Steve Arend

I have run a strip of cut bait all day, after fishing thrown it into my container and the used it again the next day and have caught fish with it. So I guess use and re-use. We have been buying the cut strips by the case and keeping it in the freezer all season. I have never had any left at the end of the season to see how long it will last. It should stay good for as long as you keep it frozen. Yes! I have refrozen my cut after I'm done fishing and I don't plan on going out for a few days. If you keep it in the refrigerator for a few days it starts to smell pretty ripe. I also add salt to my cut bait and I talked with some guys that will add garlic.

There are various forms and presentations for running cut-bait. I will be explaining a few of the presentations that I have been running for the last couple of years. First of all “What is cut-bait?†Cut-bait can come in different types, the most commonly used is pre-cut herring strips that you can buy frozen at most bait and tackle shops along the great lakes shores. There are also whole herrings that you can run whole or Fillet out the side and run each side. You can also use smelt and alewives for cut-bait. There are different manufacturers on the market that make what is called a Cut-Bait Head, Rhys Davis, John King, Church Tackle and Challenger Lures are just a few. Heads are used to hold a cut-bait strip or whole herring and to help run the cut rig through the water smoothly. You can buy just the cut-heads and rig them yourself or you can get them pre-rigged with a hook or with a set up called a triple rig. Right now I’ll talk about rigging a cut-head yourself. When rigging a cut-head I like to use heavy mono line like 50lb. The stiff mono helps give the cut head a little more action when you run them behind a flasher or spiny. For hooks you can use any Treble that you have confidents in, I like to use the hooks for J-plugs. Once you have the cut strip or whole herring placed in the holding head, adjust the hook or if you’ve rigged 2 hooks with your head, adjust the last hook so that the hook is even or slightly forward from the back tip of the cut strip or the tail of the whole herring. You can also buy pre-rigged cut heads that come complete with hook and line. Or there is also what is known as a Teaser rig or Twinkie rig which is a series of 1 to 3 fly or squid type attractors on a 3 to 4 leader ahead of the cut head. When I run a straight cut head I like to use them behind an 8†spiny or flasher on about a 12 to 14 inch lead. I’ll run this set up off a dipsy diver or straight off my downrigger balls back around 8 to 15 ft. behind the ball or with a 4 ft. leader behind a dipsy. The best depth that I have found to run this set up is 20 ft off bottom all the way to 4’ off bottom. When running a cut head with what is known as a teaser or Twinkie rig, I like to run these mainly off an 11 inch spiny behind a dipsy about mid way through the water column or lower. You can also run this set-up off one of the inside down riggers up high in your spread. The theory behind this is that an 11†flasher/Spiny will have a lot of flash and bring the fish into or spread. At times running meat in your spread can be a deadly combination for kings and Lakers. I have also taken a few steelhead running meat rigs up high in the water column. Typically the best times for running meat have been mid summer to later fall, but this year has proven that there is nothing typical about fishing and I started running cut bait mid April. Disclaimer: I have only Rhys Davis Cut Rigs at this time so all the pictures that I show are of Rhys Davis products. Steve Arend

There's a good chance that the eggs hatch. The incubation time for turkeys is right around a month. I have had a few friends telling me that they have been seen hens and poults running around in the woods while out mushroom hunting.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- St. Joe Fishing League Lake Erie June 10th -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We have less then a month to go. This is the Walleye trip to Sterling State Park June 10th. There are many of us going to the park on Thursday the 8th, Staying till Sunday the 11th. Here is a great chance for you east siders to come out and see what the St. Joe Fishing League is all about. We will do a tournament on the 10th. entry is 25.00, Start no earlier then 5:30 am, quit at 1 PM. Weigh in at 2:30 at the campground and I believe it will be around site # 201. There are several of us that have sites in this area. Lets keep the rules very simple, weigh your best 2 person Michigan Walleye limit, however can only keep a 3 person limit in the boat. Weight will be to the ounce. No cull, once you box it, you cannot toss it back. You can fish any water, Michigan, Ohio, or Canada, but you must leave from Sterling State Park and have the proper license for the waters that you fish. Michingan rules apply. payouts for the largest walleye, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and biggest Sheepshead Everyone is on their own this time for lunch. We will have some adult refreshments at the weigh in. If your interested in camping at the park, get your reservation soon as this park does fill up on the weekends. Boats going Spanky Running Arends Adjusted BdWalk Danger Dan Sixshooter Spoonfed Get your boat listed as soon as you can. Let us know if you will be there on thursday and we will do a get together of sorts. See everyone in lake Erie. Mark & Steve

Look here: Fisher tackle Guppy

Not knowing what type of trim you have, I would start at the connection on the gauge. Is it electric or hydraulic?

