5.  Fish copper off boards, 400, 500, and 600′ sections.  Even though the 400-footer will only get you down about 90 feet deep, kings and steelhead will come up out of temp to chase bait and attack a lure.  Also, on sharp turns, a 400′ section will drop as deep as 120 feet or deeper.  When you’re fishing copper off the boards, don’t be afraid to fish a zig zag trolling pattern.

6.  You’re not going to be able to speed troll at 200′ because of swayback, so fish lures and flashers that work well at speeds of 2.1 to 2.5 mph.  Spoons like the NK in the size 28 and mag or Stingers in the Stingray or Mag are excellent.  You can’t fish a better 8″ flasher in the depths than the ProChip.   

7.  The deeper I fish, the more effective I find whole bait and Sushi Flies.

8.  Perhaps most important…, remember that the further west you fish and the  further you fish from shore, the higher the cold water.  If you can find fish there, you won’t have to fish deep!!!

Don’t let deep water trolling discourage you.   Keep it simple, use the right gear,  use your head, and you’ll catch fish.

Lake Ontario Salmon Fishing…, for Atlantics!!!

Biologists estimate this 23 1/2" Atlantic boated on 4/30/10 is 2-3 years old.

In a recent Atlantic salmon blog,  I said I would be back with more info when and if I received further details on any management changes that might have resulted in the recent increase in the number of Atlantic salmon we’ve been catching in Lake Ontario this spring.  Those very interesting details are now available.

A little background…, In 1983, the NYSDEC stocked 45,000 landlocked salmon in three different L.O. tributaries and these fish, along with others stoced the next few years produced some surprisingly good salmon fishing , with some fish in the double digit weights.  Unfortunately, this fishery declined, despite additional stockings in following years of a variety of different strains and sizes of landlocked and Atlantics. 

After 2001, despite various landlocked and Atlantic salmon stockings by New York State and the Province of Ontario, the catch of landlocks dropped off to close to zero, and on my charter boat we saw an average of about one per season, , sometimes sublegal, sometimes larger than the 25” size limit, the largest 13.5 lbs.

 I had heard that not much had changed with the landlocked salmon or what biologists are calling Atlantic salmon management program in New York State, but major changes had been made by the Province of Ontario.  When I received the information I asked for about Ontario’s salmon management program, it became very clear why we’re seeing more Atlantics.  Canada’s stocking increased from  199,062 fry and fall fingerlings in 2005 to 836,898 fry, fall fingerling, yearling, and even 698 adult  salmon in 2009, all so-called “LaHave/Harwood” strain Atlantics, a major change in the program. In contrast, the NYSDEC stocked 74,000 Atlantics in 2009.

Although New York and Ontario biologists don’t yet know if the increased number of landlocks is a result of Ontario’s intensified management program, that certainly(emphasis) appears to be the case. 

My guess is also that we may be seeing the beginning of a spectacular Lake Ontario fishery for Atlantic salmon, and, hopefully,  the successful restoration of this once native species in Lake Ontario.  Historic written accounts tell about native landlocked Atlantic salmon in Lake Ontario up to 47 lbs.  Adult fish in the fall were so abundant in tributary streams that spawning salmon in gravelly river fords spooked horses pulling wagons.  Spawning Atlantics were even speared onto wagons for use as food, and even fertilizer for gardens. 

If it happens, hats off to Ontario’s fishery biologists and their historic accomplishment.

Lake Ontario Brown Trout Fishing Tips

Brown trout fishing on Lake Ontario has changed drastically since zebra mussels were introduced back in the mid90’s and water clarity changed from visibility of 2-5 feet in past years to up to 36 feet today. 

Anglers have learned to cope with these conditions by fishing in low light when browns are most active in clear water, searching out colored water in the sun, using light line/leaders and rods/reels to match, and fine tuning lure selection and presentation.

