Getting Towards the End

Fished with Captain Dan. Temperature this morning was in the lower 40s and very foggy.
When we quit fishing it was in the lower 50s with sunshine. The wind was out of the east northeast around 10 knots with waves about a foot. The water temp is 43 degrees. Started fishing in our hot spot and again it did not pay off. We heard a report at the bait shop this morning that they caught some fish out by Sputnik so that was where we headed. Started catching fish right out of the gate but they were all 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 inches. Made a small move here to find some larger perch but we had the same results so we headed towards the buoys 1 and 2 on the River Raisin. Dropped the anchor here and we only caught 1 keeper perch so we made another move and fished right by buoy #1 and we were on some fish. Spent the rest of the trip here and we caught some nice fish. On the way back to the harbor we beached the boat on a sand bar, not good. It took us a while to get back to deeper water but we managed and there was no damage to the boat. Because it was getting late in the day we took the perch to Joe's bait store and had them cleaned. We kept 71 perch that weighed 23 1/2 lbs and cost $37.60 to have them fillet with the skins on.

Long Boat Ride

Fished with Captain Dan. Temperature this morning was in the lower 30s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 40s. The wind was light and variable so that means we had no waves. The water temp is 43 degrees. Our game plan was to perch fish for a while and then troll for some walleye. When we arrived at the bait store this morning it was closed so we went down the road to another bait store. It was also closed. We met some other fisherman there and we were trying to figure out what to do when Joe showed up at his bait store so we all headed there. We started fishing just south of Bolles Harbor and we had no luck so pulled the anchor and headed to our hot spot. Made 4 moves in this area and we caught no fish but Dan did have a bite. Made a move to the # 1 buoy off the Raisin River and still no fish. We decided to join the pack of boats in Brest Bay that were walleye fishing. We trolled around here for a hour without a bite. It was just to weedy to troll so we started perch fishing again. We fished in front of the two stacks, the E buoy, just west of the E buoy, in front of the mansion and then we called it a day. I cannot remember any time that we fished Lake Erie all day and never caught a fish. At least we had nice weather for a boat ride.

Cold, Cloudy and Cold

Fished with Captain Dan. Temperature this morning was in the upper 20s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 30s, it was cold. The wind was out of the south east around 10 knots and the waves on the ride out were 1 to 2 feet. After an hour the waves started to lay down. The water temp is 45 degrees.We got to launch out of the new Bolles Harbor and I have to admit they did a very poor job of updating the harbor. More on that later. We decided to head right back to our hot spot even though the lake was pretty rough. We dropped the anchor and never had to move for the rest of the trip. The only problem we had (besides being cold) was we were catching to many small perch, fish around the 8 inch size. We stayed put and sorted through the fish and tried to keep our hands warm. Kept 63 perch for the trip. Bolles Harbor- Removed 4 pit toilets and put in 2 new pit toilets-Removed 1/5 of the asphalt in the parking lot and replaced it with lake friendly asphalt-Added a water retention pond. What a big waste of money.

Felt Like Summer

Fished with Captain Dan. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70s. WOW! The wind was out of the southeast less than 10 knots and the waves were less than a foot. The water temp is 54 degrees. Started fishing by the 1 and 2 buoys on the River Raisin and we only caught 1 small perch. Made a move to our hot spot (41 50 905 / 083 14 976) and we started to catch some fish. We made one little move (about 100 feet) because the catching slowed down and we were on fish again. We caught a lot of perch but we were not keeping anything under 8 1/2 inches. The fish would come through in schools and we had 4 triple headers of perch. Kept 57 perch on a summer like day. We tried to clean the fish at Sterling State Park but the electricity was not working so we cleaned them at home.

One For the Pond

Fished with Captain Dan. Temperature this morning was in the upper 30s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 60s. The wind was out of the southwest 12 to 15 knots this morning with waves 1 to 2 feet and after a couple of hours the wind became variable with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 53 degrees. We are still fishing out of Sterling State Park because Bolles Harbor is closed. Started fishing by buoys # 1 and 2 off the Raisin River. We made four moves in this area with out a fish so we went back to the spot we have been fishing the last 3 weeks, which is 2 miles southeast of buoys 1 and 2. We started to catch fish right out of the gate but we had to sort threw them. Our goal was to keep nothing smaller than 8 1/2 inches. We stayed here and put up with the slow times. Kept 53 perch and we took them to the bait store to get cleaned. The catch weighed 16 lbs. and cost $24 to fillet. About half way through the trip one of my fishing poles fell off the engine cover and into the drink. I spent about 45 minutes trying to snag it it but had no luck. Sh@&$#t  happens but I still had a great time fishing.

Getting Towards the End of the Season

Fished with Captain Dan. Temperature this morning was in the middle 40s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 50s. The wind was light and variable and there were no waves on the lake. The water temp is 54 degrees. We have to fish out of Sterling State Park because Bolles Harbor is still closed for construction. Started fishing by the 1 and 2 buoys off the River Raisin. Made about 4 moves in this area without any luck so we headed back to where we fished last weekend, about 2 miles southeast of buoys 1 and 2. Started to catch some perch so we stayed put for the rest of the trip. The bite was very erratic, they would hit OK for about 10 minutes and then quit for 10 minutes. Ended up with 36 perch for the trip.

