jdh

King Possible can fish either day.

If you want something without batteries - I was thinking about trying some reflective tape. Put a 1/2 x 2" strip and fold it over the top edge of the board. A good flashlight should find them pretty quick with the tape on them.

Shoot. Must have been one of the many boats fishing just past us!

I keep waiting for the water to set up out there, but the east wind keeps messing with my plans.

Started around 7:30 am in 100 fow straight out of Holland. Trolled around for an hour and a half trying to avoid traffic, but never got the troll I reciting I wanted, and with the chop from the east wind I decided to point west. Trolled out to 260 fow and then back to 200. Ended up 3-3 with a nice king, a 3 lb coho, and a 3 lb steelhead.

King came in 180 fow - 300 copper mag blue dolphin 2.5 mph

Coho in 200 on a free slider, rigger at 80 ft blue whale superslim 3 mph

Steelhead in 230 - 3 color orange superslim 4 mph

As highpointdf said - matching speeds are ideal. After you get that though, you still need to figure out what speeds work best on your boat with certain lures.

King Possible is in!

I'll just have to try again!

I think I know what the problem is (for the superstitious) - I have been using my grandfather's old Coleman cooler for the past 2 years and whenever I'm using something of his the fish seam to bite better. A week and a half ago, the hinges on the cooler broke so I replaced it. I just need to break the new cooler in and it's gonna be Fish On! again.

I didn't want to report this as it's my first skunk of the year - but oh well.

We started a little before 8 pm in 40 fow fishing the cold water (48 surface, 42 at 20 ft or so) and working our way out 110 fow and slightly warmer water trying S, SW, W, NW, and N troll directions. Nothing.

Worked our way back in trying NE, E, SE troll directions. Nothing.

That's about it.

-JD

I haven't really fished them yet. I'll try and run one on a long line on my next morning trip and see if it does anything.

Took a couple cousins fishing tonight - and the two girls did great for a slow night on the water with a lot of flies! Fished for about 3 hours. Marked lots of fish from 100 - 60 fow towards the end of the night. Ended the night with 1.5 for 2 with a coho? and a king in 75 fow. Back to back on the fish on a free slider with a flounder pounder on a rigger set at 35 ft. The first fish was about 2-3 pounds and I shook it loose right at the back of the boat as I attempted to pull it over the transom. The second put up a bit more of a fight - a nice king about 10 lbs. Packed it in after catching the fish.

I wasn't really too concerned with trying to do well tonight, but a few things I noticed to keep in mind for other trips:

1st: The flasher-flies were seemed to be bringing fish into the spread, but they were just coming up and looking quickly before diving back down to the deep. Should have probably just run 1 diver instead of 3. Should have ran more long lines - 5 instead of 3.

2nd: I over-ran the fish again. I was pretty sure I would find some fish out deeper, but there is a good pocket of cold water set up in the 60 to 100 fow area - and had the most fish in it.

3rd: I didn't get to play with speed very much because I was in search mode most of the night - trying to get to good water. It seems to work a little better to keep playing with the speed of the boat to find the best speed - and the changes in speed seem to trigger strikes often.

Fishing right now. Trolled from 100 for to 180 fow. Nothing yet. Not marking much.

I'll update this report if anything happens.

-JD

Great job!

Hi Eric, good report. I also have Dave Ash to thank for showing me how it's done, and selling me his boat!

I'll look out for you at the launch. Gray/Blue Lowe 1720 - Named King Possible.

Those are the ones. Thanks Kevin.

Thanks guys.

Lure pics:

Unknown spoon I picked up at the show in Grand Rapids this past March:

It rolls just like a meat rig baitholder does.

Set lines at 4 pm in 180 fow and started working SE in the ever growing east wind. Got a little choppy for my boat and we even had a little water break over the bow at one point. We pretty slow for most of the trip with us picking up 4 fish between 4 and 8 pm - 1 nice king, 1 nice steelie, a shaker king, and a 3 lb king. At 8 pm we found ourselves in 80 fow and I put out a couple divers (only riggers and coppers up to this point). I didn't take long until the divers started going - nice kings! From 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm or so we went 6-6, all kings - 3 around 15 lbs. All in 80-65 fow NE troll.

