Mega Byte

What an epic morning Friday was. We started in 100 FOW and worked out to 170. We had some good marks in the 140s and 150s so we slid back inside and that's where we picked up our first two hits. After that, it was all about location, location, location as most of our other hits came in about a 10 acre area. There was a spot I had heard good reports about from the prior day when I got a message from a fellow GLF member who already had 6 kings in the box from that exact location. We decided to not waste and time and headed that way. What was interesting about his location is it seemed like there was a convergence of currents in this one location. Trying to maintain speed here was very difficult. It require constant adjustments to the kicker motor. We got most of our hits on the stable water side of these currents. Other than location, the key to the day was white baits. Meat took 5 of the 11 bites. Spoons took 5 and a paddle and and paddle and fly took the other one. In defense of the paddle and fly, we didn't run many of them. We did have a white spin doctor and mirage fly out for a bit, but after not getting hit we switched it our with another Ghostbuster meat setup. Since there was only two of us, we ran a 6 rod spread. We had one double and one triple and we got all of the fish in the box. This was an aggressive bite. Many fish had both upper and lower jaws hooked as they inhaled the bait. I talked to a few other guys that got a few fish and did well, but this one location was really good for us. The biggest kings were 22.5, 20.5 and 19.5 pounds. The evening was very different. We got out a bit late and started setting lines around 6:30 and fished until 8:50. We trolled through our same honey hole area and didn't pick up any hits so we started looking elsewhere. There were a few other boats in that area and they quickly left as well. We got an 8# king and a laker in 181 FOW. My daughter is pictured with that below. It hit on a 250 copper ghostbuster meat rig. At the dock I talked to a group that just got done with a charter and they described their night as "horrible" with "no fish". So the evening seemed very different from the morning. (If you're viewing this on the GLF app, this table looks horrible so use the image of it below.) The table below is for the AM trip. Time FOW Toll Fish Bait Pole 7:23 AM 162 SW Coho Mag Rosta Goose 100 Cu 7:48 AM 153 SE Miss Blue Flounder Braid SlideDiver, #3 setting out 130 9:43 AM 165 SW King Bloody Nose Braid SlideDiver, #3 setting out 175 9:45 AM 165 SW King Ghostbuster paddle & meat Braid SlideDiver, #3 setting out 160 10:13 AM 176 S Coho Blue Haze paddle & meat 300 Cu 10:50 AM 161 S King Ghostbuster paddle & meat Braid SlideDiver, #3 setting out 160 11:24 AM 161 S King White paddle & fly Rigger down 50 1:06 PM 170 NW King Ghostbuster paddle & meat 250 Cu 1:07 PM 170 NW King Green Jeans 200 Cu 1:09 PM 172 NW King Ghostbuster paddle & meat Braid SlideDiver, #3 setting out 160 3:03 PM 175 E King Green Jeans 200 Cu Does it get any better than this? This guy is 6' 5" tall: 2 Coho and 8 kings: Here's my daughter's king from the evening trip: And finally an image of the table for those using the GLF app:

My 100 coppers may have been in that range. The other baits would have been in 47 to 49ish. Sent from my SM-G970U using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

I should add - these fish were stuffed full of alewives.

Motored out slowly through the cold water around 4 PM keeping an eye on the sonar for life. Found some bait in 50 FOW but kept heading SW. The water temp was 54.5 degrees right in front of the pier outside the river plume. Since we didn't mark anything in the cold water, we decided to fish the warm side of the cold water. We noticed the temps start to rise in 213 FOW. At 240 FOW we slowed it down and got set up on a SW troll. We ran a 6 rod spread tonight. Speeds were between 2.4 and 2.6. Water temp was 47.8 degrees 55 feet down. The key for us tonight was finding the right water temp and staying in it. For us, it was 57.7 degrees up to 60.5 degrees on the surface. All of the hits came in that range. We started pulling lines at 9 PM. Here's what worked: (If you're viewing this on the mobile app, this table will be a mess so see the image of it below.) Time FOW Toll Fish Bait Pole 5:10 PM 250 SW Steelhead Mag Rosta Goose 100 Cu 5:13 PM 252 SW 11# Coho Blue Flounder Braid SlideDiver w/ring, #3 setting out 120 5:37 PM 260 SW Coho Kevin's Girlfriend SpinDoc & Meat Braid SlideDiver w/ring, #3 setting out 160 5:55 PM 255 SE MISS Kevin's Girlfriend SpinDoc & Meat Braid SlideDiver w/ring, #3 setting out 160 6:27 PM 253 S MISS 8" Green paddle & green fly 250 Cu 7:09 PM 263 NE MISS Rosta Goose 100 Cu (May have been a King bite) 7:16 PM 259 NE Steelhead 8" Green paddle & green fly 250 Cu 8:10 PM 262 NE Steelhead Grn & Silver SpinDoc & fly 200 Cu 8:59 PM 256 NE Steelhead Rosta Goose 100 Cu

