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FBD

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  1. 7/12.  Went 2/4 at the channel early then it got too busy, trolled to halfway creek and back in 8'. Would have done better but we had a fish break off a board and I turned too sharply to chase it and wrapped three short cores into a nightmare that's still lying on the floor.  Ended up with four steel at 6, 7, 8, and 11#, browns at 2&5 pounds and a five pound coho.  Let the smallest brown and steel go and wanted to let the 11# go but he was hooked funny.  Lost two double digit steel, one probably pushing 14# that pulled the board rod down so fast that it cut the rigger rod's line off when they hit.

    • Like 1
  2. 1% is right from the Indiana d n r publication on changes they are making to their steelhead stocking program.  Granted this was for fall planted summer run fingerlings in the Joe, which are planted way up in Indiana and must run a gauntlet of predators and through a dam.  The returns are also fish observed returning at the dam, not to the piers, or any tribs that may be before that.

    They are replacing most fall fingerling summer runs in the Joe with fall coho and then spring summer run yearlings, as the yearlings while more expensive yield better bang for the buck as not as many fish eat 9" trout as 5".

    Google Indiana steelhead planting to review the document, it's 6 pages and full of info.  What it did not list was the returns at Trail Creek, which is their brood stock source.

    I bet when all steel get c w t we will see the myth of all pier steel at each flip being summer run debunked.  I must have caught a summer run brown Wednesday.  And I've caught summer run Lakers before.  And summer run walleye.  Lake flips bait moves into plumes to avoid thermal shock predators follow.  Some steel run, most don't.  

     

  3. Despite the best efforts of water owning charters that don't have to turn, reel in boards, and can put you into the piers if they like, we managed to limit on steel with a bonus brown last night.

    Or maybe because of them, as we went up the beach to settle down for s while and found a school of steel without another boat around.  We went from 1/3 in the first hour to 7/10 in the next hour, shaking off a ten # that hit while pulling lines.  Hit while I was reeling in the lure.

    Tried a couple things but in the end six thin fish out, three of them red black squiggle.  Nine hits on those.  One on silver orange back, one on gold red herring bone.  Tuned the lures and trolled about 4 mph.

    Several ten pound fish made a nice heft to the cooler.

    • Like 3
  4. 106 kids, I think 74 weighed a fish, 4 kings, about 10 steel, 1 brown, and the rest Lakers.  Or pretty much normal June fishing.

    Steelheaders tournament in May was a laker and coho fest.  Three years ago on that day we got our 15 in the morning grabbed a new crew and got them their 10 in the afternoon, all at the piers.  Amazing how fast that changed, as 18 of those were double digit kings.

  5. Almost daily reports from the Holland area.  Not bad for June with no kings around.

    One of the charters we talked to in Saugatuck Saturday am had 19 Lakers by ten am; they got one pulling lines with a six man limit.  My nephew caught four steel surf fishing Saturday morning and missed at least that many more.  Most times you need 8# to break to top 25 at the Kids and Kings tournament, this year you needed almost 10#.

    • Like 1
  6. Caught a break for this tournament with the Four Winns down that there were still a few steel in the 64 degree water at the pier, and no boats in there.  And it was calm enough for my 14'.  We watched all the charters motor up, not sure where they found fish but two were back before 11.

    Andrea and I got our six boards out in 4 minutes then she promptly fell asleep on the floor.  15 minutes in we had a big rip that didn't stick.  Then she fought a determined fight on a two color with what turned out to be a large sheep.

    How can a kid that takes 15 minutes to wake up for school sit up, put on her glasses, and select the correct board rod from the trees in three seconds just by yelling "FISH!"?

    At this point the voices told me to switch every rod out to a thin fish.

    We went 3/4 in the next hour.  Started with a nice 7.38# then a six we let go, then a swing and miss, followed by a cute three pounder that went every where and came in dragging half the spread.  Andrea landed that one on a two color even though it hit a flat line yellow bird.

    And then it died.  Too warm?  Fish gone.  Nope.  My nephew who had one from the surf rattled off three between 10-11 including one just under and one just over ten.  We went into 4' and could see fish, but no hits.  And no shrimp.  If we didn't have the fish we'd invited him and his rods and even his bag of nasty shrimp onto the boat.

    7.38# didn't hold up well against a bunch of decent Lakers.  Taking your daughter out in a 14' boat where even the charters didn't want to fish and grinding out her limit of steel, well that's pretty cool.

    • Like 2
  7. 3/3 on alewife.  All very large.  One pulled a board back.  Funny as I did not mark much bait and the gulls were not feeding. 

    2/3 or 4 on steel.

    0/1 hand lining.

    100/100 on beach grass.

    Trolled like a drunk to avoid pleasure boaters and beach grass mats, but that could be expected on a beautiful summer night.

     

     

    Setting lines I was clipping on a board when the line got ripped out of my hand. Grabbed the rod and no one home.  Mixed veggie n k 4d.

    Then a nice steel hit a red thin fish on a yellow bird, rolled on the leader and cut it.

    Took a hot 10# on a Jerry Lee mini streak in 23' off oval beach, one color core.  He ran more than he jumped.  Thought it was a king for a while.

    Had a gap in traffic and was able to take a shot across the piers.  Same yellow bird with my last red black squiggles thin fish takes off screaming.  I turn hard to go back to an area with no traffic, and the two color on the other side digs in a bit.  Andrea's fish breaks off but I still have mine.  She's all bummed but I'm telling her that's how steel are, and we net mine and it's got my spoon and her thin fish stuck on its face.  Not sure as it spun in the net if both were in it's mouth or it rode one line over the other and they were tangled.  But I'll take it.

    Put that thin fish away after that, and packed up early to avoid traffic at dusk.

    Never saw surface temps under 60 and my cannonballs down 8 and 10 came up warm, so I'm guessing that was the tail end of that push of fish.

    • Like 4
  8. Well we struggled today.  We went out front early to get some steel but saw NOTHING happening on the boats and the pier, and plenty of other people had this idea.  We had one good rip on a slide diver that didn't stick.  Came back into the channel and just off Van Andel's dock a two color with a Jerry Lee mini streak took a 29" sheep  that covered the bottom of our cooler.  Now we got something.  Nope.  One other rip in there on a jointed rapala but that didn't stick.  Said screw this with 58 degree water let's get my daughter a brown for the league contest so we hit the beach.  Trolled to the swimming beach and about half way back the outer yellow bird just starts screaming and about a 12# steel blows into the air.  Somehow it got much smaller on the way in and was only about 7#.  Still a nice fish.  Then the slide diver started jacking and we found a sucker on it, fair hooked.  That's a new one.  By then it was 11:45 so we quit.

    Never expected to struggle to catch sheep!

  9. Don't over look other colors in the rapalas.  Silver blue and black backs have had their days.

     

    Magnum stinger in mongoose: silver with a line green/yellow/green edge has been killer for all species including steel.  A 4# fish has no problem hitting a magnum spoon.

     

    I would play with what you can run at the speed you boat can troll.  You'll crack the nut.

  10. I second the jointed rapalas.  Thin fins / thin fish and wiggle warts also have plenty of kick at slower speeds.  Lighter spoons work better at lower speeds.  I can't fish my hand bent flutter delvrs at more than 2.3 without them spinning out.

    You can catch pier heads steel on flat fish at rowing speeds.

    Downside to slowing down is you don't present your offerings to as many customers.

     

     

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