Sea Eagle

Heading up to Chapleau next Friday. I was wondering if anyone had any fishing reports. Thanks

Went fishing today out of SH with Sea Hawk (Denny) and an old fishing buddy (Rick) who was in town on business this week from NC. Went 6-9. Two Kings, three Coho and a laker. Set lines in 60ft around 6:45 and trolled straight out then to the south out to 150ft. Caught one fish on the way out on a glow bloody nose spoon running on a free slider. The next 5 fish + the two missed fish and a lost fish all came between 140ft of water to 150ft of water. Mag UV Blue Dolphin spoon on a SWR down 85ft took three, 300ft of copper with another Mag UV Blue Dolphin spoon took one and another fish hit a free slider with a UV Mixed Veggies spoon. Remembered on the way out the door this morning it was my 38th wedding anniversary. God bless the smart phone. Looked up a florist on-line and called and ordered flowers, all from 150ft of water fishing out on Lake Michigan.

All it is missing is the white on black dots. I might need to get a couple and a can of white paint. Thanks

Went fishing with Sea Hawk (Denny) and the brothers Onderlinde (Chris & Matt) out of South Haven Saturday morning. Went 7 for 9. 2 Kings, 3 Steelhead and a real nice Coho. Set lines between 6:30 - 7:00 in 60 ft of water straight out from the pier head. Trolled in and out slightly north & slightly south out to 125 ft and back in to 90 ft with 90 to 114 the best. 200 ft of copper with my unknown spoon (more on that later) took 3, full core with a UV caramel dolphin spoon took 1, 1/2 core with a tangerine killer spoon took 1, SWR down 85 ft with a UV blue dolphin spoon took 1 and a free slider with a UV mixed veggies took 1. The unknown spoon - I purchased this spoon (yes only one) somewhere two years ago – most likely out of a cutout bin at one of the spring fishing shows. Last year it was the hottest thing in the water for us, and then kind of died off late in the season. I had not run it again until yesterday and it took 3 out of our 7 fish. I posted the photo on all of the usual Web pages last year and received a lot of replies, but no one could ever identify the spoon manufacturer correctly. I have attempted to make a few myself, but they do not catch any fish. Here is another photo. What's going on with my dispeys? - Had another missed fish on my Mag Dipsey Diver this week. We lost two or three on the same set up last week. It does not matter whether it is a spoon, SD & fly or the J-Plug I was running yesterday. We see the fish hit it and loose it almost as soon as we pick the rod up. Any suggestions?

Great job. Thanks for the SH report. Just curious - how late did you fish to?

I run two colors on my SWR. I like to believe that it makes up for the blowback and puts my lure at the depth indicated by my depth counter. I also believe that it allows me put my line back further back from the boat and stabilize my presentation. Without the leadcore you would not get the right action on your presentation with that much mono out. I run free sliders with spoons without any problems. I'm not brave enough to run sliders with SD/Fly combos or J-Plugs. I use the willis knot and 80 lb test Lee snap swivels and it does not hang up.

Came over to the east side of the state on Tue to try our hand at some walleye. Fished around the dumping grounds (straight ou and to the south) with 18-19 ft of water the best. Wound up with 10 walleye (2 tossed back) Most fish were in the 15-16" range with one nice 22-23" fish. Caught 1/2 dozen white bass and two sheephead. Caught all of the walleye on Hot & Tots. Perch colors with red bills down around 12' worked best. Tried some spoons without success. We did not think we did too bad since it was our first trip fishing in this area and did not get an early start since we drove in from Kalamazoo.

Thanks for the report. Heading over from the west side of the state tomorrow. Tired of chasing salmon around. Time for some eyes. Surprised folks are still catching fish out there with all of the warm water. I have never fished in this area, so thanks for the report. I will post a report when we get back.

Fished with Sea Hawk and friend from work Saturday out of SH. Hit the water at 6:30am and fished until 1:00 slightly to Northwest in 80' to 125' of water. 80' to 110' produced fish with the 80' to 90' best. Went 5-6. Three kings and two steelhead. 300' of copper with a UV gator spoon took a king and a steelhead. The SWR down 65' with a UV Blue Dolphin took a king. A small carmel dolphin spoon on 10 color leadcore took another. The last steelhead hit a small BSO spoon running on a free slider on a DR down 75'. The missed fish took a good rip on a 1/2 core with a red/black tiger stripe RAC spoon. First four fish all came before 9:00 and the last at 12:30.

Thanks for the report out of St Joe

Went 5-9. 3 kings, a coho and lake trout. Set lines around 6:30 AM. Spent all morning North West of the pier between 90’ – 110’ of water. Only two guys in the boat today, so we started with a 5 color, 10 color, 200’ & 300’ of copper a SWR on the DR and a Mag DD set on #2 back 130’ trying to see what worked. The last two weeks it has been a mostly long line and spoon bite for us. Today SWR on both DRs (down 75’ and 85’) and two Mag DD set on 2 back 125’ & 145' took all five fish and 3 of the 4 missed fish. Wound up running the 200’ and 300’ of copper for our last two lines - to no avail. The UV Blue Dolphin spoon on the DRs and mixed veggies SD with green UV fly on the DDs was all that worked. Ran other spoons, SD/fly combos and a J-plug – all El Zippo. Here is Denny (Sea Hawk) with a 15# King: Here is what worked:

Thanks for the report Shawn. The reports out of St. Joe and SH are kind of slim these days. Heading out in the AM - will let you know how we do.

