Copyright text/pictures Pierre Sylvestre, P.Eng., M.A.Sc.

Each year, summer months brings with them the chinook salmon fever on Lake Ontario. Chinooks feed heavily on alewives before their final trip to Lake Ontario streams where they spawn and die. Chinook salmons were first introduced in the Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario) in the 1960’s and since they are well established and provide one of the best fresh water fisheries in North America.

Each year, since 1990 we travel down to Lake Ontario to battle these giants that can tip the scale at more than 20 kg. July is the top month to fish the eastern part of the lake and it is also the beginning of one of the biggest fresh water fishing tournament in the world, the «Great Salmon Hunt». This 50 days derby runs this year from July 11th to August 29th and attracts more than 15 000 Canadian and American fishermen. There is seven mini-contests, one for each week where different prizes are awarded to the 10 biggest salmons and one grand prize for the biggest fish of the tournament. There is also two special prize categories, one for the biggest brown trout and one for the biggest stealhead (or rainbow trout).

Last year (1997) our boat: the Barracuda won the 2nd week mini-tournament with a 17,36 kg chinook salmon (we finished fourth overall). A 17,92 kg beauty, taken on the western side of the Lake was
the winning fish in 1997.

These fish are taken with two basic downrigger trolling techniques : spoons and cut bait. NKs, Lymans, Nasty Boys and Williams are prime spoons for Chinooks and we were eager to see if the Ismo Magnum, Qvack, King and Mini were as efficient for the big ones.

To chase these salmons, we use medium-heavy action 2,5 m downrigger rods equipped with high capacity Shimano reels (350 m of 9 kg test monofilament). Sharp hooks and heavy duty ball bearing swivel are the norm to ensure proper hooking and avoid line breakage.

We use four downriggers on the boat and decided to put our favorite lures (NKs) on one side and the Ismo spoons on the other side.

First day was July 19th 1998 and it was not long for the Magnum to prove its efficiency on Chinooks. After 30 minutes of trolling down 32 m over 35 m (where the fish were) a 12,3 kg was hooked and brought to the net after a nice 15 minutes battle. The purple/blue (black dots) Ismo Magnum was slammed one more time this day with a fish just over 10 kg. We ended the day with 2 salmons passing the 10 kg mark and one at 5,6 kg taken on a silver/blue NK28.

Second day, same depth pattern, got a 5,5 kg on the purple/blue (black
dots) Magnum and a 11,8 kg on the blue/green Magnum. But it was the
gold/blue NK28 that took the biggest fish of the tournament’s day, a 13,8 kg male.

On the third day, the misery happened. The Magnums (purple/blue and
blue/green colors) were snapped back to back on two big Chinooks. It was a sad finish for such two good spoons. We also lost two other of our best NKs (gold/blue) on giant Chinooks the same day. We only managed to boat a 7,6 kg fish that day taken on the silver/blue NK Mag.

The two yellow and yellow/green Magnums did not attract fish for the first two days so we added blue color on them and we tried them after we lost our two best (Magnum purple/blue and blue/green). They were given a new try on day four (with the blue color addition) and the day finished with a tie (a 9 kg fish on the yellow/green/blue Magnum and a 10,8 kg salmon on the NK28 silver/blue).

Day five was NK’s revenge. They took the only two Chinooks of the day a 8 and 9,8 kg.

On day six high waves prevented us to go on our hot spots and we only
managed one fish; a 9,1 kg taken on a silver/blue NK Mag.

Saturday the 25th was our last day of fishing and we had to quit at 10h30 AM. But what a day ! First was a 8,6 kg taken on silver/blue NK28 than the yellow/blue Magnum brought us a 9,2 kg fish. To end up the day a double header of 11 and 9,8 kg beauties came on the silver/purple NK Mag and the yellow/green/blue Magnum. What a nice way to conclude the trip. All in all no mini-contest winners but a lot of action and a real nice discovery: the Ismo Magnum !

It is important to note that we also tried the Ismo King (same color patterns as the magnums) but with no success at all. The only other lure
that took a Chinook was the Qvack (yellow/green color). It was putted as a slidder and took a 4 kg fish.

During the week we also caught numerous small chinook salmons (< 3 kg), two lake trouts and a stealhead. It appears that the two models you have with an hammered silver finish (Magnum and Qvack) are working very well on Lake Ontario but not the King and Mini models (which has a plain silver finish). Also, the size of the Magnum are ideal for the big Chinooks since their size is comparable to the alewives living in Lake Ontario. The Mini size did not get a fish but I think it will be at its best for spring-fall landlocked salmon or lake trout of Lake Champlain (which rarely exceed 3-4 kg).

Technical appreciation data for the Ismo Trolling Spoons Light weight is an appreciable advantage for downrigger trolling spoons. The colors degrade is very interesting since it gives the spoon a net advantage over plain/two colors spoons. Scaly color finish is interesting and looks like real scales. Hammered silver finish is a bit tern but it seems to work anyway. Plain silver finish is not very efficient on Lake Ontario but could produce fish in the right color combinaisons for Lake Champlain. It would be nice to have a gold plated hammered finish available. Color tape is very resistant even after multiple hook ups. Color patterns are real nice. Spoons can be banded easily to change their action in the water.

Ismos E-mail: ismo@tranemo.mail.telia.com