HitMan

We have used the Black's releases for the last 5 years after years of using Rubber Bands and the Proos Wally Release. The Black's, or the DuBros release, do an excellent job. You can tighten the releases to whatever you want and it never has failed on us. We are now convinced on the Black's release and it is so easy to set the release quickly or in rough conditions. I believe our percentages have gone up since switching over from the Proos Wally Release. Personally, I would recommend Black's for better initial hook-up ratios!

I am sure Jimbob's Weights would be glad to take your lead in exchange for some 12 pound round cannonballs, 12 pound pancake weights, or 15 pound pancake weights. He currently has all three in stock in either black or chartreuse. We have used his weights for over 15 years and will never use anything different.

I agree Caz. The Stingray sized spoon is the perfect fit for many different fishing conditions and days. It is the perfect fit for between the Magnum and Stinger. It sure is an excellent producer! We probably use 85% all Stingrays now and the remaining 15% are all Stingers.

Top 5 Spoons for BIG Kings:

1. Dolphin (no tape) Stingray

2. Stinger Pox Stingray

3. Cory's Bait Stingray

4. Green Dolphin Stingray

5. Carmel Dolphin Stingray

Top Flasher/Fly for BIG Kings:

1. Luhr Jensen 11" Coyote White/Pearl Fishscale Flasher with Oceana Rapture Fly or Little Bride Rapture Fly or Hypnotist LG Rapture Fly

On Sunday, March 18, I stopped at the launch ramp in Portage, IN. There were 36 trucks and trailers in the parking lot. I talked with a dad and his 12 year-old son when they were pulling the boat out and they had 10 Cohos and Browns. The Cohos were really nice sized, all about 3-6 pounds.

I also know two guys who fished the surf in Port Sheldon on Saturday and they both walked away with 3 nice Browns after only 2 hours of fishing.

We use 20 lb. Maxima UltraGreen for our riggers and surface planer board rods. We tie a 7 foot leader of 20 lb. Gamma Leader Material for our Flourocarbon leader on our surface planer board rods. We also use 20 lb. Gamma Leader Material for all our sliders, both on the riggers and divers.

The following is an email I received from MUCC:

Today State Senators Michael Prusi (D) and Randy Richardville ® said its ok for the shipping industry to keep bringing new invasive species into the Great Lakes. By introducing a bill that would roll back the new ballast water permits put in place on January 1, 2007, the Senators have made it clear that the economic benefits of a $4.5 billion sport fishing industry, the $30 million tax payer dollars spent annually controlling invasive species and the future health of the Great Lakes is not important.

The following is an email I just received from NACO (National Association of Charterboat Operators) today:

Dear NACO Great Lakes Member,

The effect of invasive species on the Great Lakes is the focus of a House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee hearing tomorrow, Wednesday (March 7), at 2 p.m. in 2167 Rayburn, Washington, DC. A subcommittee briefing paper from the 109th Congress noted that a new invasive species is discovered every eight months in the lakes.

The White House fiscal 2008 budget includes $35 million for the Great Lakes Legacy Act that funds U.S. EPA partnerships with local agencies and $8 million for an invasive species barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The Great Lakes boasts 18 percent of the world's fresh water supply and 95 percent of the U.S. fresh water supply. The system is the source of drinking water for millions, supplies process and cooling water for industrial uses, and is used to generate hydroelectric power.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI.) introduced two bills last week aimed at reducing the invasive species threat -- the "National Aquatic Invasive Species Act" and the "Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act."

The National Aquatic Invasive Species Act would reauthorize and strengthen the National Invasive Species Act of 1996 to protect U.S. waters by preventing new introductions of aquatic invasive species. The legislation would regulate ballast discharge from commercial vessels, prevent invasive species introductions from other pathways, support state management plans and screen live aquatic organisms entering the United States.

The Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act would list three species of Asian carp -- the bighead, black and silver carp -- as harmful wildlife under the Lacey Act. The move would prevent the intentional introduction of these species into the Great Lakes by prohibiting the interstate transportation or importation of live Asian carp without a permit. The Lacey Act makes illegal the trade certain fish and wildlife.

According to Levin's office, estimates of the annual economic damage caused nationwide by invasive species range as high as $137 billion. Because the Great Lakes fisheries are valued at $4 billion annually, preventing invasions into the Great Lakes from ballast water, hulls or the system of canals connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and Atlantic Ocean is critical. Once an exotic species establishes itself, it is almost impossible to eradicate and usually difficult to prevent from moving throughout the nation.

Asian carp have yet to enter the lakes, but scientists have spotted the invasive species within 25 miles of the entrance to Lake Michigan. The fish, which can weigh up to 60 pounds, migrate up the Mississippi River to the canal, where the fence emits an electric pulse to repel them. While Asian carp do not eat other native fish, the species eats up to 40 percent of its body weight in plankton each day, out-competing other species for food and habitat.