Nice king! What did it weigh? Sent from my SM-G970U using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Aren't those fun? I love it when you can set up right on top of the fish. I remember a trip where it took us 2 1/2 hours to get all 9 lines in the water because they kept getting hit. Lots of fun. Nice report.

I'm glad it wasn't just me. It makes you wonder sometimes if you've forgotten how to fish or something. We had a couple of good days at the end of July. I took the kids up with me and we camped on the boat and fished. I didn't have free time to post as I was single-parenting the trips and when I wasn't doing something with the kids i was fixing gear damaged and tangled during the trip and trying to sleep. Looks like we'll be out again Wednesday and/or Thursday, depending on the weather.

8/1 AM 1 for 3 Fished the ladies classic with my daughter who is ten years old. Ladies had to reel and net the fish. We were 1 for 3. We lost 2 big kings in a 150' of water. Both were spoon bites are a high diver. A blue flounder and a green flounder. We did manage to boat a coho. There was one box of 9 fish that morning. But most people were in the 0 to 3 fish category. We did have a lot of great marks though. Lots of fish and the 130 to a 150' range. Here is the winning box. My daughter did win $20 for being the youngest captainette. 8/2 AM 1 for 1 This was a really slow morning for us. We got out very early and set lines before the sun even thought about rising. We never had a hit all morning. We fished a 6 rod spread until noon. When checking lines early we did pull in a small 3 pound king that wasn't able to trip the down rigger release. It hit on a paddle and fly down 35'. We safely released him. There was plenty of cold water. We had 45 to 47 degrees 40 feet down even in 50 FOW. In fact, the water was colder the closer you got to shore. Fished 50 to 180 FOW with only a few, midsized arches on the sonar. Boats were scattered. The charter captain that won the Ludington tournament is from Pentwater. He only got 4 fish this am. Based on the meat bags his customers were carrying i would guess 2 Lakers and 2 kings. Sent from my SM-G970U using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Nice job

Thanks for the heads up. That was nice of someone to flag it.

Better than a skunk. Nice job.

Thanks for the board retrieval Ed! Sent from my LM-K500 using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Cool picture and great memories. We're reminded that fishing is about so much more than the fish. When we motor in, my dad always grabs the comfy deck chair and sits back facing the wake. He will be 75 at the end of this month. He has survived 4 heart attacks. I have a great picture of him sitting there during one of our return trips. At some point, that picture and the memories will be all I have. Until then, I invite him out every chance I get. Sorry for your loss. Sent from my LM-K500 using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Just realized the meat rig wasn't green haze. Not sure what it is called, but you got the pic. Sent from my LM-K500 using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Two small lakers bouncing bottom in the early am. White spin doctor and matching spin n glow in 100 to 120 fow. They never tripped release. I found them checking lines. I think I will try my Chamberlain releases for the next trout setup. Worked deeper and marked our first fish of the day at 10:50 in 201 fow. They were 120 feet down. Picked up a 19.5# king in 190 fow on a 300 Cu green haze meat rig around 11:30. Had an 11 pound laker hit a dancing anchovy on a wire slide diver, out 400 ft (down 105) in 180 fow. Speed was 2.3 to 2.6 most of the day. Fished south to the dunes and then back north. Picked up the king on a North troll. Sent from my LM-K500 using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

I'm putting it in a slip for a few days...makes it easier. Sent from my LM-K500 using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Nice fish! 5 to 7:30? I think it takes me that long to set lines. I'm hoping to be spending some time in Pentwater the next 3 days.

SoHa = South Haven