Butch

I hadn't fished in almost 2 weeks, due to high water and other commitments, so I was eager to get out. I had an errand to run up north a ways, so I while I was in the neighborhood I worked in a trip to 1 of my favorite streams on Weds afternoon. Got in the river and soon got a somewhat discouraging report from the guys in a drift boat. It turned out to be pretty accurate, I caught 2 beat-up winter fish(both about 9-9.5) and didn't see any fresh steelheads. The water conditions seemed very good, it had dropped back to a good level and had a nice stain but very adequate visibility(2.5-3'). I would have prefered if the water had warmed up a bit as the afternoon went on, but 'can't have everything' as they say. The fish seemed pretty lethargic, I caught fish only after I switched from my standard #4 spinners to #5's. On Friday afternoon, I tried another stream closer to home. I got in the river and my 2nd cast caught a nice fish, which turned out to be a 21.5" brown. I'd rather catch a good stream brown than a steelhead, so I was off to a good start. It snowed pretty hard for the first hour or two, and after the first fish I had no action for 2-3 hours except for a 13-14" brown that fell off and a dandy redhorse;) foulhooked on the snout. I was soggy from the snow that stuck to me, then melted (forgot my rain jacket:rolleyes: ), and I was about ready to quit when I caught a couple nice looking steelheads about 10 minutes apart, a male about 11 and a hen about 9. That kept me going for another half hour, but no more action. As on Wednesday, the water level and stain were good for spinner fishing but it would have been nice if the water had warmed up a bit during the afternoon. Overall, I was a bit disappointed that the recent warmer runoff/high water didn't seem to bring many fresh fish to the streams I fished.

I don't have a horse in this race, I really don't care whether the Chinook limit stays at 3 or goes to 5. However, out of curiousity, a question for Levi, or anyone else that knows. Does the Mich Charter Boat Assn(not you personally) have a position on this? After all, that group was instrumental in getting the change to 3 rod/person while trolling the great lakes for salmonids. That took some clout, since that doesn't even seem to have logic or science behind it. A change to 5 chinooks DOES have logic behind it, if the goal is to reduce the chinook population, but it's been tossed aside. Perhaps lots of charter captains are happy to punch their tickets on chinooks earlier as often as possible(gas is expensive, cleaning them is already enough of a chore, etc.). Like I said, I'm just curious, not trying to start anything

Hi Whit:) Glad to have your steadying influence;) .

Welcome, Magician. I look forward to your input.

Mostly just a 'test' of the signature feature.

I forgot to thank Adjusted for pointing me to this site, so... thanks, Mark. Thanks for the greetings guys.

I fished this afternoon, beautiful and sunny. Air about 35 deg., water also 35, average height, visibility about 3' and a little shelf ice. First hour, 1 steelhead, 16" brown, missed another decent fish. Next 3 hours, no decent fish showed any interest, only caught a couple unimpressive browns. Spinners, as usual for me.

Instead of a 2-3 color leadcore, I've used a "poor man's SWR" as I call it. Put a big rubbercore sinker on your rigger line within a rod length of your lure(for ease of netting), and let it out 100+' before you clip it to the release. Gets your spoons far away and down, although perhaps not the same track through the water on turns, etc. as a leadcore SWR. No additional rod required, just twist on a sinker. It catches fish just fine, although now that I have a 3 color leadcore, I plan to try them side-by-side to compare. I have also successfully run a slider on a poor man's SWR, which I haven't considered on a SWR. Matt

Pink Ande on my rigger rods, 15# or 20# depending on the season and whether I change it mid-year. On my dipseys, I have a couple with Ripcord(30#, I think:confused: ) braid and a couple with 30# Ande mono. Matt

Hey all, lots of familiar folks on hear I see:cool: . I'm looking forward to learning the REAL secrets about Great Lakes fishing, the ones you've been holding out from the other sites;) Anyway, I'm a fairly frequent Lake Michigan salmonid fisherman, with a preference for fishing weekdays during the day more than weekends at dawn due to my family(and just because I can:D ). I fish my 18' Starcraft out of Grand Haven, and go by "Go Blue" on the water. "Butch" is a handle from other sites, you can call me... Matt