Pequod1

Congrats to both boats. Looks like game on. Three more weeks and I'll be joining you.

I stopped yesterday at 68' in one of my go to spots off Dunkirk for a minute to scout for perch. Screen had lots of bait and lots of hooks. I am sure most of those hooks were sheapies but there were some bottom huggers there that might have been perch. Last two years in a row on the last day of August I had descent catches of 30-35 perch on those dates. The bite there got worse though both years as Sept rolled in. We are all hoping that the perch of only a few short years ago return. There seems to be no shortage of them in the western basin.

I was out yesterday after swapping out all the heart in my boat once again when I saw the wind and wave forecast for Dunkirk. Glad I made the trip. 9 keepers, 8 throwbacks with a few of the throwbacks that we could have kept. Riggers parked at 70 with the rainbow renoski and wire dipsey at 210 setting 1 1/2 with an alewife michigan stinger, also a mono dipsey with the same stinger as Monday at anywhere from 140 to 180 set at 1. The mono dipsey had only one throwback this time but the wire landed our first 30" eye. We fished from 105 out to 112 with the best depth at 105. Should have been in 80 though. A guy and his wife that we talked to at the dock had their limit and a lot of catch and release in there slow trolling worm harnesses. Great drive home until we got stuck on the thruway for an extra half hour for a hazmat clean up of a truck chemical spill halfway between Buff and Roch. what a PIA.

Nice steelhead! Years ago I made my first ever walleye trip to Dunkirk hearing it was so good. That day there was a temperature flip and the only thing I caught was a steely. Said I would never go there again! Man, was I wrong. Ten Percent. I tried looking up the michigan stinger spoon. Cant seem to find any pictures of it on line but the closest one looks to be a green glow alewife standard size. It might be a U.V. pattern. Unfortunately, I bought it at Gander Mountain. There are plenty of other patterns out there that look good. The purple tuxedo style caught my eye. Might try that one.

If it helps, I have been doing well on rainbow and a watermelon colored renoskis on the riggers. I usually start about 50' off the ball and decrease it during the day to around 25'. Sometimes they like it long and other times, when they are actively feeding, they like it short. Last time out, was the first time and not the last time I tried a spoon. Michigan stinger alewife pattern about 4" long was the hot one. 1.9-2.0 mph is my normal trolling speed.

It certainly was a banner day out of Dunkirk. Thanks for all the reports that steered us in the right direction. We caught 18 eyes before noon today keeping our two man limit. 110' straight out in front of the stacks , 70-75 on the riggers. Wire dipsey set at 1 1/2 out 210 and mono dipseyl l set on 1 out 160 . I used rainbow renoskis on everything except the mono dipsey. I had an alewife pattern michigan stinger on that one. That stinger works great on Cayuga lake landlocks so I gave it a try. Seems that Erie eyes love it too.

And that's why we fish. Always hoping for that mother load and never knowing when it will happen.

Nice going RD9 The smiles tell it all.

Got up, read the reports and decided to make the two hour trip to Dunkirk. We waited for the rain to pass and left late arriving at 10:30. Fort all excited because boats were on there way in with their limits. Not to be. Someone turned off the switch. Trolled from 11;00 - 3:00 and landed 5 fish with two throwbacks. Way to many sheepies and a few silvers. Used wire dispel, riggers and lead core but could not get them going. Best picture was at 82' west of the harbor. Usually I am a day late, but three hours -Yikes.

Great reports. Wish I was out. That laker is a good indicator of temp. About how deep do you think it runs at that setting? I have used a 1 1/2 setting down 170 with some success.

We just got back from Dunkirk. I'll confirm the storms in Buffalo on the ride home. Not fun. The fish and bait that was in Dunkirk two days ago headed to who knows where. We did box 5 but only one of them was a descent size. Looked at water from 70-90 and had a blank screen most of the time.

Fished yesterday a little west of Dunkirk. Boxed 9 and had three throwbacks. 80' of water 10 color, riggers from 70-75 and dipsy 1 1/2 setting 160 back. I fished all crystalina renoskis. Took 4 fish by dropping the rigger to 78 and popping the rod off jigging the lure up to the top. That's a lot of fun. Getting to feel the hit and playing on a line free of weight makes you appreciate the fight.

There are some really good ideas here about rigging lines for eyes. I would never had thought to run the leads so close to the balls but I will try now. I usually run reef runners off the riggers that should dive a little lower and a 50' lead. The popping the down rigger trick is something I learned a long time ago when chartering in Ontario. It worked for a nice eye the other day for us.

Thanks for the reply guys. I should have known that's how its done.