Satisfaxion_Gauranteed

Saturday morning, 2 for 4, 1 laker(9lbs, released) and 1 coho(smallish, less than 5lbs). I don't know what we lost for sure, but one was a jumper and the other wasn't on long enough to tell. Spent the first half of the morning ziz-zagging between 15 and 40fow with no hits, but did see some fish and bait marks in the 25-35fow area. I couldn't get the shallow fish going, so we then went west and starting marking bait fish and fish in 75-85fow. Fish clusters were 25' and up, and then in the 55-60' portions of the water column. North/South trolls drew all hits laker came and 1 miss came on a lady charmer superbait with a piece of herring flavored GULP inside. The bait was 70' back on the spider wire dipsey set to 1.5. The coho came on a purple/blue magna dyne spoon as a free slider off the rigger set 58' down. A black/gold jointed 13 rapala took two hits off 5 colors of core to no avail. GPS speed was 2.4-2.7mph. We fished from ~6:30am until 1:30. We had 6 lines in the water at most times. Sunday morning, we elected not to waist any time shallow and ran right to our 80fow waypoints. We ended up 3 for 5, 2 lakers(7-11lbs) and one coho(6bs). West/East trolls seem to be the ticket. Lady Charmer on herring flavored Gulp took one laker(7lb, released) and 1 miss that wasn't one for very long. A orange jointed rapala took 1 miss off a high line, 180' out with a 1oz snapweight and 40' off the side. The 11lb laker and 6lb coho came off the rigger 35' down, about 150 back off a NK spoon with a black/yellow/red stripe(don't know the name). 6 lines were in the water at most times. The water temp was fairly consistent throughout at 42-44degrees on both days. Overall, it was a good shakedown weekend with gorgeous weather. Now, I just need to figure out what's going on with my downrigger

Great fishing guys!

Awe man, hope you get that all worked out! Better luck next time.

Nice setup Rich. You make good use of the space on the back of your boat. I upgraded to the Bert's rod holders this year, too. I really like the quick ratchetting style of the Bert's holders and they seem to be very robustly built. They really seem like good ones and offer a lot of flexability, although I'm still looking forward to putting them to the test out on the lake! Hopefully I'll get to do that this weekend. Good luck on Friday!

Sorry to hear about your dog, Rich. I had my childhood dog shot by a tresspasser when I was 17. It was aweful, but I still remember that dog as a very good, loyal one. It's amazing how close our pets can be.

Nice ride!

You carry a snow scraper onboard?? For the last couple of weeks, I've been saying, "Good Friday will be my first time out" and here we are. It looks like I'll be postponing my shakedown trip until next weekend. Just 4 weeks from tomorrow is the 1st West Michigan Fishing League event!

That's a great picture!! My fishing buddy and I are always jumping immediately for the rods. If we see it at the same time, then look out and try not to knock one another over board. Then, once the rod is in hand, we'll hand it off to whomever.

Ya, I'm kinda surprised to see how even everything is, too. It probably has as much to do with the techinique perfected by each fisherman as it does the presentation style. I'm with Dirty Dog though, my cores were much slower in late July and August. I could keep the riggers and divers going better than cores in mid to late summer. Late April through May, it was the opposite and core was the ticket with an occaisonal rigger/dipsey hit.

I've been there the last few years because I can drive right by it on my way home from work. They ussually have something for everybody, from bass to salmon. It's a good time and free! I'll be there after our 2007 shake down voyage next weekend.

Downriggers first, spider wire dipseys second, leadcores third, and finally the highlines/snapweights for me. The lyman lures off the downriggers and dipseys were hot for me in July and August.

I always run up to the rod with urgency and excitment. Catching fish is too much fun for me not to.

My little brother bought one for when we take both of our boats up to do some inland lake walleye and pike fishing. From a reception standpoint, as long as the batteries are good, it worked well. From a transmitting standpoint, the antenna dictates your range and clarity more than any other component. If we were on opposite ends of a 2000 or 3000 acre lake, I wasn't able to get his messages. It's pretty difficult for fixed radios to end up in the big drink, too.

I voted Stinger, but I'm not brand loyal in regards to spoons and will fish any lure that is successful. I'm more brand loyal with some plugs due to the success I've had with them, but not with spoons. I have some of just about everything in my tackle box, but last year I had pretty good luck with the hammered color patterns from Stinger. This year, I'm sure a different spoon will emerge as my favorite. Anxiously awaiting my first 2007 trip out,

I love those Gradys! They have thier own, unique look to them and I won't even get into the ride and quality. My buddy used to have one and it was awesome. Nice looking rig. Some day I hope to own one.

Nice boat! 16 rods is a whole lot of lures in the water. That should get the fish in the box. What port do you normally run out of? Good luck this season!

Thanks for the report. It sounds like you did very well with the browns!

I have this book and it is very good and worth buying. It does not have every possible scenario, but it gives you all of the information to make good guesses for the scenarios not in the book. It does have many charts for many different lure/weight combos. The beginning of the book does a good job explaining the effects of each variable of trolling on running depth. Plus, the pages are waterproof!

My wife enjoys taking her friends out in our boat and going "bobber" fishing, perching, and 'just plain boating' on some of the local lakes around here. I know EXACTLY what you mean by having a flexible setup that does not interfere with her enjoyment. My whole setup is easily and quickly removable/adjustable to suit whatever needs to be done. It makes her happy, which makes me happier:D The only downfall is sometimes when she's out Salmon fishing with me, she'll route for the fish! I'm still not yet sure what that's all about

Thanks for the reports guys! Good Friday will be my first trip out and I can hardly wait. Do you have a picture of your current setup? I'm always looking for new ideas.

I'm totally jealous! Good luck!

I've used the Berkley cut bait strips last year with decent mid-day success. When compared to herring strips, I'd rate them close to equal after 1 season of limitted use. Mid-day is all I really used them last year, but that will change this season. I'm not going to give up using Herring yet, but I'm going to do a little more with the Berkley strips. The herring are easier to rig a wounded fish action and roll than the strips. Although, the scent from the strips does penetrate my human nose more readily than the herring. Packaged cut bait rigs seem to accept the herring easier than the leathery strips, but the strips sure seem to last a while. A gentleman at D&R sports has given me some advice over the past few seasons. He did recomend I try the cut bait strips. He also said to run them in the morning amid my glows claiming that they won't neccessarily get alot of hits, but they will help the productivity of your spread overall. I plan to give it a try, possibly as a down the chute line. I'd be very interested in other takes on the strips.

I'd say we've got a mini-owners committee here. This is my #2 gal; #1 is the wife, unless she bad mouths the boat I was very impressed with my boat and still enjoy it greatly. It handles the big water very well and is amazingly spacious for its size. She's got two manual riggers with 2' booms and dual rod holders off the back, the electric riggers immediately behind them with long booms and dual rod holds, Berts rod holder track with various rod holders, sun/rain top to help with elements, and a 90hp 4-stroke yamaha on the back to take care of performance and speed control responsibilities. She's used for Lake Michigan Salmon fishing as well as walleye fishing. Fish on!

Welcome to the site. Got any pictures of your boat? I love me them Lunds!