Lonely Lunker Winner

Gotta toot my horn.
Winner, winner....Chicken Dinner!
That nice 8.22 pound Landlocked I pulled from Lake Champlain got me a Lonely Lunker prize in the Lake Champlain International All-Season Tournament.

Giddy up!

Another look at her:

She's still at the taxidermists.  I'll post a pic when I have the mount.

Next week-end is the 3rd annual Frostbite Salmon Shoot-out.  Weather permitting.
I landed a 3rd place fish last year...but have plans to clean house this year!

Fish on, Fish H8 me.
Raz 

Lonely Lunker Winner

She Ain't Pretty...She Just Looks That Way!

Finally...
Finally a Lake Champlain Landlocked Atlantic Salmon worth entering into the Vermont Master Angler Program.
I'd been fishing Lake Champlain near Burlington for less than an hour when this bruiser hit.

I was on the boat solo...dealing with a Lake Trout about the same size when all hell broke loose.
What a Chinese fire-drill that must of looked like!
The flailing of myself from one side of the boat to the other, biceps flexing, forearms burning, needle-nose pliers squeezing and twisting, cheaters tangling, net spinning end over end, fish on, fish H8 me.

8.22 pound, 27.5 inches of pure Lake Champlain Landlocked Salmon Energy!

Tamiron MP6 Honeybee in Fire-tiger, pulled 15' below the surface by a clear Slide-Diver Lite-Bite.

Not sure...
But this might of just bumped me into the top spot in the LCI
All-Season tournament.
I'm still watching for updated results!

Game on.
Rock and Roll.

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

She Ain't Pretty...She Just Looks That Way!

WHACK-ITY...SMACK-ITY

We put a hurtin' on the fish, fishing Lake Champlain for Landlocked Atlantic's and Brown Trout this week-end.

Cathy piloted the boat Saturday...
We netted 13 Landlocks and lost three others.
A banner day considering this spring has been slower than normal.
A few are destined for the smoker.

Cathy's first day on the water this year and it was PERFECT!

The Brown Trout stayed elusive...

until Sunday aboard the Running&Gunning.

A couple good eater chunky footballs found their way to the net.



Casey with a green colored Brown

Then another nice Landlocked.

Again...

I fell just short of a qualifier for the Vermont Master Angler Program.

For the second time this year.



Total for the day, six or seven Landlocks and two Brown Trout.


And I loved the new Cannon Rod with the Daiwa 17LC I put on it!

Today's outing has been cancelled...
got a hard blow going on.

Fishing Lake Champlain for Landlocks, Brown's or Steel-head?
Be sure to pack some Honeybee's, they're hard to beat!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

WHACK-ITY...SMACK-ITY

ACROBATIC DANCERS...

We didn't set the world on fire yesterday but had fun trying.
My buddy Brett jumped aboard for an afternoon of fishing the Inland Sea of Lake Champlain for the jumping, acrobatic action of Landlocked Atlantic's.

We put our limit in the box...and lost a couple others. 
Warm balmy conditions and flat seas without a chop didn't impress me...but the fish didn't mind.

These guys are great table-fare...
Chase em down with Cold beer...
It don't get much better.

SPONSORED BY BEN AND THE CREW AT DOCKSIDE OUTDOORS!

We thought we'd get an earlier start this morning...
but the truck fell ill.
We'll try for tomorrow!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

ACROBATIC DANCERS...

PICKIN' AT EM

We're struggling a little bit with the flood waters...
but we're getting out.

I managed a nice "incidental" Small-mouth that fell just short of qualifying for the Vermont Master Angler Program.

Monster Landlocked Atlantic Salmon!

We'll just keep after em!

Fish on, fish H8 me.

Raz

PICKIN' AT EM

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

Struggling

COLD WATER SHAKE-DOWN

Joined by my buddy Matt...
The Razzle Dazzle hit the water of Lake Champlain for the first time yesterday.
The motor fired right up, didn't miss a beat, and all the gear worked as expected.

No Fish...
Got the SKUNK
And a heck of a sun-burn under the blue Vermont skies.

