The Motley Crew

Fished with John, Joe and Kevin. 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 west northwest 5 to 8 knots and the waves were less than a foot, just another nice day on the lake. The water temp is 76 degrees. We fished the same area as the last couple of trips. Started off using jet 20s set at 43 feet back and wiggle warts set at 70 feet back. Started to catch some fish off the jets so we took off the wiggle warts and put jet 20s on both sides of the boat. The fishing was slow for us today, we caught a lot of garbage fish and the walleye catching was not what I hoped for. We had to work hard for the fish that we caught. There were a few weeds in the area but it did not affect the fishing too much. We kept 17 walleye between 15 1/2 inches and 17 inches and 1 perch that was 11 inches and had 8 under size walleye that we put back.

Daryl Can't Count

Fished with Captain Daryl. When we arrived at the marina it was raining pretty hard and the wind was blowing so we figured we would not make it out fishing. After a half hour the rain slowed up and the wind laid down so away we went. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was only in the upper 60s, and it's July!! The wind was out of the west and northwest 10 to 14 knots with waves around a foot. The water temp is 75 degrees. The algae bloom is starting to dissipate and I'm not sure why, maybe the temperature being so low. Started fishing where we left off on the last trip and we stayed in that general area (41 48 010 / 083 19 650). We ran jet 20s set at 43 feet back and dipsy's set at 60 feet back. Caught some fish off the jets so we raised the dipsy's to 50 feet back and that did not seem to work. We pulled off the dipsy's and put on wiggle warts and set them at 80 feet back, only caught a few fish off this set up so we put jet 20s on both sides of the boat. We caught 11 walleye pretty fast and it took us another hour to catch the last fish, or so I thought. Ended up keeping 13 walleye between 15 1/5 inches and 21 inches and 3 small perch.

Fishing the Dumping Grounds

Fished with Norm. Temperature this morning was in the middle 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind was out of the north and switching to the south, less than 5 knots all day. The water temp is 76 degrees and the waves were less than a foot. The algae bloom is starting to get thick, which is normal for this time of year. We started fishing just the other side of the dumping grounds trolling towards the Ohio border. Picked up a couple of walleye so we kept trolling towards the shipping channel. After an hour with no fish we headed back towards the dumping grounds and started to catch some more fish (41 48 600 / 083 18 550). We ran dipsy's set at 90 to 100 feet back and jet 20s set at 55 feet back. Tried running wiggle warts set at 80 feet back but they only caught a few fish and were more trouble than they were worth. Caught a lot of silver bass and sheep head and Norm caught a 10 lb catfish. Kept 9 walleye and only had 2 walleye that were under size that we put back.

Back in Michigan Waters

Fished with Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the middle 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60s, kind of cold for July. The wind was out of the West Northwest 15 to 20 knots. The waves were 2 to 3 feet and the water temp is 75 degrees. We started fishing just the other side of the dumping grounds in Michigan waters trolling with the waves to our backs. Made one pass and we caught a couple of small walleye and lost a nice one behind the boat so we pulled lines and headed into the waves to make another pass, but this time we went another 3 miles past our starting spot. Bad choice, we only caught one more walleye and did not start catching fish until we got by the dumping grounds (41 48 700 / 083 19 900). We trolled jet 20s 50 feet back and dipsy's at 80 feet back. Most of the charter boats were using wiggle warts 80 feet back and maybe that is what we should have done. Had a few weeds in the area but they were not too bad. Kept 10 walleye for the day. Talked to Dave in the cleaning station and they had 90 perch that they caught 1 mile out in front of the marina.

Windy But Fishable

Fished with Captain Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the mid 60s and when we quit fishing it was only in the lower 70s. The wind was out of the West Southwest 15 to 25 knots and the waves were 1 to 2 feet with the occasional 3 footer. The water temp is 76 degrees. We fished out in front of Sterling State Park in 19 feet of water (41 55 400 / 083 16 400). We trolled jet 20s set at 55 feet back on one side of the boat and mini disc's set at 80 feet back on the other side of the boat. Daryl got to use the jet releases for the first time today and he definitely likes them. We made one pass from the rocks in front of the Sterling State Park heading towards Stoney Point, made the turn in front of Detroit Beach and we had our fish. Kept 12 walleye and one nice perch for the day. Had 6 walleye that were under size and two of those were only 8 inches long. The wind was blowing pretty hard but we kept it to our backs for most of the troll.

