BenLubbs

Thanks again for the ride again. It was definitely a great night our there.

I like to run my stuff farther behind the ball. Anywhere from 20 to 30 feet is standard, upwards of 50 feet if I'm desperate to get a downrigger bite.

Nice job Nick glad you were able to get out

Nice job Chris

Nice job Dan

Nice job Mark good job getting the kids out there

Nice job Kevin, I'm pretty sure I saw you but didn't realize you were fishing the little boat today.

Well after the 3+1 got canceled Thursday night because of the weather, I was hopping it would lay down quick like NOAA was predicting. Unfortunately that wasn't the case and Bob (Coralee) and I made it to the end of the piers Friday morning and decided to turn around and went out for breakfast instead. After waiting for the lake to settle and spending way too much on some new gear (but sure is nice to have working drags on the wire rods ) we decided to try an afternoon trip. We got on the water around 2:00, trolled thru the channel with no hits, and then ran to 60 FOW and set up. I don't think we had a bite till around 5 and then we started knocking em. We ended up 6 for 10 or so with 3 kings, 1 coho, 1 steelhead, and one undersized laker returned to the lake. One of the kings was a touch over 16 lbs.

What worked:

2.6 SOG on South troll, 2.4 SOG on East troll

115 to 135 FOW with 125 to 130 holding the most fish

Holographic Yellow Green back Ace Hi mini plug on 200 copper

Double UV on White 8" SD with BW Mas Tequila fly on wire 160 back on wire

BLL Patriot on 300 copper

I know a couple other rods went but I can't remember what was on them.

Saturday morning went out with Roger and Tony. Contradictory to NOAA's forcast, the wind was blowing strong out of the east and there was a good 2' chop when we got on the lake. It was tough fishing and even though we knew where the fish were the combination of the wind and a ton of boats made it hard to work the water we wanted to. We ended 3 for 7ish I think. 1 coho, 1 steelhead, and 1 17 lb king.

What worked:

I have no idea on speed, I think we were trying to go 2.6 most of the morning but with the currents, wind, and waves it was not consistent.

115 to 130 held the fish

Pearl black dots Ace Hi Plug on rigger 60 down

super slim glow wonderbread on slider 50 down

Glow green splatter back Ace Hi plug on full core

Green Yellow Holographic Ace Hi plug on 200 copper

Double UV on White SD with BW Mas Tequila 160 out on wire

green/yellow/sliver DW Mag spoon on 250 copper

glow blue splatter sparkle Ace Hi on 7 color

Monday morning headed out with Roger and my little brother. Set up in 80 FOW just North of the weather bouy. Worked the 85 to 90 range around first light and after the fish seemed to be gone we swung out to the 115 to 130 range. After starting the morning good we got stuck on 6 fish for a long time with 4 hookups in a row that the fish just popped off after a short fight. Most of the fish we did manage to boat were barely hooked. We managed to pull 2 more in the boat as we were pulling lines. Ended up 8 for 13 with 5 kings, 2 coho, and 1 steelhead.

What worked:

South troll 2.6 SOG, North Troll 2.2 SOG

85 to 90 FOW and 115 to 130 FOW

Mixed Veggie 8" SD with BW Blue Magoo XXX UV fly on rigger 60 down and on 160 and 200 back on wire

Chrome/Mtn Dew 8" paddle with Blue Magoo fly 180 back on wire

pearl and black dot Ace Hi on 300 copper

Mag BLL 007 on full core

Green/Yellow/Chrome Mag DW spoon on 250 copper

Blue Dolphin on rigger 70 down

black white and pink dot j plug on high diver 270 back

We also had a fish rip my mini glow wonderbread Jplug off the 200 copper when it hit

Tried to fish by myself tonight but threw a bearing in the outdrive on the boat. I was able to limp her back to the ramp and did troll for a while in 55 FOW with one fish on the Green/Yellow Holographic plug on the rigger 45 down. Hopefully we can have the boat back up and running by Thursday for the last 3+1 event.

Yep, they can be a problem, though we haven't had them too bad this year out of Holland. Is there a particular reason you are running braided line on the downrigger? If not, Cortland make a line called flea flicker that works very well for keeping the buggers off. Otherwise, slapping the tip of the rod on the water works well for dislodging them, although you can't do that when you have a fish on the line.

So this year we have been marking a ton of bait out of Holland. We have seen bait spread out across the bottom, coming up off the bottom, and suspended. With all this bait there has to be predator fish chasing them and we've seen the marks in and around them, but we haven't been catching around them. My question is if you find bait, do you hang around it and try to fish it? If so, what do you do to trigger fish? Types of lures, speeds, directions, etc? Seems like I would catch fish near them but that hasn't been the case.

Went out Wednesday night with Mike Elzinga planning on slaying some fish with the cold water moving up. Set up in 80 FOW straight out heading North a little before 6:00. Worked our way out to 100 FOW without a bump. Heard that some were catching fish in closer so turned around and moved into 60 FOW. Finally got our first hit halfway past the sliders that I'm sure was a nice fish because it was pulling drag out on the downrigger rod but we missed that one. That one came on a pearl/wonderbread/glow Ace-Hi on the rigger down 45. After that I loaded the other rods with plugs and we could hardly keep them in the water until we turned around at Saugy as the sun was setting. Only took one hit after the sun went down. Ended up 6 for 11 with 3 nice kings, 2 smaller kings, and a brown around 6 lbs.