Hello there,

Our policy is if no fish are caught, your next charter trip is FREE. The free trip can be for anytime later in the year. For example, this still applies if we have 10 fish on and zero fish are caught. Some guys count a fish on as their "guarantee" for the charter. We count a caught fish as our "guarantee." Luckily, the last time we had to implement the guarantee program was 8 years ago.

You already know what day I am going to be there .

For those of you who don't know, I will be there on the 15th in the Stinger booth! Be sure to come and say hi!!!

Hey Guys,

I don't know how many of you know that I write the Grand Haven Steelheaders online fishing report daily, or at least every couple of days if possible, for the last three years. It has been a huge success with a lot of compliments from fellow anglers. I try to write the report to mainly target weekend anglers and give them a good starting location and possible lure selections. Much of the feedback I have received is thanking me for helping weekend anglers eliminate water and giving them an approximate starting idea since they haven't been fishing in a week or two, or maybe even longer.

The report can be accessed through the Grand Haven Steelheaders website and under the section "Captain Jon's Fishing Report." I usually keep a week's report on the site for viewers to refer back to over the last few days for lure colors, water depths, and the changes that have occurred, etc. Beginning this year, I am going to post the identical reports on this website. Hopefully, this happens daily or as often as possible depending on tournament schedules and charter trips, etc. I hope to help a lot of fellow anglers out by posting on this website as well!!!

We run two of JimBob's pancake style weights with the adjustable fins on our two outdown riggers. We bend the fins approriately for each side of the boat so they pull away from the boat. The tracking is awesome with these weights and you can bend the fin as far as you so choose. We then use a JimBob's regular round weight on our center downrigger. We only fish with 3 downriggers. All JimBob's downrigger weights we use are Chartreuse in color.

The fishing in Muskegon is pretty much identical to that of Grand Haven in April. Depending on the winter, spring kings can make their way to Grand Haven and Muskegon by the 2nd or 3rd week of April. If not, fishing can be extremely horrible and non-existent since the Brown Trout fishery has taken severe punishments. April is a hit or miss month depending on the water temperatures and the traveling patterns of the spring kings. Late April to early May usually does produce some of the largest kings of the year though.

We catch a couple around the 20 pound mark every year out of Grand Haven. Bigger ones are usually caught out of South Haven and the St. Joe area in Southern Lake Michigan. The biggest I believe for us was 24 pounds, but that was a few years ago.

We tried the Shark Cannonballs about four-five years ago when they first came out. The creator came to Chinook Pier in Grand Haven and passed them out for boats to try. I know a lot of people like them and swear by them. Personally, I do not like them. I thought the bright silver ones scared the fish and they definitely affected our normal catch rates and spread efficiency. Many of the guys I know use the black coated ones.

We are stuck in a rut and will not use anything but JimBob's Weights. They are a custom designed pancake type weight with an adjustable tail for direction dialing. When you get used to something and have a lot of confidence in it, it is hard to switch to something new and still have confidence in your spread. The Shark Cannonballs definitely messed up our normal spread and consequently our confidence. But that is just my thoughts and opinion.

We use a bead below the snubber and above the snubber. So it goes from the swivel that you tied on: bead, snubber, bead.

We run up to 5-6 lead core rods and boards on a side. We rarely get leaders or cores clustered up. The key is to have a large amount of distance between each board.

We used to use Seaguar Fluorocarbon and leader material exclusively. We now use Gamma and I think it is tougher. The only thing I don't like is the Gamma is a little more stiff than the Seaguar. But, other than that we have had no other issues in two years using Gamma.

We use a 50-70 foot leader made of Gamma fluorocarbon leader material. This stuff is extremely tough. It rarely needs to be retied. But, once it gets down to 20-30 feet the leader is replaced with a new segment of 50-70 feet.

We use a double overhand knot to tie a swivel onto the wire. We put 2 8mm beads over the knots and about a 1 inch piece of a blown out snubber as a shock absorber to reel the swivel all the way to the rod tip without getting kinks and twists. The beads and snubber cover up the knots and stop the wire and swivel from going through the rod tip.

Lastly, we only run flashers/flies and meat on our wire divers. The leader is 40 pound Gamma leader material and later on in August and September we use 50 pound leader material.

We caught the largest documented Chinook in Michigan in 2005. The fish was caught on August 22 out of Grand Haven and officially weighed 32 pounds 13 ounces.

How does your Eagle fish finder work? I have never had much good luck with the old Eagle fish finders. Again, I will vote for a Brand New fish finder as I think that is more important than a temp and speed indicator. You can buy an excellent color graph for under $700. Maybe next year would be the year to purchase the temp and speed indicator. Just my thoughts. Let me know if you have any other questions.

