The Coast Line Tour

Fished with Doug S. Temperature this morning was 34 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 30s. The wind was out of the northwest 5 to 10 knots and the skies were overcast for the first hour and then the sun came out. Turned out to be a nice day. We started fishing at Bolles Harbor and never had a bite. Jumped in the car and went to the Trenton Channel on Grosse Ille and never had a bite. Made one last stop at Bellanger Park and had the same results, no bites. All three locations the water was pretty low. Might try and go ice fishing this week on Lake St. Clair.

Airport Bay, Done for the Year

Fished Airport Bay with Doug S. and Daryl. Temperature this morning was 25 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the low 30s. The wind was light out of the southeast and we had sleet and snow for most of the trip. On the way to the canal Doug S. slipped on some ice and fell on the sidewalk, not a good start for the day. Walked down the canal to the bay and the ice looked pretty iffy in the center of the canal. Started fishing where we left off on Saturday and we caught no fish. Made about 4 moves and still nothing. Talked to some other fisherman and they had no fish. After a couple of hours we decided to call it a day on the bay and try to fish the Trenton Channel. On the way up the canal the ice looked even worse so we were hugging the east side of the canal. About half the way back I fell through up to my knees. Another 50 feet down the canal and Doug fell through with one leg up to his knee. We had to walk the shore line back for a while and the branches and underbrush are very thick on shore, which made for a tough go. This will be the last trip in that canal this year. After all this we came home with no fish, and we thought it was going to be a great day!!

Fishing the Big Pond

Fished with Joe out of Lake St. Clair. Temperature this morning was 26 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 30s. There was no wind today and the skies were partly sunny, just the perfect day for ice fishing. The ice is at least 16 inches thick. Had a report that they were catching some fish between the day sail ramp out from the Metro Park and Geno's, so that is where we headed. Started fishing in 3 foot of water and we only caught dinks. Made some moves further out and we caught a lot more dinks and 1 keeper perch (8 inches). Kept on moving towards Geno's and it did not help. Ended up having 2 perch that we kept, one that we gave away and one that we put back. I made the wrong choice today, we should have went back to Airport Bay.

Gander Mountain Tournament

Fished the tournament with Doug S. on Airport Bay. Temperature this morning was 25 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 30s. The wind was light out of the west and we had sunshine again today. We were hoping to fish from the same holes that we used yesterday but someone beat us to them so we set up right next to him. Lesson learned, next time we will cover our holes up so no one can find them. We caught a few fish here and then I decided to hole hop for a while. Hit about 25 holes without any luck so I came back to our original spot and spent the rest of the day there. Changed lures a few times and then we started to catch some nice fish. The best setup was a chartreuse Ken's spoon tipped with a minnow head. From the reports we had, the fishing was slow for everyone except one kid who had about 20 fish. We just stayed put and pecked away at the fish. At the weigh-in we held first place for biggest perch and heaviest catch for about 8 minutes and then we were eliminated from both categories. Our biggest perch was 15 ounces and our total catch was 5 lbs. 12 oz. When I get the final results I will post it.

The Day Before

Fished Airport Bay off Grosse Ile with Doug S. Temperature this morning was 22 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 20s. The wind was out of the west at 10 knots and the sky was pretty blue. The ice is about 10 inches thick. We decided to fish the Gander Mountain Tournament that is going to be held on Airport Bay tomorrow and so today we thought we would pre fish the area and figure out where we would start fishing in the morning. The water on the east side of the bay was dirty and towards the airport it was shallow. We moved around a lot and the fishing was slow. Everyone that we talked to had no fish, so it should be interesting tomorrow. We kept 3 perch and the largest was almost 13 inches. Today we parked at the airport and walked to the bay from there, almost a 1 1/2 mile walk. Tomorrow we can park by the bay and hopefully catch some more fish. I went to Florida for almost a week hoping to get some deep sea fishing in but the weather was windy and cold everyday. Talked to a lot of fisherman down there and the fishing is just terrible for this time of year. The water temp in the Gulf Coast is 57 degrees!!

Cold/Warm Day at Bolles

Fished with Doug S. at Bolles Harbor. Temperature this morning was 12 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 20s. The sun was shining bright and there was no wind. After a couple of hours of fishing I took off my hat and coat and enjoyed the sunshine, just a nice day to be on the ice. We started fishing where we left off on the last trip. Caught a few small fish but no keepers. We moved up and down the canal and we ended up not keeping any fish. There were only about 12 guys fishing and we talked to at least 7 of them and they had no fish. We decided to head out towards the lake and fish in front of the park, but as we were walking down the canal we noticed all the ice was gone in front of the park. We fished in front of the boat launch for a half an hour and then called it a day. Down by the Monroe Boat Club the ice is 12 inches thick but up by the boat launch the ice is only 2 to 3 inches thick.