2009 A.W.W.T.

Fished with John Hiltz and Doug Esch in the 9th annual A.W.W.T. out of Toledo Beach Marina. The temperature this morning was in the upper 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 80s. The wind was out of the Northwest less than 5 knots and there were no waves. The water temp is 78 degrees and in the area we were fishing there were some weeds floating on the water. It was so hot today that on one of the boats fishing in today's tournament, the crew went swimming before they came back to the marina. Most of the boats fishing went northeast of Sputnik about 4 miles and started trolling towards the International Buoy. After a couple hours of fishing we started to separate and the majority of the boats were between West Sister Island and Sputnik. We stayed by the International Buoy as did Starfish. The reports on the radio were that Serenity had some nice fish drifting with crawlers between West Sister and Sputnik. Most of the other boats had a few fish but nothing of any size, we had some fish but nothing very big (largest was 17 inches). We were using dipsy's set at 120 feet back on one side of the boat and jet 20s set at 90 feet back on the other. Best spoons were the watermelon and blue huckleberry early on and then we put on a Mi-Hi and that became the hot lure of the day.The lake got flat and it was getting hot so you would think the fishing would slow down. Around 10:45 AM the fishing picked up for us and the size of the fish were improving. We stayed in the general area and started getting some larger fish. The crew felt better because we finally had some decent fish in the cooler. We kept our 18 walleye and had 11 walleye that we put back and decided to head for port for the "measure in". The official results for the A.W.W.T. are as follows.

1st place - Team Bird's Nest - 69 2/8 inches

2nd place - Team Serenity - 63 7/8 inches

3rd place - Team Starfish - 60 5/8 inches

4th place - Team Lucky Strike - 56 3/8 inches

5th place - Team King B

6th place - Team Wally Widetrack

Big fish was caught by Team Bird's Nest - 25 5/8 inches

I want to thank everyone who fished today's event and hoped they all had a great time. The weather was great and the lake was calm, something we have not seen for a while.

Prefishing

Fished with Doug Sowa. Temperature this morning was in the upper 60s and when quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. Summer is finally here. The winds were light out of the North Northeast with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 73 degrees and the Mayfly's are at their peak. We started fishing about 3 miles northeast of Sputnik trolling towards the International Buoy. Did not mark very many fish but we started to catch some so we just stayed in that area (41 51 700 / 083 09 300). Ran jet 20s set at 90 feet back on one side of the boat and dipsy's set at 120 back on the other side. Used the new jet releases that I picked up from Jim at http://www.lakeeriesportfishing.com/ and they worked just great. Best spoon colors were watermelon and blue huckleberry. Kept 9 walleye today and had to return 5 because they were under size.

The Mayflys are Coming

Fished with Captain Daryl and his hunting friend Tony. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and it only made it to the lower 60s on the water. The wind was out of the Northeast at 10 knots for the better part of the day. It was cool enough that I had a flannel shirt on most of the day. When we got back to shore the temp was in the lower 80s. The waves were around two feet and the water temp is 67 degrees. The mayfly hatch is starting, which is going to make the fishing tough. We started fishing about two miles east of Sputnik trolling with jet 20s and spoons set from 80 to 90 feet behind the boards. We were marking a few fish but were not catching anything so we trolled towards West Sister Island. It took awhile to find some fish but we finally caught a few walleye northwest of the Island (41 46 115 / 083 07 100). We set the leads back to 95 and 100 feet as we were fishing in deeper water and then we started to catch some fish. Kept 6 walleye for the day.

Damn Northeast Winds

Fished with Daryl. 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 Northeast in the morning at 14 knots which made for a bumpy ride out and then it started to switch to the North and the lake laid down. Waves were 2 feet for the ride out and after a hour they were less than a foot. The water temp is 68 degrees and the water is very clean all the way from the harbor to Sputnik. Started fishing about 2 miles east of Sputnik trolling with the waves. We caught a few fish this way and then the lake laid down and we were able to troll where ever we wanted too. Started catching fish at 41 48 700 / 083 09 500 and we just worked that area. We fished with mostly jet 20s set at 85 feet back with spoons that had purple and green. Once we found the fish we caught them pretty fast. Except for the ride out it was just a great day of fishing. We kept 12 walleye between 15 1/2 and 23 inches.

