What next

[trucktramp]

Well, the boat is wrapped and all of the gear put away for the winter. Too bad I waited until fall to buy the boat and gear. So what would everyone recommend as a learning aid to ensure a good fishing season next year. I have thought about the Keating books/videos. Are these worth it? Remember, I haven't been out in many years (The last time out all we had were downriggers) and things have changed alot. I'm figuring on either a charter in the spring or begging a ride to show me around but it is a long winter and deer/rabbit season only lasts so long. Plus everyone wants a Xmas list.

Dennis

[Boltman]

I bought the books and the DVD's of keating and I still watch them today, I was new to this just last year and they helped...BUt the best advice comes from these Guys on theis site, they have helped me so much and shortened my learning curve years....Mike, Ken,Jim,Etc.... they are all great and if I may say so....They are the best I've ever known.....

[tangled mess]

If you go with a charter make sure you ask or tell them you are going out to learn and have your own boat and ask them if they are willing to show what there doing.Some guys do not what you to know what is going on,so it is best to ask first.

[JWheeler]

The biggest thing is time, the more time you put in the better fishing will become. Advice and books can definitely get you headed in the right direction, but experience is the best teacher. You will learn more every time you go out, and figure out new things all the time, and finally come to a point where you think you have things pretty well dialed in, but fishing changes like anything else. Best luck, there are enough knowledgable fishermen on this site that can definitely shorten up the learning curve

[Nailer]

The biggest thing is time, the more time you put in the better fishing will become. Advice and books can definitely get you headed in the right direction, but experience is the best teacher. You will learn more every time you go out, and figure out new things all the time, and finally come to a point where you think you have things pretty well dialed in, but fishing changes like anything else. Best luck, there are enough knowledgable fishermen on this site that can definitely shorten up the learning curve

That is so true^^

Most if not all the guys on this site have no qualms about giving good information.

I thought we had a pretty good program, till we went out with Phil (Plumkrazy) last year and got a schooling.

Going out wit a Charter is a great way to learn, but you need to have an idea of what he's doing. It's like learning geometry when you only had elementary math.

Keeting's book is good, but not all really apply to western and southern Michigan.

A very simple 6 rod set would be 2 riggers set deep with spoons, 2 divers set at a depth higher with flasher/fly, and two long lines (core or copper) set out in Inline planers.

If you run a V pattern. (meaning the lines closest to the boat (rigger) would be the deepest and least far back), you should always be able to find fish.

Other things to keep in mind, the fish tend to hit spoons in the spring. Flashers and Plugs (jplug or ace high) really shine during August.

After you go out a few times and you want a charter, grab a charter from the site. I've talked with don from Tangled Mess at the show in Grand Rapids last year. He gave me his cell number, told me to call whenever I needed info. The biggest key to getting fish, is to fish over them, that's where the contacts really help. have game plan before you launch the boat.

When ever you go out, post a report (even if you didn't get any thing). If the guys see that your struggling, they will help.

[1mainiac]

Honestly there are several of us here who would be happy to take you out and show you what we do which will really help if you have the same gear we do. The thing is you can ask several of us the same question and get a slightly or totally differant answer from all of us and we are all right. On the other put the same group of us in your boat with your gear and we would likely all zero in on a pattern based on what you have that we could make work. Maintaining contact with the fish is key so get good reports and pay attention to what is going on around you. Most of us will not give you exact positions but we will all give you good info though sometimes it is a bit mystic. Don't worry about what the pack is doing there are a lot of guys who like to follow each other around. A Speed and Temp probe would be high on my list of must have things as it will answer a lot of questions about what the fish mood is below you. Except for a couple weeks during the run everything is temp dependant. So when you find fish out of temp there is a reason for it. Unless you personally know the person on the radio you are talking to don't beleive what you hear. If I am in a tourny don't beleive what I say either LOL. Salmon are easy to catch but often hard to locate as there is a lot of water for them to be in and they can move miles in a short period of time. Best bite is sunrise and sunset and the hour before and after as they are low light feeders so if you plan a day of fishing expect to work several patterns a early program with glow stuff and a mid morning program as you change to you mid day program. They also seem to eat on a 6 to 8 hour schedual so if you know where the bait fish are they won't be far away. If you find suspended fish they are resting between meals mark the area and keep looking for hungry fish give it a couple of hours and run back thru em and see if any have gotten hungry yet. Also keep in mind as the season changes so does the gear we use in the spring when water is cold you will seldom fish below 40ft down so you can use lots of light gear and long line setups. As the water temps go up the fish will move out and down so be flexable with your gear. A good spring setup would be a 3 color core and a 5 color core on boards with braid divers and 2 riggers for a 6 rod spread. By mid summer you would want a full core and a 300 copper on boards and preferably wire divers with the riggers and you could use the 3 color as a SWR setup behind one of the riggers as your deepest line.

Or you could try my approach which is buy 2 of everything and run it all so the boat looks like a porqupine as it goes by. Let us know what you have for a boat and where you fish someone here will get you in the right direction and welcome to the site.

[jay d]

jim just about covered it,the only thing i will throw in is match your spoons size to the baite fish they are eating.big baite,mag lures small baite,mini streaks and and scorpians.the only other advise i have since you said you have not fished in a lot of years is if you see planner boards being pulled by a boat give them room,some lines ma be 2oo,300 even 400 plus feet behinde the boat,and you wont make friends by running over there lines..good luck next season,any questions just ask.lot of good fisherman on this site.

[trucktramp]

My boat is a 22 ft Islander so it is trailerable and I am willing to travel...time permitting. I am out of Kalamazoo so I will mostly be fishing out of South Haven or even St Joe. I may offer an "educational trip" in the spring where I supply the boat and gear and my rider supplies the knowledge. I guess I will continue to read the old posts and see what happens in the spring.

[JWheeler]

My good friend lives near Texas Corners, we love to hit New Buffalo in the spring too. We seem to have better luck there with Coho compared to St Joe. We will be hitting it again in the spring, check back with you around that time...

[Phishy]

I found Keating’s and Porter’s books both very useful. If nothing else it kindles the drive to get on the water and think about fishing. I’m not the caliber of many of the folks on here, but I managed to catch a few phish this past season. A lot of it was all because of the advice I gleamed off this site. Last year was the first year since the early 80’s that I seriously fished big water and more importantly I was calling the shots, so I am in the same boat as you when it comes to relearning.

The biggest thing I can pass along is to think, don’t just throw out a bunch of lines and hope for the best. The worse mistake I made last season was to pass a scum line and not fish it. I learned at the dock that this was where the fish were, I got skunked that day (it was my only skunk…knock on wood). If you’re not marking fish, move , if your marking but not catching, do something different than washing lures, change something, depth and speed being my first choices. If you catch a fish, try to figure out why. Was it a fluke? Temp? Speed? Depth?

Also ask questions at the dock about rigs, not lures, but how where they running the successful lines. I learned about lead core and SWR at the dock. A kind person was willing to let me in on the technique and my fishing changed from there on out. Another hinted to me about the length of my flies behind the flasher. Subtleties in the bottom shouldn’t be overlooked. My best spot was anchored around a slight under point that extended out from 65 fow to 120 fow; the contours where otherwise parallel to shore except this little subtle slow tapering point over a mile in length. Was there a slight up well that pushed colder water and bait up? I’m not quite sure as I don’t have a temp probe. But it was something.

…my point is that little details can make a world of difference between who’s catchin’ fish and who’s washin ‘lures…..think and ask questions then get out there and do the things that you learned that you weren’t doing, don’t just do the same things and expect the exceptional results without changing your tactics. The lake is dynamic… so you should be too.