Sixshooter

I agree. Especially for KINGS. It is ludicrous. 5 Salmon, since half the people can't tell the difference between a king and a coho anywho....they can keep it 3 steelies and 2 lakers don't care much about that....

Perhaps we will take one this weekend. We are going to head up to Montague after I get home from work. Hook up the boat and go fishin. Then again Saturday Morning then come home. I will get a pick or two if I can remember. -Jim

Nope sure don't. If people get close enough to me to take that detailed of a picture they get shot at with the flare gun.

Only good thing about catching one of those rigamortis fish is that I can chop of the head rip out the guts and my Mother loves to pan fry the little bastards. Otherwise I resemble the small fish remark.

Here is one of mine. Currently I have a bird tree on each side. Four rod holders for dipsies on each side and two cannon mag 10's on each side...A Garmin 250 with the dual transducer, my handheld Garmin Etrex Legend GPS, AND A KNOW IT ALL WIFE....hehe...just kidding....

You are right Mike they don't stop eating...They just stop eating within 20+ miles from shore until you hit about manistee. You can catch fish in June if you run out to Wisconsin waters....So it is much cheaper to fish for bluegills or go golfing than it is to use all that gas to run out 20+ miles. Just pray for a hard east or north blow and the skams will rifle up the st joe.

Fish for walleyes and bluegills

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/water/fhp/fish/faq/troutsalmon.htm#q11 Also http://dnr.wi.gov/org/water/fhp/fish/lakemich/SCW%20BAFF%20Report%20Fall%202000.pdf If you read this report, there is a current study that will wrap up in 2009 that relates the size of planted fish to the earlier age of return. http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/ftp/fish/Research%20Section/IFR/_current_projects/F-80/230692/2000-01%20New.doc I'll have to do some more digging. I read several more reports that have stated as such the fish are returning at an earlier age than the standard 4 years that everybody uses. Okay I found another one. Read the TITLE then read the rest of the report. http://www.uwsp.edu/water/mhansen/2002_hansen_holey.pdf#search='Spawning%20Age%20of%20Great%20Lakes%20Chinook%20Salmon'

Maybe...But depending on availability of food. They could be 3, 4, or even 5 year old fish. Yes a Salmon can go to the fith year.

and usually people associate size with age. but it really isn't. It is only a guess...like the guys that swear they can tell the difference between a Skam and a Little manistee steelie.

you can't. Unless you have a genetics lab in your boat or do some carbon dating. People that say they are catching 2year olds or threes or fours...in reality they really have no idea. The scientists are showing in their studies from fish surveys that the king salmon population in lake michigan is starting to mature and spawn at three years of age. That is one majore reason they are attributing our smaller sizes to. SO really Mike there is no sure fire way to know.

Great Read Running Arends.

Okay now THIS i do have to agree with. For some reason great lakes trout and salmon are the only fish they get this confusing with. If you look at panfish they are 25 in any combination. Doesn't matter species...Bluegills, Pumpkinseeds, green ears, long ears, yaddi yaddi yaddi. Anyway... I need to go fishing.

If anybody is interested I have done a quick look up. If you do a search for "Genus Salmon" You will get a lot of information I'm talking about. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/salmon/ Above is a neat article from CBC news site. It explains well that Kings, Cohos and such are the species. Salmon is the Genus.... If you think WAY back....to grade school they attempted to teach us about the animal kingdom and the way it is classified. There are 10 levels of classifications, they get more specific as they go down the list. Species is the LAST classification on the list. Genus is the next one up from Species and so on.... Now that is my science lesson for today...Don't ask me why I remember this stuff......If only I could remember more important things like my liscense plate number.....

Well I suppose we can get technical until we get blue in the face. However, the way you worded your response was that he had to quit fishing because they had 6 fish in the box and you made it sound as if it didn't matter if they were Kings or Coho's. And if you did NOT mean it that way then I appoligize. But I'm sure somebody that is new to the site or to great lakes fishing were to read how it was worded they would have come to the same conclusion I did when I read your post thinking that Kings and Coho's are the same fish. And the Salmon is more of a genre....the species is the classification of each type of salmon. Kokanee, Chum, Chinook, Coho, Pink, Atlantic, Sockeye...ect. SO in the sense that if they had a mixture of Coho's and Kings they did NOT have to stop fishing after they boxed 6 fish. They are only allowed three of one species which I think you are broadening out to mean that salmon is a species...but it really isn't it is more generalization of a group. Thats all...

