Why do they do what they do?

[44 Degrees North]

Question for those in the know. Why can you catch salmon just under the ice and then when the ice goes out it can go dead or be the hottest fishing you have all year? Is it the smelt, the water temp, the sun, combination of all factors? Shrinkage just posted in another thread how they started with fly rods and had to go to downriggers. Why,why,why? They were just up under the ice.

[hardwatergrampa]

they are femail

[woodchip1]

Two things ----Oxygen content of water---  and Feed --  When feeding on smelts deep a lot of smelts get wounded and float up under the ice -- The larger Togue,Salmon  know that, and move along with backs touching ice and pick up wounded bait.

[Loves To Fish]

Question for those in the know. Why can you catch salmon just under the ice and then when the ice goes out it can go dead or be the hottest fishing you have all year? Is it the smelt, the water temp, the sun, combination of all factors? Shrinkage just posted in another thread how they started with fly rods and had to go to downriggers. Why,why,why? They were just up under the ice.

Fishing is a funny thing. You troll on the surface for awhile until it slows down. Then you start dropping lines until you catch fish again. Just because you catch fish again doesn't mean that's where the big ones are. You have to be patient, keeping one rod on the surface all day can pay big dividends, even if it's only one or 2 strikes all day. But those one or 2 strikes are usually from huge fish.
Here's my take on what's going on, just my 2 cents, mind you, since I've never been able to interview big salmon to confirm my suspicions LOL:
Having a thick coat of ice in the winter gives fish the safety they need to cruise just under the ice all winter long without fear of any above flying raptors. But when the ice is gone, big fish can't spend enormous amounts of time under the surface for fear of being picked off by eagles, ospreys, and seagulls. So I suspect they move through the water column, rising just under the surface occasionally to pick off cruising smelts. So the odds of your rods popping all day while fishing the surface diminish greatly after the sun comes up. By keeping at least one rod on the surface all day, you will get a chance for a large fish to finally see your offering.
The other piece to the puzzle as I have found out, there are large areas where you troll and troll, but the fish are simply not there. Then all of a sudden, you enter an area where you may catch 20 or 30 salmon. Apparently, they know where to hang out for the biggest buffets in that water body.
Bottom line for me, if you have confidence in your equipment and bait, then fish will bite sooner or later. We all hope for sooner.

[Mr.Harry]

Another thing - their eyes do not dilate and thence they are light-sensitive. True. After cruising under the dimmer conditions of at least a foot of ice with snow cover or not, they may be a little shocked by bright light on open water and be cruising at a more 'comfortable'(easy on the eyes so-to-speak) depth. Particularly past sunrise and before last light. Just my opinion, but the eye dilation and light sensitivity thing is fact.

[saltyshores]

This is a very interesting thread with very interesting comments. As Loves to Fish says, " Here's my 2 cents worth, but I have never interviewed a salmon." The same statement applies to my comments.

I'll start with what we know about smelt behavior and their use of various depths of water during the summer months. This info came from many all-night work sessions on Maine's larger lakes in Maine Fish and Wildlife's 22' mini-lobsterboat that was equipped with GPS for night navigation of about 15 miles of sampling transects. We used a $30,000 scientific-quality sonar that could detect smelts as small as 2 inches in water 100 feet deep and deeper. During the day the lake's smelts were assembled in large schools closely associated with the lake bottom until about 1/2 - 1 hour after sunset, as twilight is coming on. The sonar displayed the fish blips in colors that corresponded to the fish size. So, about an hour after sunset and continuing all night until about an hour before first dayiight, the smelt moved up through the lake's depth and spent the night feeding as individuals on plankton in the upper 30 feet of the lake, then they moved back to bottom i schools as daylight came. The plankton also make migrations from bottom up to the top waters of the lake overnight.

Once winter comes, the lakes ice over and get varying amounts of snow, both of which reduced the amount of light under the ice. There was more light directly under the ice than in the deeper water, so many fish spend a lot of time feeding just under the ice, where there is more plankton, generally. Some fish of course, can see well enough to feed in deeper water.

As others have mentioned in this thread, it seems odd that sometimes the salmon fishing is fast during and immediately after ice out, but other times it seems to take a week or 10 days for the fishing to get good. Often this seems to coincide with the spring smelt runs when the smelts are in shallow water around the lake or ascending the tributaries, and the smelts spend more time in shallows or just under the surface after spawning.

These wonderful creatures called fish with a brain the size of a pea can keep us wondering what is going on for trip after trip!

[fishlessman]

all i know is i fish 1 rod on top from opening day to closing unless the riggers are having a great day. and after iceout avoid 39 degree water like the plague. some of my best salmon have been caught near the surface in august on sunny days high noon, there is no logic for this

[thedirtydirtyfisherman]

definatley agree with fishless, there were a few days last year where according to logic and fish know how the salmon shouldnt have been hitting up top, but low and behold the sinking fly line sitting at about 10 feet was getting hammered and the two lead core lines at 20 and 30 couldnt buy a bite, late summer sunny day warm water...

[gradysjeep]

all i know is i fish 1 rod on top from opening day to closing unless the riggers are having a great day. and after iceout avoid 39 degree water like the plague. some of my best salmon have been caught near the surface in august on sunny days high noon, there is no logic for this

Water temp was 39 to almost 40 on Saturday where I was. Is that why I didn't even get a nibble?  Sure was nice to have a boat in the water though.

[fishlessman]

Water temp was 39 to almost 40 on Saturday where I was. Is that why I didn't even get a nibble?  Sure was nice to have a boat in the water though.

you have to find colder or warmer water

[dags]

you have to find colder or warmer water

That or you need to fish higher or lower in the water column.

-Dylan

[fishlessman]

That or you need to fish higher or lower in the water column.

-Dylan

it seems to me the salmon get really scattered in the column at that temp, i usually just look for that warmer water. its hard to key in on them when they are top to bottom

[woodchip1]

Salmon travel around the lake a lot . depends where the feed goes. Feed travels a lot when being chased.  Just before the spawning and after they hang around the same area.