It is only March 5th and I have already been on Lake Ontario. This is the earliest I have been trolling the lake by about 10 days. It was a great deal of work to break up the ice at the launch to get the boat in the water. Then we broke through the ice to get to the river and more ice on the river to get to the lake. Even though we only fished for about a hour and a half after it was all worth it when we landed a nice brown trout that weighed in at 10 pounds on the boga grip. The fish was brought home for dinner tomorrow.
Over the next week we are supposed to see some warmer weather which will take care of the ice and should kick the brown trout fishing along the shoreline into full gear. Today there was very little colored up water due to the lack of run of at the moment. The warmer weather will change that as the remaining snow melts. I am guessing next weekend will be an excellent time to be on the water. I will not be on the water Saturday as I will be selling tackle at the Eastern Lake Ontario Salmon and Trout Association flee market at the fire hall in Brewerton. I am available for a trip on Sunday though.
The tough part of booking a drift boat trip trolling along the lake is it is very wind dependent. If the wind is blowing hard we can’t fish the lake with a drift boat. However there is always a plan b and c. We can go to Oswego and troll the harbor or go to the Salmon River or Black River and fish for steelhead.
If you are set on trolling the lake I recommend hiring a charter boat such as Irish Knots Sport fishing or High Adventure Sport fishing. The benefit of going on a charter boat is that the wind is not as big of a factor. They are able to fish in a fair amount of wind and waves. The cost will be more but you can also split that cost between 4 to 6 people instead of 2.
Spring brown trout fishing is a trolling trip most of the time. If you are fishing on a charter boat it will definitely be trolling. If you are on a drift boat most of the time we troll but if you wanted to cast that is an option. We could even try fly fishing for them. Trolling will produce the most fish though. I also have two trolling fly rods that can be deployed if you wanted to catch them on the fly.
With warmer weather right around the corner now is the time to think about booking a spring brown trout trip. I will be having my gallbladder removed on the 14th of March so I am not booking any trips until April but I have other guides that I work with that I will gladly set you up with if you wanted to go before April. If you would like to book a charter boat give Chris Yard (Irish Knots Sport Fishing) or Troy Creasy (High Adventure Sport Fishing) a call and they will set you up for sure.
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