This morning was another beautiful morning on Lake Ontario. We got a little bit of a late start and launched around 6:00. The lake was beautiful and we had it to ourselves most of the morning. We started fishing in 80 feet of water and worked our way out to 140. The temperature was down deeper than recently and our fish came at about 65 to 70 feet of water.

The fishing on the lake out of Sandy Creek continues to be very good. We got out this morning for a couple of hours and did real well. The Salmon seem to be in 80- 110 feet of water anywhere from 45-60 feet down. We have been catching browns, steelhead, and kings. The highlight of today was fighting two large kings in three foot waves with boats everywhere and no one to drive the boat. We managed to control the boat and the fish and landed both beautiful fish.

Update

It has been a long time since I updated the blog so I will try to include some of what we have been doing recently. The fishing has been fairly good and is getting better. For about a week we were catching some real nice browns and a few steelhead, but we could not find the salmon. The highlight of that time was a 14 pound brown that was short and looked like it swallowed a beach ball (still waiting on the picture from Rick).

We took a day and went down to Sullivan's cabin. Sully had a blast in the ponds chasing anything she could find including the bobbers we were trying to fish with. We later went to the Conservation Club (without Sully) and caught hundreds of bluegill and a few nice bass. Carolynne won the prize for the most fish as well as the biggest fish with a largemouth that weighed close to three pounds.

When we returned from the cabin, we spent time at Hamlin Beach campground and took Mike out for an evening trip. In three hours, Mike landed 4 steelhead and 2 kings. The biggest king was as we were trolling back in and was about 2o pounds.

A Few More Good Trips

Well, we got out a few more times this week and were able to catch some nice fish each time, and unfortunately we lost some nice fish also. On Wednesday we went out and found the temperature break out a little deeper in 320 feet of water and were able to hook up a bunch of time and land some nice fish including some kings. We lost three very nice steelhead. Friday morning I fished with Mark and we went out to look for the same temperature break but we could not find it. We were still able to get some nice fish including a beautiful 24 lb king. Lets hope the temperature sets up again and the fishing continues to build.

Evening Cruise

Carolynne and I took a short boat ride this evening after work and decided to try to fish for a couple of hours. We set up in about 150 foot of water and began trolling north. In 200 fow we found a good temperature break and as soon as we crossed into 49 degree water the planer board rod went off and a small coho surfaced. I grabbed the rod and began fighting the fish, when suddenly the rigger went off and a heavy fish took line. Carolynne grabbed that rod and battled a good fish that hit a slider with a small pink spoon on it. When I got the small coho to the side of the boat, a fish hit the opposite planer rod and immediately was on the surface. I knew I had a good steelhead and Carolynne was locked into something big. We battled our fish and got my 11 pound steelhead and Carolynne's 13 pound laker into the net. We took pictures, reset the lines, and began to troll towards where we had caught the three fish. Again, when we crossed the temperature break the planer rod went off. This time it was a real nice steelhead (a little over 14 lbs). We trolled a couple more minutes and hooked up with another small coho before we had to pull the lines and go in. A great two hours of fishing on the lake.

Spring Derby Weekend One

This past weekend was the opening of the Spring Loc Derby. The derby snuck up on me this year and we still had some bugs to work out on the boat at the onset of the derby. Our original plan was to fish out west again and hit the water near the Niagara River. However, the unusually cold water in that area had the king fishing behind schedule and most of the fish caught out that way were lakers. So, we made the decision to fish the only colored water we could find... of the Genesee River. We launched out of the River on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On the first two days, the water and weather were beautiful. On Sunday, the wind picked up out of the northeast and messed up the fishing and only allowed us to fish for about an hour. The fishing can be best described as a slow-pick overall. We caught browns, coho, rainbows, and kings with the best fish coming on Friday and the most numbers coming on Saturday. The best area seemed to be the warmest, colored water between the river and Irondequoit Bay in 20- 50 feet of water. We had limited success out deeper, but the majority of our fish came in close off the boards or riggers set just below the surface. The highlight of the weekend had to be the 17 pound king on Friday. Our hottest lures were black and silver smithwicks and blue and gold bombers.

