Yankee @ Wilson 16th - 19th

[Yankee Troller]

May 16th - Our afternoon trip started around 4pm with reports of a tough bite. Rumor has it the morning was good, but after that the picture and fishing got spotty. We set up a high/low Coho/King program. We had a mix of spoons and flasher/fly combos fished off our Cannon downriggers, a pair of wires pulling flasher.fly combos, a 200’ copper, and 4 surface lines. We worked the water between Wilson and the red barn in 50-100’ of water all night. The picture was there, but the Salmon had lock jaw.

The Coho bite was pretty good. Everything in the water took fish. Red Brads Thinfish, Challenger Lady Bug, Dreamweaver Orange Slurpee SS, and a Dreamweaver 6†Orange Spinny with an A-TOM-MIK Coho fly. Sometimes these Coho get picky and want a body bait, and other times they want metal. We try to put a little bit of everything out there and let them tell us what’s tasty for them on any given day.

We did take one King bite, but as quick as he was there he was gone. The 200’ copper pulling a Black Dreamweaver Spin Doctor with a new A-TOM-MIK Hijacker fly was the combo that went. We just got our hands on the new Hijacker series, and I think they are going to be a good one!

Although we didn’t pound any Chinooks the Coho, and a nice drop back Rainbow, kept us busy.

May 17th (Morning) - The first half of the trip was slow, and a few cracked off fish in the morning made it even worse. A phone call from a buddy changed it all, and when we got to that water it was on!

The surface bite for Coho was cranking with a Challenger Lady Bug, and an Orange Spin Doctor/A-TOM-MIK Coho Fly taking most of the shots. The king bite was starting to slow, but not before we grabbed a few quick ones. They would fall for a Dreamweaver Mountain Dew Spin Doctor/A-TOM-MIK Big Fin Glow fly down 175’ on our Cannon downrigger, and a Mountain Dew E-Chip/A-TOM-MIK Glow Blue Hijacker fly 325’ out on a wire.

May 17th (Afternoon) - We headed right out to the same water we finished in, and quickly took two matures on a Mountain Dew Dreamweaver Spin Doctor/A-TOM-MIK Big Fin Glow fly down 175’ on our Cannon downrigger. After that it was a Coho bonanza the rest of the night with no more Chinook hook-ups. Again, the Challenger Lady Bug was responsible for most of the Coho bites.

Our first fish of the night was our 2013 personal best weighing in at 25lbs. Now we are looking for Mr. 30lb’r!

May 18th (Morning) - Lady O was good to us on this particular morning. We started in 70’ of water with the intent on heading to the deeper water we worked the day before. We put out a Coho/King Spread in the morning, but less than a few hours in we cleared out the Coho stuff, and had just a King program down.

We ran our three Cannons, two wires, and two junk lines. Our Cannon downriggers took most of our fish. The Dreamweaver Sea Sick Waddler was hot first thing down 40 back 40. A Stinger NBK was going well down 30 back 40 as well. We took a few diver shots, and they really liked a Stinger Black Widow fished 100’ back on a 3 setting. With no real temp breaks we also saw and took a few fish down deep on our Cannon downriggers at 150-175’ on a Stinger Hammertime E-Chip/A-TOM-MIK Big Fin Glow fly. A 10 color Stealth Core took a few fish with a Yeck Black/Silver Green Glow.

May 18th (Afternoon) - Our second double in as many days, and we knew leaving the dock it was sloppy out there from the NE. We battled 3-5’ waves for the entire length of the trip, and the bite was fairly consistent. Cold clear water was rolling in, but we still had somewhat of a picture. The last hour was on fire right out front, which yielded back to back doubles for these guys who have never ventured out on Lady O for Salmon and Trout.

Even though it was rough we were able to get out three surface lines on one of our boards, a 200 copper on the other, three rods down on our Cannon downriggers, and a pair of wires. At times we’d throw a 300 or 400 down the chute depending on where the last rigger shots were coming from. Challengers Lady Bug, and Nuclear Green plugs pulled the Coho and a Steelhead off the surface. The Kings were coming from our riggers mostly pulling Dreamweaver Sea Sick Waddlers, and a Stinger NBK.

We had a case of the dropsies BAD, and I had it pinned on the sloppy NE wind making it tough to land fish.

May 19th - Same group showed up ready to do some battle, and we were happy to see Mother Nature had calmed down a lot. We left the chute at 6am and shut her down in 60’ of water right out front. A day which many ran West or offshore because of the cold clear water, but we found a great pick right on the inside out the front door.

We let out 3 challengers on one planer board, a 200 copper on the other, a 300 copper down the chute, a pair of wire divers, and all three of our Cannon downriggers. The 100-125’ wire on a 3 setting pulling a Stinger Black Widow went a few times as did a Dreamweaver Sea Sick Waddler, and a Stinger NBK on our downriggers with Kings The Coho were also playing with our surface baits. Action was HOT, but the landing was way less than desired. I couldn’t blame Mother Nature on this beautiful morning, so I blamed the clients! Even though we all knew they weren’t doing anything wrong we had to put the blame somewhere other than ourselves….LOL.

By the end of the day we ventured offshore, and took a few bites after the inside bite slowed around 10am. We put together a nice mixed bag of fish minus a Brown Trout and an Atlantic. A frustrating trip to say the least because of the lite bites, but very fun with a great group of guys!