ZachEno

Lol. I seem to find all the ways to do dumb things!


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There's fixed sliders
Free sliders
And super free sliders where you don't even bother to hook it to the rigger before throwing it over...

decided to troll again tonight
didn't run out and setup until about 7.15PM
radio was dead quiet & a couple guys fishing in that 130-160fow
eventually we found em after zip-zag trolling south towards Saugatuck (off the sliders is where our fish came)
went 4 for 4   (all at around 9.00PM with 3 of them coming in the form of a triple just like last night)
all hits in that same 126-130fow as last night - SE troll was best
  1 Laker about 10# on deep diver out 180 with meat rig white paddle
  1 King about 9# from the looks on high diver out 200 with meat rig purple fish scale yellow UV
  1 King about 17# from the looks of it on copper350 racket jaw spoon
  1 King about 15# from the looks of it on low out 145 with meat rig green jeans
PUG delivered again!
 

Nice work and thanks for the detailed report! Those cut plugs seem to be doing really well lately.


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Nice job! Great memories for the boys.


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Nice job!! And thanks for the detailed report.


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Nice work!!


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Heading out for a pm trip should have lines down by 4 pm KonaBlue on 68 if you’re out for holiday Salmon slamming hopefully lol!
 
 
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Mine is a 1993 was a garage queen until I acquired it 1775 Tyee and it has accounted for 1 Tyee salmon over 30 lbs a 31.38 weighed at Capt Chucks KonaBlue on 68 hope to see you on the lake -King Me!


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5 for 5, #1 140 fow steelhead 6Lb 300 cu Dragonslayer paddle doughboy grn fly #2- 140 fow 5LbCoho 300 cu blue Goby Standard spoon #3-300cu Mongolian been msg spoon 90 fow King 18.4 Lbs#4-85Fow msg wire diver back 115, blue prism 10”fish paddle, Blue meat rig 17.8Lbs-#5Coho 3 Lbs Rasta goose standard spoon as Slider on downrigger set 40 down Very smoky , both big Kings came in last hour of light for the evening
 
 
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Great job and thanks for the report! Going out if Port Sheldon in the morning and hoping to find some.


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Fished from 7-9pm. 1-1 80-100 fow
- Rigger down 65 big white paddle N troll
Tons of bait just couldn’t get them to bite.
 
 
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This is my third year with the Smart Troll system.  The software upgrade made to the app mid-2022 really helped the stability of the temp & depth readings.  Prior to that, the data would wander out of range or update at a very slow rate.  In my opinion, the prior issues are fixed.  I have 4 probes.  Battery life handles a 6 hour float.  I typically run a 6 or 9 rod spread based on the number of people I have aboard.  I am not a fan on running a bunch of junk (i.e. long lines) on boards - bait doesn't get deep enough and a tangle can take 30min or more to recover from.  I always run my red & green probes on each dipsey or the inside ones if I run a pair on each side.  What ever the diver is, accuracy the charts from the mftr' are best if running 2.0mph or less.  Running 2.5-2.7mph has the bait much, much higher.  Today, I cannot imagine running dipseys without a Smart Troll probe.  If I am running a 4-rigger spread, I will put another probe down on the deepest rigger with the paddle wheel attachment.  Out of the box, the paddle wheel speed is not accurate.  My system, it typically runs about 1.0mph faster.  The app allows you to calibrate the speed to another system (e.g. SOG, Fish Hawk, Depth Raider).  I mainly use my Depth Raider for speed at the ball (miss the Fish Hawk on my former boat but to run electrical from the sensor unit to the dash is a night mare on my Rampage, so I have learned to embrace the Depth Raider).  The 4th probe is a back-up in case I lose one or to check the depth of another line, such as lead core, weighted steel or copper.  I don't leave the probe on junk lines when I am fishing.  I place an OR16 center pin clip at the front and the back of the probe and attach both clips to the line just in front of the dipsey, not between the dipsey and the bait - less chance of a break off loss in this positioning.  I believe the instructions call for attaching the probe to the line with only one clip at the front of the probe.  I feel greater security using two clips.  The app is written for an Android platform so if you only have an i-Pad, it will not work.  I picked up a used Samsung S2 on the internet with the bigger screen.  The S2 has a 4-5 hour battery life so it is best to plug it in to a 12V receptacle or connect it to a battery pack I just purchased an INIU 10,000 mAh portable charger for just this application on Amazon for $30.  Bottom line, the system is pricey but being the data geek I am, I am happy I made the investment.

