killerbe20

thats great!

at 12 years old, thats how i got my start and love for lake michigan and 17 years later, here i am!

i absolutely love charter fishing. it is a whole 'nother thrill to salmon fishing. its easy to take for granted what we do all the time. seeing and being a part of people's first experience on the lake and salmon fishing is amazing.

if you have any questions feel free to contact me

phil,

i am certain you will not find any attitudes like that on this site. What you have just explained is why this site has become my "home." Mike and the moderators do an excellent job of keeping this a friendly and inviting site.

I have never understood why a lot of fisherman with knowledge and experience refuse to help others. I would not be in the position i am in if it were not for what i have gained from others. I personally love sharing knowledge and experience with others and seeing others success.

Action Flashers and B&B's have a bent "Z" shape to them. Action flashers are made by a charter capt in Racine.

Here is a link with pictures

http://www.lakemichiganangler.com/store/Action_Flasher.htm

I hear ya about writing 5 pages of what to do!

I certainly agree with russ that many people do not travel far enough sometimes. early in the year is when cohos are supposed to be close to shore and many people get stuck in their usual "spring routine." but there are also times when you can limit in a few hours right in front of the harbor or by the reef too. this is where networking really is a big help.

I also agree about trolling faster to cover more water. I very rarely have my depth raider slower then 2.5 mph and my gps is usually around 3 knots. I am one of the few that do not ever run 00 dodgers. I run all Action Flashers, they are very speed tolerant. They have a similar shape to a B&B.

For me most of the fun and adrenaline rush comes from the "hunt" to find fish.

there are a lot of guys running wire/braid with lead weights off of boards, and have great success with it. Running these "thumper" rods is very popular north of Milwaukee for some reason.

I personally do not have any positive or negative input on it.

if you are getting the Blood Run, I believe they are 1000 foot spools. The 1000 foot spools fit great with no backing on my 30 series Okumas.

if you're looking for anything or need help with anything around here, let me know!

the tackle shops around here do not compare to what michigan has to offer, but there are a few decent ones.

one of the most frustrating things about coho fishing in our area is they can be there one day and gone the next!

spring cohos usually travel in much larger "schools" which helps make them seem so easy to catch. once you are on them and can stay on them, they are not nearly as finicky as kings.

if the fish are not around the shore or structure, the next thing to look for is bait fish or temp breaks (as little as 1-5 degrees) on the surface. that is where the satellite temp maps really come in handy. there have been times that we have had to travel 5-10 miles to find big schools of coho out of racine by the beginning of june. as they travel north, they scatter more and more.

welcome back! there are quite a few west siders on here

I do remember looking at the surface lake temps last year and thinking Wow! look how cold there water is. A 1/2 core on a board in that situation is deadly.

Jim was getting a bunch of fish on short cores last year on your side.

yet?

yeah, two of my hottest rods all year were a 2 and 3 color leadcore on boards.

i probably would not fish water that cold in the middle of summer. one exception would have to be lake trout fishing. another would be if i saw something on the fish finder, and then i would only throw one rod there just to investigate and continue to focus on more productive temp range.

if for some reason i was pulling fish out of that cold of water, that would change everything then of course.....

another good thing to look for is temp breaks. sometimes they hang just below where the temp drops 5-10 degrees

robert

have you considered doing any of the work yourself? if you break down the simple system of the hydraulics, its not too complicated. a closed system of hydraulic fluid, turn the wheel one way and the fluid goes another, turn the wheel the other way and it returns, very basically. if you can get the parts relatively cheaply, the work is just time. i've seen some of the work you've done! i'm confident you can do it!

i run spin doctors/flashers/dodgers on lead and copper. Last summer mostly spin doctors when not running spoons. they do pull harder but i use the Yellow Bird Big Boards instead of Walleye Boards. They are a little bigger and you can adjust the pull on them for your bait and speed.

Honestly, if i wasnt doing the charters and contests i'm not sure how much i would really fish my coppers. They can be more of a pain then lead cores. I don't fish them that much when i am "fun" fishing unless i absolutely have to.

a lot of this is all about getting out there and trying things yourself. Unfortunately with salmon fishing, when things don't work out the way you planned it usually means a big mess and money! Fishing four divers takes some getting used to. with currents and turns they tend to be more of a problem. I don't generally fish four divers very often myself. I usually only do if i feel very strongly that it will make a big impact on my catch. On the flip side though, i am fishing up to 10 boards. its a give and take.

Generally, there was a reason that fish was there and they don't typically travel solo. You have to think about why he was there. Was the water temp good? was there bait there? was there any type of structure? and did you see any other fish there?

