All Activity

Most fish came 50-60 down.

Any time I made a speed change we got hit. I would slow to 2.5 at the ball cruise for 5 minutes or so then increase speed to 3.1-3.2 and wham.

87feet. The last three came in 79 and 35-40 down.

Man you crushed it! Congrats & thanks for the super detailed report. QUESTION: what depth of water were you getting most of these bites in???

Great job getting the winning bidder his money worth. Nice fish! Thanks for the report.

Well done captain Dave and 1st mate Keagan ! I think you found the same pod of fish you were on a couple nights ago and kept whooping them. Your customer will long remember that outing ! lol We ran your program north of Port Sheldon last night and found a pod of fish and boated five of them so thanks for the report earlier in the week. Stay on em and tight lines. Save a few for the rest of us

I had the honor of taking out the winning bidder for a cancer fundraiser earlier this spring. Tonight was the night. Jon had not fished the big pond in more than 6 years. My first mate Keagan and I found some fish through the smoke and I am certain wore John's arms out in the process. We ended up 11 for 17. Some dandy fish in the mix. Pretty slow until 8:30pm and then it was game on. Here is what worked 2.7-3.1 at the ball south is troll though we did catch a couple when we did about face to come home. We fished straight out and trolled past Saugatuck. Half way to Saugatuck was when things switched on. High dipseys had flasher flies early and took four rips but did not stay on. Had a free slider rip we lost as well. Switched everything to spoons. Both high dipseys went multiple times after 8pm with Stanglehold "bloody knuckles" "Raspberry Carbon" OG and Dreamweaver "Bloody Nose RV". 120-130 out on setting 3. Never had a hit on inside/deep diver anywhere from 70-140out. Ran meat, white 11" paddle fly and eventually spoons Riggers 50 and 60 down with free sliders produced. Blue flounder pounder, Happy Meal, Dancing Anchovy and many other spoons went swimming tonight. 275 copper, 250 copper 225 copper rods all took fish. It was a great night. Once again, speed was the key. The fish were out of temp and we were taking fish between 30 and 60 feet down. 60' down was 49 degree water. 35-40' 54-55 degree water.

great trip!

That net is a weapon. Glad you had a well stocked safety kit on the boat. Thanks for the report.

That's a crazy experience with the gulls! I've never had that before. Smoke must be driving them nuts. Nice fish though!

thanks for the report. you have to be tough to fish the big lake

Nice box of fish Sent from my SM-A156U1 using Great Lakes Fisherman mobile app

Fished 5-10:30 am, mostly 83-90fow.1 for 3 on fish and 0 for 1 on seagulls. Smoky fishing, I think it had a negative effect on the fish but positive effect on seagulls. They were dive bombing my lures trying to pick them up and out of the water. When I let out my downrigger lead, they would attack it, pick it up, flap their wings for lift off, but crash back into the water with lure in their mouth. One did it several times before giving up. I think he got hooked and was trying just like a steelie to shake the hook off. Only 1 fish today brought on-board. Lost 2 others when my snap swivels broke on the sliders losing the main lures not the slider. 1 king, 15#-2oz, 6:04am, MS Mag Flounder pdr,, 2.7sog, sw trl, 52.8° at ball, 43ft dwn, in 83.4fow Ran 150C, 250ws, 300ws, hi & low divers and two riggers on N & S trolls, zigzanging. My probe batteries ran out right after I just setup. I was very busy replacing batteries, and lines with broken swivels instead of fishing. Lots of smoke today, wore a mask at times. Peeled a large part of my skin by unprotected edges on my net. Definitely a fix coming for that. Sent from my SM-A156U1 using Great Lakes Fisherman mobile app

Put out of Holland at around 4am. It was smoky, but not terrible. We were ready to call it off if it was too smoky, so we were pleasantly surprised to see that the other side of Lake Mac was still in view. Put lines down in around 80 FOW. Didn't mark much, so we slid out to 90. At 5:30 we took one on an ESE troll as we slid out. Nothing to write home about, but at least we weren't skunked. We weren't happy with what we were marking. We zigged and zagged through 80-100 both North and South, not marking anything, so we decided to turn in and try shallower water. We ended up in 70FOW heading S and started marking fish and bait. From 7am-8am we landed 5 fish, one on UV Mag Green Jeans, the other four on a Double Glow Silver Horde Cut Plug on a 275cu. We could hardly keep that thing in the water before another fish would hook up on it. By the time we were done we were almost in front of Saugatuck. At 8:30 the bit was off, maybe they slid out, we weren't sure. We pulled lines and headed back to Holland, happy that we had a 100% landing ratio! On the way back, visibility had degraded significantly. If you're heading out tonight take it easy, and tight lines!

Last time it was like this the pm bite was like 8-9 pm and not when the sun set and after as usual.

we are going to need an explanation to explain the combat fishing picture

looks like success Ed.

smoke looks like a little haze. Fish biting. 15lb-2oz... breaking my gear. Fish are really biting hard. Smoke has gotten worst definitely can smell and taste it Sent from my SM-A156U1 using Great Lakes Fisherman mobile app

Not afraid to turn around if conditions aren't good. I'll send out a morning report as I'll be on the water by around 4:30am.

This happened before. Be careful out there. It can be bad and it can actually act worse than fog if there is moisture in the air.

I've had days where I fished in the fog and the fish never slid out deeper as the morning progressed. With the smoke in the air, it's possible they stay shallower longer.

I am going to go out tomorrow morning. Any idea how the fishing will be with all this smoke and smog rolling in? Sent from my iPhone using Great Lakes Fisherman

well done!

sometimes the pod of fish your on just won’t bite and it makes for a great boat ride…. and it’s way better than working. thanks for the report