BenLubbs

Ben'ding Rods is in

Unfortunately I will be out of town that weekend, otherwise you know I would be there. It was a fun time last year!

Sorry for the late report, I was a little lacking in the sleep department and had to do some catching up

Friday night headed out with a couple friends and Corralee on the boat. Hit the water about 6:00 and started in 80ft a little North of Spyglass. Started out pretty slow. First fish came in about 120ft, steelhead that came on a 10 color with SS UV Blue Dolphin Mag. We sat and waited for a while longer, then got a laker on a mixed veggie SD 80 back on the wire. At sunset we had a nice flurry of action in ~95FOW and ended up with 3 kings in the boat and one that we missed, coming on an 11" white paddle with proctologist fly 80ft down, the 10 color w/ Blue Dolphin, 7 color with Green Flounder Pounder, and lost the one on the 5 color with UV mixed veggies. It was an awesome night on the water, even if the fishing was a little on the slow side.

Saturday morning made the trek down to South Haven to fish the WMFL event. We started North of the piers in 80 FOW on a NNW troll. Before we had all our lines out we had our first fish in the box, a nice king on the 5 color with UV Mixed Veggies. We kept on the same troll and hit a double, one on the Mixed Veggies SD 80 back and the other on the 10 color with UV Blue Dolphin. Both were kings, one of them our biggest at 17.1 lbs. We turned around and followed our line back to where we started, picking up one more healthy king along the way on 5 color again. We tried the same line one more time but the fish had move on and we weren't able to find them again. We spent the rest of the day meandering here and there picking away at the fish. Ended up 12 for 15, 6 kings, 1 small steely, and 5 lakers, 3 of which were released, with a bunch more releases that didn't hook up. Other stuff that took fish were:

3 color with SS Maragrita Jr.

7 color with Regular Carmel Dolphin. \

Rigger 70-120 down with 11" white paddle and protologist fly

Diver 130 back with Chrome Frog SD and Green glow meat rig

250 copper with BLL Patriot

We ended up taking Big Fish and 1st place in the WMFL event. A special thanks to Morgan's Tackle for sponsoring the event.

Ben'ding Rods will be there.

Good luck with the sale Terry!

Nice work Kabet, you must have the big fish touch

Hey Ben - What depth did you do best at? Thanks

I wouldn't say any depth really stood out, we were catching them all night. If I had to say it would probably be 110 - 125 is where most of our fish came but we were in that depth for a long time.

Another phenomenal night on the water for us. A little lumpy and a little wet above the water but the fishing was great.

Left the peirs at 6 and took our time motoring out to 90 FOW a little south. Started to set up and had or first fish on before we got 4 rods in the water. After that we got everything setup and kept on a 210 heading. Didn't turn around until a little after 8:15 when we wanted to get a little closer to home. Had steady action all night with most of our hits coming deep (70' +) and the majority on meat, although we did get a couple hits on a flasher/fly combo on the 300 and a couple on a Mag Green Dolphin on the rigger. Hi-light of the night was accidentally popping the rigger at the end of the night trying to adjust the depth and having our big fish (19.3) hit it as I was cranking it in, that really gets the blood flowing Ended up finishing 9 for 13 with a couple nice kings, a bunch of cookie cutters, and a decent laker.

What worked

SW troll at 2.1 SOG

Chrome/Green 10" SD w/ green squid/uv head meat rig 70-95 down on rigger - HOT

Mag green dolphin 70 down on rigger

Green Slush 10" SD w/ green/uv meat rig 180 back on diver

Green/yellow/chrome/white tape 8" protrol with mirage fly on 300 cu

Nicely done Kevin! I'm surprised how clean those fish look for being so close. A couple of the ones we had yesterday were looking pretty brown.

I haven't posted a report in a while due to being busy and nothing special to post about. Fish have been scattered and no real pattern has stood out. But yesterday was pretty stellar.

Fished WMFL in the morning with future brother-in-law and some friends. Had heard a report of some bigger fish in shallower water so set up in 65 FOW a little south of the piers. From there we picked away at them all morning, I think we only had one double, but ended up 8 for 11. All but two fish came on meat and one hit on a spinny and fly. Best fishing was in 75 FOW on the south end of the slides and we never broke 80 FOW all morning. Ended up taking 1st in WMFL with 67 lb total for our 5. A big thanks to Big Lake Lures for sponsoring the event.

Rigs that worked:

Green/Chrome 10" SD w/ green squid/UV head meat rig 65 down on the rigger - Hot

Blue Bubble/White 8" SD w/ Blue Moo Moo meat rig 60 back on diver

White/green dots 8" SD w/ green glow meat rig 90 back on diver

Green Frog 8" SD w/ green glow meat rig 90 back on diver

Mag DW Lemon ice on rigger 45' down

Green/White 8" SD w/ mirage fly/green beads on 250 cu got hit as I was putting the board on it but never got touched after that

Sunburst Super Slim on 5 color

Went back out in the evening with some HS friends. Got lines set around 6:30 and pulled at just after 9:30. Started out slow but got crazy as the sun was setting. Thank goodness for auto pilot is all I can say Again, meat rigs were the hottest by far. We did fish a little deeper, starting in 75 but catching most of our fish in 90-105 FOW. Fish were about the same class as in the morning.

