The aftermath!......

[Josh Choronzey]

Just a little wrap up from the Chantry (not to rain on Dave and Nick's posts)

Fished close to 12 trips between both the east and west side of the Peninsula.
Took fish every single trip and some evenings were actually very good.
Top boxes were an 8 fish evening, a 7 fish evening and a day off of Southampton where we moved 17 rods.

Steelhead catch was pretty awesome on Huron. We took over 10 steelies on 2 seperate trips off Saugeen Shores. Dipsy Divers and HF spoons rocked. We found a scum line just north of the Saugeen one afteroon and the surface of the lake appeared to be a trout farm. There were rainbows dimpling everywhere. These steelhead we found were all between 4 and 7lbs and they were so strong!

Totals for my buddy Mya and I were somewhere around 30 chinooks and 25 steelhead. We only boxed 2 lake trout the entire derby, both were under 3lbs.

East side of the Peninsula was the sleeper for Chinooks. Not shakers either, mostly all mature kings. We found decent numbers of Kings and hooked up each morning and evening. HF spoons and meat rigs behind Spin dr's ruled.
Could not box a chinook over 13.5lbs. Lost a few I am sure, but our catch was dominated by 8 to 12lb salmon. For the most part, they were healthy. Some fish still look like snakes and cannot find the ideal bait fish. Stomach contents showed the majority of chinook were feeding on smelt and sticklebacks....no alewives to be found.

Great job by LHFC for running a tight ship, true to the rules and very accommodating with weight stations in different locations. We travelled a good deal in order to put fish in the boat, and having a station in Pike Bay was awesome.

My ginger buddy Mya makes for a very unhappy photo subject. As soon as I say "pick that up for a picture" I think he turns even more red and starts to complain...lol. Regardless, he loves to downrig, and he moves to the rigger pretty quick when a rod fires...

A super skinny Chinook. This fish was 34 inches long. Compare that to the length of the Chantry top 10 winners. This fish should have tipped the scales in the mid teens atleast. It was only 9.5lbs.


Stomach contents from a healthy chinook...notice the # of sticklebacks. These are the primary bait source out there. This stuff doesnt make whopper chinooks, but it fills a void I guess. We mark clouds of stickles on the Gbay side. They are always bottom oriented in 70 to 90 fow. They seem to stage off of Sauble and Southampton as well. Must be hard on the guts of the chinook who are made to feed on soft ray baitfish.


A box from the east side...



and another.....


And a dandy the day after the derby ends!

[Richard Elliott Jr]

Excellent Report Josh, thanx for taking the time
Tight Lines Richard

[GilTam]

Nice work!

Boating only two lakers...... does this mean the natural re-stock program is working?

[Josh Choronzey]

Lol, the lakers were fin clipped minnows that were dragged around behind our flashers...truely enjoyable catch

[Matt Collins]

Nice report and fish. That handsome devil looks like he's been losing some weight. Must be all the fish you've been boating.

[louie david]

Good report on the fishery.
Thanks for the insight....

[Josh Choronzey]

Fish keeps you thin Collins....we seem to counter that with Bud in a can.

[Kyle Watson]

Nice looking catches there Josh. Some very interesting info to consider in your post. You seem to have some real productive combinations dialed in.
One question, do you tend to match the colours of your Spin Dr.s to the HF spoons, or do you just run the flashers with the meat rigs.
Ok, one more question, are you still using the coloured brined meat rigs?

[DavidBedford]

Thanks for the post Josh, great report. I only caught 3 lake trout during the derby, 2 shakers and a 9 lber. Caught many rainbows which were released when possible.As well I boated 2 coho, 5&9 lbs.

[Josh Choronzey]

HF spoons I run without the flashers...
Meat rigs behind spin Drs. I brine all my anchovies. The brine makes a huge difference in the quality of the bait and the ability to add color obviously allows them to stand out when other boats are pulling meat.