Steelhead#1

2-3 minutes. Yes, freeze them. 

You want to do small batches because you will make mistakes

5 hours ago, Northmen4034 said:

Yeah all the fish I've caught this year in the boat have been real healthy. No shortage of bait that I've seen


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They can't immediately change the amount of fish in the lake overnight. If you see the fish having problems from lack of food. The game is overwith.

In the southern ports of the lake its been like that for a while. The best thing to do is to buy a 14' boat off of craigslist and troll the river/channel/mouth. Casting is brutal. If you're going to cast you've got to pay very close attention to the conditions and everything has to be right or you're wasting your time.

Every boat yesterday and every boat today that I ran into caught fish. I can't say the same for the pier guys but there was fish caught off of the piers.

You have to change your expectations to the new reality.

If it was a northwest wind instead of a south wind. But, its also September. Just go fishing as often as you can.

My insurance guy said to keep all receipts and take all pictures of all your tackle/gear. So once a year. I take a video on my phone flipping through the maxi mate and the plastic containers.

If I lost something I could go back through and look. I have done this before.

We just write down what works in a shared google spreadsheet on our phones.

On 9/2/2016 at 8:34 PM, Dr Hook said:

We can only hope they eventually drive their boats over the edge of Lake Michigan.

I can't get over how great that is. 

Your life is worth more than a fish. Go somewhere else.

Do you have a ball cradle? We have only lost balls when people don't use the cradle. 

Congrats on the big king.

If you think big rocks are dangerous. Check this out

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/threads/hows-the-pier-in-oscoda-right-now.200268/page-2#post-1809564

Imagine that at night hauling all your gear in wind & waves. 

Thanks for the report.

Thanks for the report.

That is awesome.

We've done really well w/ just a spoon on downriggers this year. Our dipsys get the meat if we're running meat. But, what is best for me isn't always best for you. Switch it all up until you figure out a system that works for you.

Change depths. Change baits, Change directions, Change speeds. Don't just drive straight. Drive like a drunk. You got to figure out what works best for you. Once you figure things out. Replicate it. Mark the spot that caught a fish and drive through it a few times before moving on.

Look at the buoy. Figure out where the temp break is. Make sure your downriggers & dipsys aren't in 70 degree water.

how do you get DQ'd?

If you say that this king is huge because he has seen more bait than he could eat. That also means you're saying all the other years the fish haven't been able to find enough bait to eat. If you want to grow the alewife population you would want to see what we're seeing this year. Hopefully, this year forward we see some massive kings. I would really enjoy catching a 30lb king. 

They have been catching them in St Joe and they just started catching them in south haven. ~35 fow. I got my information from people who do not sell minnows for a living. The DNR bi weekly report seems to confirm the information I got. If I go perch fishing in the next week. I will let you know how I do.

This is awesome. Thank you for posting this.

I'm not much of a baitcaster kinda guy. I'd get the penn spinfisher 4500.

25lb max drag. 

34" retreive

6.2:1 gear ratio

You're a little out of my bailiwick. Wish I could help. There was a review on amazon that said the level wind feature on the cardiff doesn't go back and forth when you let out line. That sounds annoying if true.

You're allowed to park in the lot in SH after it closes only if you're fishing. You will be questioned if they see you. Even if they clearly see all your fishing gear. Be friendly, sometimes you've got to educate them on the policy. The city hires more cops for the summer time only. So they don't know all the in's and out's. 

North or South doesn't matter. All the same.

From my very limited personal experience from casting spoons for steelhead. If I was talking about in just the last 365 days.

My #1 spoon which i talked about above. I saw catch over 100 steelhead.

a solid orange ko wobbler i saw catch about 10 steelhead.(seen both the bigger size and smaller size work)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Acme-Gold-Fluorescent-Ko-Wobbler-Lure-2-4-Lb-Test-Ultra-Lite-Light-Spinning-/151723912249

little cleo maybe 2 or 3 steelhead max. The blue/silver

I don't know anyone that uses 1/3 oz small spoons. If its windy you're not casting that far at all. Don't take what I say as gospel. You're not fishing where I fish. Find guys in your area and copy those who are successful.

3/4 oz is fine. The bigger ones are fine too. 

I have caught a steelie on the moonshine 3/4 oz RV blue Jackal. It was just after sunset. I was casting for kings. Caught a steelie.

My #1 spoon for steelhead. That if I could only use one spoon the rest of my life it would be this.

http://lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Casting-Spoons/Premium-Tear-Drop-Casting-Spoons.html

#33 in C3 aka 5/8th size.

The paint on them do not last. Rubs off easily. Try to find them locally, otherwise you've got to buy split rings & hooks and split ring pliers. Normally they're like $1-2.5 a spoon depending on the baitshop you find them in.

Just cast them out, let them sink a little. Reel them in. Play around with how far you let them sink and how fast you reel them in. 

My #1 spoon for brown trout are a little cleo 2/5th ounce gold and orange

The swivels I buy cost more than $1 a swivel(overkill). They're silver. IDK if it matters that much. If you don't see expensive ones at your baitshop. Ask the guy behind the counter. You don't need expensive swivels tbh.

Have you tried shrimp like 6 feet under a bobber? 

Sorry but I side 100% with the charter on this. Its South Haven after all. There is always plenty of room. There is no reason to run on top of people. Especially in June... 

Ran a 6 rod spread. trolled from 65 to 95. Picked up and ran out to ~272. Trolled back in a good distance. Picked up and ran in some more. Trolled some more.. Ended up going 1-1. Caught a king in 257 on a rigger down 60. Yellow tail glow spoon.

The search for a giant king continues.