Aaron Nusbaum

Not a lot went right. We set lines at 6 in about 100 ft. Right away we had back to back hits on our downriggers but neither stayed on. Within about an hour we were already retreating to 80 ft due to waves building. After an hour or so of nothing in 80 ft we went into 60 ft and saw some enticing marks. We spent a little over an hour throwing everything we had at them but no takers so we decided to try the pier heads. We did a few laps in and out of the harbor and skirted the mud line but only managed a sheephead and a bass so we bagged it. I'm hoping to hit them in the harbor this fall but I'm starting to wonder how much of a run we're gonna get Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

I've got a bad feeling it could be one of those years. My dad and I plan on getting out next weekend and I'm hoping the little bit of north wind coming up can make a difference Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

We set lines at 5:30 and trolled till about 9. We checked out the shallows since the water was flipped but didn't see anything encouraging so we zipped out to 70 ft and trolled out to about 110 ft before getting back to back hits and missing both. We went back in and hit a 7# king in 98 ft then took a 10# king in 120 ft. I normally love a turnover but it's looking like this one just scattered the fish as we couldn't mark any consistent bait or fish. Here's what took the hits: 0-1 mandarin orange pro king spoon on 5 color lead 1-2 Dreamweaver chilly willy on 4 color lead 1-1 moonshine magnum flounder pounder on a downrigger 60 ft down Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

We got one big one earlier this month with mature skein, all of these either had no reproductive organs or bb size skein so I doubt they were running Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

We trolled from 6 to 8:30 straight out from Holland until the heat basically drove us off. We went 3 for 4, all in just under 120 ft. Basically as soon as we got our rods set we hit a 7# king on a downrigger then missed a second one immediately following it. Less than 10 minutes later we got a double header on our 300 copper and a downrigger and landed both, basically twin 6# kings. After that it's like someone flipped a switch and the bite stopped. We went out to 140 and into 110, marking fish the whole way but no takers. I'm hoping we're getting immature fish, I'd hate to see a spawning class running this small. Here's what took the hits: 2-2 pro troll 8" custom uv perch flasher with a rapture illusion uv fly on a downrigger 65 down 1-1 mixed veggies spindoctor with a fake news meat rig behind 300 copper 0-1 moonshine magnum flounder pounder on a downrigger 55 down Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

This one had three alewife in its belly but was definitely skinny. Every fish we got outside of the 2# king had a belly full Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

We fished from 5:30 to 9 am straight out of Holland, ending up 4 for 7 on the day. As soon as I got the third line down in about 110 ft we hooked into something huge on a downrigger that ran deep into our backing before swimming into our 300 copper and creating a rats nest tangle and getting off. As we were hauling that mess in we hit a 2# king on the other downrigger. In the time it took for me to recover all my gear from the copper tangle the exact same downrigger went off four straight times, landing a 9# king, 10# king, 3# steelhead, and missing something else all in 120 ft. Once I got the other lines back in the bite stopped so we went into about 100 ft and missed another hit before going in. I don't count this as a hit but reeling one of my lines in something followed it up. It definitely feels like that tangle cost us some fish as it completely incapacitated our 300 copper and took about 30 minutes to re rig and set the other downrigger in the middle of a flurry. Shout out to my lead core and 200 copper for contributing nothing. The steelhead we got had a crazy kype for being in the summer. Here's what took the hits: 0-1 pro troll 8" custom uv perch flasher with a rapture illusion uv fly on a downrigger 50 ft down 0-1 pro troll 8" custom uv perch flasher with a rapture illusion uv fly on a downrigger 85 ft down 4-5 moonshine magnum flounder pounder on a downrigger 60 ft down Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

I'm eyeing tomorrow morning, really want to get out but I'm not sure if I trust it to lay down overnight. NOAA says waves around a foot tomorrow but they've been unreliable all year Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

That must've been someone who looks like me, my parents live by the lake and have their own dock so my dad and I clean our fish at the house Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

We trolled from 6 to about 9 am. NOAA said waves a foot or less, they were easily 2+ feet out there. We went 2 for 4 with a 15# king and a 3# coho. As soon as we set lines at 78 feet we got a double header and landed one that was the king, followed by a miss about ten minutes later at the same depth. After venturing out to 120 following a dry spell and not seeing much interesting we came back in and as we were pulling lines in to call it a day we got the coho in, you guessed it, 78 feet. Here's what took the hits: 2-3 pro troll 8" custom uv perch flasher with a rapture illusion uv fly on a downrigger 65 ft down 0-1 moonshine magnum flounder pounder 50 ft down on a downrigger Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

