steeliebob

My last boat was an I/O I would winterize it in Sept and put it in the water in May thus I missed out on 3 months of fishing every year. My next boat will be an outboard, you can winterize them in the winter and they are very easy to take care of. With a smaller motor I may just pull it and keep it in the house for the winter. The I/O is a great salmon boat though, I will just have to rig the outboard differently

I will bet that you cannot wait to put the boat away so you can go ice fishing over there. I hear that the ice fishing for trout is fantastic.

The silver mine was loaded good fishing and awesome catch

I have found some super good deals on craigslist but I think that I will hold off until April or May. When I buy the boat I will probably have to spend a couple of weekends getting it all rigged up. I am still stripping the old boat.

Before I haul my I/O off to be turned into a budweiser can. How much effort and expense is there into pulling the motor and outdrive. Putting a plate in the back of the boat and converting everything over to an outboard motor. I know that it can be done but by the time I get it done it might be less costly to buy another boat. My 120 merccruiser motor burned up last August so now in the off season I am weighing my options. The boat is a 19 foot starcraft but it is pretty old. All that I need for an outboard would be a 50 or 60 hsp. considering I am never more than mabey two miles out.

After a 4" rainfall in late Sept the salmon and steelhead fishing almost came to a standstill. Most of the streams and rivers are back close to normal right now. I saw some salmon in the river this am and caught one three pound steelhead. Nothing to brag about but a good one for the smoker.

Guys I did real good in May and June but kind of missed the hit in July and August but got right back on it. I quit night fishing for a few weeks and started launching the boat at 3:00 am. First one to launch every day, no wait, nobody taking up dock space. What a wonderful thing it was. Every time out just about I would get both rods set and one would go off. Sweet a fish in the cooler in the first 20 minutes. I would have no less than 10 hits on a typical morning and usually get three or four fish in the cooler. I would head back in at 6:30 when the other boats cleared the docks load up quick and head off to work after cleaning fish and myself.

I always thought St Ignace was a bad spot to fish compared to the West Side. Now I have other thoughts My two biggest kings were 25 and 22 pounds. I caught 59 kings, 2 Atlantic salmon, 3 Steelhead,0 Brown Trout and believe it or not 0 Lake trout. I tried real hard not to catch lake trout this year and it worked. On other boats I caught 8 Kings and 2 Lake trout. My motor smoked just as fishing was getting real good or I would have had a few more fish.

Get a decent 9 to 10 foot steelhead noodle rod and a decent open bail spinning reel. This should cost you a Ben Franklin. Do not buy the cheap line. Get a good ultra thin line in 6 or 8 lb test, I have caught 20+ pound salmon on both. When you buy hooks, sinkers, and snap swivels do not be afraid to spend $1.00 more to get the quality stuff. If you are fishing steelhead you will want salmon eggs or steelhead eggs. There are lots of ways that you can get them, I always have a good supply. Try ice fishing for steelhead this winter you will have a blast.

From everything I hear you would do better by Alpena. I have an ongoing battle with the DNR to get them to stock more brown trout in N Lake Huron. Don't know why but they will not plant them. I remember the good old days before the DNR became privately owned they would drive a fish truck around and stock every little pasture stream and fishing was good no matter where you went. Now that the DNR is privately owned they are told where and what they will plant for the most part it has hurt fishing in Michigan. Sure they have their fish biologists and I am sure that they make suggestions but it is all politics now.

I try to get over there once in awhile. If you ever get a chance when you are up in the Soo pull in behind the big power plant and the college students are usually happy to let you in to see the atlantic salmon hatchery. That is very interesting to see how a small project that started 20 years ago produces so many salmon. Thanks for the pics.

Your boaat or mine leave me a PM and I will be happy to help you land a few. Every year the lures that work well up here change. I have seen them change over a two week period. You really want to talk with someone who is on the water quite a bit. In May and June I hit them good at night catching some real nice salmon. July came around and I could hardlly get a hit at night but go out at 3 am and you can't get to the rods quick enough.

I have been fishing out of St Ignace for 20+ years and as far as I am concerned there is no better spot. Looking for a new boat right now for next summer. It is time to put the salmon gear away and break out the steelhead gear. I am sure that for the next 8 months the steelhead will learn to hate me. I am headed out at 4 am tomorrow on a chrome hunt deep in the silver mine.