I would shop for features you like between an ICOM and UNIDEN. Personally, we have an ICOM and it has worked flawless for years. As previously stated, the atenna is the most important component. If you are going to mess around rigging up a new radio, buy a great antenna that will last last. I don't know the model of the Skakespeare antenna right off the top of my head right now, but we can talk to boats in Pentwater and some days Wisconsin. It was around $100-$125 for the antenna a few years ago.

The Outdoorsman Pro Shop in Jenison, MI is putting on a seminar about Copper, Lead Core, and Wire Line on March 3rd. The presenters are Captain Chip Klein of Hit Man Charters and Captain Willis Kerridge of Thunderduck Charters in Grand Haven, MI. It is free to attend the seminars and the special spring sale is also on March 3rd.

The Grand Haven Offshore Challenge is hosting its third annual Big Lake Seminar. The date for this all day event is March 10th. The cost is $60.00 with lunch included. Presenters are Captains Brian Butts, Mark Veurink, Willis Kerridge, Dave Engle and Bill Bale. More information can be seen at: http://www.grandhavenoffshorechallenge.com/fishingseminar.php

I believe the Battle Creek Steelheaders is also having a special seminar night, later this month, with the topic being Spring King Fishing using Stinger Spoons, Cut Bait, and Flashers and Flies. The speaker at this event is Captain Chip Klein of Hit Man Charters.

There are a lot more small presentations put on by many different Steelheaders chapters. Most of the seminars usually go unannounced except for the local active members.

The Michigan Sea Grant is hosting their annual Lake Michigan Fishery Workshop in Spring Lake, Michigan. The workshop is on March 3 and runs from 8:30AM-3:45PM. The workshop includes the following:

8:30: Registration, Coffee and Rolls

9:00: Welcome by Chuck Pistis of Sea Grant

9:15: The Appearance of the Bloody Red Shrimp in the Great Lakes by Steve Pothoven of NOAA and the GLERL

10:00: 2006 Great Lakes Charter Data Results by Donna Wesander of the MDNR

10:30: Break

10:45: Factors Influencing Brown Trout and Coho Salmon Management in the Great Lakes by Dave Clapp of the MDNR

11:30: Avian Botulism in the Great Lakes and it's Implications for the Fisheries by Brandon Schroeder of Sea Grant

12:00: Lunch (Included)

1:15: The Changing Lake Michigan Forage Base: Status and Trends by Chuck Madenjian of the USGS Great Lakes Science Center

2:00: Introduction for Online Reporting for Charter Operations by Donna Wesander of the MDNR

2:30: Will There be a Michigan Hunting and Fishing License Package? by Denny Grinold of the Michigan Hunting and Fishing License Task Force

3:00: VHS (Viral Hemorrhagic Septicimia) in the Great Lakes: Update and Status by Gary Whelen of the MDNR

3:45: Adjourn

The cost is $14.00 by February 27 and $17.00 at the door. The registration fee includes the coffee and rolls, lunch, and all listed topics.

This is a great public opportunity for all Great Lakes Fishermen to ask questions, voice their opinions, and learn about extremely important topics regarding our fishery.

If interested in receiving more of the payment details, location, etc., feel free to PM me or reply to this message.

1. Chip's Shanster regular-sized Stinger

2. Buffalo Bill regular-sized Fuzzy Bear

3. Holly Christmas regular-sized Stinger

4. Jawbreaker regular-sized Stinger

5. Orange Killer regular-sized Stinger

Honorable Mention: Double Orange Crush regular-sized Stinger, Razberry Dolphin regular-sized Stinger, Red Killer regular-sized Stinger, Perch regular-sized Stinger and Orange Dolphin regular-sized Stinger

I guess I should have worded that better.

1) A PRO boat is any licensed charter fishing vessel no matter who is on board.

2) A PRO boat is any boat who has a licensed captain on board; this automatically makes you a PRO boat.

For example, if I wanted to fish with 3 of my buddies in their 18' boat, we would have to fish in the PRO division.

As of last year, in some tournaments, any licensed MATE on a boat, automatically makes the entire boat a PRO as well. This was only in a couple tournaments though.

There is no gray area. It is straight forward when it comes to the classification of PRO boats.

It may be helpful to go to some of the tournament websites and read some of their specific rules. All the descriptions and statements are in the rules.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Again, this depends on what sized Salmon you have been catching while PRE-FISHING. There may be large salmon out deep and there may be smaller salmon. Usually, you will catch salmon while fishing for Steelhead anyways. Your speed is faster and more lures are Steelhead and Salmon type lures, unlike while specifically fishing for Lake Trout.

A lot of guys catch their 9 Salmon and then go and fish for Steelhead and you just continue to catch more and more Kings and have to throw them back; dead or alive.

There are a ton of different ways you can look at the tournaments and your plan of attack. The best way to get used to the tournament atmosphere is to go fun fishing and try to act like you are in a tournament to become familar with the certain techniques and ways you would like to handle things. Just like any other sport; practice, practice, and practice.