Saturday at Winooski and the Inland sea and lots of company!

[Vtfishinglady]

Hi all,
Saturday was last day on the lake this year... A sad day for sure, but a good one for fishing for us. We started out front of the Winooski and caught our first 15" salmon in about 65 feet of water 24' down on a crazy ivan, of pink, blue and white with black dots and a white back. I was running a 50' leader after 4 colors or lead line on my brand new Okuma Convector 45lc reel, courtesy of Ben at Dockside. The reel holds 13 colors of line, a backing and the leader and still has 1/8" of spool left. We actually caught all 3 of our fish on the same color lure (we have 2 of them). As you can see from the pics, it was getting old dealing with the waves out front of the Winooski so we decided to head to the IS for some calmer weather. It was a whole lot nicer on the IS! Our second 15" Salmon came at the end of our first pass across cow banks just as we were coming to the point before the boat launch in around 50' of water, this time on a dipsy diver at 28' down on the same lure. Our third Salmon, a 19" that we took home, came on the same lure, around 28' down on a diver again on some of the structure that goes between the sandbar and cedar Island. We actually caught our first little Salmon there several weeks ago. Raz and Ben were right behind us when I finally got to witness a jumping salmon (the 19") and it made 2 good jumps and a smaller jump... pretty spectacular!
But what really made my day was finally getting to say hi to some of you guys while out on the water: Raz, Reelax, Fishbone, Ben... You guys, and the rest of those on the forum have been great in helping us get started in Salmon fishing and have provided lots of suggestions and positive feedback. It's really been fun learning this new kind of fishing. I can't wait till next spring, and I hoping we can get in early!

Here's our pics for the day..






Today we took the boat out and started the winterization...

Thanks all, see you in the spring!

Terri

[raz]

Terri...way to go. Glad you guys put a keeper in the cooler for the grill, and the bonus two smaller fish. The fish in the picture has a nice little kype on it, great looking fish.
We're glad you found the forum, and everyone here is always happy to share as you've noticed.
Good talking to you on the water but sorry to hear you had to take your boat out...fall fishing at it's best is just around the corner.
Stay tuned here and jump on another boat if you get the chance.
Hopefully spring is "normal" and you can get out early.

Again, congratulations on ending your season on a positive note!

[MarknFish (Mark)]

Terri - bummer on putting the boat away for the winter but it looks like you made the best of your last outing. That bottom fish has a nice kype going and those little fish will be a lot more fun next year. Enjoy that salmon on the grill and hope to see you out and about with someone this fall.

[dreamcatcher]

Sounds like you [Terri] had a great day for being the last time out. Thanks for the pictures and may you have many more soon! Good fishing!

[JabberJaws]

Congratulations that is a nice salmon. You put in a lot of time and it is paying off. Too bad you had to pull the boat but maybe you can copilot for someone this fall. Ramel

[Vtfishinglady]

Thanks all... by the way, I had to look up 'kype'... the lower hook of the jaw?.. (still plenty for us to learn) It took us a while to figure out what we were catching... I think we now know what whitefish, Laker trout and Salmon. I think our early season catches (except for the very first in the IS) have been whitefish.

If we're going to catch more salmon, we're going to have to find some good recipes. Chris put the 19" in the oven instead of the grill... he's a grill master with beef and chicken, but with fish he seems to grill them until they're the consistency of sawdust . Since my youngest son was home this weekend from Norwich, we had to augment with some farmed Salmon... The 19" was actually enough for Chris and I but we split it across all 3 of us as well as some of the farmed salmon. In contrast, the Lake Salmon is very pale (I guess that's the diet) and a lot more gamey... we'll have to find better recipes.

Terri

[Reelax]

Congrats on the silvers Terri... Nice to hear you in the radio and have a day with more action! It us just the beginning.... Sorry to hear you gave to pull your boat, but I am probably only a couple weeks away myself:(

Fishon!

[homewrecker]

Terri, you don´t have to stop fishing just stand at the launch in the morning with a gas can and a 12 pack, some one will take you out a lot of the Frostbiters fish alone anyway and probably would enjoy the company. Tight lines Dean

[4cs]

Hey Terri

What a good way to end the season and I'm glad our Rainbow Trout spoon produced for you. Now that you have started to get the hang of it, it will only get better from here.

Pat

[Vtfishinglady]

Thanks everyone.. Pat, right now the rainbow is my most favorite trolling lure .
In case anyone wonders what it looks like to trailer a 33' boat on the back of a 1/2 ton pickup.. we went right through 5 corners... I had my fingers crossed that we wouldn't break down there. Have to take the radar dome down and hang it by some wire because we'd be over 14' with it up.



Terri

[shipoffools]

Looks like a truck commercial! Impressive site. Awesome to see people learning about the fishery and havin some luck at it. Sounds like you got bit by the salmon bug. Nice reports!

[bumpnrun]

Terri its sad when you have to put the boat away when you have so much fun being in it, even if your a fish head or just a boater .Have you gone out ice fishing theres lots of new gear out there to make it feel like your fishing with poles on the water.Cant do any thing about the cold but thats ice fishing See you on the water next spring BUMP.Rog.

[Fishbone]

CONGRATS !! Terry

We will see you next season..

My boat is out of the water too..

Could not get a salmon this year.. Maybe next year !!

Dan

[Vtfishinglady]

Guys, definitely look forward to seeing you next year! The seasons seem short, but I think it makes me value the time I get on the lake all the more. Come February I'm ready to get the boat out... unfortunately still some hard water out there in February

[WildFisherWoman]

Great job getting some salmon on board. Sad to put the boat away though isnt it. You will have to save some of the lake scuz you wash off your boat as a souvenir for a great 2011 season.