Fish H8 Me™: atlantic salmon

Showing posts with label atlantic salmon. Show all posts

26.4.11

Struggling

Having the boat in the water three times now...
and just one fish to show for it.
Matt did this Landlocked Atlantic yesterday after we both hooked and lost one each.

Fishing has been tough for me...
Slow ain't the word.

We've thrown everything except the kitchen sink at them
but can't seem to locate any active fish.

We beat the crap out of this one...

Bloodied eye, ripped lip, and a broken nose.

I might as well put the boat away.
I hear folks are doing better fishing from shore.

I'll keep fishing, it's got to get better soon!

Fish on, fish H8 me.

Raz

7.7.10

FRIED BRAINS AND BOILED SALMON

With the thermometer hoovering in the mid 90's and the heat index even higher, I hit the water anyway. Big Ben the owner of Dockside Outdoors jumped aboard the Razzle Dazzle with me yesterday for a 1/2 day of fishing out of Converse Bay.
It was far too hot to fish and I "know" we were crazy to be out there.
Barely a breeze, not hardly a ripple.

It was a tough bite to say the least. We went 2 for 3 on legal salmon and got pestered by a bunch of little shakers. Pink on silver worked, blue/purple "hot item" was firing, but I think the lure that fired the most was a purple/black honeybee mp6 by Tamiron. Ben covered 1/2 the white on the back side with black tape and nailed a nice 22 incher with it from 60ish down and a long lead behind the ball, maybe 30 feet.

There were very few boats on the water, we nearly had the place to ourselves. It's just been too hot, the air too still, and no cloud cover to stop the relentless onslaught of solar energy.

Thanks to Jon (Bassbuddy) for the photograph! Fun to fish along side him and his crew!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

28.6.10

LAKE CHAMPLAIN HAS A NEW FAN

Last week, my cousin Dan and his wife Cheryl paid us a visit from Michigan. Dan is an avid Walleye fisherman on the Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron. He had never had the opportunity to fish over deep water such as Lake Champlain. We fished the better part of one day. The fishing was slow and we picked at them, but Dan was pleased with his two Steelhead, the Lake Trout that we boated, and a school of young stocked salmon.
He loves our lake.
Champlain has a new fan!

Fish on, Fish H8 me.

Raz

19.6.10

THE "FINAL FOURTH" ON A SLIDE DIVER LITE BITE!

Late last fall, news starting spreading around Lake Champlain of the Slide Diver Lite Bite. I ordered one during the winter months, and early in the spring, consulted with the designer of the product, Randy Even, of U-Charters Inc. Randy was very helpful in helping me set it up properly and recommending the proper line to use with his product.

I began fishing with it once the fish began to move from the shallows out over deeper water in early May. It wasn't long before I realized this was a great "stealthy" presentation, enabling me to put the spookiest of fish in the net.

On May 23rd, Cathy and I were fishing the northern "Georgia" shoreline on the inland sea when the Slide Diver Lite Bite fired. Once the fish was netted, we realized this was a steel-head! Normally, quite a rare catch in Lake Champlain I knew I had been blessed by the fish-gods, A steel-head on the Lite Bite!

I had already caught Landlocked Atlantic Salmon and some very nice Champlain Brown Trout on the Slide Diver Lite Bite, now, with a Steel-Head in the net, I realized there was just one more Lake Champlain cold-water species to hook up and net using the Lite Bite...A Lake Trout.

Not being a Lake Trout fisherman, I thought it might take me a while. My Lake Trout are far and few between and are "incidentals" while fishing for Salmon and Browns. I began to use stick-baits with the slide diver, hoping to catch a Lake Trout while concentrating on my usual targets with a downrigger on the other side of the boat. Three or four trips out, nothing. Small, freshly stocked Salmon were all I was able to hook up with on the stick baits. This was beginning to be a challenge. A challenge I was liking!

Thursday night, June 17th I spoke with a friend of mine, Mark. Mark owns the MarknFish and invited me to join him on Friday for a day of trolling. Mark suggested I bring the Slide Diver Lite Bite as he hadn't yet seen one in action. I explained I had already planned on it...I need a Laker!

We hit the water early Friday morning with his young neighbor, Wade. We set up and began trolling for Salmon, but one of my rods was set up and on a mission: to get a Lake Trout on the Lite Bite Slide Diver! I put the diver out, changed lures periodically, and watched and waited. Then I decided to have it dive deeper, off the chart that comes with the diver. Down I sent it, down, down, down...

