Turfwrench

Here ya go Steve. I made the board out of a solid piece of oak. Laid it on the back of the boat and traced the outline, then cut to fit, several coats of spray lacquer, bolted through the rail with carriage bolts. I don't know if you had that one piece back rest cushion on your boat but I took that out and removed the back jump seats so I have plenty of room at the back.

This is my lean, mean, silver fighting machine. She made her shakedown of this season today.

Same here, 1 laker for 4 hits. 14' down over 20' on blue green tail spoon. Action was far from hot and heavy but sure was nice to finally be back on the water again. From the sounds on the radio Lexington was the place to be this morning. My buddy was down there today and went 2 lakers, 2 coho.

I had to back in a little farther than usual but still managed to get her out and in with no problems. Seen ya out there today Grant. We managed a nice lake trout by the trailer park, went 1/4 today, better than the black stripe. Was a beautiful day for the first trip of the season.

I run 7 'StormThunderstick rods rated for 8 - 20lb( I believe are ML) 15lb Big Game on Diawa 27H reels. I run rubber bands for releases so don't worry about line pinch. I like to keep my drags set somewhat light and never have a problem with break offs. Big board rods are 8 - 81/2' M and ML rods with the same reels and line.

Yes only 1 dock in but at least it is in and straight no less!! Now if all goes well we should be up there this weekend giving it a go.

My go to has always been a pearl peanut behind either a set of bells or large fender. Mag size Sutton spoons have always been good too. I agree with Seawolf, out of Pt. Sanilac last season I caught a lot of lakers 10 - 15' up from the bottom. Last May wife and I bagged these smoker candies in 30' water out of Sanilac on shallow set downriggers with short leads pulling Flintstone seasick spoons. (yea, the small on on the bottom was a pink)

Seems to me Sanilac is the last to put them in and the first to pull them out in the fall. Maybe I am missing some information but what is the difference that we now pay the $10 for the plate tabs vice previous years had to pay $24 for the season pass. I always got mine before January as I ice fish Saginaw Bay and parked at the DNR launches. I would assume they still would collect daily fees for those that decided not to purchase the $10 plate tab. We do not have the volume of traffic at our ports like the west side does but we still would like to launch too.

Great looking box of fish. Seems you guys on the west side are having a tremendous early fishery.

Hopefully they will put in Sanilac docks this week. Watched the harbor cam for a little bit yesterday morning and saw 2 boats go out. One looked like it was heading toward Cherry Creek. Gotta put my riggers, mast, and electronics back in the boat. Batteries are all charged and ready to put in, hook up the hoses and put plugs back in, test fire and we should be ready for next weekend. Do you think they will put all the docks in straight this year????

Did go to Pt. Huron yesterday am. The 12th st docks are in, black river is free of ice. Went down to the wall, a few guys fishing, one had a nice whitefish. St. Clair river was clear on the US side, some ice floes were going downriver on the Canadian side with the help of the winds pushing them to the other side. Water was real clear and could see bottom near the wall. Went to Andersons and there were several guys that came in to get minnows and were heading to the wall. Joel said there have been some nice fish taken from the wall recently.

Very nice looking eyes. A great way to start the season.

Nice mess of fish. Good job.

Beautiful fish, nice color!!

Wow, there sure are some great reports coming from that side of the state. Nice job on the fish.

Wow, that's a bit too cold for me. But at least you did get out and give it a go. News says it is supposed to get warmer later this week. I too hope to be out in a couple weeks.

Great catch. Sounds like you west side guys are having some good early action. Still waiting for some docks to go in on the thumb side. But I guess with nasty weather this week they will be in no rush to put any in.

Welcome Bill - - we meet again!

Grant, who is collecting this info? Does this cover the thumb side? There have been browns caught this season so far from both Sanilac and Lexington. I would most certainly be happy to report my catch in support of the program.

I have been watching the Sanilac web cam when it is working and it sure looked promising. Would be nice if they at least put one dock in early. Last year they put them in on march 31. I am ready to chase some silver. Reports have a few fish being caught off the break wall. Seems like we could have another great year.

Brandon, where do you plan on fishing out of. I fish mainly Pt. Sanilac with a few trips every spring and fall to Pt. Huron. If you go to lexington I don't believe the 8# balls will be a problem as it is quite shallow for several miles out. I keep a set of 4# balls on board for when I am fishing in the waters 30' or less. If you plan on running deep out of Sanilac or even Harbor Beach I certainly would say go heavier. I run 10's and 12's out of Sanilac and usually fish 50-70 down without much problems but occasionally the current kicks up and does add some blowback.

Welcome. Keep us posted on the Harbor Beach action. I fish mainly out of Pt. Sanilac. Hopefully this season will be as successful as last.

Welcome Tom to a great site, people, and certainly plenty of helpful information.

It is pink on one side and purple on the other side. I took one to the Birch Run show to see if they would still make them. Ray said he he forgot to put that pic up on the site but had a few available at the show (of course I bought all of them). You can check out the pics under his FB page as he has since updated them there and it is listed. I would also suggest the Blue/Green Tail as it was also a great spoon out of Sanilac.

Flintstone spoons have by far been my best producers. Pink Watermelon has been killer for steelies.

I guess maybe I should toss in some background on my trolling styles. In over 30 years of trolling I have tried just about every ball made, from fish shaped, pancakes, torpedo types, teardrop and rounds. Yes I do like to troll fast with 3.0sog to the low side and 3.8 on the higher side. Blow back for me is usually not an issue as I am not running them overly deep. When I do go downtown speed is slowed accordingly. I run mostly clean spoons and a few body baits, very seldom flashers or bells unless plying deep for lakers.

The real kicker here is I do fish in the St. Clair river for early season and fall silver and lake trout. If you have ever fished the river in Pt. Huron you will know the current runs at over 5 and increase the closer you get to the international bridge. Add that with the forward momentum of trolling into the current the speeds are as well increased. Towards the bridge the depths run from 40 - 60'. Ball performance is at a maximum in these conditions, simple changes in direction and the balls will fly. To return and head back downriver means kicking up the throttle and making a rather quick turn to keep my stuff free of tangles.

So hence this is why I specifically asked about the Ridgebacks.