Lake Erie was flat- just a gentle wind from the south west of less than 5 km. The skies were blue and it was warm.
Went out with a family of three kids, Bruno and his wife Bow. We fished in his boat, a 19 ft Lund Pro V Gary Roach edition. He had it booking along at 50 mph with six of us! He had it equiped with the 997 Humingbird side finder and it was my first experience seeing how it works. It was truely interesting to see how it works and I can see it be a smallmouth bass drift fisherman's biggest asset.
The screan was full of fish, bait at all depths but primarily between 20-40 ft and 60-90. Fish were mostly between 60 to the bottom with only the odd fish up higher. We trolled between 1.5 mph to 1.8 mph and tried as much as 1.9-2.0 when we had the slow period. 1.7 was the most productive all around.
We started slightly west of Port Maitland (straight out from Grant Point) and set up in 90 FOW at about 8:00 am. Finally got 10 rods in the water when the first rod went off then the second went off with a double header. First fish was the biggest of the day at 8 lbs 12 oz. Watermelon 82 Walker Deeper Diver behind the inline Planerboard 220 ft using Blue Berry Muffin Yeck #6 Colorado and Pink Metalic #4 blade in the front. The other was around 5 bls on a Black 82 Walker Deeper Diver back 240 ft behind the diver pulling a #6 Colorado Yeck Puss'n Bouts blade on the back and a metalic Purple #5 Colorado on the front.
Then there was a slow period for about one hour as we trolled Northwest into about 77 FOW and the screan started to show alot less. So we changed our troll to go back towards where we started and that helped get things moving at a slow pick as they would come in pairs.
One other fish came on the Blck 82 diver behind the Planerboard out 240 ft, but the boat divers started to fit more fish with the 107 Purple Walker Deeper Diver on a three setting taking two fish and losing one. It was set out 130 ft towing a Purple Thunder Yeck #6 Colorado with a Metalic Purple #5 colorodo blade in the front on the worm harness. The other 107 Walker Deeper Diver was the Glow Frog on a 3 setting out 130 ft and using Monkey Puke #5 Colorado on the back and a black/green #4 Colorado on the front.
7 colour Leadcore hit two fish with Blue Berry Muffin Yeck #6 Colorado and Purple Thunder Yeck #5 Colorado on the front.
Fullcore never got bit, a flat lined 20 Tail Dancer never got bit, the riggers never got bit and I tried a Spoon behind a diver and it never seen a fish.
Ended the day at 1:30 pm and on the way back something went wrong with the big motor. A squeal sound came from the motor and it wouldn't start after we shut it off to check it out. Had to come in the last two miles on the kicker motor. Good thing it was calm. That was the only low part of the day.
Shane Thombs
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Jordon Harbour to Beamsville, August 13, 2008
John and I had guests Kelly and Colin on the boat for there first time salmon fishing. T-storms had already pushed by us earlier that afternoon and the skies began to break with hopes of a nice evening on the big pond. Light winds from the west south west kept the flies at bay and comfortable temperatures.
We ran down to in front of Vineland and began to set lines in 80 FOW and trolled East out to about 110 FOW. When we reached 100 FOW the Wire Walker Deeper Diver 107 Glow Frog set at 1 ½ and out 140 ft while towing a Green Dolphin SpinDoctor with a Hammered TG Atommik tournament fly took a good strike. This set also had three fish that all came unbuttoned throughout the course of the night.
We angled back in towards Jordon Harbour and worked the shallow trough looking for some staging fish and went in as shallow as 60 FOW and marked only a few all the way in. We turned back out and once we got out to 100 FOW the rigger down 66 ft with a 15 ft lead and a Hogwild SpinDoctor and Crazy Bitch Atommik Tournament Fly takes a 10 lbs rainbow. That was Kelly’s first fish ever!
Slide Diver with a lead of 100 ft behind the diver and out to the diver set at 4 out 150 ft and 160 ft hit a big rainbow at 13 lbs and took one small shaker Chinook and missed one other. Yeck 88 Glow Frog on one side of the boat and Rainbow Matrix regular size on the other. Also took one smaller rainbow on a Fullcore using silverstreak Blue tail.
The Rigger down 66 ft using the Hogwild SpinDoctor and Crazy Bitch Atommik Tournament Fly as it took two Chinooks (no matures).
