SeaCatMich

1. Where is best to purchase Hearing strips Many bait/tackle shops in west Michigan have it -- Gold Coast near Port Sheldon, Lakeshore Outfitters off I196 Saugatuck exit, Ray's Mini Mart in north Muskegon 2. Which is better, brine or un-brined The bait strips come pre brined/salted; The whole herring or laewife need to be brined to toughen them up before use (overnight) 3. Should I soak in Brine before freezing or refreezing and if so, what brine works best. Brine as part of the thawing process. Big Weenie sells a brine mix (avail mail order or at Ray's Mini Mart). Can also use Borax or Fire Brine 4. I would like to brine my own Alewives also but could use instruction. Here are a couple of "how to" videos Big Weenie brine instructions: Capt John King borax instructions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACkCnytcEZ4 Fire Brine instructions:

It isn't that the tension setting on the rod part on the Chamberlain is any tighter than what it would be in a Blacks/Dubro... it is that the lure/fish setting can be set to a different tension. Lighter for when fishing for smaller or lighter hitting fish or heavier if necessary for fast trolling or with flashers.

Here is a link to a YouTube video from Chamberlain that explains setting them pretty well. The rear "screw" adjustment is for the fish/lure tension while the thumb screw on top is for rod tension. I don't really know how many turns I have but the max tension the rear can be set to is 4 1/2 lb. I don't have it set that tight and have had no issues running flashers on them. http://youtu.be/WsgUj7fIi50

What releases are you using? Might need more tension to get a good hook set.

Most fish I have caught staging for the run of the St. Joe were just fine. Fished there for 10 years when I lived in St. Joe and saw no difference between the ones caught there and those caught in Ludington or Manistee. For the most part they don't start getting bad until they go up river and stop actively feeding. That is when the flesh starts turning white as fat reserves are consumed during spawning. I don't know why southern Lake Huron would be any different. Back in the 70's would fish for salmon off of Au Gres and Tawas in Saginaw Bay which at that time of year had much warmer lake water than off St. Joe and saw basically the same thing.

Did not expect to hear that. Sunday off Holland/Saugatuck we had ~68 on the surface with 51* down 20' and gradually got colder from there. Ran the FishHawk X4 down to 165' and got 41*. Thought you would have it even colder.

I have seen all 5 and fished all but Ontario. When I lived in St. Joe Michigan, it never ceased to amaze me how many people that lived there for years or even their whole life rarely or never went to Lake Michigan. Having grown up 2+ hours from the lakes in the center of the lower peninsula, I was used to people who could have just as easily been living in Kansas as far as their exposure to the Great Lakes... but living minutes away... unbelievable!!! Then there was the even smaller subset that had never gone salmon fishing. Just amazing how people don't take advantage of what's right in their backyard.

Yup, 150's outside the 300's with the 150 rods higher and/or farther forward on the boat. That way the lines higher in the water column (150) will go over the top of the deeper ones (300) -- for both resetting lines and when a fish hits.

Due to down currents, the speed of your Depth Raider vs GPS is irrelevant. The whole reason for the down speed is because of the currents and being able to replicate the speed at which you catch fish regardless of the direction or wave action. While the difference isn't usually 2 mph different, it can be. Over the years I have seen as high as 2.6 mph currents on both my Depth Raider and my FishHawk X4 (current). Depending on what direction we were going yesterday off Holland saw as much as a 1.6 mph difference between GPS and my FishHawk. Other times they were very close. My Raymarine fish finder also has a paddle wheel on the transducer for speed and it never agrees with the FishHawk surface speed or the GPS either. The main thing I would suggest is to put the probe in the water at about 3' down. Then take a typical spoon and put it in the water at the side of the boat. Adjust your speed until the spoon is running with a nice action and not the speed. Then put that rod on the downspeed rigger and lower it to depth. Adjust your throttle so the Depth Raider now reads the same speed as you saw with the lure at the surface. This is a good starting point. Adjust your speed up/down a few tenths at a time until you start catching fish. Note the speed the boat is going and try to replicate that speed. While the DR says it is reading in MPH it pretty much isn't (same for the FishHawk and SubTroll... but it doesn't matter. The idea is to be able reproduce the speed to catch more fish.