I guess you have to lock it up or guard it with a Smith & Wesson. If you are fishing in St Ignace send me a pm. The salmon are about done up here but the steelhead action is just beginning. Loads fo salmon are in Moran Bay right now

I ifsh alone in my boat alot, so I learned to use the throttle after losing fish because I was too eager to get to the rod. You are going to lose some fish anyway that is why you are fishing. When the rod goes off pick up speed about 1 to 2 mph and watch the pole. This picks the fish off of the bottom and gets it well behind the boat and keeps it out of the way of your other lines. When the fish is where you want it to be slow the boat down and go for the pole.....easier said than done but try it because it does work. Keep your drags set so the fish can take line and you don't lose poles.

Go light....91/2 steelhead rods work great...6 to 10 pound monofilament line no heavier. Mepps spinners and cleos are probably the best lures although plugs and rapalas produce salmon as well. Believe it or not I take about 90 percent of my river caught salmon on spawn bags on a #14 treble hook fished 2 to three feet under a balsa float. I hope that helps there Boltman, next time you wander up to the UP let me know I will get you hooked up. If you scream louder than the drag I will get the net.

Mabey if someone had packed a rope or if he would have worn a lifejacket he would be able to tell about his experience. Recently I was fishing in Sault Ste Marie and I was surprised how many small children were fishing just a step from falling into the water ( no life jacket) and there is a good current there. One of these days I am sure tradgedy will strike there. My heart and prayers go out to his family.

I guess you have to look at the posative side of all of this **** weather. That is there will be a few more fish hitting the gravel beds this year and with all of the rain they will have a chance to spawn out before the river fishermen can get a good shot at them. Hopefully more fish in a couple of years. I was planning on hitting some river mouths this week for steelhead but not with the 3" of rain that we got yesterday

This time of year I will put the boat in early and do a slow run out of the boat launch until I hit 60 fow and watch the fish finder. If the fish are in say 30 fow 10 feet down that is how I set up to catch them. I would rely on the planer boards or directional dipsies ( the real small ones). Rapalas and J Plugs will work good up high. In most harbors you can try casting with little cleos or KO wobblers if the salmon are in the harbor.

I would love to be there and hope that you have a successful tournament. Sorry but at that time I will be hosting a tournament in St Ignace. I really hope that the weather cooperates for us. Good Luck,Chris.

What I would like to see is that everyone who uses this blog and carrys a cellphone afield put the 800 292 7800 in their phonebook and get their hunting and fishing associates to do the same. Tresspassers, poachers, and people who are anti hunting/fishing are out there in the woods and waters every day. Think of it this way if you just drove 200 miles to enjoy a weekend salmon fishing on a northern Michigan river and there were four snaggers in your favorite spot. You would probably not feel too bad calling the DNR on them would you? And you would probably be pretty happy that the number was right there in your cellphone as you are looking at their license plate.

I saw my wifes uncle last night and he was complaining that the para sail boat got him on Monday way too close. This is a man about 70 years old in a 16 foot small boat. Now I am happy that I turned him in to the Conservation Officer. I am beginning to wonder how some people get a charter license no offense to those of you who operate safely that do have charter licenses. This idiot needs to have his pulled.

In the great lakes you do get the occasional deformed fish, but wow that one has a massive head. My guess is that it spawned last spring and stayed in the stream a little too long. If that is the case it would explain the white meat. I have caught steelhead in the rivers in mid July and they almost always have white meat unless they are skamania.

Nice king that you have there I guess that it pays to be patient. I think that I will be rigging the boat for shallow water and launch her about 3:00 am tomorrow morning. I can float the boat and cast cleos for a couple of hours then run downriggers for a couple of hours. As long as I can trailer the boat by 7:00 I can get to work by 9:00, fortunately I only live a couple of blocks from the water. A guy can get spoiled by living that close to the fishing hole.

Put this number on your cell phone phonebook RAP 800 292 7800 it is the DNR Report All Poaching Hotline. A number of people complain on Blogs about slob hunters and fishermen who operate illegally or above the law. Sometimes these people rarely get reported if at all. Another issue is the anti hunter/fisherman who is out there just to ruin your day on the water or in the field. Do not be afraid to place a phone call and make a report the DNR will work and needs your tips. Try to provide them with as much information as possible and as quickly as possible. Remember if you as a sportsperson do nothing then nothing will be done but if you have a valid complaint or tip the DNR will follow up on it.Get all of your hunter/fishing friends to do the same. Now if everyone does their part I hope that I can hear some good things on these blogs about how the DNR hotline worked out good. Keep in mind that there is a limited number of DNR officers out there and every call is not going to be resolved 100 percent but if you do your part you can rest knowing that you did the right thing.