We then trolled 100-130 FOW towards the west until we finished the night just east of Beamsville’s Ontario St. The lake went flat and the moon came out. We seen baitfish busting the surface and the fishing got better as the sun was setting.
Shane Thombs
We ran down to in front of Vineland and began to set lines in 80 FOW and trolled East out to about 110 FOW. When we reached 100 FOW the Wire Walker Deeper Diver 107 Glow Frog set at 1 ½ and out 140 ft while towing a Green Dolphin SpinDoctor with a Hammered TG Atommik tournament fly took a good strike. This set also had three fish that all came unbuttoned throughout the course of the night.
We angled back in towards Jordon Harbour and worked the shallow trough looking for some staging fish and went in as shallow as 60 FOW and marked only a few all the way in. We turned back out and once we got out to 100 FOW the rigger down 66 ft with a 15 ft lead and a Hogwild SpinDoctor and Crazy Bitch Atommik Tournament Fly takes a 10 lbs rainbow. That was Kelly’s first fish ever!
Slide Diver with a lead of 100 ft behind the diver and out to the diver set at 4 out 150 ft and 160 ft hit a big rainbow at 13 lbs and took one small shaker Chinook and missed one other. Yeck 88 Glow Frog on one side of the boat and Rainbow Matrix regular size on the other. Also took one smaller rainbow on a Fullcore using silverstreak Blue tail.
The Rigger down 66 ft using the Hogwild SpinDoctor and Crazy Bitch Atommik Tournament Fly as it took two Chinooks (no matures).
We then trolled 100-130 FOW towards the west until we finished the night just east of Beamsville’s Ontario St. The lake went flat and the moon came out. We seen baitfish busting the surface and the fishing got better as the sun was setting.
Shane Thombs
Jordon Harbour to Beamsville, August 13, 2008
John and I had guests Kelly and Colin on the boat for there first time salmon fishing. T-storms had already pushed by us earlier that afternoon and the skies began to break with hopes of a nice evening on the big pond. Light winds from the west south west kept the flies at bay and comfortable temperatures.
We ran down to in front of Vineland and began to set lines in 80 FOW and trolled East out to about 110 FOW. When we reached 100 FOW the Wire Walker Deeper Diver 107 Glow Frog set at 1 ½ and out 140 ft while towing a Green Dolphin SpinDoctor with a Hammered TG Atommik tournament fly took a good strike. This set also had three fish that all came unbuttoned throughout the course of the night.
We angled back in towards Jordon Harbour and worked the shallow trough looking for some staging fish and went in as shallow as 60 FOW and marked only a few all the way in. We turned back out and once we got out to 100 FOW the rigger down 66 ft with a 15 ft lead and a Hogwild SpinDoctor and Crazy Bitch Atommik Tournament Fly takes a 10 lbs rainbow. That was Kelly’s first fish ever!
Slide Diver with a lead of 100 ft behind the diver and out to the diver set at 4 out 150 ft and 160 ft hit a big rainbow at 13 lbs and took one small shaker Chinook and missed one other. Yeck 88 Glow Frog on one side of the boat and Rainbow Matrix regular size on the other. Also took one smaller rainbow on a Fullcore using silverstreak Blue tail.
The Rigger down 66 ft using the Hogwild SpinDoctor and Crazy Bitch Atommik Tournament Fly as it took two Chinooks (no matures).
We then trolled 100-130 FOW towards the west until we finished the night just east of Beamsville’s Ontario St. The lake went flat and the moon came out. We seen baitfish busting the surface and the fishing got better as the sun was setting.
Shane Thombs
We ran down to in front of Vineland and began to set lines in 80 FOW and trolled East out to about 110 FOW. When we reached 100 FOW the Wire Walker Deeper Diver 107 Glow Frog set at 1 ½ and out 140 ft while towing a Green Dolphin SpinDoctor with a Hammered TG Atommik tournament fly took a good strike. This set also had three fish that all came unbuttoned throughout the course of the night.
We angled back in towards Jordon Harbour and worked the shallow trough looking for some staging fish and went in as shallow as 60 FOW and marked only a few all the way in. We turned back out and once we got out to 100 FOW the rigger down 66 ft with a 15 ft lead and a Hogwild SpinDoctor and Crazy Bitch Atommik Tournament Fly takes a 10 lbs rainbow. That was Kelly’s first fish ever!