And soon it happened, it fired and line started peeling. I grabbed the rod and begun to adjust the drag, playing the fish. "Laker" I yelled, "It feels like a Laker!"

After a few tense moments at the net, the fish was in the boat. A Lake Champlain Lake Trout on the Slide Diver Lite Bite! THE FINAL FOURTH!! Ye-Haa's echoed off the steep rocky banks of the lake, and high-fives all around!

Here is a picture of Wade, holding the Lake Trout that closed the deal, THE FINAL FORTH!!

If your looking for a new presentation or wanting to do some controlled depth fishing without using a down-rigger for whatever reason, I highly recommend the Slide Diver Lite Bite!

IT WILL PUT FISH IN THE BOAT!

Slide Diver Lite Bites are available locally on Lake Champlain or on-line by visiting Dockside Outdoors!

Tight lines!

Fish on, fish H8 me.

Raz

16.6.10

Can-Am FISHING TROLLING LURE WANTED

Anyone out there have one (or some)
Can-Am trolling spoon(s) they'd like to part with?
The color isn't important, it's the shape, the design that counts.
If it's what I'm looking for, it will have CanAm and/or Al's Goldfish Co. stamped on it.

PLEASE Contact me by clicking here if you have one or more that I can purchase.
Thanks!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

14.6.10

BIG LAKE CHAMPLAIN LANDLOCKED ATLANTIC SALMON

A very nice clean BIG Lake Champlain Landlocked Atlantic Salmon was recently caught on the lake.
With the upcoming LCI Father's Day Derby less than one week away, I'm sworn to secrecy...I won't divulge the anglers identity or the location where the fish was caught.
I will mention however, the fish was caught on a spoon from Dockside Outdoors. A Tamiron Honeybee, #2 black and white, also recently named the KopKar!.

This picture is my modified version of the lure, I added the dots.

The fish wasn't weighed on certified scales untill the day after it was caught! It weighed in at an impressive 9.45 pounds and measured out to an impressive 28.5 inches!

Congratulions to the angler!

Fish on, fish H8 me.

Raz

DORKFISH

DEFORMATION, MUTATION, OR INJURY?

Tyler "Sanman" hit the water last Friday aboard the Bassbuddy II with a couple of his fishing partners. They launched out of Converse Bay, Charlotte, Vermont in search of Lake Champlain Landlocked Salmon, Steelhead, and Lake Trout.

They landed this Lake Champlain Landlocked Atlantic Salmon which they named "Dorkfish".
The fish had a big hole in its throat with it's tongue hanging out!
Apparently, this abnormality hadn't affected the fishes ability to feed, as Tyler harvested it and found its stomach to be full of smelt and alewife's.

Thanks for sharing Tyler!

And...congratulation on catching Lake Champlain's "Dorkfish"!

Fish on, fish H8 me.

Raz

29.5.10

"TENCH" FISHES ABOARD THE RAZZLE DAZZLE

Some of his friends call him Tench...
Some folks call him Carmifisher...
but his mother calls him Josh.

Josh joined me on Thursday aboard the Razzle Dazzle in pursuit of Lake Champlain Landlocked Salmon and Brown Trout.
The fishing was difficult at best. The night before, the Champlain Valley experienced some severe thunderstorms accompanied by high winds and hail.

We found our lines constantly being tangled in leaves, branches, and other debris carried into the lake by the storm. Some of the branches we had to dodge were 1-1/2 to 2 inches in diameter and up to ten feet long! It was quite a mess out there.

Salad to go with the salmon...Only the salad was Maple and Oak flavored!

We managed to salvage the day by fishing the up-wind shore line. We found it much more fishable, with far less debris in the water.
The day ended with four salmon netted, and four others lost behind the boat. Good conversation, fun with the fish, and another enjoyable day on Lake Champlain.

Josh said he was going to have salmon that night for dinner. I'll bet that was a delicous feast!

In exchange for the trip out on the lake, Josh offered me a book he had recently read. LAKE CHAMPLAIN: A NATURAL HISTORY. I can't wait to see what I can learn from the book! Thank you Josh!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

24.5.10

STEELHEAD RAINBOW TROUT

On Sunday, Cathy joined me for a few hours of trolling on Lake Champlain's Inland Sea. We had it tough, we kept dropping fish, just couldn't keep them on the hook. We ended up going three for seven on salmonids.
I could only get the down-riggers to fire once, no matter what I did!
Everything else was on 1.5 to 3 colors of lead-core, or the lite-bite slide diver set at about 22ish.

