Whoopee Tyee

Left the ramp on Lake Charlevoix with my wife and neighbor at 5:30 and after going through Round Lake and the channel got set up by 6:00. Went 4 for 5 (two Kings, a Lake Trout and a Cisco) with a King coming loose off a Big Weenie meat rig when it came to the surface. The 13 lb King came on a 260 ft copper line with a Moonshine Magnum RV Mongolian Beef spoon. The laker was 32 inches long (just short of the 34inch secondary keeper limit) and was caught on the meat rig. The Cisco was on a 305 ft copper line with a Moonshine Magnum RV Flounder Pounder spoon. The big 23 pounder was on a wire line regular Dipsey set at 2 out 180 ft at 10:15 in the morning. The fist three bites all came shortly after sun up. About 20 boats fishing on a Friday morning. There were not too many remains in the cleaning station. I suppose our catch was normal or a little better than normal.

Sounds like good fishing Dave. It's good to hear that the fish are there!

Went out with another neighbor this morning and set lines in front of the harbor in 120 FOW at 5:45. We appeared to be the first ones out. I was hoping for the early morning bite like the sunset bite we had two days ago. The lake trout were hitting early but no Kings. We had 4 rout and a Cisco by 9:00 and thought our day was through. At 9:30 we hooked a 10 lb king on a 260 foot copper line with a Moonshine Mag Flounder Pounder spoon. We took Trout early on wire dipseys set at 2 out 120 to 130 ft and a Silver Horde Plug that worked well in the evening two days before but it seemed to shut off after full daylight. The 260 copper caught three fish including the king and the riggers caught Trout with 8 inch Opti flasher & fly. Later we switched the riggers to cowbells & peanuts to target the trout and landed a couple. In total we had the one king, 5 lakers & a cisco. We threw back 4 undersized trout.

We took a neighbor out for an evening fish and fished 100 to 140 FOW in front of the port. We had an undersize Lake Trout early in the evening and then a nice Trout at 8:30. At 9:00 several boats were headed in but we kept fishing and boated a 10 lb and 19 1/2 lb king between 9:15 and 9:30. Official sunset was 9:00. The smaller one was on a Silver Horde plug (the wonderbread style from Angler's Avenue with the coloration on the bottom) on the wire dipsey set at 2 and out 130 ft. The big one came on a rigger down 80 ft with a white Opti small flasher and white & silver Big Weenie Fly. We've been waiting to see the Kings in East Bay and at least some have arrived.

Left the launch at 5:35 with my wife and had four lines (downriggers & dipseys) in at about 6:00 and fished 120 to 150 feet of water. Caught a skipper king, two nice Lake Trout and a 17.5 lb king. The King, skipper and one Trout came on an Opti white flasher and white & silver fly on the riggers down 70 to 85 feet. The other trout hit a silver horde plug on a wire standard dipsey out 160 ft. The large king broke off the leader to the treble hook on my fly and semi-straightened the single hook. I had my drag a bit too tight which I think caused the problem. I loosened the drag right away but that or teeth was the reason the leader broke. Thank goodness for the second hook that held. We headed back to the launch at 7:30 as the waves were building and we were satisfied with the morning catch.

Went out early this morning looking to find the first Kings. We went North and it seems that was a mistake. I had all Salmon type lures and I caught 4 Ciscos and 6 Lake Trout. Five of the Lakers were under 20 inches and were returned to the bay in good health. At midday we went back by the port and marked quite a few fish that looked more like Kings as they were suspended at 80 feet in 130 FOW. None of them liked my bait however. I caught Ciscos and Lake Trout on Flasher Flies, Spoons, and plugs. Nothing hit my meat rig. Will try again this week.

I have a Mercury (Tohatsu) 9.9 four stroke on my Lund Tyee. This is my second year running it and I've had issues as well. Last year I couldn't get it to idle and it stalled when trying to put it into gear. Once in gear, it ran like a top. In the Fall my mechanic adjusted the idle jet. I always had a hard time starting the engine also. I've now got the formula for stating. First I hold the bulb with the arrow pointing skyward (important) and pump the fuel into the engine until the bulb is hard. Using this method it is quick. To start, I pump the gas twice and leave it about 3/4 throttle when cranking and it starts up good. I let it idle at a higher rpm until it warms up. On about my fifth trip this year the engine would not idle well or run at a consistent low trolling speed. My mechanic said to do the following and it worked (I did it in the driveway with the muffs on): 1. Run the engine at 1500 rpms and disconnect the fuel line. It runs a long time with no more fuel but eventually stalls. 2. Unscrew the brass screw on the side of the carburetor bowl. It's pretty hard to miss right out in the open after you take off the engine cover. 3. Put some paper towel under the hole where the screw was, attach the fuel line, pump a little bit of fuel through the carburetor. This fixed my problem. There was either particles or water in the idle jet area and this procedure seems to clear it up. This could even be done on the water (don't drop the screw into the lake!). My kicker is running good again and it idles right down after it is warmed up. It still takes the starting procedure I mentioned and needs to run at high idle quite a while before it warms up. I now start trolling with my big engine while the kicker is warming up. After I've set the first four lines, the kicker can be put into gear and the main motor stopped. I hope this helps.

