steeliebob

I am sure that all of you guys have your favorite brine and smoking wood as do I. Lakers are usually pretty greasy and do not smoke well. Last summer I cut a couple of lakers into steaks threw them into the brine overnight put them on my smoker. When they were about 1/2 done I brushed on orange marmalade jam. You got to try this every legal laker goes into the smoker now.

New count when I came across the bridge North Bound the count was just over 4000 deer that was on 11/22/2009 at 9:30 pm. It was still down 35% they do count deer going both ways so I helped them out by adding one. I shot a big doe (no fawns) in Ogemaw County.

I just google mackinac bridge deer count for past years. It has been so ****ty up here the last ten years the DNR does not want the record posted so it stops at 2000. I will be crossing the bridge in a couple of hours to hunt in the lower. I will give you an update on the deer count on Monday. I used to see deer like you would not believe at my steelhead spot, I have been back there no less than 50 times this fall and only saw 2 deer. I have several friends who have not recorded a deer on their trail cams all fall. I know of about 50 guys who just go to Canada to hunt and will not buy a Michigan license anymore. The last week of season I will be hunting in the UP but I will be packing my fishing poles too because I don't expect to be hunting very long.

I used to live in Saginaw before I moved to the UP. I fished under the mercury vapor lights all of the time usually with a 1/8 oz leadhead w a chartruse twister grub with the sparkles in it. On a good night you would reel in a fish on damn near every cast. It was awesome. Started in October and fished like this until the river iced over. We ice fished near the same mercury vapor lights on first ice and did very good too.

Its dinner!!!!! Good going and good luck hunting

You are soooo right about wolf hunting. What are they going to eat when they kill off all of the deer? I believe there will come a day when everyone has a loaded gun in the house waiting to shoot at a wolf. That is the other reason I hunt downstate, I have had a couple of opportunities and let em go the next one might not be so lucky. The deer I saw a couple of weeks ago was being run by something because it was dead tired when it stopped by me and could have cared less that I was only 50 feet away. It was real concerned with what was behind it. If you want to see something real interesting go to the mackinac bridge website and look at how the deer count numbers have declined since the wolf numbers have increased.

Just as I figured it would be the bridge count was down 44% last night at 9:00 pm when I crossed. Less than 1000 deer have been counted so far, the wolves have ate them all. Precisley why I live in the UP and hunt in the lower. Back in the 1990's you would trip over deer walking into your blind 5 miles from my house. The same area I used to hunt....I have only seen two deer there this fall. Now I am driving to whittemore 140 miles away to hunt. I guess amongst other things you can blame this on the DNR too.

I got a J plug in the middle of the back a couple of years ago...it did not come out too easy. I had to go to the hospital and get it cut out and had 8 stitches in the back to remind me. OUCH!!!!!! I don't fish with that idiot anymore

I have never tried a slammer board but I will try anything. I do not have a problem with hit and runs on the tip ups. I usually connect with the fish but I always leave it go for a couple of minutes after the flag goes. I am going to make a new type of tip up device this winter for ice fishing, if it works out you might see it in cabelas soon.

I fish in less than 10 feet of water. I am on the ice and set up at least 1/2 hour before daylight. Use the hand auger a gas auger will spook the fish in shallow water. I have tip ups with 8 pound line just enough weight to get a spawn bag to the bottom about 16" up from a #14 treble hook. On that treble hook I have a spawn bag the size of your fingernail. I also use ice rods with spawn bags, set the rod on a bucket with the bail open and a rubber band in the end eye. When the fish runs the rubber band will pop out and do not stand near the hole. I also rig ice rods with a small orange or red tear drop and a wiggler or wax worm with a bobber just big enough to float your rig. You will want to be off any stream or river mouth that has a natural run of steelhead even some that do not will have enough feed flowing into the lake that trout are attracted to the area. Northern Michigan and the UP have areas that offer super good ice fishing for steelhead coho and lake trout. I am sure to be out there as soon as we get good ice, the gear is ready to go. Mornings work best for me but I have caught them mid day and evenings as well you just have to work a little harder

I just run plain spoons with a leader 12 pound florocarbon and very small swivels and I have had great luck. I am fishing out of St Ignace and the DNR refuses to plant fish up here too. So great luck means 3 or 4 fish per trip unlike SW Michigan where we fill a super sized cooler every time we go out down there.