Bolles Harbor Again

Fished with Doug S. out of Bolles Harbor. Temperature this morning was in the upper 20s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 30s. The sky was overcast and the wind was out of the northeast 5 to 10 knots. We started fishing at O Dark Thirty, roughly 7:00 AM. I don't think it made a difference that we were there so early today, because once the wind started to blow off the lake the bite slowed down. We started fishing in front of Monroe Boat Club and had no bites. Made a move towards the far end of the boat club and we started catching some fish. We had the camera again today and it showed fish for most of the trip. The only problem was, we both missed quite a few large fish - just could not keep them on the hook. Kept 11 perch today and we had a great time. We caught a lot of perch but most of them were small. Doug's Dad surprised us by coming out to see how the fishing was going - it was great to see him and I know he's looking forward to fishing with Doug next week!

Slow Day at Bolles

Fished with Doug S. out of Bolles Harbor. Temperature this morning was 30 degrees and it was snowing very lightly for the whole trip. The ice is about 10 inches thick and the water is very clear. The wind was out of the west 5 to 10 knots. Lake Erie Party Store was not open so we had to buy our bait from Jeff's on Dixie Highway. We started fishing in front of Monroe Boat Club and only caught a few small fish. Started hole hopping for the rest of the morning and we still only caught small perch. On the way out to fishing this morning we made a comment how we never catch any small perch out of Bolles, well, today changed that story. Everyone that we talked to either had a couple of small perch or nothing at all. We caught 8 perch and the largest was only 4 inches, and that's the one in the picture!!! Saw John A. heading out fishing as we were heading in.

2010 C.R.G.C. Derby

Fished the 2010 Chelsea Rod and Gun Club Derby hosted by Rick Monier on West Lake. Temperature this afternoon was in the middle 20s and the wind was gusting 15 to 20 knots, which made for tough fishing conditions. The skies were partly cloudy which made it feel a little bit warmer. The ice is 10 inches thick and very slippery. We had a crowd of over 20 people and they were scattered all over the lake. The fishing was very slow for the first couple of hours. As the sun started to set, some of guys started to catch a few fish. I do not have an exact fish count but I think it was close to 20 fish that were kept. When I get the correct number I will post it. Everyone had a great time and when we were done fishing Rick had a nice fire going by his house that kept everyone warm. I think there were more fishing stories told than fish caught today! I took a week off from fishing because I fell on the basement steps last Sunday and hurt my back. My back feels good tonight so I should be OK for the rest of ice fishing season.

Watching The Fish at Bolles Harbor

Fished with Doug S. out of Bolles Harbor. Temperature this morning was 32 degrees and when we quit fishing it was 35 degrees. The wind was out of the east at 10 knots and the skies were overcast. The ice is about 8 inches thick. Started fishing just past the Monroe Boat Club and we did not catch anything. Moved towards the beginning of the boat club and we caught a few fish. Doug brought his Aqua Vu camera today. The camera showed fish almost all the time but they just would not bite. We were jigging with spoons tipped with a shiner. The dead poles did not catch any fish. Kept 9 perch for the day, 3 of which were over 11.5 inches. Ran into Dwayne on the ice, nice talking to him. When we were leaving there was a large crowd fishing in front of Trout's gas dock. Did not see any action so I don't know how the fishing was there.

Dink City

Fished Metro Beach on Lake St. Clair with Doug S. Temperature this morning was 22 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 30s. The skies were overcast for the first couple of hours and then the sun came out. The wind was out of the northeast 10 to 15 knots. The ice is 12 inches thick. We took the 2 way radios along so we could split up and stay in touch. He fished in front of the flag pole in 2 feet of water and I headed out to the point and fished in 2 to 6 feet of water. I took along the shanty so I could do some sight fishing in the shallow water. I set up in 5 foot of water and put the first pole in the hole and was just starting to set up the second pole when I started to get some bites. Caught a 7 inch perch (released) and thought we were in for a great day. Set the pole back in the water and another fish hit, about 6 inches long. For the next 2 1/2 hours I moved in and out and could not get rid of the small perch. When you dropped the bait in the water 10 to 12 perch would attack it before it got close to the bottom. I know that I caught more than one hundred fish but none were keepers. Called Doug on the radio and he had 4 fish he kept. I headed back to where Doug was fishing and he caught one more fish and another fisherman gave him 5 fish so we came home with 10 perch.

Bolles Again

Fished with Doug S. and Daryl at Bolles Harbor. Temperature this morning was 27 degrees and when we quit fishing it was 32 degrees. The wind was light out of the west and the skies were overcast. The ice is still about 8 inches thick. With the warmer temperatures the past several days (mid to upper 30's), the snow and ice is starting to melt and causing the water to be a little dirty. Started fishing the same area as the last trip and we only caught a few fish so we headed up the channel about another 200 feet. Picked up a few fish in this area and then it was time to go home. We were using minnows and jigs. I tried using wigglers for an hour and had no luck whatsoever. We kept 12 perch.

