Lonesome Lake 11/13
Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 7:52 pm
Not many boats on Champlain today - I actually saw more salmon (5) than other boats (3) !
Good conditions for salmon trolling with rain, north wind, and a few whitecaps. Water temp was 51 F at the surface. I didn't bother with a Fishhawk when there's no 55 F to be found, so don't know what it was further down.
Launched at Arnold Bay and headed north, stopping to check the sonar for fish here and there, but didn't find anything interesting until Town Farm Bay so I set lines in at Converse and trolled back south. Talked with Homewrecker and got some good advice on lure color, and started picking up fish soon after that.
Fishing solo, so set 2 downriggers with sliding cheaters on each to maximize the # of lures in the water. Ran vertical flashers on 1 line and the other plain. The first 4 fish only wanted a CI Fat Buzzy so the other 3 lures were starting to seem unnecessary, but eventually that changed. That lure was on the main line with the flashers, so figured flashers were the key and added flashers to the other rigger and it started to pick up some fish.
The Fat Buzzy caught 2, 2-foot lakers and 2 salmon around 14 to 15 inches. A CI Hot Hooker used as a cheater picked up another salmon, and a repainted Speedy Shiner (Ford tractor blue) that was the cheater on the other line, picked up a 16" steelhead and a 16" salmon. This lure probably hooked a bigger salmon that made a spectacular leap way out of the water right after the rod fired, and spit the hook - but hard to tell whether it hit that lure or the CI Purple Brown Trout that was on the main line - it all happened so fast !
Riggers were set 35 to 40 feet down, and mostly trolled at 2.7 to 3 mph, a little faster when the tailwind picked up and the steelhead hit the cheater when the boat was going 3.3.
Did anyone else get out on the Lake this weekend ? Any luck finding bigger fish ?
Good conditions for salmon trolling with rain, north wind, and a few whitecaps. Water temp was 51 F at the surface. I didn't bother with a Fishhawk when there's no 55 F to be found, so don't know what it was further down.
Launched at Arnold Bay and headed north, stopping to check the sonar for fish here and there, but didn't find anything interesting until Town Farm Bay so I set lines in at Converse and trolled back south. Talked with Homewrecker and got some good advice on lure color, and started picking up fish soon after that.
Fishing solo, so set 2 downriggers with sliding cheaters on each to maximize the # of lures in the water. Ran vertical flashers on 1 line and the other plain. The first 4 fish only wanted a CI Fat Buzzy so the other 3 lures were starting to seem unnecessary, but eventually that changed. That lure was on the main line with the flashers, so figured flashers were the key and added flashers to the other rigger and it started to pick up some fish.
The Fat Buzzy caught 2, 2-foot lakers and 2 salmon around 14 to 15 inches. A CI Hot Hooker used as a cheater picked up another salmon, and a repainted Speedy Shiner (Ford tractor blue) that was the cheater on the other line, picked up a 16" steelhead and a 16" salmon. This lure probably hooked a bigger salmon that made a spectacular leap way out of the water right after the rod fired, and spit the hook - but hard to tell whether it hit that lure or the CI Purple Brown Trout that was on the main line - it all happened so fast !
Riggers were set 35 to 40 feet down, and mostly trolled at 2.7 to 3 mph, a little faster when the tailwind picked up and the steelhead hit the cheater when the boat was going 3.3.
Did anyone else get out on the Lake this weekend ? Any luck finding bigger fish ?