5/17 - WNY Team Pro Snagger Hit S-Bay, Confronts Wind!

Man oh man, the wind was unbelievable today! We departed with Kase as the skipper of the tin can rental and fought 2-3' chop to get to some protected areas. Inaccuweather said wind would west, about 10-15 mph. Try 20-25 steady, dead north. Sodus Bay is bad enough with any breeze, but north winds pretty much leave you with few safe havens.

We eventually got to some spots, and I immediately got into fish with a vibration bait. Most fish came from 3-6 FOW. I was really ripping the bait, despite the conventional wisdom of slowing down and going smaller after a cold front.

I did switch up with a jerkbait, a spinnerbait, t-rig worm or lizard, and shallow to medium cranks. The majority of my fish came from the lipless crank and jerkbait, though I must add that I nailed my 1st t-rig fish of the year on a lizard.

Kase's fish came on mid level cranks, and jerkbaits. He did get the biggest fish of the day on a spinnerbait. He also had a nice 7-8 lb. northern on a crankbait. He almost leaped right into the boat. On the jump, I could see that he took the crank very deeply, and knew that crank was history, LOL. It looked like he was all done, so I tried to guide it near the boat, and grab him, but he broke off. I guess I'll have to hunt down some baby bass cranks for Kase, LOL.

Most fish were average cookie cutter to downright small. We boated somewhere around 25 fish. I had a real nice fish on the trap, but he was taking drag, and then charged the boat and shook off. I'm real disappointed about that one, and everyone here knows, I take drops seriously. I'm not sure I would have done anything differently - it just wasn't meant to be. May that fish get bigger, and tug someone else's line

Had dinner at a waterfront restaurant, fished a little more, and then made the fun trip through 3-5' rollers in the tin can back to the docks. I was skipper for the final leg of our tour. Had a few"rogue waves" that were huge, and breaking that old "every six or seven waves is the big one" rule. Good to be back on land, instead of pretending to be part of The Deadliest Catch cast, though I can't get the room to stop swaying