Great report! Good Job.

Great to have you on the site. It's been a great way to learn for me.

Went out at noon and fished till 3:30 going north from the port of Elk Rapids. Fished with two riggers and two wire divers in 50 to 65 FOW and 35 to 50 feet down at about 2.4 mph on the GPS. Went 12 for 16 but returned 5 undersize lake trout. The riggers had cowbells and peanuts and the divers had a Yeck Jerid spoon and a Dreamweaver mixed veggie UV spoon. All rods caught multiple fish and we had a couple of fire drills with just my wife & I on board. All fish were lake trout except for one small king salmon. The water temperature was 69 degrees on the surface and 49 at 40 feet. I'm wondering if the small King means that there might be some mature ones out there too. Any thoughts on the relevance of having small kings? Up here in the North we have to wait for the Kings to get here normally.

East Grand Traverse Bay - Elk Rapids 6/19/2013 Went out for an evening fishing trip looking for Lake Trout. Put the boat in at 6:00 p.m. and fished till 9:30. Fished with two riggers and two wire divers in 50 to 70 FOW and 40 to 60 feet down. Caught a total of 7 fish but three were undersize and returned. A Yeck Jerid spoon on the wire diver caught one fish. A rigger with a dreamweaver mixed veggie UV caught two, the other diver with a Moonshine RV Dancing Anchovy caught one and the rigger with cowbells and peanut (wobble glow) caught 3. The fish seemed to be more feisty than usual which made for more entertainment.

Looks like great fun!

Made another trip to Manistee and got out of the city docks at 4:30. Set up on the bank in 160 FOW and got the first King at about 6:00 on the rigger down 110 ft with an Opti flasher and white & crinkle Big Weenie fly. At 6:30 we Denise brought in a 19 pounder on the 300 ft copper line with herring on a Big Weenie Blue Holo Glow UV HD Stinky Stinky Bait Rig Combo. No bites after that even though we tried shallower and deeper. Other fisherman had similar experiences. The water is still cold and the fish are scattered.

Congratulations Mark.

Got to the city ramp just after 5:00. After putting the boat in and traveling out to the bank we got lines down by 5:30 -5:45. Caught two nice Kings by 6:30 (15 & 16 lbs) on the same rigger down 110 ft in 160 - 180 FOW. Rigger had Opti flasher and Big Weenie Silver Proofster fly. Fished for five more hours without a bite. It seems that other boats had the same morning bite only experience. A DNR rep was at the ramp upon our arrival and took the snouts of both fish as they had clipped adipose fins. Note that the new fish cleaning station in Manistee is under new construction. A makeshift area is available. This was our first day on the big lake and we had fun even though the bite was only on at first light.

Congratulations. Makes it all worthwhile.

It's a beauty!

Wow! Those Brown Trout are fat.

Great Video Kyle!

I was there today from 11:00 opening to 2:30. The best part of the show was seeing so many people there. The store fronts are great too. Dave Mull was giving out his talk when I was at his booth. Sorry to miss you Dave. I was in your "class" in Birch Run this year. I've gone to many shows this year on my side of the state (South East) and this show on the west side is by far the best.

Good Luck Matt! I'll look forward to your future posts.

I just bought a Fish Hawk with depth (first one I've owned) so I will not be buying the smart troll system right away. I think it would be great if guys who buy it can report on the depths achieved with copper & lead core under various conditions.

I've fished there several times last year trailering from my house in Bellaire. I think hot & cold is a good description. I got skunked one day along with the other five boats out that day and yet caught three Kings each other time out. I have a small boat and am somewhat of a beginner so that was OK for me. The drop off is really close to shore but you have to go through Round Lake from Lake Charlevoix to get to the big lake. I'm going to look at going deeper early in the year to see if I can find fish. At first light I mark lots of fish. I'm going to work on being more effective during that time. Good luck this summer.

Welcome to the site! We're all getting Spring fishing fever.

I enjoy reading all of your posts. Congratulations on passing your exam and good luck this season.