Testimonials
By MIKE OYER
August 2021
Me and the other guys had a great time on Saturday (July 31, 2021). There’s something to be said about quality vs quantity and you definitely deliver quality. You two are the prime example of professional fishing and hospitality. We have decided that we want to do this with you two next year. Probably early September . Will be in touch about that later.
Once again thank you,
Mike Kurt John Bruce
By AMANDA REED
September 2019
September 2019
Lake Ontario
In late September, I took a trip to Lake Ontario and met up with Captain Andy Krall. I boarded the boat and met his wife, Donna.
I spent the weekend on a 30-foot boat in the middle of Lake Ontario above Rochester. Well, maybe not the middle of the lake, but my phone did chime in with “Welcome to Canada!” at one point. I was surprised it didn’t say “Welcome to Canada, eh.”
Well. Pitter patter, let’s get ‘atter.
The boat left the docks of Shumway Marina and headed northeast, out of Rochester harbor. Most captains prefer a slow troll out to fish. Not Captain Andy. His goal was to get where he had marked fish earlier that morning, hit the area hard and then troll back in at the end.
My first catch for Saturday was a steelhead, then a king followed by plenty of rainbow trout. Now, when I say rainbow trout, I don’t mean the pretty little six- to 12-inch fish that are plentiful here. These trout are a bit bigger. My smallest catch for Saturday was well past my elbow when I held it by the gill cover. I never did measure it, but I would guess it clocked in between 18- and 20- inches long.
It seems large until you consider the body of water in which we were casting our lines. The depth of the lake where we concentrated our fishing efforts was around 500-feet deep. It was right around the Canadian border on the water—and the fishing was good, eh.
As the day wore on, we traded hunting and fishing stories, and I quickly became good friends with Donna. We got along so well that Andy threatened to change her phone number the day after we left so she and I couldn’t conspire against him. (Those are tales not fit for writing down. Next time you see me, ask me for the funny bits.)
Andy told me about the copper line he had rigged in the center of the boat and warned me, “When it goes off, no one wants to grab it. It’s a hell of a fight. Three hundred feet of copper line, plus a leader and some line on after the copper, too.”
Easily picturing 400 feet of line, I raised an eyebrow when Andy said, “If that goes off, I won’t even talk to you for the first hour. You’ll be too busy fighting the fish.”
I eyed the pole and shrugged, “How bad could it really be?”
Well, a few short hours later, I found out. Just as the sun was beginning to set, the rod tugged hard against the holder. I went for the movement before I realized just which pole had moved. Andy laughed at me and said, “Just be glad it’s not the 500 footer. That line snapped yesterday.”
The captain set a timer, sat me down in the deck chair with the pole and continued to fish the others as I battled. After the first 20 minutes, I felt like I was gaining on it pretty well. I at least had the copper back to the reel. Though he said he wouldn’t talk, Andy continued to ask about my progress, ribbing me the whole time.
My arms did manage to get tired pulling this fish in. So I would rest with the tip of the pole in the air and stretch my arms one at a time. I looked to my left in stretching and was captivated by the sunset. The bright idea popped into my head to take a selfie while fighting the fish and to then snap a few of the sun as it set. Since I wasn’t gaining in the fight with the fish, it didn’t much matter how I spent the time with the line drawn tight.
After the short lull and a few selfies, I began to make moves in the slow battle. As the fish came closer to the boat, he fought back harder. At times, within a split second, the little gain I got would be torn from the real. Other times, it seemed the fish rushed the boat and I had trouble keeping the line as tight as I would have liked.
Finally down to the last 50 feet of line, I dug in hard. Though my arms were slightly sore, I managed to reel the fish in pretty fast once I stood back up.
The fighting monster was none other than the smallest fish of the day.
“That’s the thing with that line,” Donna remarked. “I caught one smaller than that and it fought just as bad. Imagine if it was bigger.”
We checked the time from my grab to when the fish was landed: 56 minutes.
Andy was impressed, “Under an hour is a hell of an accomplishment. I guess next year when you’re back, we’ll get you on the 500 footer and see how you do.”
I smiled and snapped another photo of the sun as it sank beneath the waves. “Sure thing. Five hundred sounds like a piece of cake.”
To fish with Captain Andy from April ‘til October.
By Jamal Cru Siag
September 2019
September 2019
So, I meet some seriously awesome people in NY!
They owned a Salmon Charter boat and invited me out on Lake Ontario free of charge. Next thing I know, we are out on Lake Ontario just Friggin' slaying huge chinook salmon! It was an absolute blast, they were such fun people! Can't wait to chill with them again. Life rocks with cool people in it! I am going to get a crew together to go next season. They are patriots and said they will give a military discount! They would love to have a boat full of Marines or soldiers. So, let me know if you want to jump on. You won't regret it, this dude puts you on fish!!! I'll put it this way, they had me take every bit of salmon that we caught today, even the ones I didn't catch because they have so much.