tltorrice

Nice Ben

Nice!

Way to go!! I had fun just watching.

Happy birthday Terry.

We saw them in Manatee last weekend. I thought it was a good thing too.

Hope everyone had a great July 4th weekend. Here is the report from Pat (tangle factor2) and I. We got out on Saturday late afternoon around 5pm. We ran out to the north of the port to 100 fow. We ran a 6 line spread, 2 down-riggers 2 wire divers and 2 lead cores. We put a red meat rig and a Big Al flasher on the starboard down-rigger. Before we could get the rest of the lines in the water Pat landed this nice 17lb King.

We marked plenty of bait-fish and saw dead alewives on the surface. We ended the first day 5 for 5 with a small king released.

Sunday we got on the water around 1pm and fished until 7pm. We ran even further to the north out in front of Onekama. It was a much slower day we went 2 for 2. One was a smaller king that we decided would be great for dinner next to some venison tenderloin. We were right!! The other fish was a 12lb king.

Monday we got out at 7am and fished until 1pm and went 3 for 3. All fish over 10 lbs. We fished straight out of the port and a little to the south. We marked a lot of fish in the 100 to 120 fow and a lot of bait fish.

Here is what worked

Red Meat Rig behind Big Al’s flasher

UV Meat Rig behind a UV BTI flasher

Howie fly blue mirage behind blue bubble spin-doctor.

We caught a few fish on some spoons but non were consistent. The red meat rig took 4 fish. No hits at all on the lead core.

All of the fish seemed bigger this year, thicker. I got the impression they really were not hungry due to all of the baitfish. We will be back in two weeks.

Tight lines

Troy,

1 I have been reading posts they talk about the leader lenght between your dipsy and the flashe. I have been running mine too short. But too long and it will be difficult to land a fish. Whites and greens seem to be popular and produce.

2 I would not run one down the chute. You are asking for a tangled mess.

3 lead cores, it depends what you are targeting. Up high, 2 thu 5 color I use bright colors like orange and reds and yellows for steelhead. Darker colors deeper for kings. Mix it up, plugs and spoons. Dont forget meat rigs, they bring fish into your spread.

I use a Lansky hook sharpner. https://lansky.com/index.php/outdoor/multi-groove-fish-hook-sharpeners/

Matt, thanks for the great report. Tanglefactor2 and I will be in Manistee this weekend and are looking forward getting into some fish.

Very good Andy. Nice that you can get out on the lake after work. Sometimes I wish I lived closer. We will be in Manistee this weekend.

Nice fish Andy. Great to be out with the familey.

I use a blacks release connected directly to the cannon ball. Then I have a 12 inch cable then the probe connected to the coated cable. I have not had this twisting problem. I think the blacks releases really help. If the cannon ball spins when putting it in the water, the release does not spin and that keeps the line from wrapping around the cable. Hope this helps. Tight lines.

Nice report guys. Sounds like you had a good time. Thanks for the report.

I gave up going to Canada a long time ago for similar actions. I choose to spend my money in the USA.

I go with 30' as well.

Good Job Frank. The future of the fishery is very good with the throw backs and the two kids on board. Get well soon.

Tight Lines

I have had no issues Mike.

Way to go Jason.

Brest Bay Report

Pat (tanglefactor2) and Trevor his cousin met me at my house at 5am. We drove to Lake Erie and stopped at the bait store to get some crawlers, ice, pop ect. When I bought the crawlers I was given a crawler harness for purchasing the 100 pack. I thought “coolâ€. As I was leaving the store I spotted another crawler harness on the ground someone had dropped. I picked it up and was examining it as I was walking. Then I stepped into a dip in the sidewalk. You know one of those spots that are lower to allow a wheel chair access to the sidewalk. I go down! As I go down I am think protect those crawlers so I roll. I must have crushed the Styrofoam container and crawlers went flying across the parking lot. In the mean time I jumped right back up and looked around to see if any one saw me so as not to embarrass my self. Of course the place was very busy and everyone witnessed that act. I was not injured, only my pride and my worm box. The guy in the store gave me another container and we were on our way.

There was about a 30-minute wait to launch at the state park but it did seem to move quickly.

We ran straight out of Sterling State Park and set up on some marks that I have used in about 18 fow. We set the big boards up and ran 3 hot & tots, 3 crawlers on 2oz bottom bouncers and spoons off of the down riggers. Before we got all of the lines set we took a hit on a purple crawler harness off the board. Nice 18†walleye. We were off to a good start. We continued to catch fish, a lot of sheep head and a few silver bass. We caught one small walleye off a spoon on the starboard rigger, released. I did not want to fish in the large pack of boats that was further out so we moved to the north to 28 fow. We continued to pick up large perch and another walleye and more sheep head. By now I am not running the boards due to the wind but we are running 6 lines out the back of the boat. Later in the day we moved back into the bay and picked up another walleye. So we ended the day with 3 walleye and 3 nice perch.

There was another 30-minute wait to get on a dock leaving the park. There was no waiting at the fish cleaning station. A few guys got their limits of fish but most ended up with none or only a few.

Tight lines.

Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for the report.

I usually try to read some reports the day before since I don't live that close to the lake and can't get there every day. Then I run out to within about 20 feet of my target depth then start to set up. By the time I am set up I should be close to my target depth. Always looking for fish on the graph but you don't have to have fish on the graph to catch fish. If I have been fishing an area for the weekend then I can rely on some waypoints from previous days to get started. Hope this helps.

Nice shake down trip Frank. Good to see a report from you. Good luck with the surgery. Tom

Sometimes you just have to make choices. Nice job Al

Thanks for the update and good job on the Walleyes.

I finally had an opportunity to take my fiance salmon fishing on Memorial Day. We launched at St. Joe about 6:30am and ran out to about 80 fow to the NE. According to the reports I have been reading this was the place to be. We got set up with 2 down riggers, 2 wire divers, and two lead core, a 3 and a 10 color to start with. After about an hour in 110 fow we got our first hit on the 3 color on an orange spoon. 7lb steel-head. This was Wendy’s first great lakes fish and she was thrilled.

Next we took a hit on the wire that was running on the high side. Came unbuttoned. I suspect it was another steel-head since this was another orange spoon. Next the Starboard down-rigger went and landed a 9lb King. This King came on a SS purple and pink spoon that Wendy picked out at the Birch Run show. It was pretty! When checking the port rigger red meat rig I found a shaker 16†king, released. We next landed a 5lb laker on the other wire pulling a Black Mamba paddle and an alewife fly. At noon we headed back. We ended up 4 for 5 in about 135 fow. It was good to be back on Lake Michigan again. Can’t wait until next time. Tight Lines.