Adjusted3

Got out yesterday with GLF and Heavy Action. Ended the day with 8 for 12. Kicked back 2 small mud hens and kept 6 kings. Fished a bit south and attempted to stay in 90-110. Marked a ton of fish up and down the water column. Very interesting, as fish were anywhere from 15 down all the way to the bottom. 10 degree difference from the surface temp and the bottom but no real temp break on the sown temp. It was a mixed bag of what was working. Raiders used mostly with the dolphin style spoons taking the majority. Purple went a few times, cut went 1x. Ran spins and flys and never took a bump on those. We hit the water at noon and was done about 5:30. Steady all the way up till about 4pm and it died. Was not because of the fish but we just got off the waypoints. Was a great day, thanks guys for tagging along. Should be a great weekend to fish, I am headed north to the cabin. Mark

Great thread Mike. I started out with 4 king fishers by Walker. all manuals and I miss them. They served me very well for over 14 years with out any complaints. They now ride on the back of Steve's boat. I switched over to 2 Elec. Walkers last year. I am very comfortable with just the 2. Retrive is very nice, 300 ft per min. But the down is much slower. I could set the manuals in 1/2 the time. I must say that neither has given me one sec of trouble. But, I am getting old, I like the electrics. Mark

Bird Flu is real. And scary. An interesting note is that currently, there is no known human to human passing of the virus. However, the scare is that, with most all virus's, a muntant strain could be passed from one person to another. It will be then that we have a severe problem. Everyone knows that I fly everyweek. I meet people form all walks of life from every country. It would only take an instant to have this virus transported to the US. But then, UNTIL it does, I am not going to allow myself to worry about it. I got better things to worry about like when am I going to get out fishing again. Mark

I am using Sampo #3. Have had zero issues to date.They are a bit pricey at 22.00 a doz but think of the $35-40.00 of gear that it is riding behind it. Mark

No, Mike you were right the first time. If you have a hard time telling the difference between Ho's and Kings, he did need some trout. HE HEEE !!! Last year, I came to the weighin in Manistee with 4 kings and a Coho. I was informed that the fish that I thought was a coho was actually an Atlantic. Shoot, I have never prior caught an Atlantic. I can now say I have. Go ahead try to pick that Atlantic out of the box.........when you have never laid eyes on one..... I must say the best statement in this thread was by GLF himself "I am just getting back into salmon fishing after a long stint of TRASH(bass) fishing" Don't worry GLF, We all will get you converted correctly! Mark

Sorry guys, Spots on the tail, Kings. Nice catch though. I blew up a couple of photos and I am most certain they were Kings. Question? what color was the meat? Pink/orange and then they are ho's, white or cream and they were Kings. Again nice catch Mark

This is by far my favorite set up, but the set up depends on whether you are searching for fish or on fish dictates what spread I put out. For searching, I run the 2 riggers with sliders, one 0 dipsey down the shoot, one wire diver with meat. 2 leadcore, one full, one 1/2 with a snap weight, then 2 dipsys on each side. one on 2 and the other on 3, same side as the meat. This gives me a program to search. Once I start to get dialed in, I start changing to what the fish want. It is not uncommon to put spinnys on 3 dispseys and 2 riggers if that is what they are hitting on. If it is a meat bite, everything gets the meat program except for the riggers. I like the double spoons still searching out the odd fish. in a seach program, you can start to dial in the rods as you take a fish, color, lure size, lure type etc. The 8 rod program in my opinon is the easiest to run with 3 on board. go to 9 and the 9th tends to be a core or another down the shoot and the odds of tangles go up. But, and I say but, if you have the expierance, and a 4th on board, adding that next 3 rods is a piece of cake. But, I am convinced that adding more rods in the water just because does not help other then to make more work top side. Mark

Now that makes sense....I never looked at it as 100', I was looking at a length that was a bit more reasonable- 8-10'. Thanks for the info. I figured someone out there must of bent a rule somewhere along the way for this one to have hit the books. Mark

I recently had a discussion regarding sliders, either fixed or free. The question came up that many tournaments limit the slider length to 72" (6 foot). Why? What is the difference if that slider is 8 foot or even 10 foot. I am stumped as to the reason. Anyone know? Is there an unfair advantage to using a longer leader or did someone "bend a rule" thus the 72" statement in the rules? Mark

Team Fishdog fished in this Pro/Am on the Am side. Was a great event, met many old friends and made several new ones. But, the end result is that we got our butts kicked! (and kicked hard) We had our fish bracketed and targeted up till Wed when mother nature decided to blow some 50mph winds out of the north/west. Thursday was unfishable, and friday was called as the waves were pushing 10-14. So, it was a one day shootout. We decided to run north and set up in 115 fow and pulled one smallish king and made a decision after reaching 145 to pull and run south and in to 90. We started to pop rods and boxed up 2 nice kings and got off our waypoints and by the time we got back to them we were running out of time. We pulled another king with 1 hour to go that placed 3rd in the the big fish on the am side. We made a few mistakes with some tangles but due to the big blow, it was anyones guess as to where the fish were. We talked to many that were at 2-4 fish on the day, many pro boats that boated 1 or 2 and a couple that did not weigh. There was not pattern for us, except that our meat rigs never fired and the dipsys never fired as well. Tough day but we still cashed a small check on the one fish. Mark