Slide Diver with a lead of 100 ft behind the diver and out to the diver set at 4 out 150 ft and 160 ft hit a big rainbow at 13 lbs and took one small shaker Chinook and missed one other. Yeck 88 Glow Frog on one side of the boat and Rainbow Matrix regular size on the other. Also took one smaller rainbow on a Fullcore using silverstreak Blue tail.
The Rigger down 66 ft using the Hogwild SpinDoctor and Crazy Bitch Atommik Tournament Fly as it took two Chinooks (no matures).
We then trolled 100-130 FOW towards the west until we finished the night just east of Beamsville’s Ontario St. The lake went flat and the moon came out. We seen baitfish busting the surface and the fishing got better as the sun was setting.
Shane Thombs
Sunday, August 10, 2008
444 International Walleye Tournament August 9-10, 2008
The weekend at the 444 International Walleye Tournament was one to remember. The weather trend this summer was without exception over the weekend. Rain, wind and cool temperatures. The tournament organizers did a good job in the absents of long time organizers Mike & Mike. There were a few hiccups that will need to be fixed next year, but because they put this tournament on using volunteer time- it is much appreciated, regardless.
Now for the fishing. At the captain’s meeting on Friday eve the winds were blowing out of the west, but reports from those that were out prefishing said the lake was good, and fishing was excellent. John and I paired up in the small boat division once again, and his 17 ft Mr Pike hasn’t been out over walleye waters of Lake Erie since last year’s 444. So we were going at this blind.
Saturday morning the skies were clear, the air was cool and the winds looked calm until we get out on the lake. 3 footers out of the west north west with a stiff north west breeze turned out to be a tough go for us at blast off. We managed to make out way over wakes and rough water to tuck in close to shore and 20 miles west before turning out to deeper water. We made good time doing this and got to our destination in 45 minutes.
We set up in 72 FOW south west of Port Maitland and only a few miles from the end of Tecumseh reef’s red marker. The sonar screen was only showing the odd fish and very little bait. We trolled with the waves on the stern as they continue to build to about 4 ft by 11:00 am. About an hour into the troll we finally hit our first fish. Size 82 Walker Deeper Diver on 0 setting and out 210 feet and on the planerboard. The worm harness trailing behind the Deeper Diver was with the large Yeck Colorado blade being “Blue Berry Muffin” and the smaller Colorado blade “Black Demon” beads were black and pink and green.
As we trolled due east we hit a double header in 80 FOW and managed to land one of the two. Same set up as the first fish, but this time the fish got off and we caught the other on a 7 colour off the planerboard using black and purple worm harness and it went in the livewell. Now we got two.
About another hour went by and we missed one more off the planer boards that pulled the tail off the worm and missed the hooks. Then the rigger went off and it felt heavy. John lightly retrieves the fish and some how the hooks pull free. Soft bite.
Managed to boat a smaller fish on the same diver harness combo off the planer board in 82FOW to put the third in the boat. Now all we need is one more to make our four fish box!
Another hour goes by and now were up on the other side of the Maitland trough in 67 FOW when the 107 Metalic Purple Walker Deeper diver on 3 setting and out 165 feet gets a hit. I grab the rod and slowly work a head shaking walleye to the back of the boat just out of range for a fully extended net, and it was the biggest fish of our day and at the surface the brute made a head shake that pulled the hooks free. Our hearts sank to bottom with the fish we called “The Tournament Fish”. The waves were near 4.5 feet and a slow wet ride on the way back.
We come into weigh the fish and there were lots of low weights, and not many full 4 fish boxes from the small boat category. We weighed in at 14.44 lbs with our three fish biggest 6.14 lbs. It was only good enough to manage 7 th place behind our buddies Jim Rodney and Kenny Napper with a box at 14.97 lbs. The biggest box in the small boat was around 27 lbs, almost double what we had!
Day two was calling for 7 mph winds out of the west. We line up to blast off and the whitecaps out beyond the wall were showing something much different. I set up for a spread that would work for calm water with a diver program off the boards in mind. But---- That was not going to happen!
