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!