Strange Evening at the Pier

Decided to hit the pier for a little while last night. I arrived at about 6:00 and took a look at the water. It had a little color but was clearing fast and there was almost no waves at all. I knew the fishing would not be fast and furious but since it was a beautiful night I decided I would spend some time tossing cleos and hope to catach a brown or two. Well, after about 40 minutes of casting and not even a follow I was getting discouraged. I stuck it out and after another ten minutes, a fish hit. It did not feel like a trout or a salmon. Once it came into view, I knew immediately it was a good sized northern pike. It turned out to be a thick 37 inch fish that was clean and full of fight (all alone, no camera). I released the fish, retied, and began casting again. A little while later, I had a second hit. This fish hit the same cleo. The hit came soon after the lure hit the water and the fish immediately came to the surface. It was a long ways away but it appeared to be a nice brown. I continued to fight the fish and it soon became apparent that it was not a brown but a very nice smallmouth bass. I landed the fish and quickly measured it, 21 inches long with a 14.5 inch girth (5.3 lbs) . Unfortunately I had no camera. Carolynne showed upright on time and took a picture with my cell phone, but it does not do the fish justice. A beautiful fish and a great night.

Spring is Finally Here

This past week has been great for fishing. I have been hitting the creek almost everyday and have had great results on all the trips. I have been fishing mot of the time with spinners because I am low on eggs, but the browns don't seem to care. I have also caught some nice steelhead on spinners but am sure I would be more successful on steelhead if I fished eggs more. The creek has been a little off color form the rain and the temperature has ranged from 38-42 degrees. We have caught fish from a wide variety of locations with the best action coming from the middle sections of the creek before the crowds came out on the weekend. This upcoming week I hope to get out on the small boat and fish the mouth of the creek and also check out the ponds for perch and crappie. Here is a small sample of some of the fish from last week.

When Will the Snow Melt?

Carolynne, Sully, and I took a drive around today to see what the status of the creek and the lake are. The bad news is that the creek is still frozen and the lake has a ton of ice on it. The good news is that there should be good water for the creeks, and in turn good-colored water trolling. Hopefully I will be fishing the creeks in a couple of weeks and then on the lake shortly after. I can only hope that there is good water and more typical brown fishing in close to shore this spring. Trolling the mudlines for trout as soon as the ice is gone is one of my favorite things to do. Until the weather breaks, I am trying to get the boats ready for the spring and organizing tackle for the upcoming year. Before we know it, we will be hitting the creeks, trolling for browns, loading up on perch in the ponds, filling the freezer with crappie, heading west for the LOC, hitting the bass and pike in Silver...

Favorite Lures

The weather has finallyturned for the worse. The creek fishing has shut down, the River is flooded, and I have not ventured to the Salmon River or the Niagara River. I for one have not done much since the begining of January. The creeks are frozen and I have not been ice fishing yet. Since there isn't much to report I decided to share four of my favorite lures and invite others to share their favorites. Here they are: 1. Blue Husky Jerk- My favorite early spring pike and smallmouth lure. Also, very effective for pre-spawn salmon and trout.2. Black and Silver Torpedo- Hands down my favorite lure to catch bass on. It might not be the most effective but nothing beats a topwater bass hit. 3. Fire Tiger Little Cleo- Unbelievable for catching trout and salmon. 4. Vibrax Spinner- If I could only have one lure for all fish this would be it.

Short Trip With Rick

Rick and I hit the creek today, and I was disappointed to see the color of the water after the rain last night. The flow was good, but the color had become stained from yesterday. We stuck it out for a little while and were rewarded with two browns and a nice steelhead. The weekend looks good for those who are interested.

Productive Scouting Trip

Today, I stopped at the creek to check the conditions after the high off-color water of last weekend. The water actually was lower than I expected but still a little off-color. I decided to make a few drifts before it got dark and was rewarded with a beautiful fresh steelhead. The fish faught hard despite the cold water and weighed in around nine pounds. The pictures do not do this beautiful fish justice, but look at it next to my float rod. It should be good for the next few days if anyone is interested.