The Fish Fry Crew

Fished with John, Dan and Sherrill. Temperature this morning was in the lower 40s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 40s. Everyone stayed half way warm and no one complained. The wind was out of the northwest very light and there were no waves. The water temp is 56 degrees. Started fishing south of the E-Buoy and we were on some nice fish but the bite was very slow. Stayed here about 45 minutes and then we made a move to the west about 500 feet where we caught no fish. Got a call over the radio from Uncle Dan that they found some fish east of Buoys # 1 and 2 off the Raisen River so that was where we headed. The bite was good and everyone was catching fish so everyone was happy. The wind was starting to pick up out of the southwest so we called it a day before it got too bad. Kept 87 perch for the trip and I think John was having a perch fry tonight, he will sleep good tonight. Thanks Uncle Dan for the tip. 

Windy but Fishable

Fished with Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind this morning was out of the south 15 to 20 knots and about 10:00 AM it switched to the southwest 15 to 20 knots. On the boat ride out the waves were 2 feet and were building until the wind switched and the lake laid down to waves less than 2 feet. The water temp is 60 degrees. Started fishing just east of the E-Buoy and we only caught white perch. Made one move in this area and still caught only white perch. Made another move 3/4 mile south of the E-Buoy and we found some perch. The catching was pretty fast and steady. Caught mostly perch but we caught a lot of rock bass today. Never have done that before on Lake Erie. Kept 60 perch and the cleaning station is still open.

Almost a Skunk!!

The weather looked pretty good this morning so I went fishing. There was an accident on 275 this morning so it took for ever to get to the boat, finally got to the marina at 8:50 AM.. The temp this morning was in the upper 50s and when I quit fishing it was in the middle 60s. The wind was out of the south very light early and then it switched to the southwest 5 to 12 knots. The lake was flat in the morning and the waves were about a foot when I quit fishing. The water temp is still 60 degrees. Had a report that they were catching perch just past the Toledo Light House so that was the starting spot. Made about 4 moves in this area and only caught 1 perch. Things were not looking good. Made a move to the south of the E-Buoy and finally started to catch some perch. Kept 34 perch and while I was cleaning the fish they were starting to tear down the fish cleaning station.

Lot's of Driven and Few Perch

Fished with Joe. Temperature this morning was in the middle 40s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 60s. The wind was out of the north less than 10 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 60 degrees and from the storm yesterday there is a lot of weeds floating on the water. Started fishing just south of the E- Buoy and we had no bites so we moved to the east of the E-Buoy. Started to catch some nice fish but that only lasted for about a half hour. Made a few moves in this area with out any luck so we went to the Raisin River buoy # 1. Caught a few small perch at the first spot and made several moves in this area and only caught a couple of fish so we headed about 1 mile to the southeast of where we were fishing. Caught a few perch and made some moves in this area and then we went back to buoy # 1. Caught a couple of fish here and then we went back to the E-Buoy. Stayed here only about 15 minutes and we called it a day. The weeds were very bad by the Raisin River and were pretty bad by the E-Buoy. Only caught 28 perch today. Only two weeks left to fish from my boat!!

Nice Day on the Water

Fished with Uncle Dan. Temperature this morning was in the middle 40s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60s. The wind was light and variable with hardly any waves. The water temp is 60 degrees. Started fishing just east of buoys 3 and 4 on the River Raisin. Fished here for about 15 minutes without a bite so we made a move up to buoys 1 and 2. Fished about 1/4 mile east of them (41 52 480 / 083 16 410). Dan had a nice fish right out of the gate and I had a double so we thought we were in for a great day of fishing. The catching slowed down but we were on enough fish to keep us here. Around 11:30 AM it was like someone turned off the switch and the fish stopped biting. I pulled out the binoculars and took a look around and every boat I looked at was doing nothing. When I got home and checked out the buoy reports the barometer dropped .08 within 15 minutes, so that could have been our problem. Kept 40 perch for the day.

Nice Day, Slow Fishing

Fished with Walleye Willie and Rick. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60s. The wind was light and variable with no waves on the lake. The water temp is 60 degrees. Went to Joe's to buy some bait this morning and he was not open so I had to go down the road to Matthews and buy the minnows. All that they had were golden shiners, which is OK. Started fishing just past the E- Buoy and we started catching some nice perch. The action was steady for about 1 1/2 hours and then it quit. Started moving around this area looking for some fish without much luck. Made one last move to the E-Buoy and we were on some nice fish but the catching was slow. Finished out the day fishing here and we kept 58 perch for the day.  

It's Perch Jerking Time

Fished with Captain Daryl before he went to work. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 60s. The wind was out of the south southwest 10 to 12 knots with waves around a foot. The water is very clear every place we stopped to fish and the water temp is 64 degrees.  Stopped at Lake Erie Party Store to buy shiners and I was his the first customer. I got the last of the minnows, a combination of shiners and mud minnows. Started fishing by buoy # 14 and did not catch a fish. Made a move  to buoys 9 and 10 and caught 1 perch. Made another move to the dumping grounds just west of McDonald's and caught 2 perch. Moved again to McDonald's and caught gobies. Stopped on the way back to the E buoy and caught 1 little perch. Made our last stop 1/2 mile south east of the E buoy and we started to catch some perch, not very fast catching but at least we were on some perch. Well, time ran out and Daryl had to head to work so we pulled the hook and made our way to port. Kept 19 perch.  