Well, I got a bunch of info from Dr. Sutton. Let me dissiminate it over the next few days. Here is what my personal thoughts are--- If you drag the fish for a 1/2 hour, you know those 12" fish that are water logged, box it. If you bring it in the boat and it is bleading, box it. If it is a prolonged fight---I.E. 20-40 mins, Box it If you are confident that the fish will make it, boatside release it. If you know that it is a laker and it is out of season or you don't want to keep it, tighten the drag and winch it in and release it. Interesting but Lakers are one of the few that are not subject to being pulled from the depths. they have a totally different set of lungs on them that is not suseptible to being pulled from the depths. I can send the cites but suffice to say that the info was in Dr. Suttons info. I guess the end result is that we as fisherman, never want to "float" fish. It happens on occaision, for out of season, maxed limits or otherwise. Lets give them every chance we can give them Mark

I just recently upgraded to Raymarine products. Not that my Lowarance x-88 was a bad unit, it was only 2 years old, but that unit does not compare to the new technology that is on the market now. I will say this though, you get what you pay for. My X-88 was servicable for most applications at about 360.00 new. The Raymarine 600dx can run circles around that unit. BUT........the price is in the mid 800-900 range. I coupled that with a Raymarine 435I chartplotter, again in the same price range. Yes, I dropped some coin on the units, but the detail and the info that I get out of these 2 units does not compare to the unit that I had. And rightly so. Please don't take this as an advertisement for Raymarine, that was my choice. Take this as an advertisement that I have fished for 19 years on the big lakes and I am tired of units that "fit" my budget and was servicable. It was time to get what I wanted once and for all Mark

I recently upgraded my electronics. I have the following: Lowrance X88DF The very picture of high-detail, feature-packed, dual-frequency 50/200 kHz LCD sonar performance for depths to 1,700 feet!* Unique Standard Features: Solid 500 watts RMS power (4,000 watts peak-to-peak) Patented high-speed, low-profile, transom-mount, 50/200 kHz Skimmer® dual-frequency transducer for excellent depth capability to 1700 feet* (518 m) and operates at boat speeds up to 70 mph (61 kts) Built-in temp sensor in the transducer; unit accurately displays water surface temperature Includes SP-X transom-mount sensor for precise trolling speed/distance log readings Display/Sounder Features: Super-sharp 5" diagonal (12.7 cm), 320 x 320 pixel, high-contrast Film SuperTwist LCD display 16-level gray scale definition and 102,400 total pixel resolution for remarkable target detail and separation, even in direct sunlight Backlit screen and keypad for easy readability at night and in low-light conditions Simplified keypad with Menu and Pages keys for easy on-screen features selection FasTrack™ full-screen flasher mode with GRAYLINE® displays instantaneous sonar returns, plus gives the relative signal strength of each target When displaying actual sonar returns, FishReveal™ feature shows fish targets hidden by surface clutter, thermoclines, weed beds and other cover in 16 levels of gray scale HyperScroll™ feature locates and displays fish targets at higher boat speeds Patented GRAYLINE® separates fish and important structure, on or near the bottom, from the actual bottom, and defines bottom composition /hardness Hands-free operation ease with Advanced Signal Processing (ASP™) that automatically adjusts all crucial sonar settings for the best possible picture in nearly all fishing situations Selective on/off Advanced Fish I.D.™ feature shows underwater targets in different sizes of fish symbols based on the relative signal strengths of the return echoes Selective on/off FishTrack™ feature displays target depth readings above each fish symbol as a guide for quick and precise lure presentations Unique display feature lets you combine a panel of your favorite sonar data readings with your sonar graph in one easy-to-read display Advanced new receiver design offers enhanced sensitivity and target detail, as well as greater resistance to electrical interference Continuous digital depth and depth scale readouts; user-selectable upper and lower depth range limits Multi-range split-screen zoom and automatic bottom tracking with high-speed display updates during depth range changes for uninterrupted viewing Instant zoom display ranges and zoom-bottom-tracking with easy zoom-in/out control Selective on/off Shallow, Deep, Zone, and Fish alarms Built-in back-up memory preserves sonar settings for years Livewell and baitwell temp displays with purchase of optional sensor High-impact cover protects screen and keypad when not in use Completely sealed and waterproof for use even in harsh saltwater environments ---------------------------------------------------- I also purchased the Speed wheel with it. The unit is 2 years old. Excellent condition. $200.00 & I ship anywhere in U.S. Send me a pm if interested. Mark