North of West Sister

Fished with Captain Doug. Temperature this morning was in the middle 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind was out of the West Northwest 10 to 15 knots and the waves were 1 to 2 feet. The water temp is 66 degrees. Started fishing about 3 miles East of Sputnik trolling with the waves using dipsy's and spoons. Caught the first walleye this way and then we changed over to crawlers and started drifting. Picked up 3 more walleye drifting but we also caught a lot of sheep head and white perch. Decided to troll back towards port long lining with spoons. Had one walleye on but lost it so we called it a day. Kept 4 walleye and 2 perch.

Thought We Had a Chance

Fished the Walleye Smackdown Tournament with Captain Daryl and Doug. Temperature this morning was 56 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60s. The wind was out of the Southwest at 12 knots in the morning and then started switching to the Northeast and the lake laid down. The water temp is 67 degrees. We fished the same area as yesterday because of the nice fish that we caught there. We ran the same program as yesterday, jet's on one side of the boat and dipsy's on the other. The fishing was just great and by 7:15 in the morning we started to throw back fish that were 17 inches long. As the morning went on we started to throw back fish that were 19 and 20 inches long hoping to catch that one big walleye. We already had 5 nice fish to weigh in but we needed that one big fish to put us over the edge. We never got that big fish but we were happy with the catch that we had. To make a long story short they changed the rules as we were weighing in the fish and it totally screwed us. We only weighed in 4 fish and everyone else weighed in 5 fish. We would not have won the tournament but we would have placed in the top 5. We finished in 12 place out of 20 teams. Oh well, lesson learned. We kept our limit of 18 walleye and we threw back 22 walleye between 17 and 20 inches and two little ones that were under 15 inches. Just a great day of fishing.

Prefishing for Tomorrow

Fished with Daryl and Doug. Temperature this morning was in the middle 40s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60s, kind of cold for this time of year. The winds were out of the Northeast for the ride out but then it started to switch and the lake laid down, it turned out to be a nice day on the water. The water temp is 68 degrees. We started fishing just the other side of Sputnik 41 49 250 / 083 10 026 and started catching fish so we just stayed in that general area. We ran dipsy's set at 120 to 130 behind the boards and jet 20s set at 75 to 85 feet behind the boards. Best spoons were cat/dog, boy/girl and Mi-Hi. Once we found the fish it was just great fishing. We kept 18 walleye between 19 and 24 1/2 inches and had only one that we had to put back because it was under size. We have the right spot and the right lures so maybe we will do OK in tomorrows tournament.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Fished with Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 40s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60s. The wind was out of the East around 10 knots. the waves were around 2 feet for the ride out and started to lay down as the day went on. The water temp is 65 degrees. Started fishing in the same spot as the last trip. We ran dipsy's set at 120 back on one side of the boat and jet 20s set at 75 feet back on the other side of the boat. The fishing was not fast and furious but we caught enough fish to keep us in this area. The second fish that we caught swallowed the hook and it bled all over the place. About two fish later another fish did the same thing, it was starting to get ugly on the boat with fish blood all over the place. About a half hour later Daryl cut his finger on the gills of one of the fish, and it would not stop bleeding. Now we had fish blood and his blood on everything. Not to be out done by Daryl, I cut my little finger the same way he cut his but probably a little worse. Now we had a bloody mess. My finger hurts so bad that I'm typing this report with one finger. Today we kept 10 walleye between 16 and 24 inches and one walleye that we put back that was under size.

Windy but Nice

Fished with Captain Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the middle 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind was out of the West at 12 knots and the waves were about a foot. The way the wind was blowing on shore I thought we would never make it out fishing. The water temp is 64 degrees. We started fishing straight out in front of the two stacks in 23 feet of water, and I do mean straight out in front of the stacks. When we looked on the GPS we were in the River Raisen shipping channel. 41 51 100 / 083 15 470. We trolled with spoons and dipsy's set at 90 to 100 feet behind the boards. We stayed right in this general area fishing the mud line. Took most of the fish on a spoon called the Pirate, black and dark purple combination with a copper back. We kept 12 walleye between 15 and 22 inches and threw back 10 walleye between 8 and 15 inches.

