tltorrice

I almost lost mine so I glued it on with gorilla glue. Same thing with the plastic rings around the Berts rod holders. Gorilla Glue.

Way to go Jason.

After recently coming back from a fishing trip to Lake Ontario I am concerned about Lake Michigan's Salmon population. What I saw in Lake Ontario was abundant bait fish. Salmon that were thick and chunky. Even the 2 and 3 year old fish were thick and heavy. When I come back to Lake Michigan (Manistee) I see skinny, small fish. In a recent trip we boated 20 Salmon in a weekend. Largest was 20#. None of the fish had anything in their stomachs. They were hungry. I don't usually mark much for bait fish. I think the DNR is on the right track for taking large amounts of salmon out of the lake and reducing stocking. Since natural reproduction is so good I don't know if it is enough. These are just my thoughts. Tight Lines

Thanks for the fish porn!

Thanks captain Richard, great report.

My Starcraft Fishmaster has a no feedback steering. The wheel stays where I put it. I don't know if that is available for your Islander?

This whole trip is a roit. This is a very nice fishery, in a peaceful place. We enjoy it. We enjoy lake Michigan too. I have always thought of Salmon fishing as a team sport. Pat (tanglefactor2) landed the 30lb king. Brady (tanglefactor3) was the wheel man. I was the net man. For me fishing is more about who you do it with, and not so much about what you catch or where you are at. I am blessed to have such good friends that also love to fish. Tight Lines.

Ed, I am fishing in Lake Ontario, Point Breeze. Oak Orchard River, about 30 miles west of Rochester NY. TYEE is a Pacific North West term for a chinook over 30lb.

Tyee at the Oak. Monday and Tuesday fishing was OK, catching 7 on Monday and 9 on Tuesday, but nothing worth bragging about. And we know that is why we are here!! On Wednesday we formulated a plan to look for the big boys. We started in close about 100 fow to the west of the port. We picked up a nice brown but the action was slow. We gradually worked our way out deeper and to the east. When we hit 180 we started to pick up some mature Kings. From 180 to 250 north and south we managed 7 kings and 1 steelhead and the one brown from earlier. Our kings weighed 11.5, 11.5, 21.5, 22, 24.8, 26, 30.2. We had a blast. Here are some of the pictures. Thursday we were looking for the big fish again. The wind and weather changed things up for us today. We learned the big fish like the flasher flies and meat rigs. That is what we ran today. We kept 3 fish today and released at least as many. This is what worked. The 30lb salmon was caught on Death wish Spin-doctor with a pink/purple fly. (not sure of the name) This came on the wire dipsy set on 1 330 back. Others came on our stand by Big Al Flasher and a Red Captain John King meat rig on the starboard rigger. Mountain Dew hoochie with a mountain dew meat rig on the braid diver set at 3 back 200. All glow hoochie with a nuclear pink fly. Gold meat rig behind a Big Al Flasher. NBK spin doctor and a green mist fly. Other than that we are having a blast and have one more day to fish. We are about to have a salmon dinner. Tight Lines

Andy, it is a nice trip over here, nice place and people. Today we landed 11 fish and released 3, too small. We had a nice mix, we kept 4 kings. Nothing big. We were into the 3 year olds today. 3 steelhead and a brown trout. The lake has settled down so we will hit it early tomorrow.

Nice job Jason. I know what you mean about drilling holes in a good boat!

Pat Brady and I have made our annual trip to Lake Ontario. This is the 4th year now. We really enjoy this area, and this fishery. We arrived on Saturday Aug 4 around 12:30, set up our camp and were on the water by 4:30. We fished until dark. We ran out to the 25 line a little to the east of port. The first fish of the trip a 24# King that came on a Mountain Dew hoochie and green fly on the wire @ 220. We got three others, two in the 8 to 10 # range and one too small that was released. The other two came on the downrigger on a Red Meat Rig with a Big Al flasher. Good night and great start to our trip. Sunday is a blow day. We will hit it early Monday weather permitting. Tight Lines

I cut my own herring strips, I roll/coat them in borax. Then freeze them, thaw them, refreeze them until they are gone. As long as I keep them cold they stay firm.

Nice mess of fish Ed. Sounds like an action packed morning.

I run John King Meat Rigs and have been very happy with them.

On the downrigger I run Big Al's flasher. I keep my wires on 1 1/2 and use an 8" fish catcher. Make my turns slow. Try to keep good separation.

Thanks Ed. The name comes from putting more lines in the water, that increases the Tangle Factor.

Here is what I do. I always run at least one meat rig, sometimes 2. I prefer some type of glow rig. I believe meat brings fish into the spread. Even if i don't get hits on the meat, the rest of my spread does better with meat in the spread. Most of the time meat produces. If i want to cheat, I will have meat day and just run all meat rigs. That is a lot of fun!!

Phil, yes I run the coppers on the boards. I have the large tx44. It pulls them nice.

Pat (tangle factor 2) and I hit the water around 9am. We went 6 for 7. We started in 110 fow and trolled out to 350 fow. Best was at 225. Best speed was 2.2 at the ball. Slower seemed better. I had bought two 300 45# copper rods and reels all spooled up from the Outdoorsman at the Grand Rapids Sport Fishing Show last spring. This was the first opportunity I had to use them. We got 6 of the 7 hits on the copper. We ran a UV BTI paddle with a UV blue fly, and a Stinger UV green dolphin on the other. The other hit came on the down rigger with our standard red meat rig with big Al's flasher. Our first fish was the largest 20#. I have pictures with the scale but I left my camera in the boat. Will post next week. Back in Manistee this weekend. Tight Lines...

Thanks for the report Richard. Pat and I will be there the first week of August. Can't wait to get into some lake O. Kings.

Very nice, thanks for the report.

I am new to running copper too. This past spring i bought two 300 45# copper on the Okuma glt rods with reels all spooled up. Have not used them yet. This is the weekend. Going to Manistee. Tight Lines.

Thanks Matt. I can't wait. I'll be up there the weekend after the 4th. Thanks for the report.

Nice going Frank.