FROSTBITE FISHIN'

This past week I've managed to hit the water twice in search of Lake Champlain Landlocked Salmon.
Sunday I was joined by my lovely wife Cathy.  We waited until the air temperature rose to the freezing mark of 32° F before heading out.

Cathy's bundled up, doing all the driving while trolling Lake Champlain.


We fished three and a half hours and hooked up over twenty times, all Landlocked Atlantic Salmon "clones" in the 15 to 17 inch range.
These fish were absolutly ravenous, it was nonstop action on all four trolling set ups. 

We had two rods on down-riggers, one lead-core line out, and one line out set up with a Slide Diver Lite Bite.  I started out the trip fishing with Honeybees, and never changed lures.  Why change something that is so hot, you can't keep them in the water?
What a riot. 
Soooo many fish, soooo little time!


Starboard side poised for action.









 

Tuesday, Rob calls me and asks if I'm in for a trip on Thanksgiving Day, in the morning.  "Early on, early off" he explains.
"Heck yeah, I'm in!"

We managed to get two other guys, Mark and Henry to join us.
We all met at Rob's house, piled our gear in his boat and headed out.  We hit the water at about 6 a.m. just before sunrise at a balmy 20° F with a slight chop on the water. 

Again, we managed about a three and a half hour trip, lead-core lines freezing up, and balls of ice on our rod tips, determined to catch fish and have fun doing it!
We found the Landlocks hovering around the baitfish just as I had found them on Sunday.  Unfortunately the fish weren't near as active as they were on Sunday but we picked at them and enjoyed our Lake Champlain and the company of each other.

Mark at sun-rise, setting lines.

 We managed to boat 10 Landlocked Salmon and two or three small Brown Trout.
"A great way to spend a Holiday morning on the water with friends!"

As I write this and look out the window, it's snowing and 32°F.  I wish I were on the water; there's something special about trolling through the snow flakes.

If your in the cold north country and venture out onto open water, be safe and be prepared. 
Have fun and catch fish! 
Frostbite season is here!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

FROSTBITE FISHIN'

Minnesota Muskie Jumps in Canoe...

Crazy...

These folks were fishing for sunnies

when this GIANT Muskie jumps in their canoe!

Crazy...



Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

Minnesota Muskie Jumps in Canoe...

ICE FISHING LAKE CHAMPLAIN

Many of you aren't familiar with my home waters of Lake Champlain.
Here's in interesting article I came across about ice fishing on my favorite lake.
Yes...it's still to early for ice and there's a few more weeks of open water fishing, but it's good to look forward to!

Fish here to read more!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

ICE FISHING LAKE CHAMPLAIN

BETTER THAN WATCHING SQUIRRELS

Yesterday was opening day of the 2010 Vermont Firearms Deer Hunting Season.
Since I gave up hunting several years ago, I decided to drag some steel on Lake Champlain in hopes of picking up some Landlocked Atlantic Salmon, Steel-head, and Brown Trout.

As I trolled by Jon, he shot this picture of me...Thanks Jon!

What a beautiful day on the lake.  Virtually no winds, very slight chop, and temps that got up into the 40's! (It was 27° F when I left the house shortly after day-break.)

I didn't set the world on-fire but enjoyed fishing on the lake.  I ended the day with a half dozen "clone" Landlocked Salmon and a few Lake Trout.  I kept two of the clones to enjoy on the grill, and found plenty of help cleaning them from two of our Grand-daughters when I got home.

Haley is showing off two of the twenty small alewife's we found in the stomach contents of one of the fish!

Makayla, proudly displaying one of G-Pa's catches!

Thanks for the help girls!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

BETTER THAN WATCHING SQUIRRELS

BEAVER TRAIL ON BRISTOL POND

I came across this site the other day and thought it made an interesting picture. 

A "Beaver Trail" through the thin ice on Bristol Pond Vermont.

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

BEAVER TRAIL ON BRISTOL POND

PETA IS GOING TO FREAK OUT!

My cousins all got together and went on a hunting trip last week.
Need I say more?

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

PETA IS GOING TO FREAK OUT!

ADVENTURERS...OR SOMETHING ELSE?

adventurers...or somthing else?

Three souls and three dogs are rescued from the chilly waters of Lake Champlain. 

They built a raft, launched, and were headed towards the Atlantic...then France!

12 miles later...

disaster strikes!

Fish here to read the in-depth article at The Burlington Free Press.

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

ADVENTURERS...OR SOMETHING ELSE?

SLIDE DIVER LITE BITE CHART

It seems a large number of folks land on Fish H8 Me searching for a chart for the Slide Diver Lite Bite.
I suggest visiting the Slide Diver Web site located at http://www.slidediver.com/ where you can view the chart and also order a nice laminated waterproof copy to carry aboard your boat.

Fish here!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

SLIDE DIVER LITE BITE CHART

FROSTBITE FLEET SALMON SHOOTOUT 2010

And the winner is...

Ron Winter of Essex Junction Vermont with a dandy 23 inch Landlocked weighing in at 5.11 pounds.
Congratulations Ron!
Ron caught the winning fish on one of Champlain's hottest lures, a Honeybee from Tamiron Sporting Goods.

The second annual Frostbite Fleet Salmon Shootout was an absolute riot.  A fun FREE event with a Bar-B-Que at the end to wrap up the day.

It's tough to find the big fish in open water at this time of the year on Lake Champlain, but three dandy, leaping, bright silver, powerhouse, Lake Champlain Landlocked Atlantic Salmon made it to the weigh station after the five and a half hour event.

Second place in the event went to a new comer, Bill Snell of New Haven Vermont with a 4.14 pound landlocked.  Congratulations Bill!

Lucky for me, I was able to get a decent fish in the box and headed for the weigh-in scheduled for 1 PM.
A beautiful football shaped 4.12 pound salmon hit my line about 45 minutes before time to "quit".  Ben of Dockside Outdoors was on-board with me and netted the beast.  We whooped and hollered and headed in once the fish was safely boxed.  Thanks Ben!

The fish was good for a third place finish.  The trophy won't set on my mantle this year, but the memories of a fun filled event with a great bunch of fisherman will last the rest of my lifetime!

364 days to go untill the next Frostbite Salmon Shootout and I can hardly wait.

Until then, I'll keep at it, often solo, enjoying the jewel we call Lake Champlain and it's wonderful fishery!

Tight lines to all!

Fish on, fish H8me.
Raz

FROSTBITE FLEET SALMON SHOOTOUT 2010

EPA Denies Petition To Ban Lead

Good news...
I can keep my lead-core line and heavy down-rigger weights!
http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/chemtest/pubs/petitions.html

Fish on, fish H8 me.

Raz

EPA Denies Petition To Ban Lead

FAILED: SUBMERSIBLE CAPSULE

This isn't supposed to happen on boat trailer lighting...is it?

This is the second time in 7 years.  Really not bad but I'm thinking on switching over to LED trailer lights!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

FAILED: SUBMERSIBLE CAPSULE