Setups:

Clear/Purple 10" SD w/ Purple UV meat rig on rigger 70' down - couldn't keep it in the water at dusk

Green/Chrome 10" SD w/ green squid/UV head Meat rig 65' down

Blue/Chrome 10" SD w/ Blue UV meat rig on diver 120' back

Blue Bubble/White 8" SD w/ Blue Moo Moo meat rig on diver 100' back

Green Frog 8" SD w/ green glow meat rig on diver 80' back

Big Lake Lures Pink Lemonade on rigger 45' down

Green/Chart/Chrome/White tape 8" protroll w/ mirage fly/green beads on 300 cu

#3 Wonderbread J-plug on 10 color

Ben'din Rods will be there

Ben'din Rods won't be able to make it, have hockey tournaments this week.

I agree with Ryan. If there is room, the more area you can cover with a back plate the better.

Tony, I just replaced my sportpilot. I'll take a look at the powercord and let you know.

The only times I've had swivels fail is because they weren't locked or they were already bent. I'm not sure of the brand I use, whatever BB swivels the Outdoorsman sells in ziplock baggies.

As far as fish spooling you. In my experience, fish that you can't stop like that are normally foul hooked. Had one fish last year that took the wire diver out to 900ft. Finally pulled all the other lines and fought it in neutral. Fish popped off before it got to the back of the boat but from what I saw of it it was a 12lb king hooked in the dorsal fin. Any fish that is legally hooked I've been able to slow/turn by tightening the drag.

Well after working all day decided at the last minute to head out to the lake by myself. Was a very nice night out on the water even if the fishing was a little slow. Got one fish after getting two lines set, then go a nice laker shortly after having all of the lines set. Didn't get another bump until Sunset when I picked up a little shaker and a n average king. Fish 85-100 fow from Tunnel Park to just south of Port Sheldon.

Details

Ended up 4 for 4

N-S trolls took fish

Rigger 72 down with Mag Blue Dolphin

250 Copper with Big Lake Lures Flatline

Slider on rigger 40 down with SS Mini Metallic Frog

Rigger 40 down with Regular Blue Dolphin

Ben'din Rods is in assuming I dont get screwed at work

Nice work Bob and crew

Well decided to brave the fog and headed out with a buddy from Colorado, his son (8 y.o), and father in law. Took our time motoring to 70 FOW and set lines. Got out to 115 fow with out a nibble and started turning south with the intention of going back to 90ish fow where we had marked a bunch. Pulled a tripple shortly after turning. By the time we got done there I decided I didnt' want to be way out in the fog so started heading shallower. Once we hit 60 fow all hell broke loose on our north troll. Ended up 12 for 17 with most fish in the 6-8lb range and one mid teens fish.

As far as what worked:

Cores from 2 colors to 10 colors.

Riggers 35, 45, and 70 down.

Divers 90 out.

Stinger UV Mixed Veggie

SS Fire Cracker

SS Mini Orange Chili Willy

BLL Super D

DW SS Double orange Crush

Stinger glow wonderbread

MS Rasberry Carbon

A couple other glow spoons I don't know the names of

Crome/Glow/Greendots 8" pro troll -blue glow fly with orange beads

Best two days of fishing in a row I've had and it was a blast.

I'll post pictures tomorrow but Seth had an absolute blast

I forgot to mention I'd like to thank Dr. Hook and my buddy Dane for coming along.

I suppose Ben'din Rods will have to show up

Haven't posted a report in a while because there was not much to report. A bunch of 3-5 fish trips with nothing very consistent. The most consistent thing we have had was a 7 color with Caramel Dolphin on it. We did manage to take big fish in the first 3+1 event plus we also had the smallest fish (and yes they were legal. Would have thrown them back but they were both dead by the time we found them)

Today seemed to be a turn of luck. Setup in 70fow where we have been finding fish last week. On a tip of hot fishing out deep moved out to 150 fow and found a real nice temp break and the fish. We spent the rest of the day trolling SW over the temp break, coming back East, then turning it SW again. SW was definitely the best troll for us. As the day wore on it seemed like the colder water was moving in but the key was to stay in the 55-47degree range. We had one line were every time we moved through we would pick up 3 fish and a couple other hits. Ended up the day 13 for 18 or so. The best rig by far was our 10 color with a glow wonderbread stinger. Here's a pick of the haul.

Here's what worked for us today:

HOT - Stinger glow wonderbread on 10 color lead

SS Firecracker (I think) on 5 color lead

Stinger Green Slush on 7 color lead

NBK SD with ??? Fly on wire 90ft out

BLL Oopsie Daisy on slider on rigger at 80

Stinger Miami Dolphin on slider on rigger at 60

Mixed Veggie SD with Blue Maggoo Big Weenie Fly 80 back on wire

Green Mylar Ace Hi on 200 #45 Blood Run Copper

BLL Super D on 5 color Lead

Also had one fish on Mongolian beef on diver 80 back

Nice work Rog. Bluegill and spec fishing with my Uncle is what really got me hooked.

sound like when my outdrive imploded a couple years back. One of the gears went and took out the bearings and shaft with it. Got me back to Holland from Laketown park but probably wouldn't have made it much farther.

I might be misunderstanding a little bit but if you are running wires for the downriggers 20' 10 gauge probably isn't enough because of the high current riggers need. Also, 20' is a long way to run power for the riggers, it might be a good idea to move the battery closer. Are you running the riggers off a house battery (same one that starts the motor)?

As far as the rope lights, I'd be very surprised that you would see a surge interruption from turning them on. However, when running power from my batteries to the front of the boat for lights I used 12 gauge, which was the minimum recommended for that distance.

Hopefully this helps, I've always hated electrical work for this reason