Holland Evening 7/26, 5 for 6

[zgrinder on Fin Warrior]

Headed out after the Great Republic cleared the channel and did its business just short of 5:00pm.  Planed out southwest into the blow not sure if a direct troll into the waves would be suitable for my guests or if I would need to go north for a while.  We set down in 130FOW, trolled south and all was OK.  Thanks to the many reports on this site, I knew the fish would be deep, I wanted to hunt bigger kings for my guests so I kept the spread simple.  Two DRs down 90’ on the counter.  Green Flounder Pounder (GFP) Mag RV on the SB side and a meat rig, bait head only on the SWR to the Port.  Two wire dipseys were deployed, one with a Hulk Mag RV spoon and a SD/Salmon Candy green fly on the other (this did not get sniffed the entire run).  After a period of not much happening we got a flurry of activity, boating a nice size king on the GFP and a SH on a wire dipsey among a few drive buys in the mix.  As we got to Saugatuck on a south troll, with only two boats within a mile of each other, a larger boat would not let up their relentless pressure pushing our troll south to SW, pushing me into deeper water.  I would give way and they kept cranking me over to deeper water.  There are ways good captains handle this situation and I did just that.  I backed my troll to a 1.6mph crawl.  Let the other boat cross me diagonally with all their long lines, careful not to run across them and start that whole bitch fest that happens in these situations.  Zero radio contact, which is also on me but by the time they were over my bow, there was nothing left to say but goodbye and good riddance.  Anyway, we flipped Fin Warrior around to a north troll and proceeded on.  As I was adding a 300’ weighted steel line to the spread with Craigs Flounder Pounder mag RV, the meat rig finally got bit.  After our long battle, we were disappointed it was not a king but a LT and boy did it make a mess of the boat.  That might be evident in one of the pics.  It was returned to the lake.  I would swear we were roughly in that same Lat area from the south troll when things got spicey again.  The 300’ WS got bit, landing a SH.  The mono dipsey got smoked and we lost the gear but the Smart Troll probe stayed attached so I call that a win.  Not sure how a double line uni knot would fail especially with all that line out.  The GFP got bit once more boating a 14lb king.  There were a couple of other drive buys/tip ups over that period then it got quite.  My guests had a long drive so we pulled lines at 9:00pm.  Over all, everyone got to touch a rod and bring in a fish.  And fish was sent home with my guests.  So I am happy we had a great time on the water.

#	Time	Fish	Weight	FOW	Troll	Wind Dir.	Speed @ Ball	Rod	Bait Depth	Bait
1	5:45pm	King	13	128	S	S	2.3	DR 20#	90C	Green Flounder Pounder Mag RV
2	5:57pm	Steelhead	6	128	S	S	2.3	Dipsey - Wire	57ST	Hulk Mag RV
3	7:30pm	Laker	10	118	NE	S	2.2	SWR	115C	Meat Rig, Silver Blue Head no Paddle
4	7:40pm	Steelhead	7	116	NE	S	2.3	Weighted Steel 300		Criags Flounder Pounder Mag RV
5	7:57pm	Miss		115	N	S	2.3	Dipsey - Mono	67	Hulk Mag RV
6	8:10pm	King	14	115	N	S	2.3	DR 20#	105C	Green Flounder Pounder Mag RV

  

 

[littleboat]

What a trip you had. At least they got some nice size fish to take home after a bouncy ride.

I certainly understand when it can be very challenging to change course when the nearby boat won't change it course.
I always yield, unfortunately losing fishing time, but a tangled mess would be much worst. GOOD CALL.

Sent from my SM-A156U1 using Great Lakes Fisherman mobile app

[SeaFoam]

Great work showing your friends a good time fishing! Some big smiles!


Sent from my iPhone using Great Lakes Fisherman

[SeaFoam]

I went out this morning with a buddy. 
Went 1-1, 7  lb king. 6:00 am, rigger down 100 in 120 fow, mag ms green jeans. That was it. Ran two dipsys at various lengths, 300 weighted steel, full core, riggers deep. Couldn’t get anything going. 

Tried glow spoons, ss spoons, flasher flies, and meat rigs. Troll direction changes, speed changes, you name it. Just couldn’t get anything going. Called it at 8:30 am. 

P.s. it was hot.





Sent from my iPhone using Great Lakes Fisherman

[zgrinder on Fin Warrior]

I sensed last night the bite was slowing down too.  Could be the heat or the fish are in fear of the 2MD wrecking crew