georgeb

I am thankful Lake Michigan does not have a tide to deal with. The river mouth plumes can be enough fun.

prior to going out check the N and S mid lake buoys for wind and wave action. If there are waves heading toward the port you are thinking of fishing that can mean the waves will be as big at the port. Wave energy takes a long time to dissipate and will not decrease in height in the 40 or so miles from the buoy to the shore. If the shore wind is going the same direction as the mid lake wind/waves then you can assume the waves are being helped to shore. If the shoreline wind is opposing the mid lake wind/wave direction then all kinds of weird can happen. This is the recipe for rouge waves or a dual pattern wave set. edit to add, there can be more than 1 wind direction on the lake at any given time and that will create wave patterns that do not make sense or follow the mid lake wave directions and heights.

it was a blo-boat delivery to Chicago for a race weekend with 2 others on board. It was common for us to deliver boats and race in any weather. The boat was setup for open water racing and we were quite safe, the real problem was both the other delivery crew were seasick and the auto-helm went out so I had to drive down and up the waves for 9 hours without relief. I have been out is stuff that most people only read about in lake Mi. I used to be into the thrill ride aspect oi the deliveries and the racing when I was younger. No matter how well setup the boat is or how experienced the crew bad things can and do happen, that is the risk I was willing to accept. I have lost friends to the lake so I know how dangerous it is and NEVER underestimate what is possible.

If you ever want to feel totally alone and small on Lake Michigan, try being 40 miles from any land with a SW wind at 30 to 40 knots and 15' waves while headed to Chicago on a 35' boat. That can change your outlook on what safe means. I agree completely, respect the lake and expect it to not care about you.

Here are old photos of the inside of my 16' sylvan after finishing the LED install, could not wait to finish cleanup prior to testing them. I was able to use some friend supplied printed circuit module LEDs that are from GM rear view mirrors. The red lights cannot be seen outside the boat and there is no loss of night vision even after looking down at your feet. I also love UV lights for night time mono tying and to illuminate the rods to see a hit.

Port Sheldon bubbler ?

Does the rigger use a brush or brushless motor - it makes a big difference on what is hardest on the motor. Either you are running the motor with high current when pulling a heavy ball or longer duration when using the block and tackle method.

I was thinking about a vacation day tomorrow for Holland harbor fishing. But, after reading this and the other weekend reports, I think I will just go to work...

Port Sheldon PM 8-14 Fished straight out to slightly South from 6:00Pm till dark. Setup in 140 FOW and fished out to 200 and back into 155. Lost a big King on a SUV Reel Flasher and meat rig 72' down and 20' back on a rigger in 155 FOW on a S.E. troll. He was all twisted up in the meat rig and broke off taking all the hardware. We put a nice 10.5 Lb. Laker in the box off a 10 color with a Mag Blue Dolphin Stinger off a S.E. troll in 180 FOW. At dusk we were marking bait with hooks 160 down in 170 FOW, overall we saw lots of marks in the 155 to 170 FOW deeper than 175 the graph went blank. We finished 1-2 and to add to the lost flasher and meat rig pain, when I pulled the probe I managed to knock the cannon ball off it and it went to the bottom. Beautiful night on the pond, expensive but beautiful.

Port Sheldon 3/19/17, 2:30 - 6 PM Last day of winter and the weather / water was perfect for my shakedown trip. Fished around bubbler dropping lines just after 2:00 PM, also fished N of bubbler in 10 - 20 FOW. Ended up 2-3 with a 10" laker we threw back and put a 5.5 Lb. Brown in the box. Laker hit a mixed veggies supper slim and the Brown hit a Michael Jackson Stinger, both on single color of lead core on an inline board. Laker was next to the bubbler, the brown was N. of the bubbler. I know I said 2-3, well the third one that got away was a bird. Had a gull pick up a small body bait while setting lines and it was a pretty good fight until he let the lure go. He was trying to fly away with the lure 30' of lead core line and a board, he was not able to. Lucky for me he was not hooked, just had the lure in his beak and did not want to let go of his dinner. He finally gave up and flew away screaming at us. Ended up with just the one fish in the box, boat ran great and all equipment worked. Made a list of things I need to make and or repair before my next trip. A very good shakedown trip with a nice eating fish for my crew to take home for dinner.

Remember ice will flow from the big lake into the channel on Pigeon lake. I was out in the lake a few years ago and had to push large ice blocks away to get back in the pier heads. Not fun pushing ice blocks bigger than my boat. Glad I had a canoe paddle with me. Use caution and keep an eye on the pier heads for ice if you get out.

all the ramps are out of the water at Port Sheldon.

We fished PS Sunday evening from 6:30 - 9 and went 1 - 1 boating a nice chubby 7 Lb King. The fish hit on a S. troll on the deep rigger with a mag moonshine double trouble off a 1 color SWR down 70 in 95 - 100 FOW. Ran 4 meat rigs on the wires and riggers with J's on the cores until sunset started without a bump. Switched to spoons on the riggers and wires and finally took a fish right at sunset. We were looking at the smelly kitty in the cooler (again!) until the rigger quietly pulled back and bounced 1 time - not an exciting hit, but he went into the cooler with great relief !

At least 1 was last weekend

Finally got the shakedown cruise in and ended 4-4 with a 4Lb steel, 2 1.5Lb browns and a shaker King that was returned. I got a tip from a friend that black and gold was a good choice and he was right. the first brown was on black and gold body bait and the steel and other brown were on a black and orange spoon that I have no idea of make or name. Shaker King was on greasy chicken wing stinger. Spoons were on 1 colors and body baits were flat lined all behind inline boards. We never went deeper than 10 FOW and went north first. Great early May evening on the pond, motor ran perfect, caught fish and never needed to change from shorts and a T-shirt.