Michigan/Ohio Boarder

Fished with Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the upper 30s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 50s. We had a frost this morning! The wind was out of the North rotating to the East throughout the morning. The waves were less than a foot and the water temp is 63 degrees. Started fishing on the Michigan/Ohio boarder just the other side of the dumping grounds 41 49 900 / 083 18 130. Caught two walleye right off the get go using jets at 65 back and spoons. Picked up one more gator in the next 1 1/2 hours so we went back to our starting spot and started trolling with crawlers. Picked up 5 more walleye along with a lot of silver bass and white perch. Kept 8 walleye and one perch for the day.

First Trolling Trip of the Year

Fished with Daryl. Temperature was in the lower 50s all day and the wind was out of the North 10 knots. Waves were about a foot and the water temp is 60 degrees. The lake is very clean and that is probably from all the Southwest winds we had the last 2 days. Started fishing on the East side of the dumping grounds drifting with crawlers with out any luck. Made a move over to the S Buoy and drifted with no luck so we headed towards Turtle Island and drifted with crawlers and jigged with minnows, still nothing. Made a move towards the center of the dumping grounds and started trolling with crawlers on one side of the boat and Jr. thunder sticks on the other. Picked up a walleye off the crawler so we switched to all crawlers. Caught 5 more walleye this way but two of them were under size. (14 1/2 inches). Kept 4 walleye and 2 perch for the day.

North East Winds

Fished with Captain Doug Sowa. Temperature this morning was in the upper 40's and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 50's. The wind was out of the Northeast 10 to 20 knots. When I left the house this morning the flags were blowing pretty good so I knew the lake would be rough. I tried to talk Doug out of going but he was ready to fish, so away we went. We headed out to Maumee Bay in 2 foot waves, which was not too bad. The lake was very dirty compared to Saturday but we fished anyways. Never had a hit so we moved towards Turtle Island. Now the waves were 2 to 4 feet and building. Fished there about 10 minutes and decided to call it a day. No hits, no fish and no pictures. Just a bad day of fishing.

Still Jigging

Fished with Captain Daryl, John and Pete. Temperature this morning was in the lower 40s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 50s. The wind was out of the South Southwest 10 to 15 knots with waves around 2 feet. Started fishing at the West end of the dumping grounds without any luck so we moved to the pack of boats by Turtle Island. Made 4 drifts through there and caught one fish using the blade bait so we headed across the ditch and fished there. Nothing happening so we moved towards the pack of boats up in Maumee Bay. Made 3 passes through there and we caught 5 walleye jigging with minnows. Should have caught more but the wind started to blow pretty hard and is was difficult to get a nice drift. Caught 6 walleye for the day.

Report From Grayling, MI

Doug called from Grayling, MI, Sunday at 5:19 p.m. His report is as follows: "Not a very impressive start to the Trout Season Opener. The weather has been just crummy, it finally stopped raining late Sunday afternoon. Besides the weather, the fishing has been terrible too, only 3 fish as of Sunday afternoon. Hopefully things will improve for Monday and we'll head for home on Tuesday."

Trout Season Opener

Joe, John and I packed up the camper and left early Friday morning for Grayling, Michigan for a weekend of trout fishing on the Little Manistee. Hope to send some updates while we're here, but if not, we'll be back Tuesday. Hope everyone enjoys the warm weather this weekend!

What a Difference a Day Makes

Fished with Doug and Chico. The temperature this morning was in the mid 40s and by the time we quit it was in the upper 60s. The wind was less than 10 knots out of the Southwest with very little waves. The water temp is 50 degrees. Another nice day on Lake Erie. Heard a report this morning that everyone was catching fish last night, so we headed back to Turtle Island to give it a try. Must have been 200 boats fishing by the island. Slowed down and made a pass through the pack of boats and did not even mark a fish and never saw anyone catch a fish, so we headed out to the radar buoy. Marked a few fish but never had a hookup so we left there and went to the East side of the dumping grounds. Nothing happening there so we headed over to South Otter Creek and Chico caught a nice Smallmouth Bass and that was it. Decided to fish the West side of the dumping grounds and we finally marked some fish. We had a few hookups but only caught one walleye. A tough day fishing but a least the weather was nice.

