Martin1950

Made another solo run out of Lakerville at 0530hrs. today. A little bumpier than I was hoping for but it was worth it. Dropped in at 65fow headed West. DR w/ DW Green dolphin down 55’, 200x45 cu. w/Green Tiger J-Plug, and 250x30 cu. w/ Mag. Stinger NBK. After 2 fruitless releases on the DR, finally sunk the barb on a 6.25# King. Even before I reached for the net, the 200x45 cu starts screaming, a double, in the dark and solo. I tighten the drag on the board line and netted and boxed the 1st fish. Went back to the board line and “CRAPâ€, the counter is reading a little over 600ft and it is a nice fish. The King makes another run and I hear the other board go off. I’m think crossed lines so I snug down the 3rd line and fight my second fish. I net the 2nd King and I can see that I ain’t tangled, I got a 3rd fish on. I cut the hook and leader off the J-Plug and boxed the fish and went to fight the 3rd King. Didn’t even want to look at the counter. This was the biggest of the three but she still came to the net. All these fish hit between 0700-0730hr in 65-75fow. Re-set the rods, trolled out to 110fow and back in, never had another rip nor did I mark a single fish. Pulled lines at 0900hr, way to bumpy for me and a long chug back to port. Weights on the fish in order, 6.25#, 12.3# and 14# and the 2 bigger ones were HENS, more gold in the freezer.

Going out tomorrow w/ one of my normal fishing partners and is 12yr. son, If the lake is half of what it was today. I hope we wear that kid out!!!!!!

Martin

putting away some gold for the fall.

Yep, last two Kings have been HENS!!!!!!

Martin, It's hard to imagine how that would go solo.

TGL

Steve

Actually Steve, it's real easy. 1st, the handle is 8ft long and stored vertically against the arch. The hoop has a keeper string that keeps the net tight to the hoop until the fish is in it. Never net a HOT fish. And last but not least, between trolling and pier fishing I've got over 20yrs of practice doing it myself.

Martin

Once again “Eleanor†and I made another SOLO run out of S/H. But this time we actually caught a fish that wasn’t a Laker, yeah!!!!!. Cleared the Black River at 0600hrs, set a new waypoint and headed S/W. Dropped in at 60fow. DR w/ Green Dolphin down 55’ popped while I was setting my second cu/line. 14# King(HEN) in the boat, 0630hrs, in 65fow. 1st and only fish I fought all morning. Had short-strikes on S/D with grn glo squid, grn tiger j-plug and purple smurf. All hits were between 65-85fow. A lot of arches throughout the water column with bait in the top 10. S/W-N/E troll, 2.3-2.6sog. I am planning on another run at them Thursdays AM with/without my normal fishing friends so I might be looking for a crew. Fishing just 3 rods is a major handy cap here in the southern basin.

Martin

Planning on hitting it tomorrow early.

Martin

Hoping to get out Monday AM if I can find a crew. If not I'll just fish SOLO AGAIN !!!!!

Martin

Good going, I trolled a 3-rod spread circling between 80-120, Nada. No hits, no runs and the only error was running solo in a 16fter.

Martin

Neil, Corey and I launched at 0515. Just a little bumpy for “Eleanor†so we dropped in at 60fow West of the pierheads With 4 assorted coppers with spoons, 1 DR with spoon and f/slider, 1 DR with B/W Black Death UV. meat rig with an Alewife, I started to layout the sliding wire divers with spoons. A violent strike on the spooned DR was missed by the other guys and I was a little busy adjusting the slide diver, 0-1. An hour later the DR with meat gets slammed but no hook-up, 0-2. Same meat rig fires an hour later, this time a 14# King hits the net, 1-3. Next the 4-color chute rod 400 ft back, w/ an orange jointed Rapala rips. Nice little chrome in the net, 2-4. On the turn for the docks, wire diver with mag green dolphin buckles a little. Another dog-gone Greaser to the net, 3-5. Had another fly-by on the spooned DR, 3-6. Trolled E/W at 2.4-2.5. Caught fish for 65-90fow. 3 fish and 3 misses and we still got Corey back to the docks by 1100hr for his Dr. appointment. Can't think of a better way to watch a sun rise.

Martin

Thursday AM, No Kings or Greasers but did manage to net 4 Steelies before 1000hrs. Went 4-4. with 1 drive-by. 3 on assorted copper lines with spoons, Purple Smurf, Double Orange Crush and a Mixed Veggie. 1 on DR, some goofy green blue spotted spoon from Cablela’s. Trolled 65-120 fow, 2.5-2.9, East and West best.