That's it for Walleye

Fished with Joe and Uncle Dan. Temperature this morning was in the upper 40s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind was out of the south southwest 15 to 20 knots with waves 2 to 3 feet. The weather report was for light winds out of the southwest. The water temp is 67 degrees. Because of the waves we went into the dumping grounds and made a long troll towards our fishing spot running wiggle warts set at 70 feet on one side of the boat and 90 feet on the other side. The wind and waves were blowing the planer boards all over the place so the lures were not running very accurate. We were marking a lot of fish on the graph but they all had lock jaw. Made 3 or 4 passes but it was very difficult to control the boat.  We needed some fish because we wanted to go to Trappers and have a fish dinner. Well we got lucky and caught a couple of walleye that were pretty nice size so we had enough fish for dinner. Also caught 2 small walleye and 1 sheep head. Tough day of fishing but it paid off with a great walleye dinner. This will be it for walleye fishing this year.

Still Walleye Fishing

Fished with Joe. Temperature this morning was in the upper 40s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60s. The wind was out of the north 5 to 10 knots with hardly and waves. The water temp is 72 degrees. Wasn't sure how the walleye fishing would be after the blow over the weekend so we stopped and bought 1 scoop of minnows just in case. On the positive side I was hoping to limit out on walleye and do some perch jerking. Started trolling where we left off on the last trip running wiggle warts at 100 feet back on one side of the boat and 70 feet on the other side. Had some very good marks on the fish finder but could not hook up any fish. Made some passes at different angles and we finally caught a walleye off the 100 foot set up so we put both sides at 100 feet back. Made some more passes on the same line and we would catch a walleye, not great fishing but just enough to keep us in the area. Started to run out of time so we made a troll towards port and we started to catch some fish. Caught most of the walleye just east of the E Buoy. Kept 11 walleye, lost 2 behind the boat, had 1 small walleye that was released and only caught a couple of junk fish. Just another nice day on the water. While we were fishing today a mayfly landed on the bow of the boat, never saw one in September before!

Another Rough Ride

Fished with Uncle Dan. We waited a few hours this morning before we went fishing to let the wind and waves calm down. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 80s. The wind was out of the northeast 12 to 17 knots with waves 2 to 3 feet. The water temp is 74 degrees. Started fishing where we left off on Saturday running the same setups and we only caught a couple of walleye. The water was dirty from all the northeast winds that have been blowing the last 3 days. We trolled into the waves and finally found some clean water and some fish (41 50 100 / 083 18 740) but by now it was getting late. Made a couple of passes in this area and then we called it a day. Kept 8 walleye and caught 7 small walleye that we released. Marked a lot of fish but the catching was slow.

It Was a Bumpy One

Fished with Uncle Dan. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind this morning was out of the northeast 17 to 20 knots with waves 2 to 4 feet and after a couple of hours the wind started to switch from the east northeast less than 10 knots with waves 1 to 2 feet. The water temp is 76 degrees. Started fishing where we were on Tuesday running the same program. The only difference is the storm front was to the south of us and you could see it on the horizon. This slowed down the catching a lot today along with the large waves. The wiggle warts produced a little bit better than the spoons and we caught a lot more junk fish today. Kept 12 walleye and put back 8 walleye that were under size. Looks like the fishing should be good for a while.

Test Drive For the Boat

Fished with Daryl. The object for today was to check out the big motor and make sure it ran OK. Ran it for 2 hours(20 minutes run time and 1 hour and 40 minutes trolling time) and everything checked out perfect. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70s. The wind in the morning was out of the northwest 10 to 15 knots with waves around 2 feet and after a couple of hours the wind switched to the west less than 5 knots with a light chop on the water. The water temp is 78 degrees and there is sign of an algae bloom. Started trolling just past the E Buoy heading into the waves with wiggle warts set at 80 feet on one side of the boat and 100 feet on the other side. Made a long pass towards the River Raisin Channel and turned around and headed back towards the E Buoy. On the pass back we put dipsy's and spoons on one side of the boat set at 50 feet back. When we got close to the E Buoy (41 49 540 / 083 19 625) we caught our first walleye. Once we found the fish the catching was easy. Trolled in this area and we only caught 3 junk fish. Kept 12 walleye, lost one behind the boat and had 3 walleye that were under size that we put back. Turned out to be a great day on the water.

2012 Salmon Results

This years trip will be remembered as the year the boat broke down. Met a lot of great people from Manistee that went out of their way to get us back on the water. We hooked 47 fish and landed 39 of them which gave us a catch rate of 83%, which is very good. We lost 1 fish at the net, 1 fish got caught in the prop of the kicker motor and 1 fish broke the line because we did not check the fishing line after each hook up. We caught 37 king salmon, 1 coho and 1 lake trout that we released. We caught 21 fish in the morning and 18 fish in the evening. Of the 13 sessions we could have made it out, we made it 10 times, some of which were in 4 to 5 foot seas. The 3 missed sessions happened because the boat had electrical problems. We totaled 39.5 hours of fishing and landed 39 fish for an average of .99 fish per hour. The 39 fish weighed 469 lb. for an average of 12.02 lb per fish. Below is a list of the lures that caught the fish.

 

 

• Scarpace...........................................15 hits
• Black Mamba meat with red head....10 hits
• White Spin Doctor with glow squid...6 hits
• Splatter Back,green Silver Horde.......6 hits
• Happy Meal spoon.............................4 hits
• Ace High Silver Horde.......................3 hits
• John J meat rig...................................2 hits
• Purple Haze meat rig .........................1 hit



Last Trip on Lake Michigan

Fished with Joe and John. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and the wind was out of the southwest 15 to 18 knots. Waves were 4 to 5 feet. Started fishing straight out just of the shelf in 125 feet of water trolling with the waves. It was difficult to just stand up in the boat. We fished for about 3 1/2 hours and called it a day. It looks like we will not make it out to the big lake tonight so we might fish Little Manistee lake. On the way back to the harbor this morning the boat quit again. Got it running  and we made it back OK. Kept 3 fish and John caught the biggest fish of the trip.

No Fishing, Broken Boat

Fished with Joe and John on Wednesday morning and on the ride back to the harbor the boat broke down 3 1/2 miles from the harbor. Had to use the kicker motor to make it in. Worked on the boat Wednesday night and Thursday morning and we think we have it fixed. Going to try it out right now.

Tough Fishing for Us

 Fished with Joe, John and Daryl. Temperature was in the upper 40s this morning with a light breeze. We headed south to fish again and we did OK in the morning but only caught 1 for the evening trip. The fishing has been very slow up here so far. Had to work on the boat and a downrigger today so we stayed busy all day. Caught 7 fish today.



First Night of Salmon Fishing

Fished with Joe and John. Temperature was in the upper 60s with a light breeze. We fished south of the harbor around the 10 and 11 line. Caught most of the fish off the dipsy's set at 125 back with meat rigs. Went 5 for 8. More details later,I'm tired.

Long Boat Ride

The weather man called for a nice day so I went fishing. Temperature this morning was in the upper 60s and when I quit fishing it was in the upper 70s. The wind this morning was out of the north at 5 knots and when I quit fishing it was out of the northeast 15 to 18 knots. The lake was flat this morning and when I quit fishing at 10:00 AM the waves were 2 to 3 feet. The water temp is 78 degrees and still no sign of the algae bloom. Made a giant circle around the lake with the first stop just past the S Buoy fishing off the humps. Only caught a couple of white perch so I moved to the Toledo Light House. Fished for about 15 minutes with out a bite so the next stop was Buoys 17 and 18. Again no bites so the next stop was up the channel to McDonald's. Caught some perch but caught just too many white perch. By this time the waves were stating to build. Moved around here a couple of times with the same results so the next stop was to the dumping grounds just west of McDonald's. Caught a couple more perch but by now the waves were 2 to 3 feet. Decided to pull the anchor and head back to port. Kept 6 perch which will be just enough for mom to have for dinner.

Long Boat Ride and Big Perch

Fished with Captain Daryl and Mark. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 80s. The wind was out of the south around 10 knots with waves about a foot. The water temp is 76 Degrees. Decided to make the long boat run (41 48 000 / 083 13 000) and fish by the International Buoy, which is a 15 mile boat ride one way. Had good reports that some nice perch were caught in this area. Set up right on these numbers and within the first 5 minutes we had a 10 inch perch on. We picked away at them for a while and then the action just quit. Made a move to the east about 300 feet and caught 7 fish real quick and then the bite stopped again. Moved around this area for an hour without any luck so we headed to the Turn Around Buoy. Fished here for about 20 minutes and only caught a couple of small perch so we headed to one of our old hot spots from 5 years ago that was nearby. Dropped the anchor and fished here for 20 minutes and we had one small perch for our effort so we pulled lines and called it a day. Kept 21 perch and most of them were pretty nice but the boat ride is just too far.

Tough Day Perching

Fished with Uncle Dan. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind in the morning was out of the northeast about 10 knots and then it switched to the north about 5 knots. The waves in the morning were about 2 feet and on the way back to the marina they were less than 6 inches. The water temp is 78 Degrees and there is no sign of algae yet. Started fishing by the 17 and 18 buoys and the catching was slow but at least we were on some perch. The reports from a fellow fisherman from TBM was the fishing was terrible by the W and C buoys. We were picking away at the perch when a couple of boats anchored about 30 feet from us and the catching just stopped. Made one move in this area to avoid the boats but it did not help. Pulled the anchor and headed to the 13 and 14 buoys. We caught a couple of perch here but there were just too many white perch. Decided to head towards the dumping grounds and troll for walleye to see if we could locate some. Trolled here for about 45 minutes with jet 20s set at 50 to 60 feet back and only caught a couple of silver bass so we called it a day. Kept 23 perch.

Back to Back Perching

Fished with Joe and Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the upper 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s and starting to get warm. The winds were out of the south southeast from 10 to 15 knots this morning with waves about 2 feet and by 9:00 AM the wind switched to the south around 5 knots with a very light chop on the lake. The water temp is 77 Degrees. Started out fishing near the shipping channel by the 17 and 18 buoy right where I was yesterday. The catching was not as fast as yesterday but at least we were on some perch. Stayed here until the bite slowed down and then we made a move back to our old spot off the dumping grounds. It was a repeat from yesterday, all white perch. Joe even caught a triple header of white perch. Stayed here only a few minutes and made a move to the C buoy and dropped the anchor. Caught a couple of junk fish so we just called it a day. Kept 67 perch and threw back a lot of small fish again. 

Great Day to be on the Water

Went perch fishing by myself. My scheduled partner forgot to call me back early enough and by the time he did call, it was too late to call someone else. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when I quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind was light out of the north with no waves on the lake. The water temp is 78 degrees. Started fishing where we left off on the last trip and caught mostly white perch. Made a few moves in this area without any luck, just more white perch. Made a move out to the shipping channel by buoys 17 and 18 and started to catch some perch. Had to sort through them because most of the fish were too small to keep. Kept 27 perch and enjoyed a beautiful day on the lake.

First Perch Trip of the Year

Fished with Daryl and Joe. Temperature this morning was in the mid 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 80s. The wind was light and variable with no waves and no bugs.Our goal was to perch fish in close to shore so that was where we started. Dropped the anchor at the W Buoy and fished there for about 15 minutes and we had no fish but a few bites. Made a move out past the dumping grounds and slowed down to try and mark some fish. We had some nice fish suspended so we set up for walleye fishing. Trolled with crawlers with 2 oz. bottom bouncers set at 25 feet back and mini dipsy's set at 50 feet back. Only caught a white perch off the mini dipsy but marked a lot of fish on the bottom. Went back to where we marked the fish on the bottom (41 48 900 / 083 19 125) and set up for perch fishing. Started to catch a few perch and some of them were pretty nice so we stayed put and caught perch until it got too hot and the fishing started to slow down. Kept 68 perch. The heat wave still continues but the good news is the algae bloom has not started yet, probably from the lack of rain.

John's Crew

 Fished with John, Branden and Kevin. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The water temp is 76 degrees. On the boat ride out this morning the wind was out of the South 15 to 17 knots with waves up to 3 feet. Around 9:30 a.m. the wind started to come out of the South, Southeast less than 10 knots with waves about a foot, which made it a lot more comfortable. Started fishing at (41 48 300 / 083 06 200) which is 15 miles from port, just too far to go and chase walleye. Set up with jet 40s set at 60 feet on one side of the boat and 80 feet on the other side. The fishing was slow and it stayed that way all day. Made a few down wind trolls and only caught 1 walleye so we pulled lines and started one last down wind troll. We changed the set ups to 80 feet and 90 feet back with the jets and that did not help either. Picked up one more walleye and a few perch and then we called it a day. Kept 2 walleye and 2 perch. The guys on the other boat had 11 walleye and a perch so they cleaned the fish and went to Trapper's for lunch.

Big Fish

Fished with Joe and Uncle Dan. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind was out of the northeast 5 to 12 knots with waves 1 to 2 feet. The water temp is 79 Degrees. Started fishing where we were on the last trip, set up with wiggle warts at 6o feet on one side of the boat and 80 feet on the other side. The catching was very slow but we were marking a lot of fish so we tried to work this area. Caught a couple of fish off the 80 foot side so we tried jet 40s set at 40 feet to replace the wiggle warts that were at 60 feet. Caught nothing but junk fish off the jets so we put wiggle warts back on and set them at 110 feet.It seemed to help but the catching was very slow. With about an hour to go in the trip Joe caught a 42 inch muskie. It took some time to bring it in but he did manage. Dan went to net the fish and only half of it would fit in the net. Some how he manged to get it all into the net and into the boat. According to the muskie charts the average weight of a 42 inch muskie is 20 lb. Kept 6 walleye, cleaned them up and then went to Trapper's for a walleye lunch.

No Wind, No Waves and No Bugs, But HOT

Fished with Captain Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 80s. There was no wind today so we had no waves. The water temp is 78 degrees. Started fishing where we have been the last couple of trips with wiggle warts set at 65 feet back and 80 feet back. Trolled around and we caught a few walleye but the action was kind of slow. We were marking most of the fish on the bottom so we set the lines at 100 feet back and 120 feet back. Started to catch some fish at (41 48 350 / 083 19 450). We stayed in this area and picked up our limit of walleye. There are some weeds floating so we had to check the lines quite often but it was not too bad. The temperature was starting to get very hot so it was a good thing we got done early. Kept 12 walleye and 1 perch. As I'm writing this post the temperature outside is 99 degrees and the heat index is 115.3,  just too hot.

Too Bad the Fishing Wasn't as Hot as the Temperature

Uncle Dan an Dwayne

Fished with Uncle Dan and Dwayne. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 90s. It was HOT. The wind was out of the southwest around 10 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 78 degrees. Started fishing where we have been the last couple of trips, with wiggle warts set at 70 feet on one side of the boat and rebel crawfish set at 60 feet on the other side. Both sides were catching fish and then it just slowed down. We started changing the setups but nothing seemed to work. Caught a few throw back walleye and 2 nice small mouth bass but it was hard to catch a walleye. Kept 9 walleye and they were just of legal size. The reports back at the harbor was the catching was very slow. Could have been from the storms that blew through last night! On a side note, Dr. Doug was in attendance today when Uncle Dan managed to hook himself. Surgery went well.

Bugging Out

Fished with Joe. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s, and that was at 9:30 AM. The water temp is 76 degrees. The weather person called for an East wind 10 to 15 knots with waves up to 3 feet. The lake was flat with no waves, but a whole lot of bugs. Without any headgear on you would breath in bugs through your mouth and nose, just terrible. Started fishing where we were on Saturday and we never left this area. Trolled with jet 40s set at 35 feet back and wiggle warts set at 65 feet back. Today the jet 40s out fished the wiggle warts 2 to 1. Caught mostly walleye but most of them were just of legal size, 15 1/4 inches. The fishing was great but the bugs were hard to put up with. I told Joe it took longer to wash out the bugs from the boat than it did to catch the fish. Kept 12 walleye and we were glad to get off the water. Just in case you cannot tell from the picture, Joe has a smile on his face!  

From Rain and Rough to Calm and Sunny

John H. and Dan P.

Fished with John and Dan. Temperature this morning was in the upper 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 80s. A rain storm came through this morning with winds out of the south up to 26 knots and waves up to 3 feet. After a couple of hours the wind laid down and the sun came out and it turned out to be a nice day. The water temp is 74 degrees. Our goal was to fish the dumping grounds so we set up a troll 1/2 mile south of the dumping grounds with jet 40s set at 35 feet and wiggle warts set at 65 feet. We made that downwind troll and picked up 6 walleye so we pulled lines and headed back to our starting spot. Set up this time with jet 40s at 30 feet back and wiggle warts set at 70 feet. By this time the lake was calming down and we were able to troll where ever we wanted. Caught most of the fish around (41 48 100 / 083 21 800). Had very few junk fish, only 1 small walleye and 1 walleye that was 15 1/2 inches that we put back. Kept 18 walleye and I think the guys had a great time. This last week has been some of the best walleye fishing all year. Again, we were done early.

Too Fast and Too Quick

Fished with Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70s. The wind was out of the west northwest 10 to 15 knots with waves 1 to 2 feet. The water temp is 76 degrees. We started fishing southeast of the E-Buoy at (41 49 500 / 083 19 500) and we never left this area. Ran jet 40s set at 45 feet on one side of the boat and wiggle warts set at 80 feet on the other side of the boat. Both set ups were producing fish so we left them alone. The catching was very good and we only caught 1 silver bass and 3 throw back walleyes. Kept 12 walleye and 1 perch and we were done fishing by 9:15 AM. It sure makes it nice when the junk fish are not biting!!

Fishing in Front of TBM

Captain Doug

Fished with Uncle Dan. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70s. The wind was out of the north east 10 knots or less and the waves were around a foot. The water temp is 73 degrees. Started fishing east of the dumping grounds (41 49 450 / 083 19 200) and we never left this area. We set up with jet 40s set at 45 feet on one side of the boat and 55 feet on the other side of the boat. The side with the 55 foot set up was working better so we switched the side with the 45 foot setup to 60 feet. We caught a lot of fish which kept the both of us very busy. We did not have any time to eat or drink while we were on the water, which is not a good thing. Kept 12 walleye and had at least 15 under size walleye that we put back and countless number of silver bass and white perch. The weather was great and the catching was great so we went to Trappers and had a fresh walleye dinner which was awesome.

92 Degrees, That Says It All

Fished with Captain Daryl and Mark. Temperature this morning was in the middle 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 90s, and it's only the middle of June. The wind was out of the south at 10 knots when we started fishing and it laid down to 5 knots after a couple of hours. The waves were a foot or less. The water temp is 71 degrees and that helped cool things off a little. Started fishing in front of Bolles Harbor by a pack of boats (41 51 250 / 083 17 175) trolling with jet 20s set at 60 feet back and jet 40s set at 35 feet back. Made 3 or 4 passes here and we caught a lot of silver bass and only 1 walleye so we pulled lines and headed past Sputnik to (41 48 375 / 083 09 100). Set up on an east troll with jet 20s at 80 feet back and jet 40s at 65 feet back. It did not take too long and we were into some fish. We trolled around the 48/08 line for the rest of the trip. We lost at least 7 fish behind the boat that we thought were walleye, kept 16 walleye and 3 perch and had 3 little walleye that we put back. Daryl hooked up the mister again like last year and that helped cool things off a lot. When we were cleaning the fish another fisherman was cleaning his fish and they caught all their fish at the first spot we stopped at, we just did not fish deep enough. They ran jet 40s back 60 to 70 feet in 21 feet of water.

Another Tough Day of Fishing

Fished with Daryl, Uncle Dan could not make it. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind was out of the south east 10 to 15 knots with waves around 2 feet. The water temp is 69 degrees.Started fishing at (41 51 600 / 083 17 200) which is where we have been fishing the last two trips. Started setting the lines and we noticed all the weeds. Stayed here about 15 minutes and we caught 2 silver bass and a lot of weeds. Made a move to the east and set up at (41 52 300 / 083 12 100) with jet 20s set at 80 feet and jet 40s set at 60 feet. We were out of the weeds but we were catching a lot of junk fish, silver bass and sheep head. Again we would catch a walleye every so often just to keep us in this area.. We put the jet 20s back to 100 feet and that was the only change we made. Kept 5 walleye and we had to work hard to catch those. I broke the e z steer connecting rod for the engines when we first set up for trolling so we trolled with the main motor all day, which worked out OK because it was pretty hard to steer into the waves.

Windy and Rainy

Eric, Dan and Booth

Fished with Joe, Booth, Dan and Eric. Temperature this morning was in the upper 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. When we started fishing the wind was out of the south at 10 knots with waves less than a foot and around 8:30 the wind started to blow out of the southwest around 20 knots with waves 2 to 3 feet and it was raining. Not a good start for the morning. Started fishing where we were yesterday with jet 20's set at 60 feet back and we caught a lot of sheep head and again the occasional walleye. When the wind started to pick up the walleye action was getting better. Started to catch a few walleye and then the wind, waves and rain just got to be too bad so we pulled lines at 9:15 to head back to port. It was a good call because when we started to clean the fish the rain just started to pour down and the sirens were going off indicting bad weather coming. Kept 10 walleye and 1 perch and caught a ton of sheep head and a few silver bass.  

It Was a Hot One!

Daryl and Doug

Fished with Captain Daryl and Uncle Dan. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60's and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 80's. The wind was light and variable which made for hardly any waves. The water temp is 68 Degrees.

Had a report that they were catching some fish in front of the Two Stacks so we made a pass through there this morning looking for fish on the fish finder. Did not mark any fish so we headed out to Sputnik. Fished just west of Sputnik with junior thunder sticks set at 80 feet and jet 40's set at 60 feet. Picked up a few fish here, but the weeds were terrible. Got tired of fighting the weeds so we headed to (41 51 200 / 083 17 500). Set up here with jet 40's at 30 feet and junior thunder sticks at 50 feet. Caught a few fish but every time we brought in a thunder stick it had weeds on it so we put on mini dipsy's set at 50 feet. Decided to put jet 20's on one side set at 60 feet and started to catch some fish. Picked up a few walleye this way so we set the other side of the boat with jet 20's also.

Caught a lot of sheephead but we were still catching walleye. Kept 18 walleye and had one throwback.

Missing Bag

Fished with Daryl and Mark. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind was out of the west around 10 knots with waves less than a foot. Calm sea's, cool breeze and no bugs, just a great day on the lake. The water temp is 65 degrees. Started fishing by the Turn Around Buoy heading southeast trolling mini dipsy's and spoons set at 80 feet back and jet 40s and spoons set at 60 feet back. Picked up our first walleye at (41 49 850 / 083 09 070) off the mini dipsy and the next 4 fish came off the jets. We fished in this general area for the rest of the morning but we put jet 40s on both sides of the boat. There were a few weeds floating and quit a few May Fly Larva floating but it did not cause too much of a problem. The silver bass are still around but we did not catch a lot of them. Kept 15 walleye and had one throw back walleye(14 1/2 inches). I'll post a picture when I get my fishing bag and camera back from Daryl, Mark thought it was Daryl's bag and took it with him. Picked up the camera today and posted the picture.

The Day After the Big Blow

Fished with Captain Daryl and Joe. Temperature this morning was in the lower 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60s. The wind was out of the northwest 10 knots and less. We just had 3 days of the winds blowing out of the west and northwest 25 to 30 knots so the lake was in pretty bad shape. We did not find any clean water until we got past the shipping channel then we saw a pack of boats so that was our starting spot (41 46 630 / 083 09 450). We set up with deep diving Jr. thunder sticks set at 90 feet and dipsy's and spoons set at 75 feet. We caught a lot of silver bass off the dipsy's so we pulled off the thunder sticks and put on jet 20s and spoons set at 80 feet. Started catching more silver bass and then we finally caught a walleye. After we trolled around through the pack of boats and not seeing any fish being caught we started a troll towards sputnik. Picked up another walleye and then the catching slowed down. We pulled lines and headed for the Turn Around Buoy and set up a troll heading towards Sputnik. Got close to Sputnik and the lines started to pop and the catching was on, for big sheep head. Continued the troll down the channel and we caught 1 more walleye and decided to call it a day. Kept 3 walleye and all of them came off a spoon called confusion. 

Back to the Tough Times Again

Fished with Joe and John. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind this morning was out of the northeast 15 to 17 knots which made for a long boat ride out to our fishing spot. Around mid morning the wind died down a little which made for better conditions. For the last hour the wind picked up again but at least the waves were to our back for the ride in. Waves were 2 to 3 feet for most of the day and the water temp is 68 degrees. After a long boat ride to our fishing spot (41 48 275 / 083 11 600) we set up with deep diving Jr. thunder sticks set at 75 feet back on one side of the boat and jet 20s and spoons set at 60 feet back on the other side of the boat. We were trolling around catching silver bass and then we heard a report on the radio that the hot set up was jet 20s set at 90 feet back. We pulled all the lines and set up this way. I'm sure it helped a little because we would catch a walleye every once in a while but the fishing was terrible. We tried different colors and different combos but nothing really seemed to make a difference. Kept 5 walleye, cleaned them up, stopped at the restaurant at Bolles Harbor and had a walleye dinner. All the walleye were between 15 and 16 inches.