I have some pics from last winters steelhead in the gallery section under steelhead and salmon. Just can't wait to go. Will be on the river in the early am then it is off to deer camp

I use a very small split shot just enough to get a spawn bag to stay on the bottom and a #14 or #16 treble hook put it into a spawn bag about the size of your fingernail. You can run this off of a tip up or ice rod. On an ice rod I leave the bail open and set it on a bucket w a rubber band in the tip eye. I step back from the hole and when you don't see the rubber band get to the pole. I also use wigglers and wax worms on an orange tear drop with an ice rod. In the UP we fish off any river or stream mouth the L Michigan side can give up some nice trout in the spring. The northern lower penninsula streams can be really hot too. I have the gear ready to go but the rest of Nov looks to be too warm for ice. L Superior has super good ice fishing for trout and it gives up some real nice coho as well but on cold winters you will need an extension to the auger

I have a 19 foot starcraft holiday w 120 inboard I have learned to keep only the necessary gear and the hot lures in the boat not alot of extras. This works out well because you are not tripping over lots of rods and equipment. It also forces you to use what works and not what does not work. I normally fish w 6 rods out but cut back to 2 or 4 in the dark. I guess if I had a bigger boat I would have more equipment. When I pull up to the dock at the end of the day my cooler seems to be just as full of fish as the guy who has 10k worth of equipment on his boat. I still pulled my share of goods out of the boat before I tarped it up. It hurts when I go into the garage and have to look at it collecting dust

Mike, if you are looking to go on a guided hunt I know of a couple of guys in St Ignace who chase them all winter long with plots and ticks. Give me a call at 906 643 8630 and I can set you up mabey. They shoot lots of coyotes too.

Rob, I am hoping things will be frozen by x mas. The Michigan side never freezes until late January but the Huron side freezes early. Call me before you come up (906) 643-8630 and I will let you know where the ice is. Good luck finding rabbits as there are far too many predators up here. Bring a coyote rifle and we will sit on the ice and thin the population a little. I know the steelies will be a hot winter item this year as there was too much rain in October and the population did not get thinned any.

I was thinking about hooking them up on the stackers and running them about 25 feet down about 100 feet in back of the boat with directional divers attached to pull them away from the boat. It should work but you are right about the big fish they can peel you in a hurry. My main concern is other boats, there are a couple of guys out there who wish I had a bumper hitch on my boat. There are days too that you just cannot get far enough away from the other boats.

Hi to all, I hope that you caught your share of salmon over the summer and fall now it is time to put your boats away for winter and do a little hunting or steelhead fishing. I am from St Ignace Michigan I own a 19 foot starcraft I/O for salmon fishing. We had a great summer putting 3 or 4 fish in the cooler on just about every trip. Now I am floating spawn bags with limited luck as the weather is not cooperating. When I can get out ice fishing I hope to catch the steelhead that I have been missing out on this fall. Looking forward to the day in May when I launch the boat and set the downriggers again.

I have the ice fishing gear ready to go not so for deer hunting gear yet. Does anyone out there ice fish for steelhead? I am probably a rare breed but in the UP pretty much everything freezes up when the cold sets in so it is difficult to catch them in open water. The perch and gills are difficult to find and you have to be out on the right day to get walleyes....not so with the chrome. As soon as the ice sets in with about a 4 inch base I am out there. When you have a 12 pound steelie on the ice fishing pole you forget about the cold. When I get home I cut my catch into boneless strips roll them in Drakes and fire up the fry daddy. Tastey Tastey Tastey. Until the ice is there I will be deer hunting and river fishing.

On the last trip out of St Ignace in September we rigged up 9 foot noodle rods with open bail reels loaded with 8 pound test line to the downriggers and trolled with green dolphin spoons. It wasn't too long and we had an 8 pound steelhead jumping 200 feet behind the boat, what a battle it was. I am considering using these rods next year on my stackers or mabey using steelhead rods and open bail reels on all of the rod holders. Does anyone else fish like this? Can you give me some pro's and cons or tips. I really think that with the lighter line and poles I will get more fish in the boat. I am also guessing that if I use smaller spoons mabey shad raps at about 25 feet on stackers I can put more steelhead in the boat.

Nothing wrong with a nice tastey doe. I have been fortunate to put a few of them in my freezer over the years. I hope to get one in a couple of weeks.

Don't fool yourself into thinking that salmon and trout cannot be caught through the ice. I target them and have quite a bit of success. My big one last year was a 12 pound steelhead fun fun fun. I hope to be on the ice in about a month or so doing just that trying to get a salmon or trout.