Since I first fished Lake Ontario for browns in 1978, I’ve watched and brown trout  behavior closely and recorded everything I’ve seen, looking for consistent patterns that help put browns in the boat on every trip.   One year, I had the opportunity to see my customers boat 1004 browns from early April to Sept. 4, 524 of them boated by May 27.  With this much experience you would think catching spring browns would be simple, except that conditions vary from day to day.  Light  conditions, water color, surface conditions, currents, weather swings, wind direction changes, and water temperature fluctuations create complexities that only Mr. Brown Trout understands. 

Early spring fishing in the clear shallows is probably the most challenging of all brown trout fishing.  Morning after morning in April, May, and early June I leave Oswego Harbor and put planer boards, riggers, and other gear in the water searching for browns.   Here’s something I’ve learned about spring brown trout that might help you.

 Once alewives move inshore, this year a mother lode of yearling alewives, browns are very surface oriented.  At dawn, you cannot fish too close to the surface.  The shallower a stickbait or spoon runs, the more effective it is early.  This is especially true if it is flat and glassy.  Avoid deep running stickbaits.  Tune stickbaits like Rapalas, so they run shallow.  Don’t put any weight on planer board lines at dawn.  I run flutterspoons, especially the Flutterdevle with no weight at all.   Riggers are run as close to the surface as possible, sometimes with the releases right out of the water!  I also catch browns early on flat lines…, that’s right, flat lines, right off the back of the boat, especially in flat water. 

As the light intensity increases, add some weight to planer board lines, switch to deeper diving stickbaits, and drop riggers deeper. 

Silver/blue and silver/black are my favorite early AM colors.

Check out this selection of favorite Fish Doctor Flutterdevles.

Lake Ontario Fishing Report…, Major 2009 Alewife Year Class

Wow!!!  Great news about Lake Ontario’s alewife forage base…, lots of 3-4 inch alewives from the 2009 hatch.  Perfect chow for 2-year old browns, spring cohos, and young lakers, kings, and steelhead. 

We’ve seen brown trout stomachs stuffed with them in 10 fow, young lakers on bottom in 190 fow bulging with them, and cohos, steelhead, and kings in the top 30 fow over 200+ fow chowing down on them.  This strong 2009 year class could carry the Lake Ontario fishery for several years, even if subsequent year classes, i.e., 2010, aren’t as strong.  Nothing saying they won’t be, though, conditions for alewife spawning/hatching this year are good.

This brown was stuffed with yearling alewives hatched in 2009.

Lake Ontario Atlantic Salmon Fishing…, A New Era?

Leeanne with one of 8 sublegal landlocked salmon boated aboard the "Fish Doctor" this season.

It was back in 1983 when the NYSDEC stocked 45,000 surplus landlocked salmon(LLS) smolts from the Adirondack Hatchery in northern New York into three different tributaries of Lake Ontario(L.O.).  In a lake 200 miles long and 50 miles wide, surprisingly, anglers started catchingLLS and quite a few of them.  In just a few years, I saw LLS up to 13.5 lbs.  come aboard my charter boat, and heard of LLS up to 16.5 lbs. caught, but the fishery soon fizzled, despite expanded stocking by the NYSDEC.

Interestingly, a variety of different LLS and Atlantics, some from the Tunison lab in Cortland, were stocked over the next few years.  Once in a while a decent landlock(call them Atlantics, if you like) would be caught.  I saw one LLS  in about 2001 that weighed 22.5 lbs.  A NY record  was set by a L.O. fish weighing 24.5 lbs.

The potential of L. O. to produce trophy LLS was obvious, but it wasn’t happening.  Survival of stocked fish was poor.  No serious research was being conducted, at least by NYS, to determine the problem and find a solution.  The basically insignifigant LLS  fishery continued for years with DEC’s lake wide creel census summary for a number of seasons showing a LLS catch/harvest of “O”.

