|
Sept 3, 2010
Charterfishing aboard Troutman recently is producing substantial catches of Mature king salmon with the top fish this week at 32 lbs. Majors have crept up from the 150 ft depths to traditional holding ledge zones of 80 to 120 fow.
The hit level is consistent at 65 to 85 ft dn with opti Enticer flashers attracting major hits. Green pattern flys behind the E-#2 flasher under the high sun has bite best on T-Man.
Magnum Dreamweavers in glo Frawg on glow divers 7ft back set at 1 letting our 220 to 260 ft of wire, hold on!
I am keeping track of some large browns in 75 fow as several Tight Lines groups love to nail some fatties with their salmon take of the day. My most recent BT lunkers are 11lb, 13lb and a 32" 19 lber!
As is my policy my Labor Day groups have already been alerted to this massive cold front that is now arriving prior to their making a costly trip here for a no-go blow off. The forecast for Sat, Sun and Mon is storm force winds with 7 to 11 ft waves thru early Sunday. I have already rebooked two groups for later September King action at the "Wall". I have several King /Shark Attack" trips still open. As for this Sat and Sun - STAY OFF THE WATER - better yet stay home. There will be even better king action next week!
See Ya!
CJO
**************************************************************************************************
August 31, 2010
Tight Lines charter fishermen recently landed the 7th thirty pound class fish aboard Troutman on a deep ledge trip. Water temp is 54 degrees 125 ft dn over 140 fow off the Point Breeze ledge. Recent trips are a mix of inshore kings anywhere from skips to monsters. My main program remains Dreamweaver spoons with a heavy dose of magnum size blades in dark patterns of monkey drool with 42 second brass back and and gold back spook frogs.
Several half day trips found brown trout hugging bottom in 75 to 85 fow west of the pump house. Slow trolling (2kts) with green glo and frawg Yecks on both down riggs and leadcores have score nice trout including the season high monster Brown on Troutman at 32.5 inches and an even 19lbs (yeah Baby what a hawg). Steelhead are available on the 27 line 75 to 95 ft dn as well as farther outside and deeper to the 34 line. I am staying inside the fleet as I'm having more flurries with mature kings including matures of 33, 31, 29, 28, 24, 23, 22, 22 lbers either as singles or in the Bligh trip three for five matures in a heavy mixed bag half day catch.
I've had two contacts with the big boyz around the pierheads before the water cleared so my J Plugs are on board. Labor Day forecast is for rough water so be sure to check in before traveling to L. O. this weekend. With looseknit matures deep on the ledge and the first squadron in and out of the river mounth the upcoming storms will start to stack the ledge with the largest kings in the Great Lakes soon. My "Fall Shark Hunts" are starting where we fish a 5 hr dock to dock format either early predawn start or 4pm til full dark working the inside ledge and staging shallows off the famous Oak Orchard River.
See You There!
Capt John "O"
**************************************************************************************************
Aug 17, 2010
Lake Ontatio fishing conditions are usually effected by winds which push warm or cold water around. The fish holding thermocline has been like a Yo Yo due to several strong fronts with a lot of wind.
My Group from Maine hit the big steelhead fishing 85 to 115 ft dn over 350 ft of water. These mambo "bows" followed baitfish schools deep as a north wind stacked warm water - water temp in this scenario 50 degrees 100 ft dn! On day two we returned for more steel action, and a medium king. Then on a hunch we hit 65 ft of water right out in front of Point Breeze for a 5 brown trout flurry to 9lbs. The light east wind came up and bottom temp in 65 ft had cooled to 60 degrees - just right for summer browns!
More recently strong two day north east winds rolled the inshore zone from 75 degrees to 52 degrees on the surface. The move under these conditions is offshore and we managed to stay consistent the next three trips hitting 6 to 7 quality keepers/trip, kings, steels and a lot of skippy throwbacks.
Yesterday strong west winds kept us off the lake but these winds reset the ledge with a layer of stable warm water. I'll bet the browns and inshore mature kings will be the mainstay this week.
I'm running this afternoon then twice daily thru the opening of the Loc Derby. Check here for the Ledge Report!
At this time I'm very bullish on the Labor day thru Sept 25th time frame for the big boys: ie mature kings. The Oak Orchard river is running murky which creates a terrific pocket to attract river bound monster chinook.
I'm now booking split captains day trips as well as a special 5 hr sunrise /sunset king hunt for the biggest kings in the Great Lakes System.
Call for details on my "Shark Hunts! 1-800-443-2510!