Little bit of a late start as boyj of my fishing buddies were late getting to the house. While waiting I started spooling up a pair of half cores and finished them up after they arrived. We finally hit the road about an hour late. First decision of the day was between fishing out of Holland or Muskegon. Had to decide before we got to Grand Rapids on I96 coming over from Lansing. Since the launch has a fish cleaning station and there are no nets off Holland we decided to go there. 4 of us on the boat -- me, my two fishing buddies Tim and Pat plus Tim's 6 year old boy Jamie (his first Great Lakes fishing trip). Jamie really isn't big enough to hold and reel a trolling outfit himself but he did a great job reeling in 3 of the fish while the grown-ups held the rod. Headed out to 160 FOW to start on a southwest course. Worked back and forth from 160 to 240 FOQ with most fish coming in the 180 to 210 area. Marked fish from 25 down to 90 deep but most were 50 to 79 down. Not a lot of marks though. Ended up 7 for 8 with 2 lake trout, 2 kings, and 3 steelhead. Lost one steelhead. Spread was 4 riggers, 2 wire divers, 1 PP diver, 2 full cores, 2 300 copper, 1 half core -- lots of rods but with 4 of us we could do it! Kind of nice to be able to cover all the depths at the same time. Downriggers never took a hit 1/1: As I was setting downriggers and divers, Pat started deploying the cores and coppers. First king hit an orange Pro King on a full core. Great part was that it hit right after Pat had put the board on the line -- the board didn't even hit the water out the back of the boat -- that was a first 7# King. 2/2: 300 copper with a Moonshine RV Wonder Bread spoon. 6# Lake Trout 3/3: Next fish hit a wire diver out 120' on 1. UV Big Weenie flasher and meat rig with a premium strip. 6# Steelhead. 4/4: Full core with the orange ProKing. 8# Steelhead 5/5: Wire diver with the UV BW meat rig but a whole herring. 13 # King 6/6: Half core with Dreamweaver Get'er Done spoon. 7# Steelhead 7/7: 300 copper with Moonshine RV Wonder Bread. 9# Lake Trout 7/8: Half core, Get'er Done spoon -- thinking it was a Steelhead but since it got off right after we took off the board. Fish hit as we decided to call it a day -- right after I announced "let's pull'm -- usually it is just fish filling up the graph with marks, nice of one to actually hit! We actually ended up almost due west of Saugatuck in 179' when we pulled lines at about 5 pm. The 9 mile run back to Holland was easy with the light 1' chop. From the breakwall in though it was a zoo. Every type of boat you could imagine and the breakwall and beaches were filled with people -- never scene it so busy in Holland, but I don't think I've ever been there in late July. The DNR launch ramp was VERY busy with a line of 12+ boats waiting to get out and other boats launching. 3 ramps for in and 3 for out really isn't enough for summer weekends.

This is my 4th season of running meat. I have tried others but now only use the Big Weenie meat rigs behind big (11") flashers -- both BW "fish" shaped and other brand flashers and paddles. 90% of the time from July through September I have at least 1 meat rig in the water off of a wire diver and often one on each side of the boat. Have also run them with success off riggers and copper. I love that the BW heads run right out of the package. They work with strips and full herring. Almost every day the biggest fish taken is on the meat rig. Nothing beats fighting an angry King on a wire diver. The hits on the meat rigs are violent! To help manage the herring I use a small 6 pack size soft-side cooler. The frozen bait goes in the cooler the night before fishing and it is ready to use the next morning. As the day goes on, I add ice cubes from the fishbox to keep it cold.