Then, after averaging about one LLS per year caught aboard my charter boat, in 2008 that changed.  In April that year there were lots of reports of LLS around 18″ being caught.  During the 2008 season, my charters boated 8 fish that by midsummer had grown to 21″.   But few larger LLS were reported.  Then in the spring of 2009, more reports of LLS…, a number of verified reports of fish in the 10 lb. class, plus numberous reports of smaller fish from 20-21 inches.  By May 1st, this season, my charters had boated 8 sublegal salmon, as many as we caught during the entire 2008 season, and probably more than we caught in the five years together prior to ‘o8.

When I inquired about this, I heard that the Province of Ontario had changed their landlocked salmon stocking and management program with a rumor that stockings of spring fingerlings in tributaries might be doing the trick.  As I collect more info, I’ll report on it here.

Whatever the reason for the drastic increase in LLS we’ve been catching, one thing is very obvious.  There is potential for producing a major LLS salmon fishery in L.O.  We’ve seen that it is possible to successfully stock LLS in L.O.  We’ve also seen that the growth rate of L.O. LLS may be some of the best on the planet.

Sooo…, if it is Ontario, Canada that is producing the LLS we’re seeing, if their success continues, if they expand their program, and if NYS follows suit successfully, we may be looking at one of the finest if not the finest future trophy LLS fisheries on the planet. 

Very, very exciting!

2009 Lake Ontario Salmon Fishing - Lessons Learned, 10/10/09

An 11" ProChip and Familiar Bite whole bait were this king salmon's undoing

You’re never too old to learn, and even though I’ve fished Lake Ontario for trout and salmon since 1977, and operated a charter fishing business on this great fishing lake since 1982, my learning curve peaked in ‘09.  Part of the reason…, I force myself to not get in a rut, and to stay as far out as I can on the edge of the developement of new Great Lakes trolling techniques and the refinement of old ones.

One thing I learned in ‘09…, 11″ flashers like Pro-Troll’s ProChips and HotChips trailed by flies and Familiar Bite whole bait are deadly for  king and coho salmon.  Luhr Jensen’s magnum dipsy divers are an essential part of my 11″ flasher program.  These magnum divers will take big flashers way downnnnn to depths.  For example, on the #3 setting a mag dipsy on 225′ of wire will fish down 90′, depending on trolling speed, current/trolling direction, etc.

The same flasher on a standard size LJ Dipsy will fish down maybe 60 t0 70 feet.

One of the bonuses for those fishing mag dipsys along with copper…, the sharp downward angle of your wire on the Dipsy rod is far less likely to tangle with copper coming in and out…, HUGE!

Lake Ontario Fishing Charters, Safety, Fun, Then Fish

Carol Angel on an August 1, 2009, Lake Ontario salmon fishing charter.

When it comes to Lake Ontario fishing charters for trout and salmon aboard the Fish Doctor with Captain Ernie, there are three primary priorities…, safety, fun, and, then, fish.

As the Fish Doctor departed the dock at 5:00 AM on the morning of August 1, 2009, with repeat customers Bill and Carol Angel and their kids, Will and Jen, those priorities were exactly what we were discussing.   First I was stressing safety, especially that the boat, with it’s twin V-8s was very seaworthy with countless hours spent below deck on preventive maintenance, plus a midseason out-of-water hull check, routine marine surveys, etc.    The nautical rule of thumb, is for every hour you spend fishing/boating on the water, you spend a half hour off the water or at the dock on maintenance of boat and gear.  Electrical storms and high winds with rough seas would be the only conditions that would keep us off the water, and those conditions hadn’t been forecast for 8/1/09.  Safety aboard Great Lakes charter boats is not automatic, and there are many horror stories involving poorly maintained, poor condition, and uninsured vessels getting into trouble and endangering customers.

Fun, the captain’s second priority, would not be a problem with the Angel’s.  I knew from past experience that they would have a good time no matter what.    They enjoyed just being out of the water and “getting out of Dodge”.  They were already having a great time before we ever left the dock.

