steeliebob

Nice silver ones. Good job guys. I will be on the ice for probably 2 weeks to a month before I can even consider the open water. If you like the hard water come on up.

I was out at an old trout hotspot yesterday on Lake Michigan I have never seen this before but there were sheets of ice sticking up in the air that were over 10 feet tall. I will probably give it a couple of weeks before I go back out there again as it was hell just getting out to the flat ice and back but I wanted to give it a try. Amazing what mother nature can do.

I was out on the lake mabey two hours, I caught one small steelhead. It was nasty and I was only mabey 100 yards from the Jeep about froze. It did not help much when I had to chase the bucket mabey a half mile.

You can see the monster lake trout that they catch on you tube but for a monster greaser that they throw back down the hole. Not worth it. On You Tube it looks like they are on mabey 4 inches of ice. Once the word gets out good we can telivise it and call it Ice Road Ice Fishermen or Ice Road Idiots.

You should have little or no problem with the ice. Bring the creepers as you will probably need them

I shore fish alot and use a 9" Six Rivers rod and Zebco Quantum reel $75 combo with 8 lb test. It works great for salmon and steelheads. I love it so much that I bought a second identical set up. Nothing that a 12 pound steelhead or 20 pound salmon can damage and it has been put to the test a number of times. If you want a real good rod there are a couple of guys on the site that will custom build a rod for you.

Guys you are getting suntans and watching downriggers in March and I am still cutting two feet of ice in the UP. Only a couple of more weeks left and you can trailer your boats. Watch that drift ice that will be coming out of the UP its pretty thick this year. I think that it was thick enough that a few more of our coyotes on steroids made it across.

I know that they get a few by Marquette and we used to get them pretty good in the Soo. I have been racking my brains out trying to get the DNR to plant a few more in the UP. What a joke that is getting to be. It seems like almost every brown trout that comes out of the hatcheries gets a ticket to SW L Michigan. Get on the DNR there Bromley it would be interesting to see if you get the same response that I have had. They just tell me no no and no. You say Brown Trout and UP in the same sentence and the biologists slam you. Meanwhile the same biologists are taking Atlantic Salmon from the UP and planting them throughout the LP. I think that there should be some kind of a trade here.

If you want Lake Trout go to Petoskey & Harbor Springs lots of them in there. If you are interested in Salmon and less boats come up to St Ignace I will show you where to find them. On a good day you can pick up Kings, Lakers, and Atlantics. Plus a steelhead once in awhile. Just send me a PM if you are interested in St Ignace. I would be more than happy to go out with you

If I did not just dump 75,000$ into my business I would buy it as a charter boat. Besides I am married and my other half would not be too happy. But right now I am looking for a 14 to 17 foot boat.

You get so much information here like the 25,000 Sturgeon River Brown Trout that get planted in Holland. The DNR is playing Robin Hood again. I have spent the last 10 years trying to get some browns replanted in N Lake Huron because a virus wiped them out in the mis 1990's. I can't get so much as a response from the DNR other than no. Now they take brown trout from Northern Michigan and where are they planted? In a place where their is already a healthy brown trout population. Sometimes A guy has to wonder why he even buys a license. I should just take my license money and mail a check to Holland or South Haven.

Jason, It still looks like you are sleeping in. Ya gotta have fish in the box before the crack of dawn.

If that isn't the truth. Last year the best bite time was 4 - 5 in the am. I was pulling in and all of the other guys were pulling out in the morning.

You ought to know about planted fish Kevin. It has been so long since I have seen a MDNR hatchery truck I forgot what they even look like. Down your way they probably have a presidential motorcade of them. Makes a guy wonder what they are buying a license for. Don't get me wrong I catch a fair share of fish up here and I believe most are natural reproduced fish. As far as planted fish I think most are from Wisconsin or Canada. By the time they work their way over in my direction most are bigger fish. For example a 15 to 20 pound chinook is not uncommon and a 8 to 12 pound steelhead is very common. However a brown trout of any size is almost unheard of but Atlantic Salmon are pretty common.

Been there, done that. I wish that I had a video last sumer a guy on my boat lands a nice 8 lb salmon. As he is unhooking the fish he gets hooked and the next thing that happens is the fish the slider and the other spoon all go overboard. As the fish hits the water the line cuts on the side of the boat and all is lost.

Try this it worked for me. Last summer I could not catch a salmon to save my life mid summer. I started launching my boat at 3:00 am and heading out. I went to the first drop off 75 fow and dropped lines 35 down and 20 feet back. Just put a couple of green dolphin double glows on the riggers. I could not grab poles fast enough. Every time that I did this I slammed the salmon. Until about 5 am I was the only boat out there.

If you want to get into the salmon good both Detour and St Ignace are good spots. Detour has the bulk of Atlantic salmon while St Ignace has more Chinook. If you get up this way send me a PM I would be more than happy to fish with you.

I have heard that they fish about a 25 mile snowmobile ride out on Superior. I also understand that these hogs are in 150 to 200 fow. I am plenty happy to go out 100 yards on foot and catch 12 pound steelhead in 5 fow. It is neat to see the video though. it is also amazing to see the size of some of those lake trout.

I refer to them as mutts as the DNR does not plant too many of them in the N Lake Huron Area. I believe many of them are naturally reproduced or come from Wisconsin or even Canada. Mix in a few from Minnisota mabey and over time you have some cross breeds. I catch mabey two per year with any sort of fin clips so two out of mabey 400 per year tells you that not too many come out of hatcheries. Unlike in southern L Michigan where millions of fish are planted you can mabey identify a few of them. I am going out mutt ice fishing this weekend by the way.

So sorry rascal my money is on the Steelers. Go Ben!!!!!

I kind of think that unless a steelhead of a certain vatiety is a planted fish most of the steelhead that are naturals are just mutts. Wisconsin and Michigan both plant 3 to 6 varieties of steelhead and I am reasonably certain that they mix it up a little when they spawn. Thus the mutt steelhead, I never try to guess the difference too much. I catch lots of steelhead every year and only get about 4 fish with any kind of fin clips.

Mike, Never issue any challenges to a red neck yooper.

It is best to ice troll on Lake Michigan in the early spring. You find a pressure crack about a foot wide. You take your spud or auger and break the surface ice it is usually paper thin. Then bait the hook with a wiggler and set the depth about a foot above the bottom. Slowly walk along the pressure crack pulling your pole. It works awesome for trout and whitefish.

Time to set a tip up with a spawn bag. If you cannot catch it send me a PM I will give you better instructions. My guess is that it was a steelhead. Probably a skamania to be hanging around the Qsee river.

So far 8 for the year. Unfortunately I can only fish on the weekends. A couple of more days and I will be back on the ice again. Just cannot wait to get back out there. Like I have mentioned in previous posts there is nothing like catching a big steelhead on a tip up.

I usually give the throttle a little jolt that hooks the fish and makes it mad. It also gets someone moving toward the back of the boat. It is when the rod goes off and just goes down that you had better get out of my way. When the rod stays down it is a good indication that you have a big fish on there. Had one guy in the boat once, I dragged a 10 pound salmon for 10 minutes before he realized that I did have a fish on by then I had two fish going.

Set your alarm clock Rick. You have to be there early or you might just as well stay at home. From 8 am until 10 am both Sat and Sunday it was non stop flags. I caught and released several brown trout 14 to 18 inches. Saturday I got an 8 pound steelhead. Sunday I caught a three pound, 7 pound, and 12 pound steelhead. I also caught and released some brown trout on Sunday.