BenLubbs

If you don't work somthin out with Jon Larry, I can help you out.

Headed out with three friends after work. Got on the water at 6:15. Was a little bumpy when we got out but was almost flat heading back in at 9:45. It was slow for us Set a 9 rod spread with nothing going. Finally got a hit in 110 FOW when I dropped a downrigger to a fish 105 down. Turned out to be a laker that came on an 11" White/fishscale protrol and mirrage fly. And this is where the night got fun. As I was re-setting the pole, went to put it in the rod holder without really paying attention (as i was clipping it in the release) and missed the holder Well, by the time we got the net to the back of the boat to try to catch it, it was out of reach but floating on the surface. So, I stripped down to my undies and jumped in with a seat cushion Got the pole back and started moving again with only one tangle. We then noticed that the 7 color with a green splatter Ace Hi was pulling hard so brought it in and it had a 5 lb catfish on it. He went back in the lake. After that it was dead again. Played with speed, direction, lure depth, and couldn't get anything to go. Moved in to 95 and hit a double, one on the big paddle, one on the 300' copper with a chrome/Mtn Dew SD and Sunshine BW fly. Lost both of those fish, one 8 lb coho when one of my friends was basically lifting it out of the water while the other was getting the net. Then it went dead again. Swung back north and out a ways. Hit another double in 100 FOW, one hit coming on a rasbery carbon 60 down on the rigger, and a 16lb king on a blue bubble/white SD and Homosezwhat BW fly. The king had a 2ft lamprey on it that we chopped the head off and threw back in the lake (those are some nasty animals) Washed lures the rest of the night. SOG was anywhere from 2.4 to 3.1 My camera was broke so I need to get pictures from the night from my friend's phone.

I use 20 lb Big game and have never been broken off with it. I make sure to check the line for frays as I let it out every time and make sure to cut right away if I find one. I have a couple reels spooled with 12 lb berkly that I was going to use for running spoons this year but didn't have any problems catching fish. I'll probably make them SWR rigs.

It was a great night on the water Mark, nice job.

Nick, glad to see you here, lot of information.

Call ahead to see if they have it. Also, build a relation ship with the shop owner/manager. I know the guys at The Outdoorsman in Jenison and if they don't have something, they will usually get it for me if I ask.

Nice Job Mark.

Nice job Phil and crew. I though you told Adam girls are trouble, that didn't help I take it?

I'm in Ken.

Nice Job Bud, 27 lbs. is a heck of a fish

Nice catch Phil

Awesome job Terry!

In answer to your question about do Spin Dr's make a difference. The answer is yes. It's about the action that they have. Now, each flasher/attractor has it's day. I've had days this year when I was running pro-troll paddles and spin dr's together. One day the pro-trolls would take hits, the next the spin dr's would. It has a lot to do with the fishes attitude. Don't be affraid to run some 10 or 11 inch attractors too.

If only If only I wasn't in school I see the boat every time I launch and think how nice it would be to have a slip and a big boat like that. Good luck with the sale

That's a fifth place box??? Man I wish I was fishing before the wind picked up

Stayed with the family at Mac Landing on Arbutus Lake, which is about 6 miles south of Traverse City. The lake is actually a chain of 5 lakes connected by shallow channels. The lakes are nice for fishing because, even though there are quite a few cottages, there are very few boats, and most of them are fishing boats or pontoons. The lakes have a lot of smallmouth and largemouth bass, pike, bluegill, perch, and i'm sure there are walleye, though I've never caught one. We did fairly well for the week, getting out throughout the day most days. Didn't catch any sizable bass, with the biggest at 16 inches. Crankbaits and spinners around weed beds were best. My brother got the biggest pike of the week at over 30 inches. We also caught a few smaller ones. Cranks and spinners around weeds and dropoff were the ticket here. We also did some bluegill fishing. Caught a lot of 8-9 inchers, and a lot more of smaller. We were using dropper rigs with leaf worms with the dropper 2 ft above the weight. We were fishing anywhere from 15 to 25 ft on the drop offs. It was a great week and a I'll post a few pictures later.

Shorten your leads, I have a 24 foot boat with 10 foot leads and still have to handline some of the fish the last few feet to the net. Also, I would use a single hook followed by a treble hook set up (like what Big Weenie uses). I have yet to lose a fish on that setup. I bough a pack of size 4 hooks and plan on tying all of my fly leaders like that.