Zurmmy, Give me a day and I'll write you up a basic "how to fish with cut" and I'll get it posted for you.

Welcome Aboard Kayle. Just ask away there is a lot of knowledge on this site.

We'll be fishing Fri. and Sat. it may be rough but at least I'll be up for it. Don't worry about the coordinates, I'm heading out with Bret!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope everyone is stocked up on :cpox: (I just love these Pic's.)

With the wind and wave forecast for tomorrow we are going to hit the lake tonight and see if we can find a good school of fish for the up coming tourny on Friday - Saturday. With the forecast for Thursday it will be anybody's guess has to were the fish will be on Friday. Steve

Here’s a little info that I did not add to the original post! The morning started out real slow and I could not figure it out. I was changing up all the colors and trying different techniques and still could not figure out my dry spell till my brother-in-law pulls out a banana from his bag and started to eat it. I immediately went off on him asking him WHY he as a banana and told him to toss it over. After tossing it over we box 2 kings and went dead again. I asked if he had any more bananas on board and he told me no. About 10 minutes later he asked me if banana bread would count!!!!!!!!

I have (2) wire set ups on my boat that I use for running dipsies. I just started to use them for drop-weight set ups this year. I use the Okuma SD-30D (Which they no longer make) Reels on a Diawa Heartland 9'6" rod with a twili-tip. I have been using these set ups for 3 years now and have not had to replace the rod because of guide wear. Yet! The Diawa SG47 and the Okuma CV-30D reels work well with wire. You need a reel with a good drag system because there is no stretch in the line. Oh! I use the Mason 7 strand #30 stainless wire.

Six I just have (1) question??????????? Where do you find all of those 7oz fish???????

I fished with a guy on Sunday how knows Ken Neidlinger and he told me that Denny Neidlinger Sold ProKing to Dreamweaver. Has anyone heard this or know any back ground on it?

Fishing Report for the weekend of May 6 & 7 Well I hit the water Saturday morning with a friend and main goal was to target trout. We trolled from 80 ft. to 130 ft. We end the day 9 for 16 with 4 Lakers, 5 Kings. All but (1) laker was returned back into the water to be caught another day. They ranged from 25 to 30in. The kings were in that 8 to 10lb range with (1) going 12lbs. Sunday the wife forced me to fish in the morning. Her sister was in town and wife made plans for me to take her brother-in-law and his dad out fishing. We head out to 100 ft and I set up a king program in hope to get them onto some fish. We trolled out to 150 ft. flipped it and went back in to 100 ft. and called it a day. We end up 9 for 11 with 1 laker and 8 kings. We had (1) king that was 6lbs the rest were 11+lbs with the biggest at 15lbs. We hit (1) double and (1) triple. We heard on the radio that someone box a 20lb king in 138 ft. Sorry for the vague report but because of an up coming tournament this Friday and Saturday out of St. Joe, I don’t want to give out to much detail. For those of you that are fishing the Summer Challenge, I’ll looking forward to meeting you. If you see us at the captain’s meeting or at the weigh-in just stop and say high.

Welcome to the site Murray.

Welcome aboard John.

If you’re fishing anything over 30 ft. a stacker is a good way to through extra baits in the water column to cover the range of depths.

Saturday the Magnum was hot but Sunday I could not buy a fish on it.

I'll take a look tonight when I get home from work

Well after a bad report that I received at the local bait shop I op-ed out of fishing the river and hit a local lake;) I started out jigging at the mouth of a small inlet where the walleye have been know to spawn and had one catch me sleeping at the rod. After the sun hit tree top level I started trolling. Throwing everything that I had at them and could not get a bump. I finally threw on old faithful, HJ-14 clown back 100. I took 3 hits but could only keep them on for a few seconds. Lost one at the back of the boat trying to steer, fight the fish and net it all at the same time.

Where is the Quantity and Quality? I'm always looking for the most and biggest fish that I can catch.

I use did it for walleye some years back but have gone with a different attractant now and use it for salmon also.

Was this your shakedown for the big boat?

Welcome to the site. We like to hear reports and learn about new techniques.