First Trip of the Year

Fished with Daryl and Doug. Temperature this morning was in the lower 40s and by the time we quit fishing it was in the upper 50s. The wind was light out of the Northeast with hardly no waves. The water temp is 46 degrees. Today was the first trip of the year and I had a very rough time trying to start the boat. It just would not turn over. Got it started and away we went, just a beautiful day to be on the lake. Coming out of the harbor we saw some boats by South Otter Creek so we headed there. Did not see any action so we went to Turtle Island just over the Michigan line in 10 feet of water, 41 46 060 / 083 21 790. The water was dirty but that was OK because we were using blade baits and hair jigs with minnows. Marked a lot of fish and on the first pass we caught a couple. We stayed in the same area all morning and would catch at least one walleye on each drift. The only problem was we lost a lot of fish. We went 8 for 18 for the day with all the fish being males. A good way to start the year.

All Done Shore Fishing

Fished with Doug Sowa. Temperature this morning was in the lower 40s and by the time we quit it was in the middle 50s. The wind was out of the Southeast less than 10 knots, just a nice day to be near the water. Today we made the Grosse Ile tour for the last time this spring. We hit all the usual spots and the fishing was slow. We caught a lot of perch at Smitty's but the fish were all small. We managed two keepers for the day but we let them go. Next trip will be from the boat.

Dippin' the Net

Fished with Daryl. We did the Grosse Ile tour today. Temperature was in the mid 30s this morning and by the time we quit fishing it was only in the lower 40s. The wind was out of the Northwest 10 to 15 knots but because we were fishing from the docks it did not bother us too much. Fished the same areas as the last trip using the perch rigs tipped with shiners. The fishing was great but the size of the fish was disappointing. We easily caught over a hundred perch but we only kept 14. All the fish that we kept today were females. It's still early and the bigger fish may yet show up.

Spring Perch Jerking

Fished with Doug S. Temperature was in the lower 20s this morning and by noon it was in the middle 50s. The wind was light out of the East and the sun was out most of the day. We started fishing at Lake Erie Metro Park and did not catch a fish. From there we went to the Trenton Channel and fished off some docks and did not catch any fish. Made a move to Elba Mar Marina and we never got a bite. Made one last move to another Marina and we finally caught some fish. We were just using our perch rigs fishing off the bottom with minnows. Caught a lot of small fish which kept us very busy but the weather was nice so it made for an enjoyable day. Kept 29 perch for the trip.

Steelhead Fishing

Fished with Jim Chamberlin and his friend Matt on the Cold Creek in Sandusky, Ohio. Temperature was in the lower 20s all morning and the wind was blowing out of the West at 25 to 30 knots. We had scattered snow showers and occasional sunshine, not the best day to be fishing. We fished mostly with spawn floated under a bobber and then those guys switched over to small jigs, tipped with and without wax worms. They caught around 15 fish using the jigs and the rest of the fish were caught with the spawn. Jim tied up the spawn sacks using the eggs from last years salmon fishing. The fishing was pretty hot when we first started but as the river level receded the fishing slowed down. We landed close to 45 fish, a combination of Steelhead and Rainbow Trout. The largest fish was about 12 lbs.

Day For The Birds

Fished with Daryl and Dale on Mud Bay, which is part of Portage Lake. Temperature was in the upper 20s to the mid 30s. The wind was out of the south 10 to 15 knots (the weather report called for 5 knots) and the sun was out most of the day. We used a 1 x 6 to get on to the ice even though I don't think we needed it and once on the ice it was 8 to 10 inches thick. The fishing was very slow for us again today and Daryl must have drilled 25 holes trying to find some fish. We were fishing in 20 foot of water and only fishing 5 to 7 feet down. We caught a lot of small Bluegill (25 to 30) but we only had 5 keepers for the day. I fried them up with a couple of walleye fillets which made for a great dinner! Had the camera been ready,I could have caught the two swans flying about 10 feet over our heads, sure would have made a great picture.