Fry them! Heat up some butter or oil in a frying pan on med/med-high heat (cast iron is great) Soak the fillets in milk for 20-30 minutes. Put your favorite dry batter in a ziplock bag. Put in fillets into the bag a couple at a time and shake to coat with batter Fry with skin up initially to keep the skin from shrinking/curling up, then flip until the batter is golden brown. Take out of the oil and put on paper towel to drain excess oil off Eat with tartar sauce.

Thanks. I guess we will play it by ear. When we came over ~3 weeks ago we managed to get 18 between the 4 of us but no size -- only 2 over 20". Thought that maybe the bigger fish might have moved out of the inner bay. This year's cool weather though has made predicting anything a real challenge -- especially when one isn't real familiar with the waters. Have spent a lot more time in the last 20 years with trips to Erie but with either location about 2 1/2 hours from me decided to do more on Saginaw Bay this year. I know it doesn't help that we drift rather than troll -- it might catch more fish, but just not a fan of trolling for walleye. Feeling the hit and getting a little fight out of them with 8# spinning gear is just a lot more fun IMO, and that's why we go (plus the good eating).

What are the nets set for? Aside from walleye or rough fish, I can't imagine any species in the bay being able to sustain a commercial pressure. Back in the hay-day of jumbo perch in the bay, made one trip over to Bay Port. We dodged so many nets trying to go out from the ramp that we never went back -- just too much work. I remember lots of guys with small boats like us were pretty upset as no one bothered to mention it in the press releases about the great fishing. Off Muskegon the trap nets are not Native American either and fortunately they are marked pretty well. Better than any others I have seen, but still hard to see in low light or 3' seas. I am surprised that the DNR isn't more responsive. Maybe more people need to call in.

Why are they allowed to run the nets and not have them legally marked? It is hard enough to see them with correct markings. On Lake Michigan the DNR is asking to have any improperly marked nets reported to the RAP line.

Will be interesting to see the price. Looked like the had 100# line to keep from loosing it -- but still lots of hits.

Given that the mounting track is only one of many parts of an equation to determine the downward force of a downrigger weight, I'm not sure how they could make that determination. The weight of the downrigger and the boom length are going to be major factors in determining how much pressure is put on the mount. A 4' boom is a much bigger lever than a shorter one. It is probably Lund doing a CYA for the worst case situation. I would call Traxstech as they make/sell setups for the Lund mounting system. Maybe their system would distribute the force better. I'm sure Jeff at Traxstech can tell you if the 8# restriction is valid.

It depends on the weight but I have seen a little less blow back with the "inline" releases verses the pinch pad type off the back of the balls. Definitely makes a difference with the torpedo and shark shaped weights -- it changes their orientation in the water. Adding any of the downspeed/temp probes will increase your blowback. Generally using a ball that is 2# heavier on the probe rigger offsets the probe's additional drag.

Frank, dragging the cat up to Au Gres for Friday & Saturday with two buddies. Any suggestions fir where to start? With the wind the last few days I have not seen too many reports. Been thinking about trying the humps north of the islands.

Two years ago my X4 probe would not work. Called FishHawk and talked to Trevor directly. He had me do a couple of tests in connecting the twp metal posts to simulate the probe being under water to complete the circuit. When that didn't work he shipped out a new probe on Monday and had it by Wednesday. Tested the next weekend and shipped the bad one back. Ever since Trevor bought FishHawk his customer service has been the best.

Lakers or salmon?

Regardless of shape you are going to get blowback with an 8# weight once it gets below about 50'. What kind of dpwnrigger do you have? One option that will help some is the Yeck 8# Torpedo shape rigger weight. There are others, but are for the most part 10#+. Where are you running the line release from? If it is off the ball, change to one that is on the rigger wire -- Blacks, Roamer, Chamberlain, any stacker release.

Trophy was split off as a separate brand starting with the 2002 model year. From some research I did a few years ago, the consensus is that is when Trophy went to a greenwood XL transom with a lifetime guarantee against rot with 10 years labor coverage. They also went to a one piece foam filled fiberglass stringer grid. Some of these changes may have been done in 2000 or 2001 before the official split occurred.