zgrinder on Fin Warrior

Best catch I have seen reported in some time.  The early morning bite is the place to be.  Congrats on your back-to-back outings.

I really wanted to get out yesterday morning but just got back from MN the night before and had to cut the yard.  Nice box for fishing solo.  The SH is a nice fish.  Thanks for capturing all the data on your catches - nice system!  I see the hook ups were about an hour apart, kings in shallow, coho and SH out deeper.  Hope to get out a few times between today through Sunday.  Need to dig out a mag Happy Meal for the trip.

Nice fat kings - great work!

Thanks for the report.  I have a 450 copper but it stays in the basement for the most part.  It is a lot of work

Your pics are priceless.  So much fun to have non-stop action.  Your relatives likely think fishing is always this busy

Regarding the spreadsheet.  This is the innovation of MegaByte on this site.  Please thank him!  I looked at what he was publishing and jumped on board.  My spreadsheets may be slightly different but the sole purpose is to share info.  

How I record:  I have a paper copy on a clip board setting on my map compartment.  The original owner of my Rampage installed a Depth Raider and a secondary Furuno autopilot display on the back of the Starboard storage compartment right above the bait station.  This was so smart and I am the lucky beneficiary of this original install decision.  Therefore, when I hook up, I glance at these displays as well as the depth displayed at the helm and hope I can remember all the data after boating the fish.  When I fish alone this is frankly a bit easier.  When I have guests it depends.  If they are boat salts, no worries.  If I am educating the entire float, that makes it tough.

And when I put a post on the site, I retype the info into my blank Excel file and then do a Snip-It copy in my post.  It is a bit more work but my lap top does not smell fishy 

Cheers!

Set down between Holland and Port Sheldon about 5:30pm in 170 FOW, flipped Fin Warrior around and trolled east with the waves to set up rods.  Decided on 2 slide divers with spoons (ran them more like standard dipseys because of the attached Smart Troll probe) and one downrigger with a Kevin's Girl Friend (or something similar) meat rig.  Got the two slide divers down and was setting up the meat rig when the slide diver got bit but it was a Lake Trout.  Decided not to net it and release it on the swim platform.  Bad decision.  LT flippin out of control, broke the line and there goes the slide diver bouncing off the platform and into the water.  LT still there with a beautiful spoon still in its mouth and I started to reach down to get it as the fish was flipping around and a moment of clarity struck and said to me, don't do that and I watch the LT flip off the swim platform and away it goes with the lure.  Had another strike on the other slide diver almost immediately after that but it was gone by the time I readied the rod.  Bent treble hook.  So now I have nothin in the water.  Went down below, got a spare slide diver, replacement PK mag foil blue dolphin and fixed that rig.  Replaced the bent treble.  Got those lines back down and then the meat rig . . . . 30 minutes later.  That was wasted time on the water.  However, the repaired slide diver blue dolphin lit up again at 7:10pm in 143FOW and boated an 11lb king on a west troll.  Got that back down and headed NE.  Nothing on that pass all the way in to 100FOW.  Dropped the meat rig with the 11 Pro-Troll flasher (a magnet to any other line in the spread) down to 70' to avoid tangles and made a hard 180 degree turn to a SW troll.  Before I could reposition the meat rig down rigger it went off on a nice strong run.  Started fighting that for a minute and the slide diver blue dolphin goes off again.  Decided to holster the meat rig and large flasher and deal with the slide diver.  Had a really good fight going on then pop goes the line and I donate another slide diver and PK mag blue dolphin spoon.  The break was above the knot so not sure how that happened but the Smart Troll probe was still there.  I pulled the other slide diver, cranked down the trolling valves and reeled in the meat rig.  King weighed in at 14lbs.  The sun was still just above the horizon but since I had all the lines up and a broken set up, I decided to forgo the dusk bite and call it a night.  Finished the evening 3 for 6, minus to set ups.

Great morning and nice that you found a couple of SH along with the king bite.

Those are some big grins to go with those fish.  Looks like there was some fun to be had when that king was landed and the lake trout as well.

And tell her the shoes are the bomb - must wear them on the next float.

Agree with Clyde.  If you are out before sun up, you may want to try 150FOW however, the bait and most fish seem to be coming in that 200FOW.  An occasional big king and smaller fish.  Not much in between.  Good luck!