Why Buy Bait!!!

Fished with Doug Sowa. Temperature was 12 degrees this morning and it warmed up to the lower 20s. The wind was out of the Southwest at 10 knots which made for a little wind chill and the ice is 22 inches thick! We started fishing on Grosse Ile at Elba Mar Marina. Stayed there for a hour and only caught 3 fish, 1 perch and 2 rock bass. Moved over to a canal by the airport and did not even get a bite. As we were driving by the Trenton Channel we saw a chunk of ice on the shore line and decided to fish it. The only thing that Doug caught there were shiners. Every time I turned around to talk to him, he was pulling up another shiner. I told Doug that we did not need to buy bait any more, I would just take him out shiner fishing. They were the perfect size for perch bait. From there we went to Lake Erie Metro Park. We did not fish here because no one was catching any fish. We then went to a small marina just before Humbug and fished there. We caught our most fish here but we had no keepers. Another long day without bringing home any fish. Seems like everyone that we talked to had the same old story.

Daryl Trying to Feed Dale Some Sushi ???

Fished with Daryl and Dale in Unadilla, same spot as the last post. Temperature was in the middle 20s all day and the wind was clam. The sky was overcast with no sunshine. The ice is over a foot thick. We were all thinking that this was the day the fish would turn on. We fished the same area as the other day and Daryl started catching some nice fish right away. As for myself it was the same old story, very slow. After a hour I packed up and headed for the other canal where we caught some nice fish last year. Fished for 45 minutes with no bites so I went back and joined the guys. We caught some fish but the catch per hour was slow. Daryl made a move further out onto the lake with no success, only small perch. At least we had a nice day to be on the ice and enjoy some good company. We kept 28 Bluegill between the three of us.

Bluegill Fishing Today.

Fished with Daryl. Temp late in the morning was 18 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 20s. The wind was out of the Northwest at 10 knots with an over cast sky. We were fishing later today because there was 6 inches of snow last night and I shoveled walks before I went fishing. Daryl let me know that mid day is not the best time to catch Bluegill, but we gave it our best shot. We fished a good Bluegill lake in Unadilla that he has access to. We started fishing at 11:00 in the morning and the bite was pretty slow. We made one move up the canal to Daryl's hot spot and started to catch a few fish but after a half hour the bite just shut down. We stayed around for 1 more hour and decided to call it a day. Daryl is used to catching fish and he was starting to get bored. I told him that my whole ice fishing season has been like this. We kept 11 Bluegill (I caught 3)between 7 and 8 1/4 inches, enough for us to have for dinner tomorrow.

It Was Colder Than A ?

Fished with Doug Sowa. Temperature this morning was -9 and when we quit fishing it was 3 degrees. The wind was out of the West 10 knots and the wind chill was -25 degrees. Almost too cold for ice fishing. We had a good report that they were catching nice perch at Lake Erie Metro Park so that is where we headed. We fished the old boat ramp on the canal that heads out to Lake Erie and yes, it was COLD today. We set up in Doug's hot spot from previous years of fishing here and caught some small perch and one nice bluegill. Made one more move further towards the lake by the beginning of the seawall. We stayed there about 45 minutes and decided to call it a day. Doug did manage to catch a nice Smallmouth Bass about 1 1/4 inches long. I asked if he wanted it mounted and he did not say too much. I was hoping to get a picture of him and the fish but he put it down the hole before I could get the camera ready. All the other fisherman that were fishing the canal by us had no fish either. On the way back in we talked to a guy right by the boat ramp and he said he had some bluegill and 3 perch. The report is the fish are biting better in the evening.

Over the River and Through the Woods!