What worked:

1-1 rigger 70 ft, Dreamweaver mag dbl UV Caramel Dolphin - King

1-1 rigger fixed slider 40 ft - Silver Streak regular Veggie Delight - Steelhead

1-1 200 copper - Dreamweaver SS Steelie Dan - shaker king

2-2 6 color - unknown spoon (I'll take a picture later) - 3 lb king, king

2-2 Mag dipsy diver on wire back 65 - Spin Doctor Blue Bubble/Poofster Fly - 2 kings

2-2 Slide diver back 75 - Protroll 8" Bikini Dots - UV arctic blast fly - 2 kings

1-1 300 copper - Silver Streak mag Blue Dolphin - king.

I'll post pictures of the lures later.

Took a coworker and his daughter this morning. Fished 9 to 11 am this morning south of Holland and ended up 3-5. Hooked up with 4 steelhead and a nice king. 2 steelies that got off earned their freedom with acrobatics. We mainly fished a scum line set up between 160 and 180 for. Multiple directions took hits. 3.3 to 3.5 mph.

What worked:

1-2 steelhead 3 color, orange superslim

1-1 steelhead 1 color, orange superslim

0-1 steelhead 100 copper, orange superslim

1-1 king 300 copper, mag streak blue dolphin.

Good two hours of fishing for the middle of the morning I think.

Found some today. I'll see if I can find some more tomorrow.

Thanks to Morgan's Tackle for sponsoring this event. I think it's time to break out the wallet and spool some reels with segmented coppers. I'm thinking of adding a set of steelhead segments with a 25, a 40, a 55, and a 70.

Yeah Kevin, I know you like the solitude of the beach. When the weather permits I like the solitude of the deep.

Fished the WMFL tournament this morning on 2 hours of sleep and went 6 for 8 and second place without falling asleep at the helm.

We started south in 60 fow and picked up a nice king then a long dry spell. Lots of fish on my graph. Tried different directions an speeds in 70 to 100 for before heading out to deeper water. Picked up a smaller king (4 lbs?) in 120 and missed a good king, missed a big laker on a meat rig, then got a laker in 130 for. It was 9:30 at this point and I decided to go steelheading. We pulled lines and reset in 190 fow. Found a temp break and quickly got 3 steelies.

What worked:

1-1 king 100 copper stingray dbl uv jagerbomb. 65 fow SW troll 2.2 mph

1-1 king 150 copper stingray dbl uv mixed veggies. 120 fow WNW troll 2.7 mph

0-1 king 300 copper silverstreak mag blue dolphin. 120 fow NNW troll 2.7 mph

0-1 laker size 1 diver with mag ring back 185 with green uv SD & green uv bw cutback rig. 120 fow NNE troll 2.2 mph

1-1 laker 200 copper stinger dbl uv mixed veggies. 130 fow WNW troll 2.7 mph

3-3 steelhead. Orange superslims. 3.6 to 4 mph. 2 color, 3 color, mono with 2 oz snap weight 50-50 method.

Count the King Possible in. I found at least 1 rider.

Well I will keep trying until some show up. We'll see if I make it that deep this weekend.

Nice meeting you John. Always nice to put faces with the usernames on the site.

About the boat traffic on Sunday - it's always nice to catch a few fish and only have to adjust my heading once all day to avoid another boats trolling path.

I've tried a few times this month in water up to 200 ft deep with nothing to show for it. I've fished both sides of temp breaks. Found a temp break out in 160 to 180 fow in Holland this past weekend and there were a lot of bugs hatching off the surface.

Do I need to wait for the offshore water to warm up a little more?

Just asking because although I like salmon fishing I would much rather target steelhead if the weather allows my boat to get out there.

-JD