jdh

Went out and bobbed around in the chop for a few hours on Saturday evening.  Mostly fished in 95-100 fow, and then worked in.  Didn't want to venture any deeper due to the east wind.  All action was in 95-100 fow at 2.2-2.7 mph south troll.

0-1 150 Copper Stingray NBK (Laker?)

1-2 Downrigger down 39 feet Standard Moonshine Bad Toad RV (Both kings)

2-2 Size 1 Dipsy Diver back 125-150 ft on 2.5 - Pro King White Dragon Slayer with Blue Fly  (Lake Trouts)

1-1 Size 1 Slide Diver back 100 on 4.5 - Std Moonshine Halfmoon Green Jeans

Also took the time to analyze my spreadsheet this year.  I would have though my riggers had been taking half of my fish, but the caught fish have the following distribution:

Riggers 33 (26%)  -  Boards Copper/Leadcore 48 (38%)  -  Divers 44 (35%).

Based on the numbers though I think I've been getting hits at about equal percentage for each presentation.

One thing I noticed is that I've been putting more fish in the boat using divers the last two years.  That's a good improvement from the previous 3 years when I was only getting 15-22% of fish on divers.

Lets know that I'm putting together a better spread.

In terms of lures, spoons have taken 59%, and flasher/fly 37%, with body baits and plugs taking 4%.

Not sure if I'll make out more than 1 or 2 times in June yet, but I'm planning on hitting the lake hard July/August, if the winds allow it.

Size 11.

SOLD

Another thing we noticed was the seiche at 6:45 or so.  The channel was flowing into lake Mac at about 4 mph.

Took a quick trip tonight.  Lines in at 7 pm, last line in the water got hit at 9:30 pm. Enjoyed and awesome sunset and some good fishing.

Fished from 150 fow out to 190 fow.  Mostly fished in 170-190.  North/East troll was best, but SW was good too.

Went 7-7 with three nice kings, largest 15 lbs, 2 good lake trout 8&13 lbs, and an 15" king and a 9" king.

Troll speed best from 2.2-2.6 at the ball.

Hits came on:

1-1 Wire Mag Dipsy on 1 out 250 - Dragon Slayer SD and green/white fly

1-1 Wire Size 1 Dipsy on 1.5 out 250 (run on wrong side of boat?) Ha!

1-1 Free slider on rigger at 60 ft - stingray nbk

1-1 100 Copper and stingray orange tuxedo

3-3 Rigger down 55-60 - standard size moonshine RV Bad toad.  Bigger kings all came on this one.

Also found the boat launch full of spawning alewives when we got back.  6-8" size.  Do your thing guys! (& ladies)

Bump.

Good trip!  Thanks for the report.

Sold.

I have a Humminbird 999ci.  The key for me is that it has a 50hz / 200hz transducer.  I turn off fish location and just read the sonar signal myself.  In turn up the gain/sensitivity as high as possible until just before a bunch of interference shows up.  Also the transducer is tilted slightly backwards.

I saw a post on Facebook by Sea Flea Charters in Grand Haven saying they were using planing downrigger weights.  Ones with the fins that carry the weights a bit left and right.

Thanks for the reports.  Fish weren't hitting downriggers last couple days.   Tried long/short leads but many fish were swimming up and then back down on the graph.  100 & 200 copper a mile away from the boat seemed to be what they wanted.

Definitely not the same formation they usually are in.  Both by Eldeans and by Yacht Club.  Couldn't see the buoy the other morning by Yacht Club and just put the boat on plane, only to pass it on my way to the channel markers.

Does anyone know why the no wake buoy appears to have been dragged 300 feet past where it used to be?

It's adding a whole 1-2 minutes longer for the run to the lake.  Really ruining my mornings!

Good trip to wrap up the weekend.  8-8 catching 7 kings and a steelhead.  Generally same story - fished straight out of port +- a couple miles in 120-145 fow.  Got one fish at sunrise, and then a flurry of activity at around 7:30.  Then not much.  We started getting hot so we pulled lines and busted it out to 250 fow.  Picked up a couple out there, including the biggest of the day.  Then ran back in to 120 around 11:30 am and got one more before calling it a day.

Best speeds 3.0-3.6 mph.

Best rod - 3 fish on the 100 copper with orange spoons.

Also got 3 on the downriggers down 39, 67 & 87 feet.

Got one on a 200 copper, one on a 300 copper.

(100, 200, 300 copper from top to bottom)

Got this nice one out deep.

Kid Coulson and Jon fished with me this morning.  We started at little before 6 am a little bit south of Holland and began trolling south in 110 fow.  Worked our way out slowly to 130 fow and then stayed in 125-135 fow the rest of the morning.  Took a little while, but the hits started adding up.  After a while we pulled lines and ran north 3 miles and trolled south again. Ended up 12-14 with 8 kings, 4 smaller lake trout, and 1 drop-back steelhead.  Best troll direction was south and speeds between 3.0 and 3.3 mph at the ball were best today.