CJO
**************************************************************************************************
July 30, 2010
Capt John just finished a terrific period of controlled depth fishing in some heavy water. Last night my 5 hr evening group hung on for a nice pm bite going 5 for 5 on quality king salmon to 21 lbs. Working 85 to 105 dn with Dreamweaver ss's and mags on glo blk silver 20 ft back being the ticket.
Today a group from central Ohio came on board and Capt John played the wind shift finding solid fish concentrations between Point Breeze and Devil's nose on the 80 to 100 fow line.
My set up was dialed in with riggers at 70 to 75 dn and "O" Frawg Dipsey divers on a 2 setting, 160 and 200 ft back. Final results 22 hits - 4 kings to 24 lbs [one other that nearly emptied the reel and bending the hook], 1 - 12# coh, 1 - 11# atlantic and 11 browns to 9 lbs. Many skips to 4 lbs and browns released. Action was all day on this 9 hr gig. By dropping back to 80 ft on riggers and changing the frawgs to blk sil the rods kept popping right thru quittin' time. The same gang will meet me at the boat at 5:30 am Sat for some more fun!
CJO
**************************************************************************************************
July 25, 2010
The high quality sportfishing on Troutman continues thru today Sunday July 25th. Recently I got my best friends, fishing client for over 20 yrs and webmaster -supreme, the H's from the Abany, NY area into the fish off Point Breeze. On day one after a delayed start we set out for the 29.0 line after rough water blew off the fleet in the am.
Even though Troutman classified the action as "hunt & peck" my gang had 20 hit action and while we filleted the catch a very nice king in the mid teens took a Troutman Special Fly off the 260 ft wire dipsey, nice chaos and a fun fish for Linda!
Over the weekend both morning groups hit multi year class kings on the ledge in the "nose area" - which is prime staging structure - that Troutman will be working daily on the morning bite for mature kings.
My best rig so far for several 30 lbers and my 2 yr old mature kings is a wire dipsey set 30 to 40 ft deeper than the thermocline with either a bright glo flasher fly set up or even better a Johnnie "O"'s fresh whole alewife rolling rigged behind a twinkie.
Capt Johnnie "O" uses his Finger Lakes experience to get a fresh whole and cutbait supply exclusively for Tight Lines Anglers. These native alewives are without a doubt the prime monster king lure as we get into major chinook action.
See Ya out there
T-Man
**************************************************************************************************
July 18, 2010
Sportfishing action on board the Charterboat "Troutman", as well as the Orleans County NY waters of Lake Ontario, continues to be a solid 9 on a scale of 0 -10. Recent fishing groups I've guided have experienced consistent action limits of King Salmon, Steelhead and whopper Coho Salmon.
This weeks lunker awards go to Rocco of Oarchard Park, NY with the mega shark (41" 33.5lb mature King). This monster took a good 45 minutes to land with the 50lb test fly leader parting as Capt John scooped the big male into into the Beckman Net. It's hard to find a Coho winner as so many die cut fatties in the 12# range. Top Steels and Browns were landed by L. of Bergen NY and C. of Kentucky at 14lbs.
The best area continues to be a current/blue veil weed line in the 25.0 to 26.0 lines which corresponds to about 300 ft of water. The thermocline is 48 degrees at 70 ft dn. I'm watching several king pods which show potential for staging on the ledge. The King run looks to be ontime and I'm anticipating more consistent action on the "Big Boys" by the 1st of August.
Even though there have been a couple blow offs recently the winds are keeping water temperature and fish location consistent. My best set up continues to be the 4 Cannon down riggers running at 42, 52 ,65,and 75 ft dn. Wire dipseys set at #2 with 160 to 210 ft out with custom flasher/fly rigs most days are taking the better Kings.
I have several well timed date clusters open for the "August on the Ledge" and "the Sept Inside" time frames for MONSTER King action! Call me @ 1-800-443-2510 for exciting fishing action.
See Ya out there
Troutman
**************************************************************************************************
July 5, 2010
Over the weekend, the fishing action on Troutman remains consistently terrific with boat limits of coho, steelhead and mixed year class king salmon - screamin' reels are the norm. Late eveninngs catch included a 22 lb and 28 lb chinook along with two atlantics in the 10 lb range which we released to get even bigger!
The ledge waters averaging 90 ft deep are holding salmonids and solid alewife schools with 54 degree prime hit level at 60 to 80 ft dn.
