zgrinder on Fin Warrior

Bill 5093 has been introduced into the Mi House of Representatives that would institute a number of changes to inland and Great Lakes fishing licenses for the purpose of increasing dedicated funding to the fisheries programs. A Hatcheries Stamp will be required to possess trout and salmon caught on the Great Lakes. EdB has posted a great summary of the bill in the Forum / General Discussion section of GLF - thank you Ed! One other point to add that might interest the solo fisherman amoung us - the bill would replace the 3 rod limit with an unlimited rod limit when fishing from a boat on the Great Lakes. Progress and revisions to Bill 5093 can be tracked at: https://fastdemocracy.com/bill-search/mi/2025-2026/bills/MIB00027860

Ed, thanks for posting a great summary of the bill.

Not a big surprise that a lot of boats were out tonight. I ran solo tonight, fishing mostly 60 FOW back and forth over the Saugatuck channel. Ran one dipsey (spoon), SWR off the downrigger as my lowest presentation (meat with no teaser) and 200 Weighted Steel on the other side (J Plugs). Marked bait pinned to the bottom in the skinny water. Reports were slow from 90 to 160 FOW. I stuck to the inside cause that is what 2MD would do and kept working the marks. However, I only got one jack about 8:00 and nothing else. Put the evening program down, glow on SWR as my lowest line, a white spoon with a little glow on it on the dipsey and my money lure on the 200 Cu, a hand painted dark blue/green/gold/yellow ladder back J. I have been running this J for over 20+ years with big evening bites. Well it worked tonight. After the sun was down in 55FOW that plug got bit, both hooks were set and the result was a 17.5# king. I decided to rip the other two lines at that point. There was another boat in my proximity that was patient with my boating the fish and the 180 maneuver I made to bring up the other two lines. Looking back on it, running solo, I did not yield to his right of way after his vessel turned inland, although we were never near a potential collision. I got him on 68 to thank him for his patience as I was in his right of way and he acknowledged it was not a problem. So pleasant when captains are aware, understand what other vessels are doing on the water and not in a hurry to make way. It is a big pond out there!

On a dead South troll, I was running 2.3 and it bumped to 2.2 or 2.4 moving slightly east or west. North troll was 2.8 till I engaged the trolling valves that brought the speed down to 2.4. Both my hits were a north troll, J-plug 70ish feet at the ball and wire diver, 1.5, 130out or about 55 feet per Smart Troll.

Fished this evening with lines down at 5:30 till 10:00pm. Solo with a 3 rod spread, two riggers and one wire dipsey. Set up in 110FOW straight out of Holland and trolled south to 130FOW. Hardly a mark. Had a decision to make to stay inside or go outside. Decided to stay inside. Picked up a few marks at the bottom and lowered the rigger baits accordingly. Flipped around to a North troll once I reached Saugy working back and forth between 120 & 95 FOW. Ran SD/fly, several favorite mag Moonshine spoons, Brads Cut Plug, green J-plug, didn't bother bringing out the meat since it was crickets. A couple reports on 68 found coho in 200FOW. One 13# king was boated in 160FOW out of PS. I ended up with 2 small kings that hit the j-plug at 9:00pm (released) and the charged bloody nose on the dipsey rod at 9:30pm (kept). It was hot with no wind but surprisingly, no black flies. I think with the lake flipping back over, I should have ran out to deeper water. I was holding out the morning fish would still be hanging around. If they were, I could not find them or get them to bite.

Wow, that is a great cooler for this morning.

frequent the beer cart, tip the ladies well and have fun!

Great morning catch SeaFoam! I hope to give it a go tomorrow night. Joined a senior golf league that plays Wednesday morning - scramble format at about 9 courses in the area. Upper management says I need more balance in my pursuits and I am really enjoying the league. Hard to fish hard and keep a handicap down but I am trying to do both while I still can give them both the maximum effort. The lake flip is really extended this year. First year I am tracking a bunch of lake data in my spreadsheets. Hope the effort is meaningful in future years.

Oh My, you are killing it on Coho. Will take that box on any trip. Great results - be happy. Targeting fish is everything.