So I know this is a late report, but I've been on vacation since last Saturday afternoon with no internet access. Friday night I went out late (we didn't get on the water till 8:15) with three of the guys from our Mexico plant and another guy from work who's never been big lake fishing. We took our first hit with four lines in the water. The fish took off across the back of the boat and ended up catching both of the leadcore on the other side. That one was 14.5 lb and came on a Mag sliverstreak hot lobster on the downrigger (not sure how far down, i think about 50). One of the Mexicans reeled that one in. As soon as that one was in the boat the other downrigger goes and the other guy from work takes the rod. He had fun fighting his first salmon which ended up at just over 20 lb. That one was on a mag U of M frog Silverstreak. After that, everthing went dead, marked a lot of fish but couldn't get anything to go. We fished 70 to 90 fow all night, with SOG about 2.7 MPH Saturday morning I was fishing a small fun tourny for my church, only four boats. Had two guys from my church, a brother from one of them from Colorado, and my youngest brother. Started the morning launching at a little before 6. Set up in the same water as the night before heading SSW. After that, the action was consistent, and even furious at times. We had at least two doubles on and a near triple. Add in some CRAZY currents (seemed like they were going round the compass all morning) and it makes for some fun. Mag U of M Frog Silverstreak on the downrigger was the stand out with 4 hits. Also took a couple on Raspberry Carbon on the 300 copper. The rest of the hits came f/f on the divers with hits on 10" blue/white SD with silver/blue teaser rig and fly and 8" sliver/green dots paddle and Big Weenie Proctoligist fly. We ended the morning 4 for 9 or 10 with the biggest at 14.8 lb, which was good enough for a win . We should have had at least one more fish in the boat. The captain didn't fully engage the end of the net and it came off while pulling a fish in the boat. Had joy of watching the net catch on the hooks, and then the agony of the fish coming unhooked and jumping lazily out of the net We also had a lot of hooking, fighting, then unhooking All in all, it was a great morning out on the water. It was great getting out on the water for friendly competition between a bunch of good friends. It was also special because the guy from Colorado had a son my age who I knew but who was recently killed in a car accident, so it was good to get him out on the water and have a lot of fun fighting fish with his brother. I also should thank everyone here for your help, advice, and trips out on your boats. Coming from someone who a year ago caught maybe one or two fish a trip, this year has been a ton of fun learning new stuff and catching more fish.

I used 20 lb ande mono for years with no issues. This year is the first year i've used any floro on my boat. I've caught more fish this year although I don't know if I would attribute all of it to using floro leaders. One thing I will say is that I just changed my slider leaders to florocarbon and have been taking more hits on them.

Welcome to the site Eric. There's nothing I've found as addicting as Great lakes salmon and trout fishing I'm sure you will find lots of help on this site.

I'd be interested ken though I'm not sure how it would work for me because our annual church tournament is next weekend. We only fish till 11 so maybe I could go to our weigh-in and then come back (we do the weigh-in at one of the guys house while we have a cookout). I guess we'll see how many people are interested and then see what would work.

Got on the water by 6:45. Set up in 60 a little south of the piers. Got or first fish on as soon as I decided to pull the full core in when it was half way out in 70 FOW (~6 lb king on a Mod Blue Veggie BLL , was going to put a green splatter glow ace hi on). Got out to 100 FOW and turned around and went back to 70. Had a gooood rip on the low diver with an 11" White glow crush/fish scale hot spot pulling a glow mirage rapture fly (124 walker deeper diver, 1 setting, 120 ft back on wire). Also took a smallish laker on that setup. Took another 6ish lb king on the high diver with a blue/chrome 8" SD pulling a Striper Yogurt fly (reg. dipsy with mag ring, 3 setting, 100 ft back on braid). Also took a good hit on the mini Glow Ludington Mellon Free Slider on the rigger 60 ft down (but the captain didn't have enough tension on the line so it didn't hook up ). Spent the last 45 minutes in the dark trying to untangle the high and low diver that managed to get into each other but finally called it a night when I decided to deal with it tomorrow. It was a little bouncy out there but still a nice night to be on the water. Sounded on the radio like Jim Bobber was doing pretty good out deeper (200 ft). Hopefully the weather holds out for this weekend. Tight Lines, Ben'den Rods

Did you hear from work yet Phil if they are going to let you get fixed up? On topic, I'd take them but I just bought used reels from some guy

Ken, you can take my name off the list, it's not going to work for me to have my boat there. I'll still be fishing but I'll be part of team Scooby Snacks.

I should fix the errors I had in my report. The spoon I was calling a yellow fin is actually a yellow tail. Also, the mag glow mixed veggie is a Hot Lobster by Silver Streak. (had to go to the store an double up on lures so that I don't have to worry about losing them)