Fish On
Capt John "Troutman" Oravec
**************************************************************************************************
July 1, 2010
As for the "O" report - All I can say is fantastic to describe the hot fishing on Troutman this week. Water temp is stable with a thermocline running 55 degrees at 60 ft dn over 120 to 200 ft of water. The coho and steels just keep rods popping every day with Dreamweaver SS's rigged 30 to 55 dn on the out and downs. I am keeping my back three downriggs at 60 70 and 80 ft dn with Dreamweaver Mags and the big sharks, anywhere from 15 to 30 lb kings, are feeding on this setup. Color wise meat and potatoes black/silver, some with glo has been the ticket on these sunny days. That's it. I'm not running leadcore, no dipseys just riggers, and an average dn speed on the subtroll of 2.4 kts, 10ft leads early dropping lures back to 50 ft and adding sliders on all riggers on calm sunny conditions.
A few highlights from recent Tight Lines charters include three atlantics over the coveted 13lb mark, three chunky browns between 9 and 12 lbs [all on the high out and down] and 5 kings over 26 lbs up to our 2010 record (so far of 31.5lbs). As far as action goes, one of my business groups from Buffalo had 29 hits with 19 boated on an am 6hr gig last friday. Over the weekend two 6hr groups hit the limit with action and kept a few to grill. Most recently my pm wed group finished a 4 hr catch and release by hitting and landing a triple header on leaping steels.
The set up for super summer action is here off Point Breeze and early showing of 30 lb salmon bodes super for July, August and September as these mature fish school up for prespawn staging. I will be on the salmon grounds thru September 20th and some date selections are still available so feel free to use my charterline at 1 800 443 2510 anytime.
Fish On
Troutman
**************************************************************************************************
May 27, 2010
Capt John Oravec's Troutman sportfishing groups recently have hit a very nice program for the "silver mixed bag" catch! Now that surface water temp is back to 51 degrees and 47 degrees 40 ft dn the 80 to 100 fow contour is holding prime fish. Most of the chinook in the Oak area are matures ranging from 15 to 25 lbs! There is a current report of a 34 lber taken to the west which is a monster for Memorial day time frame.
The browns coho and steel portion of the catch is running 5 to 11lbs of late.
Trolling speeds of 2.3 to 2.5 GPS with Dreamweaver SS'S 25 to 60 dn and 5 to 8 colors on the core works well at this time. I really haven't heard of any fisherman doing any hitting on divers. The water is gin clear. While leaning over the side to rig a cannonball I could count the stones in 31 ft of water! My best colors are lemon ice and silver green glow tape early and purples,blk /red during high sun periods. Several lakers over 17 lbs have added heft to the battles and if targeted adds another 5 to 10 fish to the action. So overall very good fishing. The Orleans County Pro Am team is set for June 11 thru 13 including Larry Kacz from Cleveland, Big Jim from Macedonia Ohio, Vic and Dan from Caledonia NY and Musky Mike from Indiana!
I have a scattering of dates open for summer action out of the Oak, so feel free to call 1 800 443 2510 anytime for schedule details and my flex rates for various group sizes ok!
The weather looks calm and stable thru Monday.
Fish On
Troutman
**************************************************************************************************
May 19, 2010
East winds and incoming cold water has turned on the brown trout once again off the east shoreline of Oak Orchard. Water Temperature in 8 ft of water is 51 with a coffee color. Troutman is running black/silver/gold rapalas and thundersticks on yellow birds for chunky browns.
On the last several charters Troutman found a school of lunker lakers in 40 to 70 ft of water, suspended 35 to 60 ft down. On this hotspot trout from 8 to 16 lbs have been filling out the limit with 10 colors of leadcore being the killer rods.
Slow trolling speeds with pirates and the 'ol evil eye spoons in silver hammered and black silver hammerd the top color patterns.
As the warmer offshore water sloshes back the surface steelhead and suspended king salmon will shift to the Point Breeze area.
I'll be on 'em!
CJO
**************************************************************************************************
May 14, 2010
Troutman dominated the steelhead division at the Red Cross charity Benefit tournamnet at the Rochester Yacht Club. This event raises over $ 40,000 for Red Cross Childrens Programs in the Rochester Area.
The program included downrigging Pirate 44's on shallow 18 to 25 ft dn riggers and 5-6 colors of leadcore line. The best overall depth was maintained in 45 to 50 ft of water on the green/blue temp break off Braddocks Bay.
Recent catches off Point Breeze are mixed bag catches of big Atlantic salmon, large rogue Kings, and surface Steelheads. Yellow bird planers trailing thunderstick jr's in black /silver and gold orange belly are the trick. Fishing depths are shallower this week as east winds have pushed 47 degree water back into the 30 ft range. Downriggs with Dreamweaver ss's in gator/vq alewife and 42 second patterns 20 ft back. I take the sliders and divers out of the program in these shallow depths.
Strong west to southwest winds will push the good water back but in the morning I'm running to chrome dome to follow it back to the "Oak!