We trolled from 5:30 to about 8:30 then the dark skies spooked us into going in. We trolled between 85 and 110 the whole time. We ended up 1-2 with a 12 lb king. Both hookups were in 105 fow trolling north. Here's what took the hits: 0-1 Dreamweaver chilly willy standard size on 150 copper 1-1 8" psycho perch flasher with a rapture illusion uv fly on a downrigger 65 ft down Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

We trolled from 7 to about 11 am just south of Holland working 35 to 55 feet. We wanted to go a little deeper but the ripping east wind made us a bit uncomfortable. We ended up 1-1 with an 8# king. I suspect the weather was no help but they seem pretty scattered and random right now. Here's what took her: Dreamweaver chilly willy standard size on 5 color leadcore in 40 fow Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

First trip of the season. When we got out we realized we forgot to put the boards in the boat so we were stuck running two lines [emoji36]. We trolled from 7 to about 10:30 am sticking in 40-60 ft right around port. We ended up 1-1 with a 9# king. Here's what took the fish: Michigan stinger standard size jordo spoon 35 ft down on a downrigger in 50 fow Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Looks like we hit it 12 hours too late. We went out this morning and bailed at about 8 am with nothing because the waves were 2 feet higher than the NOAA forecasted and we couldn't find anything inside of 50 feet Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

That's 7, it's tough to see in that picture but his back and belly were really wide Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Laser straight in front of port Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

The trip didn't get off to a good start, before first light it was too foggy to get out and when we did make it out the 3 foot swells kept us shallow. We trolled from 6 to 10 am in 50 to 80 ft and went 2 for 2 with a 1 lb jack king and a 7 lb coho. I couldn't believe how much bait we were marking in that range. Both hits came right around 70 ft of water. Here's what took the hits: 1-1 black and white j-plug on 5 color lead core 1-1 Mandarin orange glow pro king spoon on a #1 dipsy w/ring 90 ft back set on 1 Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

My dad and I have been committing more time lately to hitting bait schools in close when we mark them. We've noticed they almost always hold fish but the drawback seems to be they're almost all jacks and steelhead, although two weekends ago we did lose an absolute shark in 45 ft. As for browns they're kind of a needle in the haystack this time of year. Our DNR hasn't planted lake run browns south of Ludington in years (they finally did a small plant this spring in GH) so if you get one it's really going out of its way, plus the strain we plant, wild rose, are very fragile and don't adapt well to open water so the returns usually aren't that good. Wisconsin plants Seeforellen strain which are more hardy and built for open water which is part of why you see more and bigger browns over there. Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

We dropped lines at 5:45 and fished till about 10, ending up 2 for 6. We started in 60 ft when we saw some impressive bait balls and right away got back to back hookups, losing one and landing a 9# steelhead. After the sun got up we went out to 150 ft and had four straight hits, we lost a nice coho right behind the boat, had two just hit short, and landed a 9# laker. Definitely a bit of a tease considering how many whiffs we had. Here's what took the hits: 0-1 moonshine flounder pounder behind a size 1 dipsy with a ring set on #2 60 ft out 1-1 moonshine blue flounder on 150 copper 0-2 mixed veggies spindoctor with a SpongeBob meat rig on 300 copper 0-1 salmon candy hulk uv fish blade with a black spotted meat rig 75 ft down on a downrigger 1-1 8" blue dolphin flasher with a blue dolphin fly on 400 copper Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

I wish we went with our gut and stayed shallow, we probably killed a solid two hours by moving out Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

We dropped lines at about 5:30 and trolled till 10 and ended up 2 for 5. We started in 40 feet and right away got a 3# and 4# king back to back. As it got light we moved out a ways with no luck then went back in and got three straight hard hits in about 50 feet but they all got off. Here's what took the hits: 3 - moonshine blue flounder behind a #1 dipsy with a ring 70 ft back 1 - warrior psycho perch on 5 color lead 1 - Dreamweaver chilly willy on 150 copper Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

We trolled from 6 to 10 am. I thought maybe this turnover would fire things up but it didn't seem to have much of an effect. We dropped lines at 65 ft because we saw some enticing marks but after one pass with no takers they went away so we went out and bounced between 110 and 155 ft. We ended up 1-2 with an 8# coho and something big that didn't stay on for long. We also got a shaker throwback king. Here's what took the hits 0-1 mixed veggies spindoctor with a SpongeBob meat rig on 300 copper in 155 ft 1-1 Michigan stinger blue dolphin flasher with a blue dolphin fly on 400 copper in 115 ft Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

It's good to see those marks can be cracked. My dad and I for three straight trips have been seeing those marks in the 120's and 130's but could buy a hit despite throwing the kitchen sink at them Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

They were plants, both had the fin clipped Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App