Salmon Fishing Lake O- Newbie Questions

[James77]

Hey folks

 

A family friend has purchased a 32' boat and has offered to take me out for an afternoon of fishing. Who am I to argue?

 

I have been on a few charters, but other than that I am clueless on how to fish for them.

 

Is it possible to do so without downriggers?

The boat is parked in Bluffers Marina, does anyone have any advice on where to start my quest?

 

We would be happy to catch anything, would love to lock into some Lakers or Rainbows.

 

Any help is appreciated, I have been wanting to catch a lake trout for years.

 

Thanks in advance

 

James

[AKRISONER]

rod holders and dipsey divers...youll be on fish.

 

Last time i fished lake O we had the riggers out and all the expensive gear, but wouldnt you know it, we caught all of our fish on a crappy rod, in a rod holder with a dipsey and fly.

[John Bacon]

Not many lakers caught around Bluffers. Rainbows are usually out in the 'blue zone', which is the deeper water. You can try heading out to the 300' depth for bows. I caught my last Chinook in 50' at around 8:00pm. There should also be browns close to shore.

There is a drop off in front of Bluffers where it drops from 80' to about 180' pretty quick. That may be a good area to try for salmon.

[Headhunter]

No riggers? Dipsey and or lead core all ten colours.

HH

[BillM]

Early - shallow, later the day move deeper, evening go back shallow. Personally if you want some fish I'd run out to the bluezone and fish anywhere from 25-60ft down. Spoons, SD/flies, etc.

[BITEME]

X3 on the blue zone you.... can get a lot of fish!!!!

Might as well shake out the boat and bonus you got 32 feet to play with

Oh yeah

Cell *16

Vhf 16

 

Our biggest issues are with are people that just bought boats. Just saying

[James77]

Thanks for all the info folks, so I'm going to pick up a couple dipsy divers . Do you think I can use my musky setup for the salmon?

I have a 8' MH St.Croix Premier Musky with 80 Pound Power pro.

Alternatively I have two ugly stick gx2's with 30 pound test power pro,6' MH rating.

 

I am thinking we will try in that spot recommended near bluffers, thanks for the tip.

In the blue zone, are you literally just looking for the deep water and sending lines out at different depths and hoping for the best?

 

Is it better to run along a depth break, or is it better to travel over them?

 

Thanks for all the advice. I really hope we can get a few in the boat and make this a weekly thing.

 

We will make sure to be very careful and will hopefully not have to call anyone, but thank you for those numbers!

 

James

[James77]

I should mention, I wrote Salmon fishing but I'm really just hoping to put some fish in the boat regardless of species.

Whatever/wherever that might be I am unsure.

 

Thanks

James

[Fisherpete]

You can run a dipsy rod off that muskie setup, but unless you have a line counter reel it will be a guessing game as to how deep your lures will be running. Don't try it with those ugly stiks, they won't handle it.

[captpierre]

Typically the salmon are staging near river mouths and starting to run, this time of year.

Harder to catch on the lake.

I'd work the Blue Zone straight out from Bluffers.

Pick your days. Back off if winds more than 10-15 km/hr.

Bows are usually very cooperative. Lots of jumping. Look for bait fish on sonar. If you catch fish. Keep working the same area. Tend to be more.

Don't fish too deep. Usually run lures 25-60 ft down. You'll have to guess with your gear. Dipsey divers have depth guidelines on package. The further to the side you set them, the shallower they go.

Remember 2 rods/person allowed on Lake O.

Be safe. Have fun.

[Freshtrax]

Don't put your setup in a cheap rod holder. Dipsies pull pretty hard..... Id run a 10 colour lead and a some dipsies if rod holder situation allows.

[Old Ironmaker]

I'm pulling the boat from the slip in Erie which has become a hot bath and we are heading to Lake O. All of our Walleye set ups should give us a chance at finally catching some fish in Ont. I am reading here with great interest and hopefully get is on some fish in the next few weeks. Erie which usually fills our bellies of huge Walleye and limits of jumbo perch but has been a bust this year. I haven't even seen a Perch this year. 75 feet deep last month was 75F, crazy. The fish are there but 12 to 15 miles out, I will not venture to the International border in my small for here 19 footer deep V, no way.

 

I hope you get on them and we hope we do as well.

 

I call it the fishing summer that never was. Crazy year for sure.

[captpierre]

I'm pulling the boat from the slip in Erie which has become a hot bath and we are heading to Lake O. All of our Walleye set ups should give us a chance at finally catching some fish in Ont. I am reading here with great interest and hopefully get is on some fish in the next few weeks. Erie which usually fills our bellies of huge Walleye and limits of jumbo perch but has been a bust this year. I haven't even seen a Perch this year. 75 feet deep last month was 75F, crazy. The fish are there but 12 to 15 miles out, I will not venture to the International border in my small for here 19 footer deep V, no way.

 

I hope you get on them and we hope we do as well.

 

I call it the fishing summer that never was. Crazy year for sure.

Wow. Sucks to hear about the Erie bust.

Thought it was a fish factory.

Are the commercial guys way down too?

[Old Ironmaker]

The commercial guys have been netting Perch and Walleye. I don't begrudge any one making a legal honest living. If I had a mile long net I bet I would limit out.

[Rizzo]

I am new to this type of fishing as well, been out three or four times this summer. I do use my musky rods on the dipseys...works great. One piece of advice I would give is use braid on the dipsey rods! I tried mono one time...yipes. Because of the stretch in the mono you can't get the dipsey to release if you want to check your bait (which I do reasonably regularly). It is a massive pain to reel in if the dipsey won't release!