Longshank, What a great day.

[Disco]

I went out yesterday on a charter with Longshank. I have been out with him before and I know how great of a caption and fisherman he is.

What makes him so good is that he truly knows the fishery and really does teach his clients how to land fish. I have said it before if you listen and watch there is a ton to learn and all of it is great info.

The day was super hot and calm with clear waters. Usually this spells disaster for a down rigging trip on Lake Ontario. Shank put his thinking cap on and pulled out his bag of tricks to start putting together a program to catch fish without catching the hundreds of Lakers we were marking. Shank and I did not want to get into the Lakers as we both feel they don’t release that well when down rigging.

We had a few swing and miss hits through out the day but got onto a steady bite of about a fish ever 30 mins. We did have one back to back on the same spoon as soon as we set it that was quite exciting. We had just switched a spoon put it down and wham a nice bow. Set it back and within a second wham a nice King.

All in all we had 11 hook ups not counting the rips and taps we saw that didn’t stick. Despite avoiding Lakers we hooked up on two. Good news was we knocked on off on the rigger cable and we both cheered. 😂. The other was a tank we never saw but got close and it shook off. We know it was a Laker just by the fight. If you have ever caught a Laker down rigging you know what I mean.

Shank may not fight many big Kings anymore as it not his preference but he did this day and landed the biggest of the day. I loved watching him handle it like a pro and even learned more just by watching him fight a fish.

End total if I got it right was 2 Lakers, 4 Kings, 1 Coho, 4 Bows.

A couple of bows and one shared Coho will be hitting the grill for both Shank and I and that makes the day all that much better when we both can share a great meal with our families.

[Disco]

Coho

[Disco]

Chinook

[Disco]

Steel

[Disco]

Steel

[2Cold]

Awesome guys ...looking to get out there soon if weather ever cooperates ...lol

[Fishnhunt]

What a great report. Awesome pictures and details. A trip out with Longshank is on my list.

[Collingwood Dean]

Very cool pictures and report!!!

[sabmgb]

Looks and sounds like a great day of fishing. WTG

[metalbuckle]

Beautiful chrome! Well done folks..

Great day, great fish and great smiles.

Perfect! Thanks for the report.

[Longshank]

Yes, that was a lot of fun that day and the number of fish marked was great, although they were very picky and only wanted certain colors,,,

flies didn't work nor did meat, but the chrome fish loved the stackers and of course my punisher rod.......lead core lol

I try and pass on what I have learned over a lifetime of fishing salmon from the west coast, to Lake Superior and now Lake Ontario to those that care to learn some new tactics or rod handling, netting and revival of fish

Most common error I see over and over again is drag being set too tight and then losing fish due to rushing them green to the boat..I understand the excitement and all of that, but there is simply no rush,.. Each species fights just a bit differently and you need to almost anticipate what it will do as you get it close to netting range.....relax, back off the drag, use the flex in the rod and it's a done deal crank it down, thumb the reel and rush it and say goodbye


great time fishing with a friend that is really tuned in too changes as required


And the big girl was released after the pics using the boga grip swim tactic..no problem


To put stuff into perspective, the next day, with sw winds at 35 it was a tough bite and down temps dropped by 20 degrees at the same depth Disco and I fished the day before and speed control was also a bit of a challenge and managed to boat 5 fish, but no big salmon

It happens and for me it's always about winds and weather changes which are nuts this year.....lucky to get out 2 days a week with fishable conditions

[Jerkbaiter]

Thanks for the great report and pics, Disco!
You had an amazing fishing trip.
And thanks for giving due credit to the captain. Good and knowledgeable captain makes all the difference in charter fishing.

[chazD]

Fantastic 👍

[crappeeeman]

Quite the day.

[longfish]

Nicely done.