At blast off we rounded the corner of the wall and we were faced with 6 footers out of the south west and a slow boat ride at 14 mph. The big boats even took there time and it appeared everyone was playing it smart and keeping their distance between each other. John tucked inside to work along the shoreline and it paid off using each point to take the edge off the big waves. At Gull island and Rock point the winds were near 40 mph in estimation and the waves were nearly 10 ft pushing between the point and the island. We managed to make progress at 7 mph going against them to Grant point and then out to our waypoint. It took us 2.5 hours to boat 24 miles and we finally set up at 9:30 am. The troll was running the trough of the waves and I switched everything to manage the constant serge from each wave. Divers on the board were not going to maintain a good presentation so a 7 colour leadcore, a rigger, a large diver off the corner and a full core off the back was the only thing I could think off to dampen the irregular speeds. Core has a good belly in the line that can soften some of the serge in the presentation when the boat gets pushed. That and a planer board will work together. It was 1.5 hours of working to find fish and finally we reached out to 80 FOW outside the tip of the end of the Maitland trough when the screen lit up with bait and fish. But the fish were tough to catch again and the weather brought thunderstorms and heavy rains that made conditions in 10 ft waves next to impossible. Water spouts were spotted and the winds only let off at Noon. We managed two quality fish, one on 7 colour off the boards and the other on the down rigger down 62 feet over 85 FOW at about 1:30 pm. It was a short window of time to fish after the long morning run.
Weigh in was quick with nearly 50 boats being off the water by 11:00 am. The Small boat division was won by the first day’s second place team, that had 18 plus pounds on day one. Larry Schoeder managed a good box to take the win. The first day leader with 27 lbs came up skunked on day two. Jim Rodney and Kenny Napper took second place with a 15 lbs box to get them 31 lbs. John and I landed a third place finish with a near duplication weight of day one at 14.37 lbs and 7.74 lbs was our biggest, but if we were to boat that big one at the end of day one, we would have had the tournament. "The Tournament Fish" That's why we do this crazy conpetition fishing - hoping to catch all of the fish needed to win the tournament. If you caught them every tournament, tournaments wouldn't been as fun.
Big controversy over whether the tournament should have been cancelled or let out in the conditions we were in. My gut feeling was that it should have been cancelled, and I was surprised it wasn’t. The new tournament organizer has a few things to fix for next year and the one is checking the conditions of the lake to make the call to cancel. The other was the Calcutta side bet that included the big boat and small boat in one pool, a change from last year.
Shane Thombs
Now for the fishing. At the captain’s meeting on Friday eve the winds were blowing out of the west, but reports from those that were out prefishing said the lake was good, and fishing was excellent. John and I paired up in the small boat division once again, and his 17 ft Mr Pike hasn’t been out over walleye waters of Lake Erie since last year’s 444. So we were going at this blind.
Saturday morning the skies were clear, the air was cool and the winds looked calm until we get out on the lake. 3 footers out of the west north west with a stiff north west breeze turned out to be a tough go for us at blast off. We managed to make out way over wakes and rough water to tuck in close to shore and 20 miles west before turning out to deeper water. We made good time doing this and got to our destination in 45 minutes.
We set up in 72 FOW south west of Port Maitland and only a few miles from the end of Tecumseh reef’s red marker. The sonar screen was only showing the odd fish and very little bait. We trolled with the waves on the stern as they continue to build to about 4 ft by 11:00 am. About an hour into the troll we finally hit our first fish. Size 82 Walker Deeper Diver on 0 setting and out 210 feet and on the planerboard. The worm harness trailing behind the Deeper Diver was with the large Yeck Colorado blade being “Blue Berry Muffin” and the smaller Colorado blade “Black Demon” beads were black and pink and green.
As we trolled due east we hit a double header in 80 FOW and managed to land one of the two. Same set up as the first fish, but this time the fish got off and we caught the other on a 7 colour off the planerboard using black and purple worm harness and it went in the livewell. Now we got two.
About another hour went by and we missed one more off the planer boards that pulled the tail off the worm and missed the hooks. Then the rigger went off and it felt heavy. John lightly retrieves the fish and some how the hooks pull free. Soft bite.
Managed to boat a smaller fish on the same diver harness combo off the planer board in 82FOW to put the third in the boat. Now all we need is one more to make our four fish box!
