mikefishes

It finally happened, about 17 trips between my boat and Chris's and we got the first and last skunk of the year. Time to put em up and concentrate on deer hunting. Found a few fish in 225 fow and fish in tight in 20-30 fow. Went 0-1 in 25' on a long lined thin fin, saw him jump, (prob. steelhead). Surface temp was about 52 in close and slowly rised to 57 out at 225'. No significant breaks, no scum line and no seagulls.

Launching out of Whitehall this afternoon for some big water action and not sure about a game plan for today. With all the resent wind I don't know what expect. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

A friend and I both decided not to put our boats away till late as possible this year. He was out last Monday and went 4 for 6 in the same area. Between work, wind and bow hunting it is tough finding a time slot that will work. Hoping to get out next week sometime. One really awesome thing about fishing this time of year is you have the whole lake to yourself.

2 Riggers, 2 braid divers and leadcore and or copper is my typical 6 rod spread. Sometimes 4 divers and sometimes 4 leadcores but always 2 riggers. Depends how deep we need to fish. Not an expert, I just always run a 6 rod spread.

Sometimes those frustrating trips are the ones we look back at and laugh the most. Sounded lime a great time!

We had a blast and didn't have to clean fish for half the night!

Went 3-11, 130 fow, 90' down on riggers, 250' back on mag braid divers, standard spoons in black, imposter spoons with black on them. Marked a ton of fish. Have not been out since early Sept. but it was like we haven't been for years as we had several mistakes like, but not limited to, netted lure instead of fish, watched fish flop around behind the boat instead of bringing it to the net, drag set way to tight (break off), rotten mono leader (break off), couldn't find the pole with the drag that was screaming (fish gone) and threw back a lake trout thinking it was closed season. Not a boat in sight, no waves and fishing in short sleeves, it just don't get any better than that.

Thanks everyone for your input.

Sometimes it's easier to cave in then argue. Besides I let Chris make some decisions so that when things don't go right I can blame him. I always tell him I'm too busy driving to get my side of the boat working. Then he reminds me I have auto pilot. lol.

When you get two captains in the same boat they don't always agree on what to run where. I say flasher/fly on the low rigger and my buddy disagrees. What do you run on your deepest rigger?

8"mtn. dew/crush glo spin dr (70005) with a mtn dew meat rig on a mag diver usually set 200'-250' after sun up, has caught most of my fish this year. I had to replace it because the meat head broke where the line went thru the back of the head due to all the abuse it took. Fish catcher w/ white fly is my next best rig. Honorable mention to moonshine purple nurple spoon.

Thanks for the help.

How deep will a 300' 45# copper run towing a mag spoon? How deep will that same copper get towing a 11" paddle and meat rig? Is there a dive chart for that somewhere? Thank you.

I've been running 30# ff with 20' 30# floro leader no issues and decent rigger bites.

In an earlier post I ask which paddle to use in front of an oceana fly but I was wondering if you are using an 11" DW paddle what length leader would you typically have between the back of the paddle and the nose of the fly? I know by reading off this forum that leader lengths can vary from day to day. How do you change leader lengths or do you have them tied with different lengths and what are those lengths? Thanks in advance.

I really appreciate all the detailed fishing reports. My question is how do you keep track of all the names of all the different stuff you use. I have my favorites that I use but after that about all I can do is tell you the brand and description of the attractor or spoon or fly or what ever I'm pulling.

The truck and boat fuel tanks are full when we leave and I will fill back up when we get home. Usually about $70 for the truck and $20 for the boat. The cost of the launch pass, bait and gas we will split that evenly, it's the only way I can afford to fish every weekend. Most guys will throw in a few bucks over that. Some guys insist on paying for more of the expenses and or buy some tackle, that is not expected, but really appreciated. They are always welcome on my boat.

I got a plan now. Thanks to all who responded.

Fishsniffer, could you be more specific on with size and brand name.

I recently picked up a oceana fly and a pickled sunshine fly and was wondering what would be the best attractor to run in front of them? Another question is that I added 2 300' coppers to my spread and not sure what is best to pull with them for starters. Thanks.

I live in central MI. 18' Lund. I'm a weekend warrior and fish the east side starting in April then alternate between there and Lk. MI. starting in late June and then just LK MI from about the first of August thru mid Sept.. I like sites with detailed fishing reports and how to info. and this site is great for that. Thanks to all who post good info. I've been salmon fishing on my own for 6 years. ( about 8 trips a year ) with a catch rate of about 6 fish per trip so there is plenty of room for improvement. I try to glean as much useful information as possible from the various fishing forums. Thanks again to all for sharing your experience to help a fellow sportsman.