I always pay attention to where a fish was caught. If its not marked on my gps, I know exactly where on my track it was. If i am not catching fish or seeing much, i will typically turn back and try that spot at least once more. If I am on a productive straight troll an it dies, i can go back through the same spots i caught fish. Some days I feel dizzy from going in circles, others I can make 3-4 straight line trolls through the same track and be done.

If I am searching for fish i like to troll across depth contours using what ever angle i can troll best at. Pay attention to where the fish bite. Troll E and W from 60-120 fow. If you are getting your hits in 80 fow, maybe switch your troll to N and S in 80 fow. Some days its just going to be that one spot.

the more you are out there, the more you are going to be more comfortable with your decisions

phil,

Generally you will find the kings during the summer where the water is cold. last year on our side of the lake was not a typical year. The water temps were very cold all the way up to the shoreline until august. One contest out of Racine at the end of july the top ten boats all fished directly in front of the Racine harbor mouth.

Time of day matters too. Early in the morning and later in the evening the fish tend to move in and up and feed off of structure in our area. in a "normal" year when water temps are not so cold, the kings tend to find the cold water during the day time. this could be on the Hills near the bottom, could be way out deep 150,200,250 feet down, could be anywhere! Networking with other fisherman helps a ton then.

once the fish get below the 50 mark, plain leadcore set ups will die down. Wire divers, SWR rigs and coppers will get to where the fish are then. There are products out there that will make you leadcores dive deeper if you are interested in that but i personally have not used any. my initial six rod spread would probably be two deep divers, two SWR downriggers, and two coppers or two leadcores just in case something was up higher.

of course there is SO much more to consider, but this is just a quick reply. I'm sure there is a lot more people can chime in with.

you actually do not clip the release on the leadcore, just on the mono backing the same as a regular downrigger set up

thanks guys! I feel so much better having that part done. the rest should be a piece of cake now

Finally done for the most part with the sanding project. Took longer then expected but there was a trip to Nashville, all my normal 24 hour shifts at the fire station, plus a 48 hour shift and trying to spend sometime with my wife mixed in.

After all was said and done, I will never do this again. Most jobs, big or small, dirty or not, pleasant or not so pleasant, I enjoy doing on a boat. This one not so much. It is dirty and tough. My biggest obstacle through the whole process had to be my physical limitations. I was not able to work longer than 4-5 hours in a day and still be productive.

I still have some detail work to do but that will be a piece of cake compared to what I've been through already. Some sanding around the edges and cleaning of the running and steering gear is next. Then I have to fill in some small nicks and gouges around the hull that have accumulated through the last ten years. After that is many layers of barrier coat followed by some VC-17 bottom paint.

Monday the boat should be moved into a warm cozy building where the rest of the project can continue!

http://www.greatlakesfisherman.com/gallery/files/1/7/5/0/2010-11-19_00003.jpg' alt='2010-11-19_00003.jpg'>

you can use an autopilot on any boat, just need to have the right system. Units such as TR-1 (which is owned by Garmin now) is designed for smaller kicker motors.

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=11573&ra=true

Otherwise most manufacturers make systems for larger outboards. If you have the two motors tied together, it should still work while the kicker is running if the big motor is not.

Usually they interface with a GPS using the NEMA input/output. I have never actually used mine in conjunction with my GPS, just set a coarse and go.

I do the same.

if its working for you, i wouldn't change it

I would never want a boat without an autopilot and actually passed up on a few boats when i was "shopping" because they did not have one. Half a season on my old boat and a few occasions on the new boat with it not working properly almost drove me nuts!

another consideration is that the SNT unit will be less of a expense then an autopilot, electric downriggers or a kicker motor. If you are on a budget, this could allow you to have extra money in your pocket for other expenses such as tackle, gas, etc.

I wouldn't leave home without my speed and temp unit. Of all the things you mentioned that would help you the most. These units will help you eliminate water, which means your baits will be in the strike zone for much longer periods. If you have a ton of friends and they can get this info over to you then it might not be as crucial, but being new and having a very limited network tells me you NEED this information. Water is always moving on Lake Ontario. So much that many guys are going to dual probes to watch the higher and lower temperatures. Fish out of temperature can many times be negative fish. So, just by looking at a fish finder and seeing them doesn't mean those are the fish are going to chew down your offerings.

Auto-pilot - you mentioned there is 2 or 3 of you guys. So you have a driver

Electric riggers - Nice, but wont increase your catch rate

Kicker - that boat should have no problem trolling down, and i cant see it being terrible on gas

Every direction you troll can give your lures a different trolling speed. Yes, there are ways to monitor this, and watching your dipseys was mentioned already, but nothing is as good as actual data.

My feelings exactly. There are many using two probes now because of opposing currents in the water column.