Fish are where they "shouldn't be"

[TUnamas]

The year has been slow and unusual. Town Farm this spring? Ghost town. Kingsland reef? Nothing. Whallen's Bay/Split Rock? Slow pick of smaller fish. Saturday afternoon, the white perch moved into the marina docks, about 3 weeks late. Mostly smaller males, but a few bruiser females. The docks are also inundated with carp, bowfin and sheepies; and weeds. It's like we went from early spring to mid summer overnight, and the water is still relatively cool. Sunday I gave it a shot, fishing an area I wouldn't normally fish this time of year. Graph lit with good bait. North edge of Cedar Beach I went 8/12 on silvers fishing solo in about 6 hours. Greens and purples on silver worked, a few too on copper blanks. Best of all was a small natural rubber softbait on a 16" leader behind a 4" green Imposter. None caught on cheaters, which is unusual for me. I believe there are still at least a few fish in the lake, as these were all 3 year old fish, and all released. They were tight on the bait, which has always been a good sign!

[ThreeBuoys]

You were definitely working hard, but you caught fish...that is a good sign at least.

[troutcrazy]

Thanks for the report! It's somehow comforting to know that I'm not the only one. I caught some in Whallens, but I struck out in Town Farm and Kingsland reef. I didn't even know the reef was a usual spot-- it just looked promising so I tried it a few times.

Also its great to hear you got some! Can you tell me how deep they were?

[Ancient Mariner]

The last three times we were out caught salmon and lake trout in the spots I usually find them late July. This time we fished from Diamond Island south and pulled in a 3' american eel. Go figure

[TUnamas]

Thanks for the report! It's somehow comforting to know that I'm not the only one. I caught some in Whallens, but I struck out in Town Farm and Kingsland reef. I didn't even know the reef was a usual spot-- it just looked promising so I tried it a few times.

Also its great to hear you got some! Can you tell me how deep they were?

[TUnamas]

They were 30-35 down over 80-100 feet, right where the bait was.

[C-Hawk]

This is true. I am catching fish where we used to get them 10 years ago. Nice to see some of the old standby places come alive. However things are still on the slow side. Good news is, no skunks! Never should have said that.

[60Fishman]

It was the first time out for me Saturday morning in a almost a month. I am mostly a laker guy. I keep a diary and based on water temp and time of year I started out at 60' to 70' FOW. Fumbled around for two hours without a bite in a spot that normally produces real well. Did not even really mark anything. Changed lures etc. no luck. Moved to a spot I normally use later on in the summer and caught six in 80 to 90 FOW in my last two hours. After a couple poor outings in May I was beginning to think somebody put an evil curse on my boat.

[Bulldogbish]

What type of soft plastics were you using? We tried some hogy sand eels behind a flasher but after no bites, we lost confidence and switched back. We threaded them though with a small treble in the tail. Looked awesome and very smelty but no bites. I have heard of folks using gulp minnows with success.

[TUnamas]

I started fishing Westin Hypo Teez Swimbaits last season, and they have continued to produce for me.

[JDK]

Again, not in Vermont or New York, but I have caught a lot of togue this year on the Storm 360GT Searchbait. Trolled at 1.0-1.7 without any bling.

As an aside, the lakes I fish are running 5-7 degrees colder than this time last year and the salmon and trout are still in the top 20 feet of the water column. Last week we were catching them on top flat lining mono. Usually down 25ish or more by now.

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[Bulldogbish]

I started fishing Westin Hypo Teez Swimbaits last season, and they have continued to produce for me.

Those are great looking. I will have to grab some 3.5" smelts to give a try.

[troutcrazy]

Thanks for the info-- it's really helpful! I'm out there in my new kayak, trying to dial in my rig and my technique, and everything.