Friday AM, same area, same spread, same spoons, the only difference, completely different crew and NO FISH. 5 teaser hits with no solid hook-ups.

Thanks for the report and the great pictures.

Martin

Thanks for that report. Hoping to get out Thursday and Friday.

Martin

In the last couple of weeks I made 3 trips to the pier and netted up enough Ale's to last me and my son for the rest of the season +. Here is a small sample. I tried a green one for a few hours last week and it finished just as green as when it started.

Martin

SKUNK’s OUT OF THE BOAT. Fished solo , 1 for 1, Late start out of Lakerville, that pretty much sums it up. Puny little rascal hit a Green Dolphin 55’ down, so small I didn’t even get the net wet, or keep him. Fished 80-120fow. Back at the launch there was a pair of C.O’s doing their job. These 2 fellow were younger than my 1972-80hp Merc. Better luck to you other guys.

Martin

but with an asterisk next to it due to injury/sickness

Not like it's my fist one.

Do you find one color works better than another ?

Last year everything was "natural" with a handful of green toward the end of the season. This year I've had 2 fly-bys on the green and one fish on the natural. Still waiting to try the blue and the red ones.

Martin

Launched out of S.J. Saturday AM with a 4-man crew. Dropped in at 65fow headed S/W. Half-way through the layout, our 16 year old Korean exchange student started chumming. In the hopes he would “Man Up†we continued laying out lines. Just as I started working a wire diver w/ meat I could see a Steely doing a tail dance behind to boat. “What the heck, no ones watching the rods ?†Well I finished to 2 wire divers and reset the DR and slider and noticed a chum slick down the port side of the prop wash. We talked with the boy and he wanted to go home, #(&%#^()&%^&*. That was the shortest trip I’ve ever had, oh-well!!

Martin

After my last 0-0 trip to South Haven, AKA LAKERVILLE, tried good ole St. Joe Thursday night. Not much better, but at least we hit two Chromers.

Martin

We opted to try the Joe instead of “Lakervilleâ€. Dropped in at 60fow at 1830hrs headed West. Armed with DR’s. wire, leadcore, copper and freshly brined Ales we had high hopes. OH WELL. 2 and 3 ft chop made it a little rough on our 16fter but we were determined to fish. Marked a lot of fish all the way out to 80fow. Got ½ way through our turn and nailed an 8# steelie on a double orange crush free slider, DR down 55ft. Same rig fired again about 20 minute later but came unbuttoned after about 15 seconds. Pulled lines at 2200hrs and faced the wind and waves all the way back to the river. When we launched the docks were 1†above the water, when we returned, there was 2†over the docks. %&&%$##^*()), Hate getting my feet wet!!!!! Sure beats a Skunk.

Martin

What size meat heads you using?

Most of my heads are B.W. whole-bait heads, but I have a few Magnums or Super Mags from another company.

Martin

Is that the fire brine? Have you noticed a difference in results by using a dye vs. a powder?

No fire brine, just good ole borax and pickle salt as per video;

Now don't laugh, the coloring is from food coloring jell. Tried a few colored last year and they all got hammered. And we're going to give it hell out of South Haven tomorrow evening, six rods, six Ales. Now there is nothing wrong with Big Weenie powder or Fire Brine, I'm just cheap and have lot of time.

Martin

FINALLY got chance to get out and collect some bait for this year. Ran out of Ales last fall and tried some herring, not a fish. I’ll be sticking with the Ales.

Martin

Did you Mark any decent fish or bait?

Not really but we did mark several pods of "Yellow Bellies" from 38-60 fow north of the piers.

Martin

3 of us fished 65-130fow. E,W,N,S., 2.3-2.7, with spoons on DR’s with free sliders, 2 copper lines with flash/fly and meat, 2 copper lines with spoons, 2 braided divers with flasher/fly and a meat rig, even flat lined an orange 4†j-plug 400ft down the middle. El Zippo. But it was a great nite for a boat ride. Oh well, maybe next time.

Martin

The DR's are SOLD !!!!

Thanks for everyone's interest.

Martin

Sorry to hear you're selling out

Just got used to Capt. Kenny not being at the helm. It's going to be hard figuring "Who's-On-First"

Martin