HitMan

Welcome!

Actually, I have lived out here since July 2008! I teach 3rd grade 8 miles from Vail in Edwards, CO. I come home in the summer and fish, while living with my parents.

You wouldn't believe it, but we don't have snow days for school. No matter what the temperature is, weather is, etc. there are no snow days. Snow doesn't cancel school out here, only the I-70 does, if it is closed and no one can travel (which hasn't happened yet)! Pretty hard to believe.

Here in the heart of the Rockies of Colorado, we just got 32 inches since Monday morning! Our storm has now been delivered to you!!!

Scotty makes a shock absorber. It looks like a big diver snubber. Here is a link: http://www.scotty.com/fishing-gear-equipment/fishing-supplies/diver-snubber.htm

I have no idea if it could take a heavy weight or not. Personally, I wouldn't trust it. Someone else also makes a coil looking spring that is supposed to be a shock absorber as well.

Depending on your downrigger brand, auto-stop below the surface is the best feature and no shock absorber is needed.

Grand Haven

As far as I know, I am not sure if either South Haven or Muskegon are sure if they are going to have their tournaments this year. I am not 100% sure, but that was the talk in the fall. It all has to do with rising costs, the economy, and decrease in participation.

Vexilar 18; hands down!

I wouldn't go with them. They are on the cheaper side for quality and durability.

I would go with Berts or Traxstech.

Are you looking for rail mount only?

I wrap the hook harnesses around one of those foam swimmy float tube things... the big long things you buy in the summer. I cut it into small pieces and then wrap the harnesses onto that.

Then, I just keep all my loose plugs in a small dish, without any hooks attached.

Tomics and Ace Highs are hung from the window, since the hooks do not come off.

One of the best boats and Tiaras ever made! Good choice!

My recommendations all depend on the budget and how much is allotted.

However, the Slickcraft 235 is one of the best boats ever made!

Must not be looking at the no whitecaps in Grand Haven.

www.surfgrandhaven.com

I fished this morning on my parent's boat with my neighbor. First, the weather forecast was WAY OFF and it was quite rough from about 6AM-8AM, and then it slowly decreased and calmed down. We quit fishing around 9AM.

We ended up 7 for 8, with all 7 being Kings from 12-19 pounds. All 8 bites were on Flasher/Fly combos. We fished 90-110 feet of water and downriggers were set at 70, 80 and 5 feet off bottom. The best two rigs were an 11 inch Pro-Troll ProChip Green/Glow flasher with a Wild Fern Rapture Fly. Also, an 8 inch Pro-Troll ProChip Chartreuse/Glow flasher with a Citron Rapture Fly. Other flies that had bites were the Blue Fern Rapture Fly and Last Supper Rapture Fly, both of these being behind chrome and blue custom-taped 8 inch Pro-Troll flashers.

Good luck to all!!!

I must be hard of hearing already! HAHA

You going to be around Friday or Saturday this week?

I should be in town until around August 15thish. I have nothing set in stone, so it is kind of a come and go when I want sort of deal. I do plan to be fishing out of Muskegon maybe tomorrow night, and then for sure the rest of the week in the mornings. I will try and keep everyone posted!

Mike, I did see you over there on your nicely looking boat at 5:00 in the morning!

I got to finally fish on my parent's boat out of Muskegon on Saturday. I fished with my Mother and Uncle, while my Father was fishing aboard the "Plunger" in the DW tournament. They had a good box and finished in 1st place! Congrats!

We ended up 11 for 14 on my parent's boat. We left the dock around 5:20AM and returned to the dock around 9:00AM. We fished south of Muskegon and finished with 9 Kings, 1 Lake Trout, and 1 Coho. The majority of our fish were caught in 95-102 foot of water on a South Troll.

The most productive set-up (7 bites) was an 11 inch Stinger/Pro-Troll White/Pearl Fishscale Flasher with the Oceana Rapture Fly at 90 feet down. Twister and Nitro Dolphin Stingrays also caught fish, along with the Double Kevorkian, Mixed Veggies, and Killer Dolphin Stingrays 54 and 73 feet down. We only ran 3 downriggers due to the fast and furious action and uncomfortable fishing conditions.

There are lots of big fish out there right now, so good luck to all this week!!!

Almost all Lake Trout are planted since their reproduction level is slim to nonexistent. Most Lake Trout are clipped and have tags in their snouts. Since the Feds do this, and so many are planted, no lures (rewards) are given by the DNR for turning in the heads. However, Chinook and Steelhead are the most commonly clipped. They stopped clipping the Cohos a few years ago, but clipped some out of the Grand River system 2 years ago.

We turn in right around 50 heads each year. The information you get back in the winter is pretty cool to look at and see where they are from, how old they are, when they were planted, what size they were, etc.

When the Lake Huron collapse happened, 57% of the Chinook heads that came back to us were from Lake Huron. Now, most fish caught in Grand Haven come from St. Joe, Manistee, and Charlevoix.

Remember to start looking... each Steelhead, Chinook, Brown, or Coho is worth a free lure from the DNR!!!!!!!

Welcome!!!

Black's or the very similar DuBro Releases are the best two choices.

1) White/Crushed Glow Tape (by a long shot for the last 10-12 years)

2) Chrome

3) Metallic Green

Some people use certain colors for port and starboard. I do the same thing, but snubbers instead (red and green).

I usually fish with 4 White/Crushed Glow Tape divers.

A break is a temperature change. This usually occurs very quickly in a small space, less than 100 yards usually. So, a break is a big change in surface temperature.

In addition to this, I just got done talking to a few charter boats in Grand Haven and the fishing is fantastic offshore. They all fished one of two breaks, one south and one north. The north one was 14 miles from the pier and the south was 17 miles from the pier. They are on Coastwatch, so it is good to get a good Coastwatch reading before you head out. The water was anywhere from 280-313 feet of water. Both breaks were about 5 degrees in a 100 yard area. The catches are a majority of Kings and Steelhead, with 20-35 fish per boat being reported. It sounded like the top 80 feet, with lots and lots of shallow cores, coppers, and divers. Good luck!!!

Cool!!!

The fishing has been really good. Lots and lots and lots of trout in the streams and rivers. I haven't caught anything huge yet, but am heading to a reservoir Father's Day weekend for some Lake Trout, Brown Trout, Rainbows, and Perch fishing at 9,153 feet. So, I am excited.

I will be back in Michigan on July 2nd to fish until the 12th, then I am heading to Alaska, and then back to Michigan on the 20th to fish the rest of the summer and then back to Colorado!

No problems from 8,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado!