The Trip is Over.

Fished last night in perfect weather. The lake was flat for the whole trip and the moon rise was gorgeous. We fished 6 miles south of the harbor in 60 to 100 feet of water. Had a good report that there were some nice fish in the area but we had a hard time catching them. Picked up 2 fish right at sunset off the meat rigs and that was it for us. We stayed out fishing until 10:00 PM because it so nice out. We made it out fishing this morning in very rough and windy weather. The temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind was out of the southwest 10 to 15 knots with waves 2 to 5 feet. We went back to fishing the shelf in the 80 to 120 foot range, which was a bad choice on my part. The temperature break last night was at 30 feet down and this morning it was at 85 feet down. We tried to set lines but with the wind and the waves it made it very tough. Fished out there for a couple of hours without a hit so we started trolling back into shallower water. After another hour of not catching any fish we called it quits and we knew that we were done fishing for the rest of our trip. The forecast was small craft warnings for the next 2 days. This years fishing was very disappointing. We had a lot of blow days and the water temp was 71 degrees for the whole week. Very few fish were in the river, which is unusual for this time of year.

2010 Results

We hooked 29 fish and landed 21 of them which gave us a 72 % catch rate. All the fish were King Salmon. We caught 17 fish in the morning and 4 fish in the evening. Of the 14 sessions we could have made it out fishing we only made it out 8 times. We totaled 31 hours of fishing and landed 21 fish for an average of .68 fish per hour. The 21 fish weighed 256.75 lbs. for an average of 12.23 lbs. per fish. The largest fish was 17.11 lbs. and the smallest was 3.5 lbs. The best setup was the regular dipsy set at 1 1/2 with a large Spin Doctor and a red meat head with red teasers. We lost 4 fish off the magnum Dipsy, 2 fish off the regular Dipsy and 2 fish off down rigger #2. Below is a list of lures that caught fish and the set ups used to catch them:

Large Spin Doctor with Red Meat Head..................12 hits
John J Rig..................................................................... 5 hits
Green Splatter Back-Ace High.................................. 4 hits
Large Spin Doctor with Glow Squid.......................... 4 hits
Silver Streak Black and White Glow Spoon............. 1 hit
Moo Moo Meat Rig...................................................... 1 hit
Large Spin Doctor with Frog Squid........................... 1 hit
Black Mamba Meat Rig............................................... 1 hit

Down Rigger #1 had 2 hits
Down Rigger #2 had 4 hits
Down Rigger #3 had 4 hits
Down Rigger #4 had 1 hit
The Regular Dipsy had 11 hits
The Magnum Dipsy had 7 hits

Fast and Furious

So far the weather has been terrible. Yesterday was a total waste, waves 4 to 6 feet and no end in site for better weather. Woke up this morning and the forecast was for strong winds out of the northwest, well they were wrong again. The temperature this morning was in the lower 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind was out of the north at 10 knots and by the time we quit fishing it was out of the west at 5 knots. We ran meat rigs off the dipsy's set at 125 to 185 back and flashers and squids off the riggers anywhere between 50 and 75 down. Caught one fish off a splatter back (green) at 55 feet down and 40 feet back. The fishing was very good for about 1 hour and then the bite just shut down. Went 5 for 5 today and all the fish were kings.

Catching is Slowing Down

Last night the wind started to come out of the North 10 to 15 knots with waves around 3 feet. We fished in the same area and only caught 1 fish. This morning the temp was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind was out of the southwest 10 to 15 knots with waves 3 feet or less. Trolled the shelf back and forth running the same lures and we went 2 for 4. Very few fish are being cleaned at the cleaning stations, so it's not just us. Some of the boats are running south to fish and they are bringing back smaller fish, and only a couple per boat.

Day Two of Fishing

Finally had a nice morning for fishing. The wind was out of the east at 5 to 10 knots with waves less than a foot. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. Started fishing the same area and program as yesterday. Our best setup was running meat off the dipsy's set anywhere between 125 and 185 back. Caught 1 fish off a green spatter back ace high. With the calmer water we were able to stay in one general area. Went 7 for 10 with all the fish being kings.

Off to a Rough Start

Salmon fishing with Joe and John. We now have a wi fi hook up so I plan to update every day. Saturday afternoon we tried to go fishing in 3 to 5 foot waves. After 20 minutes of beating ourselves up we called it a day. No hook ups and no fish. The report for Sunday morning was light east winds. When we got to the lake in the boat the wind was out of the northwest 10 to 15 knots with waves 2 to 4 feet. We went fishing anyways.

Started fishing north of the harbor in water 80 to 100 feet deep. Had a hard time trying to set lines because of the wind and waves, kept getting lines tangled. Finally got 3 lines set when the first rod went off, down rigger #2 set 80 feet down with a green silver horde. Before that fish was in the boat down rigger #3 went off, set 75 feet down with a glow black and white spoon. Had the first fish in the net, Joe was fighting the second fish and the #1 dipsy set on a number 1 1/2 setting at 110 feet back went off. Got Joe's fish in the net and the only pole in the water was the one with a fish on. Got that fish in the net and then the fishing slowed up. Had one more hook up off a meat rig that we lost.

The trip ended with 3 kings that weighed between 11 and 16.12 lbs. We got back to the docks and were unloading the boat when I fell off the dock and into the boat. Right now my knee is very sore and it's packed on ice. In a couple more hours I will try to walk on it and see what happens.

Nice Cooler of Perch

Fished with Captain Dan. Temperature this morning was 75 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind was out of the southwest 10 to 15 knots with waves 1 to 3 feet. The water temp is 77 degrees. Started fishing 1 mile west of the Turn Around buoy and we only caught some small perch. Made a move to 1 /2 mile southeast of the Turn Around Buoy and we started to catch some fish. The fish were not a large as the last trip but at least we were on some fish, besides it was too rough to keep on looking for larger fish. There were very few boats out fishing today, 2 boats fishing in the area that we were in and only 6 trailers at Bolles Harbor. Kept 42 perch today.

Few Bugs, Very Few Waves and a Few Perch

Fished with Joe and Uncle Dan. Temperature this morning was 66 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70s. There was very little wind which made for no waves but we had a bug problem for about 30 minutes before a little breeze started. The water temp is 79 degrees. Picked up our bait at Lake Erie Party Store and they had a combination of shiners and mud minnows, which was OK. Started fishing in our old spot from last year(41 51 900 / 083 11 070) and we caught no fish, marked a lot of fish but could not get them to go. Made a move 1/2 mile east of the Turn Around Buoy and we started to catch some fish. Had a lot of throw backs and caught about 12 sheep head so we stayed busy. The bite slowed down after a freighter went by so we moved to McDonald's. Fished here for about 20 minutes and caught no fish so we called it a day. Kept 58 perch.