25 boats and roughly 75 participants lined up for blast off start outside the breakwall of Jordon Harbour at 6:30am. Countdown on the VHF radio and the horn was sounded to send everyone on route to fishing spots. Primarily the boats headed straight out although some travelled east and only a handful travelled west. Visibility was only 5 miles or so, so it was difficult to make the boats out too far.
John Poirier, Stephanie and I were not going to run very far as it was difficult to suggest an alternative that was better than what we had discovered on Tuesday night. There might be a better location to go to, but we haven’t heard much from other anglers over the past week and the Northshore was definitely not happening with many poor reports.
Once the boats had left we started to set-up in 45 FOW and initially put the riggers down 35 and 45 with Flasher/MC Rockets and set out the Planer Boards for Leadcores out to the sides. 5 colour and 7 colour with Flasher/Fly. And then two divers were set out. Slide diver on starboard side and braid 107 diver on the Port side, both with Flasher/Fly sets.
The sonar screen had definitely changed since Tuesday night. Where bait was think inside 50 FOW it had dispersed substantially. Bait was sparse at mid depths in the water column but although difficult to read on a sonar, bait was shown very high riding the top 15-20 feet, and there were still some fish in the area.
The night before was a full moon shining bright and it was the thought that much of those fish were able to feed throughout the night and early morning, and were likely fed up for the most part, requiring us to wait it out for the next feeding time window.
The morning up to 10:00 am was very slow managing only two small Chinooks both tagged and released but we also lost 5 other small fish. We also lost all three fish during a triple header. Short strikes and missed opportunities- but the fish were small anyways. All of our morning bites thus far were in depths between 50 and 60 FOW and in front of Vineland (slightly west of Jordon Harbour ).
Water temps were cooler on the west side of Vineland and the Sea Fleas were minimal west, but warmer temps were East of Vineland and the Fleas infront of Jordon were bad enough to load up the lines after 30 minutes.
At 11:00 and after many, many changes in presentation and flasher/fly and spoon colours, John picks out a Atommik CrazyBitch Fly matched with a Mountain Dew NBK SpinDoctor and place it on the rigger wit a 65 ft lead and down 40 ft over 52 FOW. Minutes later it goes off and Shane was on the rod. The fish was big- strong and not happy. It made short, but fast runs and dove continuously. 35 minutes and with all rods now cleared and riggers brought up, the brute was at the back of the boat. Kicker motor on idle and we manage the fish inches from the net when suddenly the fly pulls out, and John takes a last effort sweep at the unhooked fish with the net and came up with nothing. John says it was a fish in the mid thirties. The boat was silent for a few minutes- but a joke or two brought back the mojo. Hahaha. Hey it’s fishing!
PJ Poirier was on them- taking shot after shot in slightly deeper water 70-90 FOW. They boat a fish just under 30lbs and lost two other decent fish at the back of the boat. So at 12:30 pm we started to work deeper water as well. At 1:00pm we discovered where the fish were- 60 to the bottom and in 80 FOW.
Shane sets the wire diver to 200 ft on 3 setting using Blue Dolphin with Mountain Dew Tape on the face of a Walker Deeper Diver 107 towing a Green NBK Spin Doctor and Hammer Fly. It takes a big strike and John is on it. We turn the boat to reduce the line peeling off and at the same time we let out the braid diver rod on the port side to the same 200 ft 3 setting black 107 Walker Deeper Diver towing a Mountain Dew NBK Spin Doctor and Mirage Howie Fly and moments later the drag starts to scream peeling line off the reel. Doubled up!
Shane fought the braid diver fish and then passed the rod to Stephanie and then grabbed the net and scoop John’s fish into the boat. Then John fought the braid diver fish the rest of the way and Shane netted that fish. They were almost twins in size. Both went into the cooler knowing that we might have a chance to make something of the day at the scales.
At the scales- PJ puts the biggest box of two fish weighing 51 lbs and winning big fish with the one fish just over 29 lbs! Way to go Perry Junior!
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Lots of boats got skunked and some got one fish only or two smaller fish. By the results the fish at Jordon Harbour were the better sized fish although 90-150 FOW at Port Weller had numbers.
Adrian Fleming at Grimsby Tackle put together a great Strait Line Anglers Club Event again this year- with some great prizes. The tournament was capped at 25 boats and with a great group of guys. No blown up heads with NASCAR like shirts. Low key events are the best!!!
John Poirier and I had an evening available and we took advantage of the calm seas and stable weather and tried our luck on Lake Ontario . At the ramp we talked to a fellow salmon angler returning from a day of tough fishing managing one rainbow and watching a blank sonar screen. We launched and set up in front of Beamsville in 50 FOW.
As we were told, the screen was blank but we managed only one release on a MC Rocket off a rigger down 52 feet over 60 FOW and about ½ hour later land a Rainbow caught on Mountain Dew NBK and Mirage behind a Black 107 Deeper Diver set on 3 and out 140 feet. It was released with pliers at the side of the boat.
A phone call to Perry Poirier that was fishing out of Jordon harbour revealed where we should be fishing as they report a good picture of bait and fish on the screen. John and I pulled in our four lines and motored over to in front of Vineland and set up in 50 FOW.
Moments later the screen lit up and it was evident that the past hour was wasted in comparison to our enthusiasm for the new potential. It was only 5 minutes later the 7 colour leadcore down the chute with a Nuclear Green SpinDoctor with Mnt Dew Tape and with a Crinkle Mirage Howe Fly. A powerful run spun 300 feet off the reel in a single dash and simply came loose. We later checked it one hour later to reveal the fly leader broke two inches from the knot!!! Yikes.
Next rod to fire was the braid diver again Mountain Dew NBK and Mirage behind a Black 107 Deeper Diver set on 3 and out 140 feet. King came to the boat at 7 lbs 8oz tagged with number 1494 and released back to the 60 foot waters.
Temps at 35 feet were 55’F and seemed to take the majority of the hits at depth, But as the night wore on the hooks on the screen continued to rise higher in the water column. We chased those fish up higher, by running the rigger at 35 feet instead of 50 feet down. This resulted with a soft strike on the rigger where it required manually releasing the line from the release before the fish pulled it out. It was thought to be a small shaker, but as I passed the rod to John, the head shakes were big and then the fish turned and took the line out to 400 ft. After a 15 minute fight the boat comes to the boat and weighs 25lbs 8 oz caught on the MC Rocket and Spin Doctor Mountain Dew tape and Crushed Glow tape on a White blade. The fish took the treble hook in the eye so we didn’t tag the fish.
Then the braid diver again Mountain Dew NBK and Mirage behind a Black 107 Deeper Diver set on 3 and out 140 feet. A small King came to the boat at 2 lbs tagged with number 1488 and released back to the 70 foot waters.
The sun was down and the Slide diver on 3 setting with the Mountain Dew NBK with Atommik Mirage fly out 100 ft then the diver clipped on the line and then set out another 90 ft took a shot. The drag sings and then the line binds up and we crank the boat about face and manage to avoid a break off. The fish was boated at just after 9:00 pm and weighed 23 lbs 10 oz and released again with tag number 1489.
Shane Thombs
www.fintasticsportfishing.com
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