Any Updates from Ground Zero?

[RHYBAK]

I never have problems with bugs.
I look for a fishing partner that the bugs love , put him in the front of the boat and it keeps the bugs away from me.

On another note, I am there to fish, not worry about the bugs.
In June when I'm there I say.... Bugs? What Bugs? and keep casting

We are in Northern Canada.
The land of Bugs that will carry you away.
Deal with it.
We are on their turf trying to catch fish

[T-Bone]

I never have problems with bugs.
I look for a fishing partner that the bugs love , put him in the front of the boat and it keeps the bugs away from me.

That guy would be me; and I don't have any problems with bugs anymore either...switched to late-July fishing. 

And I don't care who you are, bugs will bother you at some point. They may be only a one on the nuisance scale for you, but don't tell me you don't notice them, or get annoyed when you hear that little "bzzzzzzzzzzzzz-zzzziiiitttt!" fly into your ear while you're sleeping at night. Mr. Rhybak...mister tough guy...but I know better.... 

Old Ed Brink used to swear by eating raw garlic all day every day, which would assuredly seep through your pores all day and night. Said he kept a jar on the table and that it kept the bugs away like nothing else. Never had the lower intestinal fortitude to give it a try. I always think of that when I see whole jars of peeled raw garlic cloves at Costco. Ed Brink....what a character. You know Mr. Rhybak, you may be the "new" Ed Brink. Quite an honor, you know....

[RHYBAK]

T-Bone

FYI

Garlic is a staple in our camp also
We eat it raw.
Good for what ails you

I will admit.... I do smack them, I shoooooo them away, I swat at them... BUT.... in the 14 or more years going up there, I have never worn a bug suit.
I wear shorts at night, I wear sleeveless shirts but never ever put on a bug suit.

[puckster_guy]

Up date from Red Pine road. Lots of heavy machines out doing their thing. Several new sections of road is now open too. The road is still fairly rough but bot too bad for that road. Construction is really moving along.

[Fort Wisers]

I don't think your thermometer is working properly because it was warmer than that 2 weeks ago. I'm going in for my fourth weekend since the opener. I'll let you know what the temps are. The fish were schooling on rock points and shoals then. Water temp was 60°.

It was the temperature recorded by the fish finder in my bro's boat, maybe it's not measuring surface temps but measuring further down?
I'll check with him and also let him know it seems like it's off compared to what you guys are seeing, thanks

[T-Bone]

... BUT.... in the 14 or more years going up there, I have never worn a bug suit.
I wear shorts at night, I wear sleeveless shirts but never ever put on a bug suit.

Quint never put on a life jacket either, and look what happened to him... 

[Fort Wisers]

LOLOLOLOLOLO
Sorry, couldn't help myself, this forum is great comic / stress relief!

[bucknbull]

@T-Bone
One of my favourite parts of JAWS was Quint talking about all the shipmates lost to sharks and why he won't wear a lifejacket. In my opinion, more chilling than the star of the movie.

QUINT:  Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, Chief. We was comin’ back from the island of Tinian to Leyte… just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Didn’t see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. 13-footer. You know how you know that when you’re in the water, Chief? You tell by looking from the dorsal to the tail fin. What we didn’t know, was our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. They didn’t even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, Chief, sharks come cruisin’, so we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know, it was kinda like old squares in the battle like you see in the calendar named “The Battle of Waterloo” and the idea was: shark comes to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin’ and hollerin’ and screamin’ and sometimes the shark will go away… but sometimes he wouldn’t go away. Sometimes that shark he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. And, you know, the thing about a shark… he’s got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll’s eyes. When he comes at ya, doesn’t seem to be living… until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then… ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin’. The ocean turns red, and despite all the poundin’ and the hollerin’, they all come in and they… rip you to pieces. You know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men. I don’t know how many sharks, maybe a thousand. I know how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday morning, Chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player. Boatswain’s mate. I thought he was asleep. I reached over to wake him up. He bobbed up, down in the water just like a kinda top. Upended. Well, he’d been bitten in half below the waist. Noon, the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us. He swung in low and he saw us… he was a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper. Anyway, he saw us and he come in low and three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and starts to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened… waitin’ for my turn. I’ll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went in the water; 316 men come out and the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.

Keep the updates coming people. Not that I need any more reason to be jacked up for my trip, but like hearing what's going on in paradise.  :-)

[crackers42]

Blackflies are extremely bad right now and horse flies just starting.

Temp was rising up to 72 and thermal cline is @ 30 and 60 feet.

Slow troll with worn harness don't bother jigging right now they are on the feed.

A lot of large fish

[bucknbull]

Thanks for the update crackers.
The itch is getting itchier. 

[T-Bone]

Slow troll with worn harness don't bother jigging right now they are on the feed.

Can be be a bit more specific Crackers ? For lakers? For 'eyes? And if they're on the feed, by wouldn't you "bother" jigging? So much faster than rigging...

[T-Bone]

Got a quick text last evening from Mr. Rhybak (at 3 Seasons this week). Said the fishing is "awesome", lots of "bigger fish" and he sent me a pic of a whopper over 30" he caught slipping. I've gotta hand it to the guy...he catches some dandy fish...

Can't wait for his full report upon his return...

[puckster_guy]

 Kinda quiet at this end of the lake. I got about 6 walleye, half keepers and a nice 4 lbs. Pike/ All back in the lake. A combo of trolling and jigging. All the pics were in 20 ft depths.

[Jay Thomas]

Got a quick text last evening from Mr. Rhybak (at 3 Seasons this week). Said the fishing is "awesome", lots of "bigger fish" and he sent me a pic of a whopper over 30" he caught slipping. I've gotta hand it to the guy...he catches some dandy fish...Can't wait for his full report upon his return...

After so many years fishing out of 3 Seasons, RHYBAK knows many spots. On top of that, he's a great fisherman! Lucky me, I've been there on a few occasions to see big walleye he has caught - especially the one he had mounted.

Jay

[crackers42]

T-Bone,

Right now the fish are on the move so unless they go right by were you are jigging you may hit them you may not.

We find when they are aggressive (right now) trolling will largely out produce jigging for larger fish

For instance last week:

- jigging 4 fish over 2 pounds (lots of small fish)
- trolling 50+ fish over 3-5 pounds with lots 7+ pounds and some tipping 10.

On the other end we were jigging (And continue to do so right into sep) the deeper thermocline @ 60 ft for lakers with white or brown colored tubes.  A really high end graph will greatly increase your results.  When the thermocline is really set in the summer you could probably troll or jig.  jigging in the summer will generally produce an aggressive chase and strike.