And Matt brought along this cool Ego Slider net of his.

Gotta love it...
We'll get 'em next time!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

COLD WATER SHAKE-DOWN

2010 OPEN WATER FISHING GOES OUT WITH A BANG...

With the boat under a temporary cover to protect it against filling with snow, and the predicted air temperature expected to get into the low teens this week, I'm pulling the plug on open water fishing from my boat.


Yesterday, my open water season ended with a bang, it ended on a very positive note. I had arrived at work feeling poorly, so I excused myself mid-morning to get in some therapy and relaxation by fishing Lake Champlain.

The air temperature was a very tolerable 35° F and the water was flat when I launched the boat just before the noon hour on the "Inland Sea" portion of the lake.  I motored out a few hundred yards and set up a line on a down-rigger for Landlocked Atlantic Salmon.  I put the rod in the holder and it fired...fish on! 
For he next 10 minutes or so, one rod was all I could handle.  I had fish after fish on the first set up while trying to set up another down-rigger.  I had four fish in the boat and released before I was able to get the other side of the boat set up.

I knew this was going to be a blast.  Steering, fighting fish, solo in the boat, and busy as all heck!
Honeybee's by Tamiron Sporting Goods dressed in orange were the hot ticket for the day. 

I concentrated on an area known as the "Cowbanks", where I couldn't keep the Honeybee's in the water.  Amazing action, fish after fish after fish. Granted, these weren't the big fish that are returning to open water after spawning that I was hoping for, but legal sized and full of energy...what a blast.

I fished for a total of two hours and forty-five minutes and landed 16 of the 18 fish I had on.  All but one were Landlocked Atlantic Salmon.  The one that wasn't a salmon was a very pretty, deeply colored Brown Trout, that thought it was a salmon when it made a beautiful jump and waved good-bye at the same time.  Easy come, easy go.

I ended up keeping two fish for the freezer that had gotten their mouths tore up pretty badly, fighting for their lives.  Their fight wasn't in vain, they'll be delicious when served and provide nourishment at the top of the food chain.

Today, I'll fight the wind and snow flakes, stripping the boat of it's open water accessories and reminisce about the great open water season of 2010 on Lake Champlain.

I'll put the word out that "I NEED A RIDE!!!" and hopefully get on someone else's boat for another trip or two before the ice locks up the launches and even the hardiest of the Frostbite Fleet surrender to Old Man Winter.

Stay tuned...there will be plenty of hard water action from the ice of Lake Champlain to report!

Fish on, fish H8 me.

Raz

2010 OPEN WATER FISHING GOES OUT WITH A BANG...

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'

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

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

LAKE CHAMPLAIN FISHING... DOG-GONE (ALMOST)

What a beautiful fall day to be out on the water.  Lake Champlain was fore-casted to have up to three foot waves but I found a totally different scene when I arrived.  Granted I didn't get on the water untill just after the noon hour, and the folks coming off the water said the fishing was hot...untill the wind died down and the lake flattened out.
Well, they were right.  No problem with rough water and the fish were inactive.  Landlocked Salmon, Brown Trout, and Steel-head are all present but laughing at my spoons as I washed them behind the boat.  I tried every tactic I could think of and every color in the rainbow...including the rainbow!!!

I saved the day by managing to net two Lake Trout that were on the smaller side, but they brought a smile to my face just the same.
Released to be caught again another day, to bring a smile to another anglers face.

Dog-gone...(almost)

Then my phone rang...
My wife was at the Mall in South Burlington when she heard the description of her SUV with her license plate number come over the intercom.
It seems that some scumbag broke into her vehicle to steal our wonderful family pet.  CoKo Pug.

Scared but uninjured, CoKo was still in the SUV.  The rear hatch broken open, shards of glass everywhere...

Now...
I'm fishing for a different species.  I'm fishing for the guilty party.
Guilty beware!



Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

LAKE CHAMPLAIN FISHING... DOG-GONE (ALMOST)

DOUBLE DIGITS, SMALLER FISH

Cathy and I finally got on the water the other day and it was beautiful fall day to be on Lake Champlain.
We launched out of Converse Bay in search of salmon activity and found it right away.
When we launched, we immediately headed over to Whallons Bay to get out of the wind to set up.  I hadn't even got all our lines in the water when the first fish hit...
A dandy leaping silver Landlocked Atlantic Salmon.

The bigger mature fish are difficult to find in the lake right now as most of them are spawning in the rivers.
But...that doesn't mean there aren't any Landlocks to have fun with.  The fish that were stocked in the early spring, have been eating well and enjoying life in Lake Champlain.  These fish are now of legal size for the most part, most of them being between 16 and 17 inches, fat like footballs, and full of energy!

Four of the 12 fish we netted came home for the table.
I'm thinking the nice thin fillets will be absolutly delicious lightly breaded and pan fried...
or poached, or grilled, or broiled...
(Any way but loose!)

The hot color was pink or orange.  A gold MP-6 Honeybee from Tamiron Sporting Goods with orange, and a silver Speedy Shiner with pink took the most fish.  I tried lots of stuff to see what would work.  I couldn't seem to get any fish on green, purple, or blue.

The fish as of right now, are higher in the water column.  All our fish came from 15 to 48 feet down over 200 plus feet of water. 
We'll see if that changes when the big mature fish return to the lake!

Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

DOUBLE DIGITS, SMALLER FISH

WHAT FISH SEE

What Fish See: written by Dr. Kageyama, an optometrist and avid fisherman, has brought a whole new meaning to the fishing lure industry!  Many of us for years believed that fish could only see in black, white, and shades of gray.  Many of the original studies were done with the visible spectrum, and with preference tests and specific fish.

The scientific approach that Dr. Kageyama has displayed in his book reveals that when the physical composition of the (fish) eye itself is measured and subjected to very close scientific scrutiny, the chemicals contained within the eye are closely examined, and other tests are performed, the following facts (not theory) are revealed:

· With normal side to side motion that fish have, their vision is a 360° ball.  That's right, they can see in front, back, and on both sides without any blind spots.

· Fish have additional cones in their eyes, which we do not have, which allow them to see into the ultraviolet wavelengths.  If you have two colors of red and one of them florescent, humans may not be able to tell the difference.  Fish can!  The florescent red basically begins at the end of the visible (human) spectrum, beyond blue and ultraviolet.  They also have a much more sensitive ability to pick up photoluminescence (glow-in-the-dark).

I'm not trying to steal Dr. Kageyama's information.
I would suggest that you read the book from cover to cover, over and over.

In the meantime, there's a way to allow you a better appreciation of what the fish see. A lot of displays, events, etc... feature black-light to create an eerie image of bright colors.  The same can be achieved with an ultraviolet flashlight so that you can see what the fish see.  It's a revolutionary concept that is already well ingrained into  lures being designed for the Great Lakes.  Those that have followed this path have created a dramatic impact on the market.  For a very reasonable price, you can have this capability in your own hands. Take it with you before you purchase more fishing tackle. Wouldn't it be better to present to the fish what they can see, rather than what you can see?

At just under four inches long, this powerful little U.V. Black-light Flashlight from Tamiron Sporting Goods is small enough to fit in any anglers pocket, tackle box, or in my case, my "kit" of lures, blanks, tapes, and tools I use to customize baits to my liking.

Here's an example of UV tape and paint as seen with the U.V. Black-light.

The top photo is of two honeybee's taken in natural light.

The photo on the bottom is of the same two spoons, but was taken in low light conditions, photo flash "off", illumintated with the UV Black-light flashlight.  What fish see in low light conditions!

I've added this great tool from Tamiron Sporting Goods to my arsenal, and if your looking to "get the edge", you should too!

Fish on, fish H8 me.

Raz

WHAT FISH SEE

BUSTED...

BUSTED...

Zzzzziiiinnnnggggg-zinggg zing-zing, broke off, snapppp,

Ka-pinnggggg...

I don't get broke off very often, but I managed to loose two nice Landlocked Salmon on Saturday.