Fished south of the harbor mouth from 5:30pm to past sun set in 130 to 175 FOW.  Ran 2 downriggers, one SWR and one dodger/UV blue Salmon Candy fly in the range of 55'-75,; 2 dipseys on a 2-set in the range of 43'-57' (Smart Troll); 2 outriggers with 300' and 200' weighted steel - both clipped with a 12oz torpedo diver (about 60' and 50' down based on past Smart Troll measurements).  Finished the night 1 for 4.  Ran one rigger with a clean spoon down 140' on the counter for about 45 min but no action.  Ran into 120'-90' after sunset but no action.  Only marked bait on the final run in closer.  Data below.  

 

We trolled north out of port Sheldon and fished from 6:30-4:00 today. We went 4 for 5 kings all near 40 foot of water. 2 on an orange spoon on the 5 color and 2 on a dipsy with a spoon I don’t recall.


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Ok, really more of a GH report. Launched out of PS with lines south of GH in the water by 7:30, out of the water by 11:00.

All bites between 9:00-10:30.
Surface temp 49


55 FOW - Rigger stacker down 25 -Stinger standard size Killer Dolphin - 8 lb king

55 FOW - 5 color - Dreamweaver standard size Mixed Veggie UV - similar size king lost at the solo net attempt (I had 3 strikes, I struck out)

59 FOW - 5 color - Dreamweaver standard size Mixed Veggie UV - 22 lb king. Absolute screamer!

62 FOW - Rigger stacker down 25 -Stinger standard size Killer Dolphin - 6 lb steelhead

Those 2 spoons were the only hits. Tried moving my other rigger from 15 down to 20, 25, 30, different spoons, flasher/fly nothing. All bites came within about a 1/2 mile stretch. And all while a goldfinch sat on my gunnel.





 

Fantastic job! We are headed that way tomorrow morning. Thanks for the detailed report!


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Thought I’d post what baits look like.
First 2 pics nascar; last 2 gr chk wing n the gold hot n tot.
Have fun; go get ‘em.
Coho jack fishin is hot from Michigan City to Saugatuck and maybe higher up at Holland, Muskegon and Grandhaven.
But haven’t gotten any reports past Saugatuck.

I was talking with some fishing buddies about this as well not too long ago. It definitely seemed to be the year of the spoon on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan. Our best seemed to always be Moonshine Dancing Anchovies RV and Moonshine Mongolian Beef RV. I catch myself running mostly RV now later in the season instead of the regular glow Moonshine. Seem to have better results and certainly able to leave them in the water longer. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?


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Thanks for the report. Beautiful steelhead!


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Fished north of the harbor but not quite up to Fort Sheldon.  Finished 9 for 10 from about 6:30 to 11:30am in one of the better trips in some time.  The action came in about 150FOW and I ultimately never worked much outside that zone trolling North and South most of the trip.  I could not get much of anything to hit early morning under the cloud cover.  Once the sun broke and swapping out UV lures for early morning glow and dark spoons, things picked up.  The one Spin Doctor / fly did nothing and I pulled it early to go with all spoons.  Also, J-plug on SWR had no takers and was pulled early.  Blue spoons were dominant for kings but most were in the 5lb range and released.  I kept one 10lb king and another that I could not unbutton off the back of the boat.  Green UV spoons took the rest other than the Coho (tonight's dinner) that came on Orange Crush.  The SH that kept jumping on the SB long line while the Coho was brought in on the Port long line was eventually landed with one barb left in its mouth that about fell out.  I will take fish luck when I can it and added my good fortune to the fish box.
Inspired by Mega Byte, I did my best to take notes during the trip on my yellow pad and loaded the data in the table below.  Dipsey bait depths came off of Smart Troll probes.  SWR was +10' on top of the Smart Troll reading.  Big marks again between 120' to 150'.  I assume these are LT but will have to put a line down there next trip to see what is down there.  Hope to build a log sheet over the next few days to improve my reporting.

 

• Coho 7 for 8; in 20-30’ between Deerlick Creek and Palisades Plant; fire tiger and green/yellow body baits; half on 1C and half on high lines back 60’ on inlines.
  Speed 2-2.5; all hits trolling south into SE waves.
  Nice day on Big Blue.

First troll of the year was good for us. Set up in 20 FOW and went on a south troll. We ran thin fins on boards staggered with 50 to 80 ft leads.  Stinger orange spoons on divers out 15 ft. Fast action we trolled less than a mile and had 11, turned around and got our 20 in another half mile. Got into 7-8 fow, shallow was good. Good luck!

Nice steely!! Thanks for the report.


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Thanks for the report! We are hoping to get out there yet this fall.


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