Yankee @ the Oak 7/5 & 7/6

[Yankee Troller]

7/5 - We left the dock at 6am with some friends looking for either a derby winner King, or another Steelhead since ours was knocked off the pedestal. My buddy Anthony joined me today with his buddy Matt, and his girlfriend. I knew that we wanted to head right down to the "flats" and see if we could get the Kings going like we did yesterday.

We set-up in front of the Oak and trolled the 5 miles down to the flats. We ran a 4 diver, 3 rigger, 1 copper program. Our deeper divers were set on 1 for the low divers, and 2.5 for the high divers. All pulled paddle fly combos. Dreamweaver Gator Spind Docto/A-TOM-MIK Green Crinkle, Dreamweaver 42nd Spin Doctor/A-TOM-MIK 42nd fly, Wonder Dot SmartFish/A-TOM-MIK Hammer fly, and a Green SmartFish/A-TOM-MIK Ultra Green Glow fly were the combos we choose and all took fish throughout the day. On one side we ran the divers at 175' and 250' back, and on the other it was 200' and 275'. We ran a mix of spoons on the riggers early then stuffed paddle/fly combos down deep later in the morning. Dreamweaver Midnight Specials, Stinger Later Gators, and Northern King Copper NBK's all had their moments. The copper (400') never took a shot all morning, I put a Green Dot SmartFish/A-TOM-MIK Hypnotist fly on it as it is a go to combo, but nothing wanted to play with it.

We had a great mix of fish today. Our biggest King was about 23 pounds. He was a really short fish with HUGE shoulders and he took Matt for a ride on the wire making runs at Tuna speeds! We also did 2 Atlantic Salmon, which are always a treat. Thanks Canada! The bait, and fish, really moved in to the flats area today. Probably the best screen I have seen out at the Oak in a few weeks. Check out some pictures from today.

7/6 - Steve and his son Tim joined us for a day out on Lake Ontario. They are AVID fisherman from NJ, and Tim wanted to experience trolling Lake Ontario for Salmon and Trout. I can assure you that he will never forget it! You can tell when someone really appreciates the experience because they can't keep the cooler lid CLOSED! LOL

Right away I knew that if we wanted some Kings there was a pile of them down on the flats. We started off right in front of the Oak and did the same troll down to the flats as yesterday. However, today the water chilled down and the temp came up. at one point we had 50 degrees down 50. The screen was blank, and we sat for the first hour and a half with not even a sniff. We finally made the decision to head deeper and that's when we found a little "honey hole" at the 24N/6W line. A great mix of Kings, Cohos, Atlantic's, and Rainbows. There was a break between 60 and 70 that was 15 degrees and the fish were all over it. If it weren't for the rods poppin' you would have never known there were fish there. The screen on our Hummingbird was BLANK the whole time we were out there on that 175-250.

Our program today started out with 4 wires, 3 riggers, and a copper. Once we went deeper we pulled 2 wires and sent out another copper. Our riggers were set between 50 and 80. Northern King Copper NBK was a good one today, but late in the day a Dreamweaver Raspberry Dolphin had a good run. Stinger Later Gators, Northern King Lazer Spooks, and Dreamweaver Midnight Specials all took a few fish. Our Deeper Divers were set out to 180' and 210' on a #2 setting. One had a Dreamweaver Gator Spin Doctor/A-TOM-MIK Green Crinkle the other had a Dreamweaver 42nd Spin Doctor/A-TOM-MIK 42nd fly. Our hot rigs today were the pair of 300 coppers that we fished off our Otter Boats. One had a Green SmartFish trailed by an A-TOM-MIK Pro/Am Glow fly, and the other had a Chrome E-Chip trailed by an A-TOM-MIK Frozen Frog (a Captains Cove exclusive).

We found all year classes of Kings. The biggest King tipped the scale at 20lbs. We did a few really nice Steelhead with the biggest being about 11lbs. We did a few more Atlantic Salmon today, and one tipped the scale at 9lbs. Just a fun day for a father and son out on Lake Ontario. Check out some pictures.

[Nailer]

Great photos Captain Richard. Thanks for sharing.

[Yankee Troller]

Not a problem Nailer!

[A-Fishy-Anado]

Another great report and pics. Nice job Rich!

[tltorrice]

Thanks for the great report. Pat and I will be hitting the Oak for a week starting July 24. We had a blast last year and cant wait to get back there. Your report just adds to the excitement.