I just received an e-mail from Dr. Sutton. He indicated that he will do some searches for us and get back in a couple of days. I will keep you informed. He does have studies on Bass, walleye & pike and will do some searches on Salmoniods. Butch hit the nail in my opinion in the end of his post. Care of a fish that is to be released is so improtant. The studies that I referenced was that a fish that is released bleeding has a very high mortality, as a fish that is out of the water for more than a min. Scale loss or damages has an adverse affect as well. Dragging a fish on the line for 1/2 hour, come on folks, be have all been there, has an adverse effect. Remember, these studies were controled, the fish was not removed from the water and was not netted. We do all these things. Washington has a fishery rule for slamon that it is ileagle to release one that has been brought inside the gunnels of a boat. At least we are getting closer to Jims original post so that he can make an imformed decision to his questions. Mark

I sent a request to Dr. Sutton for some direction on this subject. I will let you know the results. in the meantime, here is some reading material. The first article is a very great article on the art of catch and release, no-no's and a few factors that IF you are releasing fish, what not to do. http://www.nesportsman.com/articles/article59.shtml The next is a PDF file on mortality on Coho using various catch techniques but in a "controled enviroment" http://www-ops.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm/selective/pdfs/final_e.pdf The 3rd is a study on c/r mortality on Shad and Striped Bass. Additionally there are cites in the study for further reading. http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/marine/hudson/final.pdf Just some more to add to the discussion. Mark

I wil dig out some stuff that I have collectd over the years. It is on another computer at home. I now that Spanwalker has a nephew, Prof Trent Sutton that may able to help us. Maybe Mike could send him this thread in an e-mail and get his insite. Trent is a very well respected fishery bioligist for our great lakes and is currently teaching at Purdue. Mark

Please explain the currents. I understand the underwater currents as I too have a speed and down temp at the ball. Knowing that you have an underwater current and even the force of that current, how to intrgrate that knowledge into your program? Is it the troll direction? that would make the most sense. As far as temp goes, I am in complete agreement on the surface temps from the satalite, looking for the most extreme temp breaks. I am in complete agreement as to the thermoclines as well. The temps have everything to so with fish location. Now I pose the next question. I understand the current and it's role in the action of the trolled lure. I understand the temp as to the fish locations. Now that one knows all these things, how do go about choosing lures and colors. Are you fishing memories? What worked yesterday should work today, but we are talking about a section of water that you have not been on in over a month or a year. Mark

Ok, let’s discuss a bit of different topic. Where to fish! No, not what port, but where in the lake. You have not been to this port in over a month. Pick any port, same things apply. How do you go about choosing depth of water, north or south, how deep to run the riggers, what presentations and which lures? Downloading the water temps help, reading the online reports help and even the weather patterns from the last few days. But where do you start? I have several things that have worked and failed in the past, as I am sure each of you as well. Anyone want to share their secrets? Mark

We are about 2 1/2 weeks away from the 1st League event for Sat the 29th. This is out of St. Joe, no blow date. Same rules as from prior years... Start anytime but no earlier then 5:30am. Stop time is 1 pm. Weigh in is at the lodge. Most of you know where it is. If you don't, I can have Steve post up a map or just follow someone to the Lodge. We would like to start weigh in at 2-2:30. Just 2-way or call if your running a bit late. Weigh in you best 1 man DNR 5 fish. 10 points per fish, 1 point per pound, exact weight. $25 entry, $5 of it goes to the SMALL fish and that fish does not have to be part of your 5 (change from last year) 20 boats and your dink could be worth $100.00!! 100% payout - 3 places and big fish. Same % as last year. No cull- Our no cull is that if you hook it, It goes into your possision limit. no boatside releases. You cannot release a fish unless it is illeagle, or you are filled on that species or it is undersized. 9 rods maximum of a 3 DNR limit. no maximum of the number of anglers on your boat. Lets get the crews listed and the ones looking for a ride! Cost of the entry includes Lunch for you and your crew. Bring your on drinks. Adjusted3 Running Arends Midway Fishdog BDWalk Spoonfed Any others? Mark & Steve

Ned, I can get it but pricing is by e-mail only. Please send me an e-mail to Fishdogco.com By the way. This is a bit of a catch 22 with Cannon. They sell 400 foot spools of cable. CAUTION though, their probe is oly rated to 250'. any deeper and the warrenty is voided. Implosion is posible beyond 250'. We had this dicussion, Right Tom? Mark

I got the Ned and Dave Mull correct though. Mark

Thats right, Steve, that is Sid. Mark

All I can say is nice THROTTLE JOB NICK! Nice boat. Cruddy crew! Mark

Yes that is Ben and Asian Archer. He just got the new kicker motor this winter. Mark

Eric, Come down Friday and prefish it with us!! I have place for you and your crew. Bring the sleepng bags!! Plenty of couches and floor space! Mark