Sticky Situation

Fished with Captain Daryl and Mark. Temperature this morning was in the upper 40s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind was variable this morning and by the afternoon it was out of the east about 10 knots. With the light wind this morning the bugs were just terrible, probably the worst I have ever seen. It was even hard to breath. On the ride out the channel we were setting up the poles when one of them broke at the tip, not a good start for the day. Started fishing about 3 miles past McDonald's trolling southeast ( 41 46 250 / 083 13 150). We ran Jr. Thundersticks back 75 feet on one side of the boat and 95 feet on the other side of the boat. Caught a walleye off each side of the boat and then we had a double on the side set at 75 feet. We got the fish in and on the last walleye the fish jumped just when Mark put his hand in the net and he buried the hook in his left thumb. We talked about pulling out the hook right there but Mark did not feel comfortable with that so we pulled lines and headed in. On the ride in we talked about the emergency room and then Mark mentioned the urgent care centers, which sounded good. When we arrived back at the harbor we went and talked to Captain Eddie McMillion from Fish On II and he said he could pull the hook out with no problem. After a couple of minutes of calming down Mark the hook was out, we thanked Captain Eddie and out we went fishing again. We set up right where we left off but by now the wind was steady out of the east just over 10 knots which helped with the bug problem, which made us very happy. We set both sides at 75 feet and we just picked away at the fish. We were still catching silver bass but not as many as the last couple of trips. We lost at least 4 walleye halfway to the boat and we threw one back because it was too small. Kept 13 walleye which means it is fishing time. Just a little side note, I took the picture on the ride back in and that is the only time Mark smiled for a hour.

Still Slow Catching

Fished with Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the upper 40s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind was out of the east 10 to 14 knots with 1 to 2 foot rollers. After an hour of fishing the wind started to lay down and it became pretty nice on the water. The water temp is 62 degrees. Started fishing in the dumping grounds drifting with crawler harnesses. We only caught a couple of silver bass so we started trolling with deep diving thunder sticks set at 40 feet back on one side of the boat and 50 feet back on the other side of the boat. Picked up two fish real quick and we thought we had a good program but the catching slowed down. We stayed in this area for the whole trip catching a few silver bass and the occasional walleye, just like the last trip. Kept 5 walleye.

Non Stop Action, of Silver Bass



Joe with a Double

Fished with Joe and Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The water temp is 61 degrees. The wind was out of the north east around 5 knots with hardly any waves. Just a great day to be on the water!! Started fishing by the C Buoy trolling towards the E Buoy with bottom bouncers and crawlers set at 45 feet on one side  and bombers and jet 20s set at 55 feet on the other side of the boat. The silver bass were so thick that you could not keep them off the lines. We actually caught 2 silver bass on one crawler harness 2 times today. We stayed here for about 2 hours trying different set ups and we only caught silver bass and 1 Smallmouth Bass. We finally made a move to the other side of the River Raisin Channel (41 53 600 / 083 17 100). We set crawlers on one side set at 75 feet back and deep diver Junior Thunder sticks set at 120 feet on the other side. Caught the first walleye off the crawler so we switched the other side to crawlers. We still caught a lot of silver bass but we would catch the occasional walleye. Trolled around here for a couple of hours and we ended up keeping 5 walleye and lost one right at the net. Good day of fishing but a bad day of catching. 

Captain's Mistake

Fished with Daryl, Doug S. had to work. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind was out of the south less than 10 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 55 degrees and the water is very clean for this time of year. The game plan was to start fishing at the E Buoy and head northeast until we found some fish. We ran dipsy's set at 50 feet with spoons on one side of the boat and jet 20's with spoons set at 55 feet on the other side of the boat. We were catching a lot of silver bass and Daryl said lets set the lines further back. We did that and it only took about 15 minutes and we had the first walleye on off the jet 20 set at 70 feet back. Trolled around for a while catching silver bass and no walleye so we made a move towards Turtle Island. All the boats fishing there were anchored fishing for perch so we headed towards the Toledo Light House and set up a troll heading for the dumping grounds. The reports on the radio said they were catching fish trolling with crawlers. We had the crawlers but no bottom bouncers to fish with. My mistake. We trolled towards the dumping grounds only catching silver bass so we decided to call it a day. Kept one walleye!!

2012 Trout Fishing Results

The 2012 trout fishing season started pretty good and then it went down hill from there, but not from lack of trying. The weather was pretty nice. Cold temps at night (25 to 35) and the day was just about average or a little above average (50 to 65). We had a rain storm blow through on Monday morning around 1:30 AM and it was gone by Monday morning around 8:30 AM. We did all of our fishing on the Pine River at 2 locations, Walker Bridge and Skookum Bridge. For bait we used salted shiners, large trout worms and spawn sacks. Most of the fish were caught off the shiners and 2 were caught using the worms. We had quite a few bites but we did not catch very many fish. We were told that the Pine River is the fastest flowing river in Southern Michigan and that could be the reason for so many missed fish. All the locals use fresh steelhead spawn for bait and next year we will have some also. We were able to have two trout dinners which are always excellent. We all had a great time, told a lot of stories, some sad and some very funny. We caught 10 trout and kept 9 of them, six Brown Trout and 4 Rainbow Trout. Joe is the Trout King this year with a brown trout that measured 16 1/4 inches.

Trout Season Opening Day on the Pine River



Pine River Trout - Opening Day

Opening Day for Trout Season here on the Pine River, just north of Luther, MI, began with temperatures in the 30's that warmed up to the mid 50's. The weather has been pretty nice so far. The river is in good shape this year. The campground is not nearly as full as it was last year, in fact, the tent area is empty.
We left home around noon on Thursday so we could get a good spot at the campground. We didn't get our first choice, but we got the next best.
As of Sunday, we have caught 6 fish, 5 Browns and 1 Rainbow. All of our fish were caught using shiners on Saturday. As it stands right now, Joe caught BIG FISH, measuring in at 16 inches. Our Opening Day Trout Dinner was excellent!!