Easy Ways To "Bag Bonus Fish"

Downrigging has become commonplace with Great Lakes anglers looking to connect with scores of fish during the heat of summer. Controlled depth fishing keeps the bait where the fish are and is by far the most practical way to connect with deep running salmon and trout.

While the concentration of fish may be 100 feet down, we will sometimes see addition-al fish suspended high and out of our strike zone. Is it practical to shift our rigs for these occasion-al fish?- probably not. We can however, drop some bonus rods on these stratified fish and pop some dandy cold water brutes. Here are three actual fishing scenarios and the methods used to connect with bonus fish.

The use of Wire Line and Dipsey Divers - while fishing in mid-August 2001, water temps had become uniformly warm causing salmon action to slow. The Kings that were being taken were in cooler water bands close to bottom. Periodically we would notice the odd bait school 100 ft. down over the 200 ft. bottom. Since fishing was slow, we were unwilling to sacrifice the production of a downrigger rod to target these high marks.

The solution was to load a pair of wire dipseys and place them in the 100 ft. range. Dipsey rods loaded with wire are generally spooled with 40lb. test. It's a good idea to use a stiff spined rod in the 9-10 1/2 ft. range. These rods are usually topped with some type of line-counter reel. Good choices would include the Daiwa SG47- LC and the new Okuma Convector reels. Reel capacity is important since the wire system works on a 3:1 ratio. For example: to target the suspended Kings at 100 ft., the angler would need to let out approximately 300 ft. of wire. Big #1 Dipsey Divers are usually run on a 2 1/2 to 3 setting so that they sweep the maximum distance away from the boat. With rods loaded, the angler can now intersect the occasional high King without sacrificing the production of his deep rods.

This combination worked perfectly as we lowered a wire dipsey to 310 ft. on the counter. The rod was loaded with a Luhr Jensen "O" dodger, trailing a black/green/silver Howie fly. We had trolled about 20 minutes when a King struck the combo and buried the dipsey rod momentarily locking it in the holder. With the rod free, line melted from the reel and the angler began to realize what the punishing fight of a mature King can be like. There is no stretch in wire so expect to feel (in full force) every move that the fish makes. It's not uncommon to see an angler lunge for the back of the boat as the fish turns away on another run. After years of fishing monofilament, the fight takes some getting used to. Total concentration is required to stay firmly connected with big Kings hooked up on wire. In this case, we maneuvered boat and fisher-man to keep constant pressure on the King. After 15 minutes we boated the 28 pounder and smiles were wide. The angler's forearms looked like Popeye's but the big fish was in the boat. The dipsey/wire combination accounted for three more Kings that day and proved once again what an effective bonus rod combination it can be. Lake Ontario's water clarity is affecting how deep we fish. Each season we seem to be taking bigger fish out of deeper water. Wire/dipseys should remain an excellent way to target additional bonus fish. In-Line Planers.

Just recently, I was fishing Lake Trout on the bottom in 155 ft. of water. Production was good but the trip lacked the pizzazz associated with an extra-ordinary fish. Since surface temps were still rather cool, I opted to run a pair of In-line planers in hopes that we might nail an impressive Brown or Steelhead near the surface.

The beauty of In-line planers is that they can be fished away from the boat allowing fish caught on downriggers to be landed without the risk of tangle. I had just released a slot Lake Trout overboard when the star-board in-line rod began to bend. My angler dove for the rod and came tight as I looked at the Off-shore planer being pulled back in the water. It reminded me of the movie "Jaws", when the harpooned shark pulled the third barrel under. I relaxed a bit thinking a decent Brown Trout had grabbed the little silver/orange attacker spoon trolled behind the planer. That moment of calm was shattered when a 12lb. chrome/silver Steel-head vaulted from the water in a tight series of barrel rolls. The big fish splashed down and was gone as quickly as he hit. While we never landed that fish, our brief encounter was worth the price of admission. Contact with this exceptional fish was made possible by using the in-line planer in a bonus capacity.

