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.