Here's what worked:

3-3  100 Copper - Stingray Orange UV Tuxedo in gold

1-1  150 Copper - Stingray Orange UV Edge

2-2  200 Copper - Mag Silver Streak Bloody Death (Purple with ladder back)

1-1  300 Copper - Mag Silver Streak Mixed Veggies

1-2 400 Copper - Mag Silver Streak Lemonberry

2-2  Wire Diver back 200-250 - Pro King Mt Dew Paddle and Mirage Fly

1-1 Rigger Fixed Slider at 43 - Superslim Mac & Cheese

0-1  Rigger down 120, free slider - Superslim Raspberry Dolphin

1-1 101 Rigger down 101 - Standard size Flounder Pounder RV

Nice job!

What depth of water do people target up there?   I understand deep water is closer to shore?

Had some friends drive out last minute from the east side of the state last night so we could go fishing this morning.

Fished 105 to 140 fow, pretty much straight out and south of of the piers.

Started 1-6 on the morning losing a number of very large and energetic fish, and we're feeling disappointed for a bit, but the fish kept biting all day for us.  We ended up 11-17, 8 kings and 3 lake trout.

North and south trolls both good, but south was a touch better.  2.3-3.0 at the ball as the waves were making speed control difficult.

What worked:

Rigger down 57, Mag flounder RV

Rigger down 47, Big Lake Lures Patriot

Diver back 165, Pro King Paddle Charlie's Special

Diver back 200, Pro King Paddle Mt Dew

300 Copper, Silver Streak Mag Blue Dolphin

300 Copper, Silver Streak Mag Lemonberry

Free Slider Rigger down 99, Raspberry Dolphin

Thank you Andy (lil'fibber) for  joining me this morning and for taking a few pics.

Had another good morning on the water.  Lines in shortly after 6 am and fished until 11:30 am.  Went 9 for 14 with 6 nice kings in the box, biggest at 22 lbs.  Released 2 lakers and kept 1.  Lost too many fish again, but that's how it goes sometimes.

Started the morning in 100 fow a bit north of the piers and worked out WNW / WSW trolls.  Got a fish and some good hits early in 120-140 fow, and then nothing until we turned around in 190 fow.  Trolled back in to 145 and things started popping.  Spent the rest of the morning in 130-145 fow.

Best troll speed was 2.8-3.0 at the ball, with a north troll, but south troll also got bit.

What worked:

0-1 Rigger down 45 feet, mag double glo sided spoon

2-2 300 Copper, Silver Streak Mag Blue Dolphin

0-1 Size 3 Dipsy back 120, white spin doctor and proctologist fly

2-4 Size 3 Dipsy back 170-185, white spin doctor and proctologist fly

1-1 Rigger fixed slider at 80 ft, raspberry dolphin superslim

1-1 Rigger ball at 77 free slider, standard size RV flounder pounder

1-2 Size 3 Dipsy back 204, Pro King Charlie's Special paddle and mirage fly

1-1 Slide diver on 4 back 240, green spindoctor and meat rig

1-1 Rigger down 135 feet, tranny superslim (black w/ green dolphin tape)

Tight Lines.

Good luck!

Fished from 4:30 until dark.  Went 8-11 trolling from 100 to 200 fow and back to 100 again. Productive water was from 160 to 200.

Three kings between 15 & 20 lbs.  A couple between 8-12 lbs, one shaker, and 2 lake trout.

Troll speed of 2.6 mph was best.

1-3 - 300 Copper & silver streak blue dolphin mag

0-1 slide diver back 125 on 4 - moonshine Craig's flounder RV

1-1 - 150 Copper & Stingray Mixed veggie

2-2 diver back 225 white spin doctor and green/white fly

1-1 diver back 185 white spin doctor and green/white fly

1-1 Diver back 175 green spin doctor & meat rig

2-2 Rigger fixed slider at 45 ft flounder pounder RV

Going out in the morning again.  Tight lines everyone!

-JD

Added 2 reels above.

SOLD

I never think to use black spoons very much.  I'll have to throw a few on during cloudy day conditions.

Thanks for the report!

Report from yesterday morning.  Fished the same water I fished Wednesday night - about 2-5 miles south and in 110 fow.  We had a great day and we ended up 11 for 17? overall and released a small king and a small lake trout.  Couldn't get our 10th fish for the box and with the waves building we went in around 1 pm.  Went in with 6 kings, 2 coho, and a nice lake trout.

Southerly troll was best, and 3.0 mph at the ball was best.  Had a couple doubles going a few times.  Also had a triple around 11 am and got all three to the net.  The biggest fish of the day got away after catching on a planer board and destroying the swivel.  So if someone gets a big fish with a flounder pounder RV in its mouth...

What worked:

2-4 Rigger down 43-47 ft - Regular size moonshine Flounder Pounder RV

1-3 Rigger down 53-59 ft - Double sized mag glow spoon with a ladder back

3-4 Fixed Slider  45-55 ft - Raspberry Dolphin Superslim

1-1 Mag Diver back 120 - Pro King Mt Dew 8" Paddle with Mirage Fly

1-2 Mag Diver back 150 - Netminder UV Showtime Spindoctor and Meat Rig

1-1 200 Copper - Silver Streak Mag Blue Dolphin Glow back

1-1 300 Copper - Silver Streak Mag Blue Dolphin

1-1 400 Copper - Pro King Mt Dew 8" Paddle with Mirage Fly