Offshore in-line planers can be found in any great lakes tackle shop or wherever Walleye fishing gear is sold. They cost between $25.00 and $30.00 dollars and can be used over and over again. Our standard pro-gram is to clip on a bait that will be compatible with whatever program we are fishing. In this case, we were fishing Lakers slow and on the bottom. Our choice of spoons was a small silver/ orange Attacker spoon designed to flutter at the slowest of speeds. We then let out 100 ft. of Trilene Big Game before we clipped our in-line planer onto the line. I typically run Big Game line in any situation where the fishing line could encounter abrasion. It's tough, durable and has a fairly thin diameter. Once the planer has been attached, I let out more line until it is trolling approximately 100 ft. to the side of the boat. Typical downrigger rods can be used for this application so there is no need to buy specialty gear. The black clip releases provided on the Offshore boards can easily withstand the strike of anything except the nastiest of Kings. If losing the board is a concern, simply attach a small snap swivel on the back release. Clip the swivel onto the fishing line so that if the board is pulled free it will simply slide down the fishing line. If this is your plan, be sure to tie a barrel swivel in line about 6 ft. in front of your bait. This will act as a stop for your In-Line planer and will also keep it away from your fish. Under normal fishing conditions, it is quite easy to reel the board into the boat where it can be unclipped from the line. Once this is done the fish can be landed in a normal fashion.

Drop Weights & Sinker Releases
Running high speed trolling patterns with spoons is one of my favorite ways to fish for salmonids. A typical summer combo program would be to have full size planer boards running baits near the surface, Dipsey Divers running baits in the 25-40 ft. range and downriggers accessing the 50-75ft. level. In the eastern basin of Lake Ontario, many anglers fish the shipping lanes where it is possible to run this combination. At the lanes, Browns will be on the surface, Steelhead will be in the mid range and the Kings will stratify just below them. Inevitably, the monofilament line Dipseys would be the rods in the Steelhead range. A jumping Steelhead (carrying a Dipsey Diver) is a recipe for disaster. It would not be uncommon to lose over 50% of the fish hooked. Get-ting a free standing bait into the Steelhead zone but eliminating any weight on the line after the strike was the key.

Drop weights have long been the answer to this problem. A drop weight is nothing more than a round lead ball with an eyelet on top. Recently, some anglers have taken to calling them meatballs. They can be molded in a variety of sizes from 3 oz. straight through to 2 lbs. Many manufacturers make release aids to attach this ball to the anglers line. The weight helps get the bait into the strike zone. When the fish hits, the ball is released (dropping to the bot-tom) and the angler fights the fish cleanly. The drawback to this rig is that the ball is gone and can never be used again. A simple drop weight set-up would be to use a Les Davis sinker release. Sinker releases come in a variety of tensions and are comprised of a spring loaded tube. The tube has a slot in it and an eyelet on each end. Inside the tube is a retractable pin connected to one of the eyelets. The sinker release is tied in-line about 8 ft. up from the lure. The pin is retracted and the eye of the drop weight is placed into the slot in the release. The pin is run through the eye of the weight and back into the release. With the drop weight firmly affixed to the sinker release, the angler can let out the desired amount of line. The rod is locked into position by simply engaging the reel. 10 1//2 ft. Dipsey Rods are great for this set-up but I suggest running drags a bit on the loose side. High speed hits from huge Steelhead can be savage and I've seen rod holders torn from the boat when drags were too tight. When a Steelie strikes, the force of his hit retracts the pin and the drop ball falls away leaving only the tiny release between fish and angler. Once the in-line weight is eliminated, you should see your catch percentage on Steelhead increase by as much as 30 percent.

Some Closing Thoughts!
Lake Ontario is undoubtedly one of the finest fisheries in all of North America. The abundance of trophy sized fish is incredible and the time has never been better to connect with a truly big fish. Changing weather and water conditions can sometimes throw a monkey wrench into the cogs of even the best angler's plans. Today's fishing Hero can be tomorrow's fishing Zero. The beauty of these bonus rod techniques is that the angler never has to sacrifice his typical down-rigger pattern. The riggers can take fish all day long and not be inhibited by drop weights, in-line planers or dipseys. When these rods do take a strike, chances are that it will be something special. It will be a bonus but in the form of a cold water trophy!

Captain Bill Saiff III owns and operates "Saiff's Fishing Charters" in Watertown NY. He also is host of the national fishing and hunting programs "Rod & Reel" and "Cabin Country" seen on Public Television Stations and The Outdoor Channel. He can be contacted at 315-782-4665 or on-line at www.BillSaiffOutdoors.com.