Another hour goes by and now were up on the other side of the Maitland trough in 67 FOW when the 107 Metalic Purple Walker Deeper diver on 3 setting and out 165 feet gets a hit. I grab the rod and slowly work a head shaking walleye to the back of the boat just out of range for a fully extended net, and it was the biggest fish of our day and at the surface the brute made a head shake that pulled the hooks free. Our hearts sank to bottom with the fish we called “The Tournament Fish”. The waves were near 4.5 feet and a slow wet ride on the way back.
We come into weigh the fish and there were lots of low weights, and not many full 4 fish boxes from the small boat category. We weighed in at 14.44 lbs with our three fish biggest 6.14 lbs. It was only good enough to manage 7 th place behind our buddies Jim Rodney and Kenny Napper with a box at 14.97 lbs. The biggest box in the small boat was around 27 lbs, almost double what we had!
Day two was calling for 7 mph winds out of the west. We line up to blast off and the whitecaps out beyond the wall were showing something much different. I set up for a spread that would work for calm water with a diver program off the boards in mind. But---- That was not going to happen!
At blast off we rounded the corner of the wall and we were faced with 6 footers out of the south west and a slow boat ride at 14 mph. The big boats even took there time and it appeared everyone was playing it smart and keeping their distance between each other. John tucked inside to work along the shoreline and it paid off using each point to take the edge off the big waves. At Gull island and Rock point the winds were near 40 mph in estimation and the waves were nearly 10 ft pushing between the point and the island. We managed to make progress at 7 mph going against them to Grant point and then out to our waypoint. It took us 2.5 hours to boat 24 miles and we finally set up at 9:30 am. The troll was running the trough of the waves and I switched everything to manage the constant serge from each wave. Divers on the board were not going to maintain a good presentation so a 7 colour leadcore, a rigger, a large diver off the corner and a full core off the back was the only thing I could think off to dampen the irregular speeds. Core has a good belly in the line that can soften some of the serge in the presentation when the boat gets pushed. That and a planer board will work together. It was 1.5 hours of working to find fish and finally we reached out to 80 FOW outside the tip of the end of the Maitland trough when the screen lit up with bait and fish. But the fish were tough to catch again and the weather brought thunderstorms and heavy rains that made conditions in 10 ft waves next to impossible. Water spouts were spotted and the winds only let off at Noon. We managed two quality fish, one on 7 colour off the boards and the other on the down rigger down 62 feet over 85 FOW at about 1:30 pm. It was a short window of time to fish after the long morning run.
Weigh in was quick with nearly 50 boats being off the water by 11:00 am. The Small boat division was won by the first day’s second place team, that had 18 plus pounds on day one. Larry Schoeder managed a good box to take the win. The first day leader with 27 lbs came up skunked on day two. Jim Rodney and Kenny Napper took second place with a 15 lbs box to get them 31 lbs. John and I landed a third place finish with a near duplication weight of day one at 14.37 lbs and 7.74 lbs was our biggest, but if we were to boat that big one at the end of day one, we would have had the tournament. "The Tournament Fish" That's why we do this crazy conpetition fishing - hoping to catch all of the fish needed to win the tournament. If you caught them every tournament, tournaments wouldn't been as fun.
Big controversy over whether the tournament should have been cancelled or let out in the conditions we were in. My gut feeling was that it should have been cancelled, and I was surprised it wasn’t. The new tournament organizer has a few things to fix for next year and the one is checking the conditions of the lake to make the call to cancel. The other was the Calcutta side bet that included the big boat and small boat in one pool, a change from last year.
Shane Thombs
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Fifty Point/Grimsby July 26, 2008
Mike Dumesnil “Catch-One” and I were off to do a charter in the morning. Weatherman said we should stay home, but we managed to get out on the big lake at 7:00 am and fish until 1:00 pm without a rain drop. We watched as lightening was on shore over the escarpment in Grimsby in Beamsville, but the three cells seemed to follow along without visiting us out in the lake. The wind however wasn’t light. Moderate to strong south-westerly made for a tricky two – three foot chop out four miles.
