Lake Aeroflex 5/27/17:

[AndyS]

1st time back to Aeroflex in a looooong time. Very pretty lake and not a big lake by any stretch of the imagination. Got my 10 dozen herring and was on the lake by 6am. Ideal conditions for live-lining herring. Worked 6 rods but by the end of the day it was only 2 hits and 2 fish, a decent Larry and a very small Land Locked (not even photo worthy) Maybe 6 boats on the lake at any given time, a few kayaks. Water looked good and there were massive schools of herring in the area I was in, double anchored in about 70 FOW. Saw quite a few big fish boil out in the middle and some close to the boat, enough to get the knees shaking. All in all it was slowwwww, no extra run-offs or even mauled herring.
The local tackle store rents boats there. Don't think I'll be breaking any speed limits to get back up there again any time soon but I'm sure there are some very large fish in there.
By the time I got off the lake the local air show was in full swing, so it went from being nice and quiet to relatively noisey.

[Lard Almighty]

I know an angler who does very well on largies and land locks there on Keitech swimbaits, but he normally fishes there in March/April.

[Ken Lyons]

Was there Tuesday with similar results. I have never seen bait clouds like that in fresh water. The fish might just be sp well fed that we can't tempt them.

[AndyS]

I truly believe certain lakes fish better during certain times of the year. Being a cool spring and Aeroflex being a deep lake I thought I could hit it just right right with the water turning over. I have seen some nice fish come out of there in March and April. But the amount of food in that lake, you would think there gotta be some monstahs in there !!

[Ken Lyons]

Andy, with all your great work I hate to corect you but for the greater good let me say that there is no such thing as lake turnover. In the Spring after the ice melts there is no barrier to mixing but the heaviest water is 39.2 degrees and it is at the bottom. As the surface warms winds can mix things up but roughly at 55 degrees a strange happens. As surface water is pushed against the windward bank and forced downward it reaches water that is too cold for mixing to occur. This is when the thermocline sets up. As Summer wears on the thermocline is driven deeper and deeper. The real,confusion on this is in the Fall when turnover is thought to occur. Surface water is pushed downward by the wind but it gets colder an colder unit it is cold enough to mix with the thermocline and the thermocline is absorbed. That's it. No drama but the widely held belief holds fast.

[KRocks]

The period before and during when a thermocline is established on a given body of water occurs every season in the late Spring/early Summer season.
An interim period in the late Summer early Fall and has similar characteristics which correlates directly to success in fishing. However, in many circles, these sporadic but regular seasonal episodes are referred to among many fishermen as "turnover".

Just nomenclature.

[Eskimo]

.

10-dozen? :eek:


I was at the other salmon-stocked lake the other weekend. A group of bucket-sitters did real well fishing from the shoreline.

Landlocked salmon are just glorified hatchery trout.

.

[bulletbob]

Landlocks like COLD water.. Up here we are generally at 10-15 degrees colder on any given day or night, year round, than most of NJ..
The landlocks here are already heading to deeper colder water, and our big , deep lakes are still only in the 50's on the surface..

Best month for them up here, 200 miles north of Aeroflex is April, but they are caught all winter in water temps down into the 30's.. I think they are most easily caught in water under 50 degrees.. They will go out of preferred temp for food, but as Andy found out, when the Herring[Sawbellies up here] are super abundant, it can be a tough go.. Up here we find the big clouds of bait, and then fish a bit away from them.. Funny thing about LL, they like cold water, but still are a higher in the thermocline during the summer months than lakers, which like even colder water than LL salmon. bob

[bulletbob]

"Landlocked salmon are just glorified hatchery trout."


Indeed they are!
They DO fight better, and taste better however..
They are also dumber than trout, more aggressive and actually easier to catch if they are at the same level of abundance as say browns or rainbows.. Only Lakers are dumber than LL!... bob

[FISHOFF]

So, what did u do with the 118 bellies left?? 6 rods at one time??? Awesome boat tending.

[AndyS]

I constantly change baits. If my bait looks beat up or isn't swimming right, off it goes. I have to compete with the natural forage so my bait needs to look A+.
Yes a little fanatical but I have fun and have caught big fish doing it this way. Tiny hooks and no heavier than 6 lb. test mono.

[FISHOFF]

The cost must be over the top. Ny bait is @ a buck a piece, about. How small of a hook are u using?

[AndyS]

Sawbellies range from about 6 to 8 bux a dozen depending where you go. Hook sizes vary with the size of the herring. Anything from a small size 10 to a larger size 6 hook.

[bulletbob]

I would have frozen the leftovers, and dead ones.. They are terrific fluke bait, and channel cats love them too, even in places where they aren't present naturally... bob