And after all of that I forgot to congradulate you on a nice box of Kings. You do have to be careful Mike on your King to Coho identifications. There are four basic ways to determine ID that most people use. 1. Coho's generally have a FORKed tail. (exception Kings will often give the appearance of a forked tail especially younger ones.) 2. coho's will have white gums (again exception for younger kings will also show some signs of white gums) 3. Spots on the tails. A king will have spots over the WHOLE entire tail...where Cohos will have VERY Few if any at all and if they have some it is usually only the upper half of the tail. Then the sure fire way is to count the number of rays on the anal fin. I forget the technicals on that part though. Something like 13 to 15 for a coho and 15 to 17 for a king...but that might be reversed. I would have to look it up.

Don't mean to walk on your toes. But this is a 100% INACCURATE statement. Kings and Cohos ARE NOTE THE SAME. If you read the DNR rules and regulations you may have 5 fish in any combination and no more than 3 of any one SPECIES. They then go on to list the species identifications. Chinooks, Chohos, Pinks, ect. I'll go see if I can find the exact working in the online guide. 3 kings and 2 cohos is absolutely legal. and vise versa 3 cohos and 2 kings. Great Lakes Trout and Salmon Regulations (Note 1) The regulations in this table apply to fishing on the Great Lakes for the following species: Atlantic salmon, Brook trout (Note 2), Brown trout, Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, Lake trout (Note 4), Pink salmon, Rainbow trout (steelhead), and Splake (Note 4).For regulations that pertain to fishing for trout and salmon on inland waters, please refer to the Inland Trout & Salmon Guide. 10" (Note 2, 4) (also see Table 1) Great Lakes, L. St. Clair, St. Marys R., St. Clair R., and Detroit R.: 5 in any combination, but no more than 3 of any one species (UP TO 5 pink salmon allowed). EXCEPTION: St. Marys R.: 5 additional pink salmon allowed from last Sat. in April - Sept. 30. Open all year: L. Superior, L. Michigan, L. Erie, L. Huron, L. St. Clair, St. Marys R., St. Clair R., Detroit R. Minimum Size Seasons by water type Daily/ Possession Limit (Notes 2, 3) Note 1 - All Trout and Salmon: For waters that have regulations that differ from those shown above, refer to Exceptions to General Regulations by County (p. 14-17). Note 2 - Brook Trout: For L. Superior, the minimum size limit for brook trout is 20 inches and possession limit is one fish. Within 4.5 miles of Isle Royale (Isle Royale National Park waters), catch and release only; no possession. Note 3 - Drowned River Mouth Lakes: On the following inland waters trout and salmon regulations are as follows: 5 trout and salmon in any combination; no more than 3 of any one species; no more than 2 lake trout or splake; minimum size limit is 10 inches, open all year except the lake trout season is open May 1 - Labor Day. Allegan: Kalamazoo and Silver Lks. Benzie: Betsie L. Manistee: Arcadia, Manistee, and Portage Lks. Mason: Pere Marquette L. Muskegon: Duck, Mona, Muskegon, and White Lks. Oceana: Pentwater, Silver, and Stony Lks. Ottawa: Macatawa and Pigeon Lks. Note 4 - Lake Trout and Splake Regulations: Lake trout and splake regulations for the Great Lakes are listed by Lake Trout Management Unit (see Table 1). To help identify Management Unit boundaries, a few major ports are listed for each. The map on the next page provides a graphic to further define the boundaries. For a complete description of Management Unit boundaries, ask for FO-200 at any DNR Operations Service Center (p. 24) or check online www.michigan.gov/dnr. Or you can find the link here: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/great-lakes-trout-salmon_151607_7.pdf

You are More than Welcome Mike and the rest who have enjoyed the read. we are currently working on a slider/advanced downrigger one with all the questions lately about sliders and such. Should see it soon. -Jim/Bev

That is a MAD SEXY BOAT.....

I don't know Steve. But we had a smaller one we didn't have to weigh....HAHAHAHA.....:smiley1: I think we went 9 for something. Six Kings and 3 Ho's.

Stackers are SO Ineficient. I used to run them...But now I pretty much just run sliders.

Are you talking a Stacker or a Slider? A stacker is actually setting a second rod reel on a single downrigger. A slider is adding a second bait to the exisiting rod on a single downrigger.

Now that was FUNNY

Mostly out front. I think we might have made the wrong call. I think with the way the winds have been blowing we probably should have stayed in 40 FOW or less. Probably more on the less part. The water gets considerably colder the farther out you go. It was 50+Deg F near shore and 43 Deg F in 90 FOW. It is all up to the winds now. The fish seem scattered. A couple consistant days of weather will do us well. There are fish out there. We did not mark a bunch but we marked a few.

Yes it was.....in fact we have a list of things that we need to make sure make it into the boat before Sunday...hahahahah....