Then, there’s the third priority…, fish.  What it boils down to is that catching Great Lakes trout and salmon is actually automatic for an experienced, successful captain.  That’s not to say that trout and salmon are actively feeding 24-7 or that a captain always can locate large concentrations of fish in every situation in 200-mile long Lake Ontario, but given halfway decent conditions, a veteran captain is going to put at least a few fish in the boat for his customers on almost every trip. 

Knock on wood, but so far in the 2009 season, after about 85 trips, the Fish Doctor has not returned to the dock with

a skunk in the box!

Lake Ontario Fishing Charters for Families

Family salmon fishing charters on Lake Ontario can be a blast!

On the afternoon of July 25 and morning of July 26,  2009, three generations of Morfords fished aboard the Fish Doctor for trout and salmon…, ages from 5 years old to 65 years old.  Everyone had a great time because they prepared properly for the trip.

First, the Mom, who has fished aboard the Fish Doctor  with her Dad, Rick, from way back as a child and knows her children better than anyone else, recognized that they were ready for their first charter trip.  It’s not a question of age, but behavior and maturity.  Secondly, she and her Dad knew how to prepare the children for the trip, making sure they had been fitted with proper PFDs and had taken Dramamine well before the trip. Despite a slight chop, none of the children got queasy.

Second, our charter boat,  the Fish Doctor is seaworthy and comfortable, with a walk-in head and enough bunk space top side so children and even an adult can take a nap, if they get sleepy.  With the Mom and marine-sargeant grandpa Rick maintaining order and discipline to make sure everyone was safe and well behaved, all the kids had a great time and caught some nice fish including a monster sheepshead and chinooks up to 18 lbs.

Preparing for Lake Ontario Salmon Fishing Charters

Lake Ontario salmon fishing aboard the Fish Doctor in choppy seas on July 27, 2009, was no problem for Justin

Salmon fishing charters on Lake Ontario can be  safe and  lots of fun for families, if everyone involves prepares properly for their trip. 

Remember that for the safety of your child, children 12-years old and younger are required to wear a Type II PFD(personal floation device) at all times while onboard our charter fishing vessel, the Fish Doctor.   Although your Captain carries the USCG required number of youth size Type I PFDs aboard the Fish Doctor, they are very uncomfortable for children to wear over extended periods of time.  There are also two youth size Type I PFDs onboard, but to assure the proper fitting Type II PFDs for the children in your fishing party, parents/adults should bring proper fitting PFDs with them on charter fishing trips.

Sea sickness is a serious issue that ruins many charter fishing trips on the Great Lakes.  Kids especially tend to get sea sick, but so can adults.  To avoid ruining your trip because of a a queasy stomach,  follow these simple rules;

1. Be sure that everyone takes Dramamine before your charter trip, as directed on the packaging label.  Taking dramine after you get on the boat is too late.

2. An alternative, if you tend toward motion sickness, is a medicated patch prescribed by your doctor and applied as directed, well before departure on your trip.

2.  Get a decent night’s sleep before your charter trip

3. Most folks pay dearly for excessive partying the night before your trip

4. Avoid heavy,  greasy meals at supper and breakfast before your trip

Proper preparation helps assure a fun fishing trip, with no problems.

Lake Ontario Salmon Fishing Report - July 15, 2009

Lake Ontario salmon fishing is super right now. This salmon hit a "Goldie Hawn" spoon on 7/1509

If you’re thinking about a Lake Ontario charter fishing trip and you’re thinking about salmon fishing, the chinook salmon fishing out of Oswego is sizzling right now.  Even though the salmon bite was slow late last week and fishing conditions were tough over the weekends with strong westerly winds, that has all changed now.

Limit catches were reported by several Oswego boats on June 14, and fishing was good again today, July 15.  On a brief midmorning scouting trip today, prior to a charter tomorrow, it took only 5 minutes to boat our first king salmon.  Within 15 minutes two nice browns were also caught and released.

Good salmon fishing is all about weather and water conditions, with a bit of cooperation  from the fish as well, and it’s all happening right now out of Oswego.