Fish On
Capt John "Troutman" Oravec
**************************************************************************************************
April 30, 2010
I ran a two some out of Point breeze yesterday and Brown trout Action is again excellent both East and West of the Harbor in 5 to 15 fow. These is plenty of chocolate water and shoreline water temps are averaging 50 degrees with 47 degrees out to 30 ft of water. The main program remains blk and siver stick baits off boards with riggers set at 3 to 6 ft down carrying small B7"S spoons. Best brown was 12 lbs and 29 inches.
I will be guiding regulars on the niagara bar off Ft Niagara this weekend live bait drifting plus the trolling set ups mentiond, recently a nice pod of kings 5 to 15 lbs move into the East structure of the Oak in 25 to 50 ft of water. This area looks like terrific salmon water for the derby as the Niagara area is only 43 degrees so - we'll see! I'll be in Rochester for the Red Cross tournament next Tuesday where there is two thousand dollar prize to the two best fish weighed in there.
I am really stepping up repairs on Troutman and will soon be filing my report on the Western Basin fishing conditions.
So fish On
Capt Johnnie "O" Troutman
**************************************************************************************************
April 21, 2010
The Niagara Bar is some pretty tough fishing at this set up. Water temp is a surprising 41 degrees and along with what some ol' timers call a record smelt density, fish are hard to pull, so I adapt. My most recent drift group from the Buffalo area boated several hefty/double digit "Mambo Lakers with me. Yup on the Bar.
How about on offshore humps 1.8 nautical miles North East of the green bouy!
These transitions often hold fish when the "inside " ledge is hurtin'.
We motored up to the condos and electro troled 20 to 30 FOW with emeralds for three nice browns and a 5 lb smallie. My Conn. gang flew in for drifting, we hit 2 big trout in the am Day #1 but we pulled the plug and shifted to the Oak Orchard area to Johnson creek. I set them up with a room at Orleans Outdoor. Launched again, this time at The Oak and we hit coho - light tackle casting the detatched breakwall with Blk/Sil Crocodiles to finish the day.
The next two days were very sucessful trolling yellow birds with Thunder stick Jr's in blk/silver and Blk/gold. My best boat depth was 7 FOW with the inside board producing browns and a Monster Atlantic salmon. All fish were released, choppy water and wsw winds churned a small mudline with the best temp 47.5 to 48.0 degrees between Joe's house and the west end of Lakeside Park.
Today I ran to the bluff at Devil's nose where steady coho/brown action was found between the Little Flats and Bald Eagle. The #9 GFR jtg rapalas workd best early and switching to the blk program at 10 am under the high sun/blue sky scenario helped keep the bite going. We finished 8 for 10 running a three rod set up.
I am working nites on the Troutman which will be floating rigged and ready for the LOC Derby several days are open for late comers. I'm looking for kings from Chrome Dome to 30 mile with all these west winds.
I'll see ya there!
Troutman
**************************************************************************************************
April 5, 2010
We have had some pretty tricky conditions with heavy bait, stuffed fish and gin clear water. Recent persistent east winds have shoved trout on the bar all the way to Timbucktu!
One group, from NJ, fished hard with me getting several big lakers, a trophy brown and a couple steels - all caught using different techniques in different spots. The early bite is gone except for a little surface feeding in lower drifts - so my ultralight spinner with a buck shot shiner rig has been called upon to do the trick.
I pulled some premade spawn sacs out one day to hit several steels in the High Banks and Coast Guard runs. Another day my guys got browns in 19 ft of water but that died quickly and we ran to 4 Mile Creek area and did some shore casting with B&S Bomber Long A's - size 13. My last group, lobstermen from Maine, caught a great brown, 2 twin 19 lb lakers(on #8 test seagar leaders), and a giant chrome steel on the bar - up high at the can. Their last day we scrounge 3 miles out using GPS maps drifting small humps which accounted for several mambo lakers and three smallmouth in the 5 to 6 lb range.
Since the shallows have cleared and the shore casting died, I reschedule several trips til the river warms up which should draw in smelt and more fish. Right now the lake shallows are 39 degrees and the river has rocketed to 41, very soon the river plume will rise to upper 40's and then watch out. Can you say schools of browns, lakers, surface coho and a roge king or two? There is nothing like hitting a nice shark on light tackle adrift with 200 ft of ten lb test to work with "WOW".
I'll be working on the 33ft Troutman for a while, then back on the river later in the week.
My # is 1-800-443-2510 if you have any questions about drifting in May or how to get in on HOT King Action on Troutman during the LOC derby in May.
Fish
On
CJO
|