As for fishing, we started in shallow working as little as 40 FOW inside and east of the riffle range at Fifty Point. Then slowly edged our way out to 50 then 60 FOW east of the gun range. The first hour was slow with one shaker and one missed fish and then we turned outward (north direction) we started hitting fish. Turn back against the waves going south-southwest and the bite stopped. Turn back out to the Northeast and the rods started firing once more. This happened over and over and we varied speeds to try top get something to go trolling south- but nothing. Paddle wheel speed was 2.5 mph trolling north. That was fine, it gave me a chance to set up on the troll south only to catch up on setting rods from trolling north. Most productive depths were 60- 75 FOW.
End count is still ??, but the four clients all said they brought in three each not including two or three shakers. Notable fish were Chinooks at 23 lbs, 18 lbs, four between 12-16 lbs, two rainbows at 6 and 8 lbs and one chunky coho at 11 lbs. Here’s the tackle and sets they seem to produce results starting with the best…
Wire line 107 Glow Frog Deeper Diver 1 ½ setting and out 120ft with Black/Crush Glow SpinDoctor and a Green Mirage Strong Fly.
Full Core with Yeck 88 M&M Glow
Rigger down 55 with Yeck 88 Glow Frog
Rigger down 51 with NBK/Mountain Dew Chrome SpinDoctor with a Hammered TG Atommik fly.
Rigger down 45 with Glow Gin & Tonic Michigan Stinger Stingray
Bait was no further out then 65 FOW and there was two depth ranges they were found. 20-40 feet and smaller schools right on bottom.
Surface temp was 68’F and the down temps dropped at we trolled outward 45 feet on the ball had 56’F in 55 FOW and dropped to 54’F in 60 FOW and then to 53’F over 70 FOW at the same time with a temp rigger down 58 feet it was 54’F in 55 FOW and dropped to 51’F over 60 FOW and then to 49’F over 70 FOW. It would appear that the window of temperature got narrower as we went deeper and only slightly came closer to the surface.
Shane Thombs
www.fintasticsportfishing.com
As for fishing, we started in shallow working as little as 40 FOW inside and east of the riffle range at Fifty Point. Then slowly edged our way out to 50 then 60 FOW east of the gun range. The first hour was slow with one shaker and one missed fish and then we turned outward (north direction) we started hitting fish. Turn back against the waves going south-southwest and the bite stopped. Turn back out to the Northeast and the rods started firing once more. This happened over and over and we varied speeds to try top get something to go trolling south- but nothing. Paddle wheel speed was 2.5 mph trolling north. That was fine, it gave me a chance to set up on the troll south only to catch up on setting rods from trolling north. Most productive depths were 60- 75 FOW.
End count is still ??, but the four clients all said they brought in three each not including two or three shakers. Notable fish were Chinooks at 23 lbs, 18 lbs, four between 12-16 lbs, two rainbows at 6 and 8 lbs and one chunky coho at 11 lbs. Here’s the tackle and sets they seem to produce results starting with the best…
Wire line 107 Glow Frog Deeper Diver 1 ½ setting and out 120ft with Black/Crush Glow SpinDoctor and a Green Mirage Strong Fly.
Full Core with Yeck 88 M&M Glow
Rigger down 55 with Yeck 88 Glow Frog
Rigger down 51 with NBK/Mountain Dew Chrome SpinDoctor with a Hammered TG Atommik fly.
Rigger down 45 with Glow Gin & Tonic Michigan Stinger Stingray
Bait was no further out then 65 FOW and there was two depth ranges they were found. 20-40 feet and smaller schools right on bottom.
Surface temp was 68’F and the down temps dropped at we trolled outward 45 feet on the ball had 56’F in 55 FOW and dropped to 54’F in 60 FOW and then to 53’F over 70 FOW at the same time with a temp rigger down 58 feet it was 54’F in 55 FOW and dropped to 51’F over 60 FOW and then to 49’F over 70 FOW. It would appear that the window of temperature got narrower as we went deeper and only slightly came closer to the surface.
Shane Thombs
www.fintasticsportfishing.com
Monday, July 21, 2008
Grimsby humps and bumps to 28 lbs, July 21, 2008
John Poirier "JubeJube", my son Aidan and I went out on the lake after dinner to fish the evening. north east breeze made a 1 1/2 chop on the lake and it was our decision to ply the waters in tight in search of bigger fish after good reports from the Salmon Dance Tournament in shallower waters then where we fished during the tournament.