What worked:

3.2 SOG on south troll, 2.4 SOG on north troll

58 to 62 FOW

Regular size Wonderbread/Glow Ace-Hi on rigger 45 down - HOT

Small size Wonderbread/Glow J-plug on 10 color

Regular size Green back/black splatter/glow Ace-Hi on rigger 50 down

Small size blue back/sparkle/glow Ace-Hi on 250 #45 copper

Regular Size glow back blue dolphin on wire diver 80 ft back

Despite the forecast went out this morning with Roger of No-Mo-Beggin. Very slow morning. Hit the water around 5:30. The fish were not where they were last night and we made it all the way down to Saugy before the waves really picked up. Turned around and headed out. Hit a school of fish in 110 and had 3 hits in 5 minutes, only landing 1 which was a nice king. After that we took one release and trolled back to Holland. When we pulled lines at 10:00 the waves were all of 4ft with a lot of bigger ones thrown in.

What worked

North troll at 3.0 SOG

110 FOW

Blue back/black ladder/glow Ace-Hi down 70 on rigger

10" Chrome/blue SD with Blue Dolphin BLL teaser rig 85 down on rigger

11" white/chrome fishscale paddle with poofster fly 150 back on diver set on 2

Andrew, I was the one with the Wonderbread J-plug. The best rods of the night were a wonderbread Ace-Hi plug on a rigger at 45 and a small wonderbread J-plug on the 10 color. Both were glow. We caught fish between 58 and 62 FOW between the sliders and Saugatuck.

Andrew, I understand your frustration, we've all been there. We went out last night and set up in 80 FOW heading north west. We made it out to 97 FOW without a bite and after talking to one of my buddies on the radio we decided to turn south and come in. We didn't get a hit for the first hour and a half of being out there. When we finally took a hit on a J-plug I loaded up the rest of the rods with them. One thing I will say is that I normally don't try to run other people's programs. Unless I really can't get fish to go I have my own go-to lures that will get put on before anything that I've read in reports. It takes time to figure out what works for you but once you do it's a lot of fun.

I have to agree with Dan on the whole mater of dam fishing. I used to fish the dam a lot but came to realized that there a much better and funner ways to catch fish. That being said, I would like to ask what they think is going to happen to all the sediment trapped behind the dam when it is torn out? I'm sure the muck there is full of heavy metals from back when the Grand was the great dumping site for industry. Removing the dam will mean that these toxins will be released back into the river and eventually Lake Michigan. Instead of restoring the river you are going to kill of everything down stream. If they want to go kayaking so bad, go to Colorado or something.

Here is the issue I have with letting trout go. I can not think of a single trout i have caught that has not had a bloated swim bladder. After comming up from the bottom it is going to happen to every fish. If you release that fish without deflating its swim bladder it doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of surviving. For this reason, unless a fish isnt legal it goes in the box.

Here's some pics

So got out on the lake again today joined by my little brother Mike Elzinga and double d. Looks like it is starting to set back up a little because the cold water was only 85 feet down. Anyway start setting up in 100 fow fighing our way into the waves. By the time we got all the lines set we were in 140. Got back in close as quick as we could and hooked into a couple heading north. Hooked into a monster, or at least what we thought was a monster on the 7 color at about 7:00. Ended up slowing the boat down, putting bags in, and turning around to try to gain some line. When we finally got the beast to the boat we could see that there was no fish on our lure, it was hooked on the leader of a copper. We had to hand line the 12 lb catfish on the end the rest of the way into the boat He was attached to what appears to be a 300 #45 copper by a green with black splatter ace hi. I was almost crying from laughter when we got this thing in the boat because I have never seen anything like it We did end up landing four kings as well with two around 15. Ended up 5 for 8.

What worked :

2.6 sog on south troll 3.4 on north

100 to 120 fow

Wonder bread ace hi on rigger 84 down

Big white paddle 95 down on rigger popped a couple of times with no one home

250 #45 copper with blue and sparkle mini ace hi

300 #32 with mag moonshine flounder pounder

7 color with mag moonshine mongolian beef

Nice job Bob, do you have a boat name?

Went out of Holland and set lines about 6 PM in 120 FOW. Worked between 120 and 150. Slow night with lots of marks and only a few hits. Ended up 3 for 5 with a little coho, a little king, and a little laker. No pattern, no radio chatter, hopefully it picks up a little for next week when I will be fishing a ton.

Chrome/Mtn Dew Spindoctor and Iritated Frog on 300 copper took the coho and a hit

Green/glow tape Spindoctor and proctoligist fly 125 on rigger took the king

Big white paddle and poofter fly on diver out 275 took a hit

Raspberry carbon dragin bottom while pulling lines got the laker

Looks like the boy could teach his old man how to catch some green fish

Nice job Joe. Funny thing is I've been running green plugs all year and have yet to take a hit on them, but it seems to be the best color for everyone else

Thanks for giving your input Jay, I was sort of hoping you would chime in. I know it was not lamprey damage because I have seen fish with lamprey scars before but nothing like this. It did sort of look like something was "burrowing" through the flesh so my initial thought was some sort of worm or something.

Nice work Jim

Nice job Jimmy

Pictures

I should note that the guy with the glasses is from Slovakia (here learning about our machines) and has never been fishing before. Getting him hooked into a 15lb king on the 300 copper taught him quick what fishing is about

Oh and one more thing, we ran the probe down first thing in the morning in 120 FOW and the water temp went from 71degrees 100 feet down down to 52 degrees on the bottom.