I am fairly certain you and I were passing each other late in the evening in that 200+FOW (Fin Warrior has a blue hull) as there was only the two of us out there.  Put down 5 dark lures at 8:20pm and raised the baits a bit ready for the dusk bite but no dice.  Only boated two lakers but had several rips with one Mustad large treble that got straitened out on a wire diver after the initial strike.  I love those hooks for SH and they are also light weight, good for keeping the action on the lure but they will flatten out if a big king only grabs one of the three barbs.

Most importantly, a big congrats on landing a stud king solo.  I do a lot of the fishing myself so I know the fun and the challenge it brings.  Best of luck on your next float.

That is a lot of gas to burn and cost to the Sheriff's department to run out to 200FOW for I am not sure what.  Really sorry you lost the board and set-up.  Hope someone phones in the board.

I mis-identified the fish in the first pic. That is actually a 8# coho per my cutting table examination. 

Fished 5:00pm till past dusk starting in 150FOW out to 240FOW.  Spent most of the evening between 200-240FOW running 2 wire divers and 4 riggers.  Finished 2 for 6.  Had a couple of tangles and a lost diver set up with MS Bloody Nose because we were running everything at 70' down and below until dusk.  Caught a 8lb or better king on my Waukegan Special (Luhr Jensen blue holographic tin can with a hand tied dark blue crinkle fly) down about 60' on a rigger in 210 FOW just before dusk.  Shortly there after the 12lb light line with a holographic green dolphin type spoon down about 75' on a rigger boated about a 5lb king.  Both kings were lake bred.  The 4 misses were short lived fights and only one hit and ran hard (the donation).  Had two of my best friends out from the other side of the lake and was happy the lake was calm and got to boat a fish each.  200FOW was busy last night.  One report of a 20# king caught in the depth but not much else.  Looking to try again later in the week.

Slow in Holland last night.  Will post my report shortly.  Like you, we donated a MS bloody nose spoon along with a heavy weighted slide diver off the wire line rig.  Short fight, could not tell how big it might have been.

JDH and Wes - happy you both landed a 20+ pounder.  I have some buddies coming in next week and hope to get out and get one big one for them to land.  I was watching the buoy report all morning, 1.3' and thought I should have dolled out the $400 to fish Big Red.  Hate making that investment when the lake is rough and hard to fish.  Was it busy out there today or were you far enough north of the fleet?

MB - that is hard to believe.  Your team is good for landing at least one.  Must have gotten really slow out there.  I did a very short run with Tom a couple of nights ago and got only three very small kings.  Too much warm water to get a balanced spread.  On the other hand, my golf game has been improving !!!

It was really bugging me that I could not vector back to law or regulation so I spoke with the Plainwell DNR office.  They forwarded two Fisheries Orders, 218.19 and 248.22.  How I would have found these FO's on my own I don't know. 

FO 248.22 Possession Limits states "It shall be unlawful to snag a fish, attempt to snag a fish, or possess a fish that was snagged."  However, in my opinion this would not apply to a foul caught fish because earlier in the Order, snagged is defined as "taking or attempting to take a fish in a manner or methods where the fish does not take, or have a chance to take, the hook voluntarily in its mouth."  The key word in this language is 'voluntarily'.  To prosecute under this FO, it would have to be successfully argued that a trolling spoon on a line does not present a voluntary opportunity for a fish to take the lure in its mount and/or the trolling spoon is a device that is intended to take a fish involuntarily.

FO 218.19 Gear Restrictions contains the language "In all waters of the state, it shall be unlawful to: 1.c retain any fish not hooked in the mouth, or 1.d fail to immediately return to the water any fish not hooked in the mouth."  Although preceding provisions 1.a & 1.b address gear restrictions used for snagging and 1.c & 1.d is a continuation of the provision, in my opinion and based on personal experience of law successfully applied beyond its intent when it was written, there is enough bandwidth under 1.c and 1.d to prosecute retention of a foul hooked fished caught while trolling.

Attached are both orders.  I can now rest that I have solved this.

FO_218.19 Gear Restrictions.pdf FO_248.22 Possession limits for fish.pdf

Great cooler full of kings!  It was too windy for me to go out and with all the warm water piled up on shore and knew it would have to be deep water.  So I did the next best thing and played golf.  There might be a break win the winds on Tuesday - hoping . . . .