Last fish of the trip, the slide diver fires again. We've decided this was our last run. Cathy doesn't normally want to fight the fish but as soon as the rod fired, I said "here, you take it,,,c'mon"

She wrestles the rod, the fish, and the slide diver and does very well. The fish made two nice runs and she hung on, each time her eye's lighting up and excitement in her voice. Several times the fish, carrying the slide diver, rocketed out of the water.
Finally:
Netted...STEELHEAD! The first on the Razzle Dazzle!

Steelhead or Rainbow Trout are in Lake Champlain, they're just not as prolific as the other salmonids.
When one is caught, it's exciting news!

In 2004 when Cathy and I bought our boat, she put the first Landlocked Atlantic Salmon in it. Now, she has the right to claim the first Steelhead!
She's a keeper!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

22.5.10

KopKar

I have the pleasure of working with Tamiron Sporting Goods as a "Champlain Tester" for their products. Primarily, I'm testing their line of trolling spoons called honeybees, and I've also begun to "dabble" in taping lures. Tamiron also sells a great line of "Decorator" tapes that I've been working with.

Lots of fisherman are reporting good catches of Landlocked Atlantic Salmon using spoons with black on them. Also spoons with white appears to be a common denominator. Honeybees fit especially well on the "white" list, as many of their products have a beautiful pearl-white back side.

Earlier this year, I received a #2 Honeybee from Tamiron that was different from the rest. It was black and white with a purple stripe on it. The black was different. I looked at it closely, it wasn't tape, it wasn't paint...what is it? I inquired, what do I have here? Black Nickel was the response. Cool, very cool.

The spoon sat in a box of lures during many, many trips out. I would look at it and think: "man, this is cool", and put it away. For some reason I didn't drag it...until this week!
I was in an area on the lake, over big schools of bait down deep. I looked at the lure, threw it on and "tested it" in the water. Watching it's action and it's beautiful contrast. "Yeah", I thought, "hell yeah, this will work!"
I hit the down switch on a rigger, and sent it down to Davey Jones Locker.
BANG!!! It fires. Again, again, and again.
Without all the boring details, I modified it's color scheme, slightly, twice.
It now contains purple and red dots...The KopKar...

And man has it been firing...It's been a riot.

Check out these wonderful fish from the Jewel we Call Lake Champlain!

Caught on the new "KopKar"

Friday, May 21...A beautiful 5.84 pound Landlocked Salmon:

Thursday, May 20...Twin Brown Trout. Weighing in at 3.40 and 3.38 pounds. These fish "dig, dig, dig"!

Monday, May 17..."Twin Twenties"
Lake Champlain Landlocked Salmon.

Some of these fish are in a brine solution as I write this.

Later today...they'll be absorbing Apple and Hickory smoke.

Fish on, fish H8 me.

Raz

15.5.10

CHAMPLAIN CRAPPIE KING CONQUERS COLDWATER SPECIES

After stopping by Dockside Outdoors and picking up Ben's First Mate Mike,
aka Fishercat,
aka Dockside winter-time poster-boy,
we headed to the Sea for a fun filled day of trolling.

Mike is renowned around the world (er Lake Champlain) for his uncanny ability to jig even the toughest of finicky pan-fish, the Crappie aka Paper-mouth.

Mikes first fish proves he has an outstanding ability to succeed at Pan-sized fish, no matter what species, no matter what time of the year, and regardless of techniques applied. In this case, trolling with lead-core!
Congratulations Mike on Landing this beautiful Salmon!

The next fish Mike lands is a little more than he can handle. He does a great job of playing his fish, and a great job of landing it.

But...it's what comes next that he needs to work on.

With the fish in the boat...
he must of fought it for at least five minutes!
Trying to keep the fish from going down his jacket and shirt!

I'm not so sure he succeeded!

Thanks for a great day on Lake Champlain Mike.
We'll have to do it again...
and again...
and again!!!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

12.5.10

INLAND SEA FORAGE FISH

The bait is back!
During the last week I've noticed lots of bait showing up in the Inland Sea. Most bait I'm finding is around structure, very little out in the deeper water. Although I've spent "some" time fishing over the deeper water (80+), I've only managed a couple fish out there. Most fish I'm catching are coming from around structure, structure that's holding bait.
I had a very interesting find last night while cleaning a nice fat, unmarked, chunky 20" salmon; a full gut, packed. Several unrecognizable, 4 or 5 alewife's (3"), one very small perch, and two, 4" smelt!.
Ye-haaa, the smelt have arrived back in the Sea!! (I hope).