Fished Lake St. Clair with Doug S. His friend Kenny, Kenny's son and a friend they call Polock also showed up. The temp this morning was 12 degrees and by the time we quit fishing it was in the middle 20s. The wind was very light and the sun would poke out every once in a while which made for a nice day of fishing. We started out fishing at Harbor Nine. We moved around there a couple of times without any luck. Kenny called and said we should head to the South. So away we went. We went by one marina, up over the land onto a small canal, up the seawall through the reeds and over the land, down the seawall and onto another marina. Across that marina onto a small bay which we crossed and headed into the woods. We came out of the woods onto another small bay, which is where we fished. Whew!! I don't even know the name of the bay. We fished in the center of the bay amongst a small pack of fisherman. We used spikes and shiners today but caught nothing off the shiners. Doug started catching fish right away and I was not having very much luck. I moved around him 3 times but it did not seem to help. He even gave me one of his purple jigs to use, but that did not help either. Doug had eleven keepers and I threw one into his pile. We kept 9 Sunfish,2 Gill's and 1 Crappie. A long walk to catch some fish but at least we had some keepers today. Doug did not want to clean the Sunnies so we gave all the fish to Kenny.

Another Day and The Same Results.

Went fishing on Lake St. Clair with Doug S. and John A. We were not sure where to fish today but we ended up back at Geno's. The temp in the morning was 12 degrees and by the time we quit fishing it was in the upper teens. The wind was less than 10 knots out of the East. The water is still dirty from the runoff and the ice is 8 inches thick. Doug was fishing before us and he started in close and caught a couple of small keepers. We went out to the end of the pack of people and set up. Nothing but small perch for us. When Doug joined up with us we made one more move further out with the same dismal results. John had his underwater camera with him and the visibility was not very good on the bottom but everything that we saw on the screen were small fish. Just another slow day on the lake and it might be the last trip to Geno's for a while. We talked to some other fisherman that were fishing Brandenburg Park and Metro Park and they all had the same results, no fish. We took a ride to South River Rd. to check out Candle's and the ice by the parking lot is just starting to freeze again, that may be our next trip.

Nothing but small fish.

Went fishing by myself, could not find any one who wanted to go. Temp was in the middle 20s with a slight breeze out of the east. Around 9:00 AM the sun came out and it was just a perfect day for fishing. Thought I would try some where different so I headed to South River Road to fish in front of Candles. When I got to the parking lot there was no one fishing and I did not want to be the first one out so I headed back to where we fished last week, the Metro Park. The ice had blew out of the area that we fished last week and the only place they were fishing was by the Day Sail Ramp. I started to fish there but as I look around no one was catching any fish. I watched for about 15 minutes and decided to head to Geno's and fish there. The parking lot was jammed at Geno's and I got one of the last spots left. I fished in front of Geno's and down by the willow trees with out any luck. Every one I talked to was fish less and most of the people were just standing around. I pulled out the binoculars and finally found someone catching some fish, so that is where I headed. I set up and started to catch some fish but all that I caught were small perch. I watched the guy next to me and every so often he would catch a keeper. I went and talked to him and he was using wigglers on a small pink jig, the bait that I did not have. I went back to fishing but all that I could catch was small perch. I had no keepers for the day. On the walk back in everyone that I talked to had no fish. The ice is 6 inches thick.

First Trip This Winter.

Fished with Doug Sowa. We fished out of Metro Park on Lake St. Clair, straight out from the flag pole in 7 feet of water. The temp was in the upper 20s with a slight wind out of the Southwest. The ice is 5 inches thick but around the shore line there is a lot of open water. The water was a little dirty from all the run off this past week. We used shiners and spikes but the shiners were by far the best bait. The fish were not very active today and the bite was very lite. We caught about 30 perch but we only had 10 keepers with the largest one measuring 10 1/2 inches. The bite was slow but we both had a good time.

Dock Fishing

Fished with Daryl after we voted. Decided to head down to TBM and fish off the docks. The temperature was in the middle 60s and the wind was out of the Southwest 10 knots. Just a beautiful day to be fishing.

We tried to buy some minnows but the only store open did not have any so we had to use wax worms. After 10 minutes of fishing we were told by one of the workers that we could not fish because there is no fishing off the docks. Things were not going very well today. Daryl went and talked to Chuck (one of the bosses) and he gave us the OK to fish so we headed back out to the docks and went fishing. The only problem now was that we were catching a lot of small fish. For every five fish that was caught, only one was a keeper. We fished for 1 1/2 hours and decided to clean the fish and head up to Trappers and have fresh fish for lunch. We kept 21 bluegill. A nice way to end a good day of fishing off the docks.