Great thing about this kind of fishing (I think) - is you never know from year to year or even trip to trip what is going to work. It seems like the last two years the long lines did not produce as well as the dipseys and down riggers. It was old school fishing. The last two trips, the long line presentations out produced the DD & DR set ups 5-1. I remember a few years back spin doctors and flys were hotter than hades, the last two years it has been 80-090% spoon bite for us. What does it all mean? I guess if I knew, I would be a professional, not a weekend warrior.

A buddy and I from work fished out of St. Joe on Saturday. Went 8-8. 4 kings and 4 coho. We had to work hard to put 7 fish in the box (tossed a small, but fresh king back) Fished Northwest of pierhead. Set lines in 110' of water. Trolled out as deep as 170' - 140' to 160' was the best depth. Started with 2 DR-SWR with sliders, 2 Mag DD set on #2 125' and 145' back, 200' and 300' of copper. Pulled a DD for another 300' of copper (with a med size UV Green Tuxedo spoon) as that was the best set up taking 3 fish. 2 more fish came on the DR-SWR running down 75' and 85' with a Mag UV Blue Dolphin & UV Gator Spoons. 1 fish on a free slider with the med size UV Mixed Veggies spoon. 1 fish on the Mag DD set on #2 back 145' with a yelow UV Shoehorn spoon. The last fish on 200' of copper with the med size UV Green Tuxedo spoon. Here are the spoons that caught fish:

Nice king. Good job.

As hard as it is to believe and I never though it was possible, I was almost fished out by Sunday night - almost

Thanks - I plan on giving Tackle Haven a call.

Does anyone know of a plubic fish cleaning station in St. Joe? I usually go to South Haven mostly because of the fish cleaning station at the plubic launch. However after smacking them hard on Friday and Sunday in St. Joe and only going 2-4 in South Haven on Saturday, I'm real interested in spending more time in St. Joe. Not having to clean fish when I get home or needing to get rid of a bunch guts would be great. Thanks

05/18/12 Fished out of St. Joe on Friday aboard the Timmer Lou. Had to work at it, but we took a five man limit of a mix of kings and cohos, a couple of lakers and a nice steelhead. Not my boat so I was not always paying attention, but it seemed like everything was working. I believe that 135 -145 was the best depth. All of the usual suspects were taking fish, blue and green dolphin spoons seemed like the most productive with flashers and flys taking a few fish. A brads cut plug took several fish. 05/19/12 Took some folks from work out of South Haven on my boat on Saturday and stunk up the place. Could only squeeze out 2 fish for 4 hits. Enough said. 05/20/12 Said heck with that South Haven nonsense on Sunday and in an attempt to redeem myself, took a co-worker, the spouse of a co-worker and his dad down to St. Joe on Sunday. Hard to believe that 30 miles down the coast makes so much difference, but had a hard time keeping all of the lines in the water. Never got them all down until 9:30. Wound up 15 for 17 by 12:00 when we called it a day. 12 kings a coho and two lakers. As far as I know, we fished northwest of the pier. 135 to 145 feet seemed best in the morning, but we continued to take fish all of the way out to 170 feet later in the morning. I say as best as I know, because “the dad†a gentleman named Ralph, was a seasoned angler and did such a good job driving the boat, I was able to spend the day working the back of the boat. ½ core, full core, 200 ft of copper & 300 ft of copper were by far the best. The down riggers and mag dispey divers only took a few fish. Here are photos of what worked. Tried a brads cut plug for the first time after seeing it work on the Timmer Lou. The craziest thing was the two lake trout we took on the ½ cores with a small carmel dolphin spoon.

Great job. Hope to sneak out Sunday morning before Mothers day dinner.

Great job on the second place and nice to finally meet you.

Two man limit in 2 1/2 hours. Mix of Kings and Cohos. Could not keep up with the log book again with just two of us in the boat working doubles and a triple. Here is what I believe happened. We set up in around 120 feet of water northwest of the pier on a west - nortwest troll. Got our first hit (and the last log entry) in 135' on a glow bloody nose spoon on a Mag DD set on #2 145' back. Nothing else until we hit 150' after that I'm going on memory. As I recall, we took at total of 5 additional fish on Mag DD's (both set on #2) back 145' and 175' with glow mongolian beef spoons. The DD back 175' was best. A SWR on the DR down 75' with another glow mongolian beef spoon and a free slider set on the other DR down 85' with a med sized mixed veggies UV spoon took each took one. 300' of copper with a pearl SD with a new green KRW UV fly and 200' of copper with a mixed veggies SD with another green KRW UV fly each took fish. We caught 10 out of 11 fish (the last one had to go back - another double) in 150' on a south - southwest troll.

I agree with raising the limits. Let the fishermen put a dent in the fish populations now. Cutting the stocking will acomplish the same task, but that will take several years to accomplish something we could start doing this year. I have too much of my money and my soul invested in Salmon fishing to see it all go bye, bye.

Just curious Jeff - what color paddles and spin doctors were you running?

I just wanted to give an "assist" to EdB. We decided to fish the colors we did due to his 4/27 St Joe report. I really like how people are starting to show the spoons that caught fish.