The bait is starting to appear!
These guys know it, and they're much better fisherman than I!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

7.5.10

SURFIN' SAFARI...CINCO de MAYO

So...I'm trolling along wanting to hook into the big one...wanting to feel the pull...
Off in the distance I see a little spot, I grab the binoculars, take a peek and can't believe my eyes...
I wait until the spot is a little closer...quite far yet, but I decide to snap a picture anyway.
It's a woman...
a woman on a surf board and one paddle!

"CLICK" goes the shutter...
"THUMP"...something behind me.
RELEASE!!! Fish on!!!

So much for my intentions of getting a good close up of this woman on her surf board.
She comes right up along side me, within 30 yards, my rod is bent over and I'm fighting this wonderful energetic silver. "Hey" I yell, "Looks like a great way to get exercise", she yells back "sure is!"
"I got a nice salmon on" I yell, she responds "I didn't know they were in the lake". About that time a beautiful 19" Landlocked jumps and waves at her, then again and again. "Wow, how cool" she yells back. Soon after--it's in the net and the surfer chick is long gone behind me.

Done for the day I say. Time for a Corona and a Siesta!

Total for the day...six for eight, all of them Champlain Landlocked Atlantic Salmon. One of the fish I lost was a line stripping, reel screaming pig... It felt as though it turned to run toward me, and when it did, it was gone.
All in all, a great day to be on the water.

Once again, the honeybee's by Tamiron Sporting Goods ruled the day.

The lost pig, another that dropped, and one other fish, came off a "0" dodger followed by a (SKU) 1611 silver/pink honeybee 35' down, tight to the ball.
Four fish were taken with a (SKU) 1620 white/blue BoBo finish MP6 honeybee.
I had the BoBo on the main line, the same BoBo on a sliding cheater, over Tamiron blue/white/red tips vertical blades, running the main tight to the ball. Fish took both lures.

One fish was taken very deep, 60 down on a stinger red gander glo.

Be safe if you go out. Remember the water is still very cold and within minutes, hypothermia can set in. Wear an approved personal floatation device!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

KETCHUP

I'd better play catch up.
I've been on the water a lot lately. As of today, I've managed being on the boat trolling, five out of the last seven days. I've taken the time to enjoy what I love, but have ignored sharing it. Shame-shame-shame. Thanks goes out to my wife Cathy for reminding me to share.
I've done so-so, been skunked, and have done "quite well". Fishing for landlocked salmon and brown trout on Lake Champlain has been screwy lately. Fish bite on one part of the lake while another part, they remain very tight-lipped.

Lets see, how about just a quick synopsis;

Friday, 4-30-twenty-ten...
Fished solo. It was slow, I fished 5 hours, went two for three on Landlocked Salmon. Didn't get any Browns...The Tamiron Honeybee, Lemon with Hot Pink Head and Tail took all the fish.

Sunday, 5-2-twenty-ten...
Took out my lovely daughter Ashley. This was her first time on the lake this year. Sweet of her to go and hang out with Dad. Again... slow, we were able to run a four-rod program but again, we were two for three on Landlocks, no Browns again. Darn.

Monday, 5-3-twenty-ten...

Cathy had the day day off and I was looking forward to her joining me on the water. I let her sleep in and tried to hide my excitement of another day of fishing, especially in her company. It didn't work, she called my bluff!

I'm hearing great, positive news on catch rates in a different part of the lake than where I normally fish. Short road trip I'm thinking. We hit the water mid-morning, set up and was fishing about 9:30ish. There were a few boats in the area we wanted to hit, I didn't want to feel like I was crowding them, so we went into search mode. After a couple hours, we found some active fish hanging over bait in deep water.

We did much better... We ended up six for eight or nine on Salmon.

We caught fish on down riggers, long lines (165 feet back!), lead-core, and lite bite slide divers. Two fish were taken on the slide divers, pretty cool. The slide divers are a new presentation for me this year...I'm liking them already!

Again, honeybees by Tamiron ruled the water!

Tuesday, 5-5-twenty-ten...