I was joined by my eleven year old Grandson Justin and a fishing buddy Matt.  We got a great early start, after driving nearly an hour and launching the boat at Converse Bay on Lake Champlain just after day-light, we were geared up and ready to fish!   We were after Mr. and Mrs. Landlocked Salmon.  These fish are tough to fish for this time of the year, as the majority of them go and hide and get tight lipped prior to spawning.  But, we were up for the challenge, or so we thought.

A lot of the fish being caught this time of the year are the fish that were stocked earlier in the summer.  "Stockers".  Right now, they've been in the lake for several months; eating and growing, and are just under the legal size limit of 15".  They're brightly colored, fat and plump, shaped like little footballs. 

But, those aren't our target.  Our target is to find mature fish that are hanging out deep, still on the feed.  Maybe they spawned last year and don't wish to do so this year, or, maybe they just aren't "in the mood".  Anyway, these are the fish we want to hook up with.

The first nice fish to hit sent the reel screaming, yelling for attention.  This was a line set up on a downrigger.  Down 73 and 15 feet back behind the ball on one of my custom honeybees, the orange and green, of the three Amigos.

(See http://fishh8mecreations.blogspot.com/) 

I grabbed the rod and the fish began to pull.  It made two very nice runs, peeling line and pulling hard, then decided to make a run for the boat.  I reeled like hell but this fish was on a mission, a mission to free itself if it could.  The fish headed along the starboard side of the boat wanting to keep clear of the boat and pass us...untill it tangled in another line, a heavy braided line with a lite bite slide diver running deep.  That's just about where this story ends...I think you know what happens next. 

BUSTED...  Dang, what an adrenaline rush.

About an hour later...

The Lite Bite Slide Diver fires.  The rod doubles over hard.  HARD!

The reel starts screaming and I mean SCREAMING!

Zzzzziiiinnngggg-Zzzzziiiinnngggg-Zzzzziiiinnngggg...

If you've ever fished with a slide diver, dipsy diver, or other hard pulling diving device, then you know that the drag on the reel is already set pretty tight.

Well, that drag wasn't stopping this freight train, it wasn't even going to slow him down.  This fish was headed for the abyss, headed down to Davey Jones' locker. 

And I lost my cool...

Instead of thinking, and trying to outwit the fish I tried to stop it.  It wasn't to be stopped.  Now with over 250 feet of line out I began to thumb the spool.  NOT the thing to do.  I began to apply pressure with my thumb and the fish still wouldn't slow down.  I applied a little more and felt it happen...

The vibration came all the way up the line to my rod and into my hand.  The sickening ugly explosive release of energy as the five foot, ten pound fluorocarbon leader between the slide diver and the fish gave away.

BUSTED...

Definetly a trophy.

BUSTED...

Lake Champlain Salmo salar, to be caught another day.

I WILL return!

Fish on, fish H8 me.

Raz

BUSTED...

VERMONT STATE RECORD: LANDLOCKED SALMON

Vermont's Landlocked Salmon Record.  12 Pounds, 10.4 ounces.
Taken by Brian Latulippe on October18, 1994.
Lake Champlain

What a beautiful Lake Champlain Landlocked Atlantic Salmon! 

The above picture was taken of Brian and his fish at Ron's Bait Shop in Colchester, the day of the catch.  Ron's has since closed it's doors.

Brian caught this beautiful fish while perch fishing at the sand-bar bridge on Lake Champlain.  An area known to have big salmon prowling at certain times. 

Below, is a more recent picture of the trophy fish mount.  This is the angler's son, Brian Latulippe Jr, proudly showing off the Vermont record his father caught.

Will the record ever be broken?  With the addition of alewife's for forage and increased sea lamprey control, it might get broken...someday.

Brian doesn't hope that it will, and rightly so!
It's a family treasure.  A treasure they can always be proud of.

Photo's courtesy of Brian Latulippe Jr.
Fish on, fish H8 me.
Raz

VERMONT STATE RECORD: LANDLOCKED SALMON