Billy Philly

Spent some time this morning calibrating the autopilot, got lines down in 120 FOW heading North at around 6am. #5 king on Standard UV Glow Bloody Nose spoon on 125cu #4 king on Mag UV Glow Bloody Booger spoon, slider on rigger down 60 #14.5 king on Standard UV Glow Bloody Nose spoon on 125cu Lost one on Standard UV Glow Bloody Nose spoon on 125cu, it crossed out 275cu and got off. Sacrificed the 125cu, Standard UV Glow Bloody Nose spoon, and a Ninja Planer board due to reel malfunction after that. Tried to circle around and find it, but no luck. Felt bad that we lost the line that was on fire all morning. An interesting morning for sure. Fish seemed slow to bite. Marked good, in that 110-140 FOW range, but not much hooked up. No hits on plugs, flies, or meat rigs. Shorter trip this morning, so not much time to switch around baits, otherwise we would have swapped some out for that red and orange color patterns. We've landed at least one fish on sliders almost every time we go out. Not sure why they like them so much, but we'll take it.

Nice fish! I think we were coming in while you were going out. We were out from about 4:45-5:30. The lightning was spooking us so we decided not to set lines and hightailed it back in. We passed a couple of guys that were going out.

Yes, VERY foggy until we got out past 100.

Had trouble finding the fish today. Put lines in at 100FOW, worked SW to 120FOW. Turned N into 140FOW. Very few marks for bait or fish. 5:30am - 7lb King, Lucky Charm Ace High plug on 275cu 6:45am - 5lb King, Double Glow Ace High plug on rigger down 60 7:30am - 8.96lb Coho, Steelhead Stomper on slider on rigger down 48 Had time to dial in the new kicker. Next I'll be installing a Raymarine ST100+ tiller auto pilot.

We would have had a lot more fish if we had found the right water on time! We set up in 80FOW and slid out to where all the other boats were in 120 FOW or deeper. We weren’t marking anything, so we slid back in to 60-70FOW and it was game ON! Tons of bait and fish marks! One hit and miss on a 7clr lead, then we doubled up on a rigger down 45, and a 275cu. One got off, but we landed the 275cu after it tangled two other lines. Nice 17.2lb king though. The bite turned off around 9:30 but we kept marking lots of bait and fish in that 60 range. What worked: 60-70 FOW trolling North at 2.7SOG Mag UV Glow Bloody Booger on a 7clr lead Mag UV Glow Agent Orange on rigger down 45 Standard UV Glow Bloody Nose on 275cu

Nice fish! It was an excellent morning weather wise.

After the upwelling we weren't certain where to start, so we put lines down in 50FOW. We spent the morning trolling south zig-zagging between 45 and 65FOW. Every time we hooked up in was on a ESE, or WSW heading. Went through a big bait ball on the surface just north of the Saugatuck channel, where we hooked up on a one King and one Steelhead. Overall a decent morning, lake was flat calm and we pulled in some fish. This is what took fish: Coho - 7 color with a Mag UV Agent Orange spoon King - 6 color with a Mag Halfmoon Agent Orange spoon King - DR down 35ft Standard UV Wonder bread spoon Steelhead - Slider on a DR down 30 Stinger Orange Crush spoon Miss - DR down 30 Standard UV Bloody nose spoon

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

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!

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.

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

@littleboat Yessir! Up by 3:30, on the water by 4:15-4:30. Got to beat the sun! I've been the first one at the ramp countless times, but I'm also usually the first one off. I fish before I go into work.

Went out of Holland this morning. Initially between the wave period, wave direction, and the current, it was a challenge to get all the lines set and a good troll figured out. Had all lines down by 5:15am. Due to the current, we trolled NW and SE back and forth, watching our lines for the right speed. We started getting good marks around 130-140FOW, with all fish caught in 55-45 ft down. Almost everyone from the Veterans Fish day were out in 80-100 FOW, and they seemed to produce more fish than us, but we were happy where we were. Pulled lines at 7:30am and ended the day 3/5, and two fly byes. What took hits: Mag Bloody Booger Moonshine Mag UV Agent Orange Moonshine (this took the most hits) Mag UV Green Jeans Mag Burnt Toast Froggy meat rig on Froggy SD Fish weighed in at 17.92lbs (New PB ), 15.1lbs, and 14.8lbs

Thanks for the report! What makes the lake create those strong currents? I've been out a few times when there was a strong current, and it was tough. Is there a way to predict when this will happen?

Went two for five today. One big king broke our 30lb leader, one steelhead shook the hook right at the back of the boat. One fish was on but shook off half way, must have been a light bite. North and south trolls, 2.3-2.5 mph. 100-110FOW had lots of bait and lots of marks. Mag Bloody Booger, Mag Burnt Bread, Mag Green Jeans, SD and a green glow fly were what took hits. Sent from my iPhone using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App