Set up in 40 FOW and worked our way in and out on 40-70 FOW and first went west of 40 mile Creek and then east. Had a fish hit a Blue Silver Blue Fox matrix spoon Mega large size on the rigger with a 40 foot lead and down 52 Ft in 60 feet of water. But the hooks pulled free before too long.
Started heading east but made efforts to troll in and out instead of along the shore as we relize the currents are taking away from consitent and known down speeds. We took a small shaker, and then moments later the full core bends over and starts peeling line. My turn on the rod and it was fun to say the least. Finally get the fish to the mono leader when John says " We don't have the net in the boat" WHAT?". It was left inthe truck after the tournament and we forgot to put it back in the boat.
So John pulls everything in as it was getting to about 8:15 and the sun was hinding behind dark cloads. John made three attempts to run his fingers under a gill plat over the transome before lifting the fish to the deck of the boat.
28.20 lbs it weighed. Biggest in the boat this year.
It was caught on a Yeck 88 M&M glow spoon in 55 feet of water. 2.5mph trolling in and out.
Shane Thombs
Set up in 40 FOW and worked our way in and out on 40-70 FOW and first went west of 40 mile Creek and then east. Had a fish hit a Blue Silver Blue Fox matrix spoon Mega large size on the rigger with a 40 foot lead and down 52 Ft in 60 feet of water. But the hooks pulled free before too long.
Started heading east but made efforts to troll in and out instead of along the shore as we relize the currents are taking away from consitent and known down speeds. We took a small shaker, and then moments later the full core bends over and starts peeling line. My turn on the rod and it was fun to say the least. Finally get the fish to the mono leader when John says " We don't have the net in the boat" WHAT?". It was left inthe truck after the tournament and we forgot to put it back in the boat.
So John pulls everything in as it was getting to about 8:15 and the sun was hinding behind dark cloads. John made three attempts to run his fingers under a gill plat over the transome before lifting the fish to the deck of the boat.
28.20 lbs it weighed. Biggest in the boat this year.
It was caught on a Yeck 88 M&M glow spoon in 55 feet of water. 2.5mph trolling in and out.
Shane Thombs
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Salmon Dance Tournament, July 19, 2008
Tournament day is here and it was a weird morning wake up. On the way to John Poirier’s the lights were out everywhere from Beamsville to Grimsby. The darkness and the muggy and hazy look was an ominous setting. While on the way down the QEW the LED blue and red flickering lights from the police reflecting off of two small import looking cars the had rolled over the South Service Rd ditch and took out a hydro pole. Racing??
Time throughout the day seemed to go soooo fast. We called the blast off over the radio and horn and 25 boats were off in all directions. Some toward Toronto, others toward Bronte and Port Credit, and some toward Port Weller. This should be a very interesting result to see where the biggest boxes come from. For john, Stephanie (John’s neice) and myself, decided to start in front of Beamsville where we had been hitting them consistently over the last few weeks. The Grimsby spot was where I took good fish on Thursday night with Ron and that was our second spot to go to. At the morning launch, John told Joe Williamson “Trophy Taker” and Bill Ransky/Randy Scott “Reddog” that they should start there. 20/20 hind sight says we should have went to Grimsby in the morning instead, because nothing over 16 lbs could be taken from our first spot. The mature fish had moved.
On set-up at Beamsville we had a triple header right off the start and lost all three and then another rod went off and lost it too. Man- not a good start. We caught lots of fish but nothing of size. Joe radio’s to us and says he boxed a 19 lb king on the spot in front of Grimsby. Then an hour and half later he boxed one over 26 lbs in front of Bartlett St in Grimsby in about 55 FOW.
We headed that way and hooked up on a biggie on the same spoon I took my 27 lbs fish on Thursday night. Then the line snapped. Pulled it in that the line looked like it went through the meat grinder. Must have been on bottom when the board slowed and the fish took the bait.
Time ran out and the hits were fewer and fewer. The dark skies turned to rain and we started to pull lines at 1:40 when the Thunder rumbled across the lake. We managed to get to Jordon and see everyone under the gazebo before the lightening and ran was on us. It was a great tournament, and some incredible weights of two fish in the 55 lbs range. You needed over 45 lbs to get in the top ten! I not even sure where we ended up, or how much we weighed, because it was far less then we had anticipated our result to be. But that’s fishing!
You can see the results of the Salmon Dance tournament at
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