Hello all my trollers, drifters, casters, jiggers, weed wumpers & anchored anglers:

    Another week, another fishing missive to ponder while you wander until your next visit on the water. In short the big "O" (Ontario) is hot and the little "o" (Oneida) is at best lukewarm warm. Walleyes apparently have taken a summer break. The walleye nibble to put it cryptically is a stubborn bite. During the last 10 days, we have struggled to put a handful of walleyes in the boat. The usual tactics: jigging deep water with bucktail jigs tipped with nightcrawlers, bouncing sonars, drifting bottom bouncers with floating jig heads, trolling with leadcore and stickbaits are coming up with the token walleye.

    Oneida is now replete with bait. Nature's banquet is providing walleyes, with perch fry, walleye fry, gizzard shad fry, buckeyes and whatever else swims within sight. It will take a while before these are cropped. Expect walleye angling on Oneida to be challenging.

    Here is the last very good catch of walleyes. On June 21, Pete Shevchuk with Siemans Co. entertained his guests from Auburn Armature, Nel Corp. Nelson Lamplighters and Demco with a two boat charter on Oneida. Capt. Ray Brown and I took the seven anglers to the deep water for an exercise in jigging.

The big pond has the big action. An early arrival of king salmon along with a preponderance of brown trout makes for an active day of fishing. Browns are hanging in 70 to 120 feet at 60 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit. Put this temperature on structure (ALCAN drop off) and you have the perfect combo to hold browns. Kings like it colder and deeper. Our recent king catches have occured in that 140 to 300 feet range. Temperature in the low 50's to mid 40's has consistently held at 80 to 100 feet below the surface.

    A variety of presentations are working: Atomik TG and Hammer flies fished with Pro Troll echips are the most popular choices. If they slow down I have been running a Luhr Jensen froggy dodger with a green G-Fly or a Mad River Sports monkey puke fly with very good success particularly on bright sunny conditions. Trolling speed is anywhere from 2.4 to 2.7.  Direction of troll is significant. Day to day the subsurface currents change. There is usually an easy trolling direction and a prohibitive direction. I use the Cannon Speed and Temp to monitor subsurface speed, temp and available light. I have owned other brands and by far this one is superior. The readings are steady, particularly current. The other nice feature is the voltage reading of the 9 volt battery which powers the probe.

    Don't discount spoons. The R&R  bleeding belly alewive series in 3/4 stick sizes are working well off of my copper application. I have been running copper off the Big Jon Otter Boats and find that application the best to avoid interference with my wire dipsys and downriggers. Anywhere from 340 to 400 feet of 45# test copper has taken fish on every outing. I also like to run an echip attractor with a monkey puke fly on the copper.

    Here are a few catches of trout and salmon:

    The Lombardo's from Long Island took a morning  break from Turning Stone Casino in Vernon, NY to spend some time on Lake Ontario. Their son Peter is an avid fisherman and they wished to treat him to his first trolling for trout experience. Brianna, Mario Jr., mom Slvya, Peter and dad Mario boated one rainbow and two browns. Although they only boated three fish the action was very good. The last seven hookups pulled out within 10 to 15 feet of the net.

It's definitely time to chase the big fish on lake Ontario.

     Don't forget the Mustad Challenge at Oswego marina scheduled for Sat., July 14. The fishing begins at 6:00 A.M. and ends at 2:00 P.M. Weigh in starts at 3:00 P.M. and you must be in line no later than 3:30 P.M. Each team will weigh in it's six largest fish. This is a closed communication tournament ( no cell phones, no vhf radio) and no observer (scout's honor). Fish from any port in Oswego and Cayuga counties. Entry fee is $50.00 per boat-minimum of two anglers. Big fish fee $10.00/boat. There is a 10 place pay back based on 40 entries. There will be a 50-50 raffle with proceeds to the net pen project. Most importantly a time to socialize and eat with all the entrants will take place at the picnic/barbecue at Oswego Marina from 5:00 P.M. on. The cost for the picnic is $12.00 per person and the menu includes Deep fried turkey, pulled pork BBQ, macaroni salad, baked beans, corn on the cob, salt potatoes, tossed salad, rolls, cake, soda, coffee. Pick up the entry forms at the gas dock at Oswego. The following sponsors are supporting the tournament:  the principal sponsor is Mustad, others are Bass Pro, Larry's Salmon Shop, Atomik Flies, Ugly Stick, Northport Nailer, Plano, Offshore Tackle, Seaguar, PowerPro, R&R Tackle Co.

O"fish"ially yours,

cap'n tony