There is language in the 2022 Michigan Fishing Guide regarding returning a fish to the water if not hooked in the mouth and possession of a snagged fish.  However, as I understand it, enforcement provisions defer back to Section 324.48739 Act 451 which states "multipointed hook with weight permanently attached".

Nice big king!  There seems to be a larger number of small jacks getting hooked this early in the season.  Typically see that in the fall.  There is mostly west wind in the forecast for this week which will likely stack up the warm water and push the kings out to deeper water.  Bummer.

2 hours ago, Rockin' Randy said:

 

Finally got out fishing a couple of mornings on the 14th and 15th. On the 14th fishing alone I got skunked. Marked a fair amount of fish off the shelf but couldn't get anything to go. Mostly targeting kings or the suspended marks. Water temp was pretty cold way up high. Northeast winds and 40° 50' down. Not many fish at the cleaning station on morning of 14th but one guy had 3 nice kings out of 8 hits, and shared most of them came 40-60 down in about 120' fow. He was fishing a little south.

 

So on the 15th I woke to southeast winds, started a little sw where he had done well. Marked a lot of fish right off the bat but couldn't get anything to go. Oh, he caught all of his on spoons the day before and I was using mostly flashers. So I started this morning with all spoons. Had a buddy too so it was nice being able to run six lines. Had a king hit on a Moonshine Bad Toad on the wire slide diver, set on 1.5 and out about 37. I could mark it on my FF and it was only about 28-30' down. Lost that one at the boat. Eventually put a few flashers down and got a nice king on 200' weighted steel, with a DW Kevin's GF and Salmon Candy vegan rig (Mercy UV). We only fished until about 9:30. A lot more people bringing in fish on the 15th. But the boats were really scattered all morning. There were zero concentration of boats anywhere. Some were right in the shallows like spring brown fishing, some at the hole, point, and out at several hundred feet. The DNR weighed my king and took scale samples. It was 23.8 and 39" long. So it qualifies for master angler. Lol. Anyway, I expect the fishing to just keep getting better from here. Tight lines!

 

Sent from my moto z4 using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

 

 

That King is a beast.  Master Angler yes you are !!

Fished the morning putting lines down just outside of 100FOW before 6:00AM north of the channel and away from the boat traffic.  The lake was flat, bug free and gorgeous.  Glow baits did not deliver early morning which has been the typical out come for me as of late.  Switched out the high dipsey to a dark spoon (Evil Alewife) and the SB rigger to a Proctologist fly.  I was ready to pull SWR (7:15am) to switch out the glow Wonder Bread J-Plug when it popped and ripped line.  After a really good king fight, boated a 13lb king @ 108FOW, 73' at the lure on a NW troll.  Set the boat to a North troll, reset SWR and within 15 min the high diver (53' down) with Evil Alewife banged hard twice and exploded.  After getting the rod out of the holder, I saw a king leaping out of the water, 2-3 times on a run, not like a Steel Head but on a run, on multiple times, off to the side of the corner of the boat.  Once I gained enough line, I knew it was on the business end of the rod I was working.  I could not move the fish, line continued to pull out and getting spooled was a possibility.  So with neutral drops I pulled the other two lines and continued the neutral drop strategy to gain on the fish.  After 40 min of battle with the fish near the transom, I could see it was coming in tail hooked.  Netted the fish and got it in the boat and the hook fell out - fish Gods smiled down on me this time.  Weighed in at just over 18lbs and provided a good number of steaks for the grill.  I kick my self for not putting dark baits up high at the get go.  I do that dusk fishing with great success but have been trying to get the glow bait program working in the morning to no avail.  The winds picked up from the South after that and I could not get anything to bite for the next 2-3 hours  Ended the day 2 for 2.  In the end, I got what I came for  

The 13lb king was a natural, the 18lb king was a plant.

So many thanks for the great posts.  Impressive king.  Bet you had fun landing that big fish solo!!

Fished South of Holland from2:00-6:00pm in 135-190FOW.  Had a few marks in shallow but no takers.  Picked up one small laker in about 170FOW on 300' weighted steel with a UV watermelon spoon.  Otherwise it was very much dead out there.  Water fleas are picking up.