Back at Bolles

Fished at Bolles Harbor with Doug S. Temperature this morning was in the lower 30s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 30s. The wind was out of the west less than 10 knots and the skies were overcast. The ice is 8 inches thick and all the snow on the ice is starting to melt. Just a great day to be on the ice. We fished with minnows and spikes but after a while we took off the spikes because all that they caught were sunfish. I caught most of my fish jigging a Kastmaster tipped with a minnow and Doug caught most of his fish using a large silver spoon with a minnow. We fished the same area as the last trip. We caught 27 perch and kept 20 of them. The largest fish was 12 inches.

Perch'n at Bolles

Fished Bolles Harbor with John A. We picked up our bait at Lake Erie Party Store and Joe gave us a good count of shiners again. Temperature this morning was in the upper 20s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 30s. The sun was shining all morning and the wind was out of the southwest about 10 knots. Because we were in the harbor the weather was pretty nice. The ice is around 7 inches thick and the water we were fishing is 6 to 7 feet deep. We started fishing in front of Monroe Boat Club and we stayed there the whole time. The bite was very slow for us and the fish that hit the minnows were just sucking on them. I tried fishing with mousies and Rat Finkies but never had a bite so I switched to all minnows. We caught 5 perch but only 3 of them were keepers.

Sunshine, Blue Skies and a Few Gills

Fished with Daryl, at a little lake in Unadilla. Dale was a no show today. Temperature this morning was in the middle 20s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 20s. The wind started to blow out of the southwest at 15 knots but because we were fishing a canal we were out of harms way. The ice is 8 inches thick and the lake has a little snow cover. We used small jigs tipped with spikes and mousies. The water was only 3 feet deep and we were fishing about 1 foot off the bottom. One jerk and the fish are out of the hole, pretty nice way to fish. The fishing was pretty steady all morning until about 10:00 AM, and then we had fewer bites and the fish that we caught were smaller. I had a lot of bites but just could not catch them, though I caught at least 2 dozen cisco. We kept 18 gills between the two of us.

Great Day for the Gills

Fished in Bridgewater with Doug E. Temperature this afternoon was in the upper 20s with a northwest wind of 10 knots. We fished an area called Rattle Snake Bay, which protected us from any wind and made for a beautiful evening on the lake. The water was 12 feet deep and we were fishing 1 foot off the bottom. He was using Rat Finkes with mousies and I had glow jigs with spikes. Doug likes to fish this lake in the afternoon because it produces the best fishing then. Today was no let down. About 3:45 PM the fish started to bite and by the time it got dark we had a nice pile of fish on the ice. We kept 50 bluegill, 2 perch and 1 crappie. I would like to say that I caught my share of fish but Doug out fished me 3 to 1.

First Trip to Lake St. Clair

Got a report last night that they were catching some nice fish at South River Rd. in Campau Bay so I decided to make a trip out there. The temperature this morning was in the lower 20s with the wind blowing 10 knots out of the northwest. The ice is 5 to 6 inches thick. When I arrived at the boat launch a guy was walking off the ice so I asked how he did fishing and he said he only caught a few dink perch fishing in front of the bar. I was heading towards the center of the bay so I figured his report did not matter. Made my way across the bay where there were 4 guys fishing. Stopped and talked to all 4 guys and between them they had 1 perch. Not a good sign. I started fishing and they all left so I was by myself. Made a lot of moves in this area and only caught 1 fish and as I was getting ready to leave two other fisherman were coming out. Talked to them and they had been fishing the spillway and Gino's where they only caught a couple of small perch. I explained how the fishing was out here and we all left together. On the way back to the car I stopped and talked to 2 guys fishing in front of the bar and they had about 10 perch between 4 and 6 inches in their bucket.

No Hits,No Runs

Fished with John H. Temperature this morning was 17 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 20s. The wind was out of the south 5 to 10 knots which made for very little wind chill. We decided to try steelhead fishing in Ohio and I think we picked the wrong day. When we arrived at the river (8:15 AM) they had already caught 3 nice fish off the docks so we were pumped up. We got dressed and headed towards the falls and we had the whole river to ourselves. Fished with spawn sacs and minnows below in-line bobbers. Neither one of us had a bite but we both had a great time. All I can say is we gave it our best, we tried like hell and we survived the cold weather. A great trip but no fish.

Start of Ice Fishing

Fished with Doug S. Temperature this morning was 28 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 30s. The wind was light out of the west at 5 knots which made for a nice day fishing. The ice is 4 inches thick. We started fishing at Lake Erie Metro Park and only caught a few small perch. After a couple of hours we decided to try Grosse Ille. Fished the Trenton channel without a bite and then we went to Smitty's and figured the ice was unsafe so we headed to the apartments to fish the channel and the ice was unsafe there also. So the first trip of the year was a bust.

Fall Steelhead

Went steelhead fishing in Ohio with Daryl and Mark. The weather was over cast with a little rain and the temp was around 50 degrees. The wind was out of the northeast at 14 knots but that did not affect us today. We had wax worms and spawn sacs for bait and all the fish we had on came off the spawn sacs. All the guys that had shiners did very well. Another lesson learned. We were 2 for 5 for the day and the fish were not very large.