I've created a single post....see above post titled: Surfin' Safari...Cinco de Mayo

Be safe if you go out. Remember the water is still very cold and within minutes, hypothermia can set in. Wear an approved personal floatation device!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

26.4.10

THREE DAYS GRACE

After getting the boat out of surgery Thursday afternoon, and getting it ready in the evening, it was time to hit the water.

Friday, shakedown;
I fished solo all day. Launched in St Albans Bay and stayed within a mile or so of the launch in case I had trouble. Found some warmer pockets of water (52°) but no salmonids. After a few hours, I motored down toward the sandbar and trolled till mid afternoon, then motored back up to the bay. No Salmonids.
Pike and Pickerel. One pickerel was the largest I've ever caught. I learned they like Tamiron honeybees and MP6.
Boat ran well. All systems GO, no problems. But...no desired species.
All fish released to fight another day.

Saturday;
Fished with Ludo, a friend from the Canadian Province of Quebec. We had a good time and Ludo acted as my interpreter. That made the day that much more interesting as there were quite a few fisherman from Quebec on the water using their marine radios! Thank you Ludo for joining me. We started north of the sand-bar, then moved to the south side. Ludo put the first fish in the boat, a big northern. Ludo released the Pike. Then we got a big slab perch. OH NO--NOT ANOTHER DAY OF THIS!!!
We ended up 3 for 6 or 7 on salmon/browns. Early colors were green/orange on silver, then things switched to orange on brass later in the day. It was nice talking with quite a few fisherman on the water. A big thanks to Lazy C's for the water-hand-off spoon! It ended up taking a nice salmon (and the big northern).
The fished I cleaned had empty stomachs.
Again, the boat ran well.

Ludo with a nice Landlocked Salmon and Brown Trout.

Sunday;
Slept in till after six...I was a little beat from two full days on the water.
I Launched at Apple Island with my wife Cathy. Her first time on the water this year. The sea was very rough with winds from the North so we headed south under the bridge, set up, and worked the prior days pattern. Talked with Thorny aboard the Pointer and they had boated one fish. Phil B (trolling B's) called, he was on the Sea, working the rough water. We worked the water for a few hours, one release with fish gone in seconds. Then a nice (spawned out) walleye hit.
Closed season...quick picture and back in it goes.

A quickly released Walleye.

We didn't want to fish late and Phil reported the Sea was beginning to lay down and he had netted two fish. We picked up and moved north with intentions of fishing another 1.5 hours. I taped up a brass blank with a stripe of tamiron yellow tape, then applied a layer of tamiron transparent orange. We went 3 for 3 on Salmon in 1.5 hours to finish the day. All cookie cutters, 17-18". Good eats. These fish were full of alewife's.
Again, the boat did well.
All fish caught were clean with the exception of one Pike having a lamprey wound.
Tight lines to all.
Be safe if you go out!

Chunky Champlain Brown Trout

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

19.4.10

SIX FOR EIGHT IN THE SEA

Yesterday, I fished with Rob and Don aboard Robs boat, The Thorny. We concentrated on finding warmer pockets of water and hopefully find some active fish.
It took some hunting, but we found them just before the weather turned sour and the water got too bumpy.

We went six for eight on Landlocked Salmon and Brown Trout in the Inland Sea, keeping four salmon and two brown trout. We caught and released two Northern Pike and one Pickerel. The salmon and the trout were shared between us for some tasty meals!

Rob with part of the days catch.

A pile on the floor!

Fish on, fish H8 me.

9.4.10

COLD-WATER SPECIES FISHING IS HEATING UP

Fisherman putting their time in on the water, fishing for Lake Champlain's cold-water species; Lake Trout, Landlocked Salmon, and Brown Trout are putting fish in their nets. Now that the ice has disappeared from the lake, boats are being unwrapped, launched, and on the prowl in search of feeding fish.

The key to fishing these species at this time of the year is to troll very shallow water with a temperature probe on the surface. Some fish are being caught in water as shallow as three feet! Look for warmer pockets of water and troll just under the surface. Running lines a long distance behind the boat is key, most fisherman are running lures 100 feet or more. Fishing with planer boards is also an important and successful technique. As the boat passes near fish in shallow water, they'll move off to the side where a planer board is likely to place your bait near the fish.

One of the hottest lures this time of the year is the small Honeybee by Tamiron Sporting Goods. Honeybee's are available on line here, or by visiting Dockside Outdoors on Route 2 headed toward the Champlain Islands.

Get out on the water, be safe, and put in your time. You'll be pleasantly rewarded!