Last Trip For The Bird's Nest

Fished with Daryl. The temperature this morning was in the lower 50s and by the time we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind was out of the Southeast 5 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 60 degrees.

We started fishing right in front of the harbor in 13 feet of water. We were marking fish but the water is still dirty. Moved out by the S Buoy but the water was still dirty. Saw a pack of boats North of the Toledo Light House and made a pass through them and they were not catching anything. Went out to the shipping channel and fished for a few minutes and still nothing so I said the hell with it so we went for a boat ride and headed out to our spot. The catching was pretty good today and the fish were a lot larger. We had a lot of fish over 10 inches. Kept 57 perch for the day.

River Fishing

Fished with Captain Joe and his friend Ron. Temperature this afternoon was in the upper 50s and the wind was out of the East 15 to 20 knots. The River had a light chop and at the mouth of the River the waves were about one foot. The water temp is 57 degrees. The water had a lot of weeds floating which made the fishing difficult.

Our first stop was at Stony Island where we caught a Gobie and a very small bass. From there we went to the South side of Hickory Island without any luck. Made a move to the channel of the Ford Yacht Club and again nothing. Moved again out in front of Lake Erie Metro Park and we caught a couple of small perch and Ron caught a nice walleye off his perch rig. Joe tried 3 times to knock it off Ron's pole but they finally landed the fish. The walleye was 27 inches long and 7.4 lbs. We made one more move and fished the North side of Grassy Island and then we called it a night. Kept two small perch and one nice walleye and had a beautiful boat ride up the Detroit River.

No More Being Late For Work.

Fished with Daryl. Temperature this morning was 40 degrees with a Northeast wind 15 to 20 knots. The waves were 2 feet for the ride out and after an hour the wind quit blowing and the lake laid down. The water temp is 66 degrees.

We headed back out to our spot that we have been fishing all year. The fishing was slow and we moved a couple of times but it did not seem to help. For every four fish we caught we would keep one. Since the day turned out so nice we just stayed put and sorted through the small fish. The lake is starting to finally clean up but the season is coming to an end. Just one more week to fish. We kept 38 perch today.

Perchin' Joe, Happy Again.

Fished with Joe. The temperature was in the upper 50s when we started fishing and by the time we quit it was in the upper 60s. The wind was out of the Northeast at 15 knots when we headed out, which made for a bumpy boat ride, and about 10:00 AM the wind started to lay down. Waves were 3 footers on the ride out and on the ride back to port they were about 1 foot. The water temp is 71 degrees.

We made a pass through the second dumping grounds by McDonald's on the way out because I had a report that they were catching some perch in the area. We did not mark any fish so we headed out to the honey hole. The fishing was slow and we were catching a lot of small perch ( 6 to 7 inches ) so we moved a couple hundred feet and started to catch some bigger fish, but not a whole lot. We were about to move again, had the rods out of the water and getting ready to pull the anchor but the fish finder was full of fish, so we decided to stay put. Good choice. The fish started biting again. Kept 33 perch for the day and then we went to Trappers and had them fry up a couple of perch dinners.

Fishing After Ike.

Fished with Captain Daryl. The winds were less than 10 knots out of the Northwest. Waves were less than a foot and the water temp is 70 degrees. The lake is in good shape after the storms we had this last weekend from the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.

We started fishing in our hot spot without much luck so we made a move to the South about 1/2 mile and caught a couple of perch, not enough to keep us there so we started heading back to the original area. Found a spot with a few fish and that was where we stayed the rest of the morning. The average size of the fish were in the 8 inch range but at least we caught some fish before I headed to work. Kept 33 perch for the day. After we got done cleaning the fish I left all my cleaning supplies in the cleaning station. Thanks to Mike, the Hi Lo driver, he retrieved it and placed it back in the boat. Thanks Mike.

Late For Work!!!

Fished with Daryl and Dale. Temperature was in the lower 60s when we started fishing and by the time we quit it was in the middle 70s. The wind was light out of the Northeast with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 73 degrees.

Started fishing in our hot spot without any luck so we headed towards a pack of boats about 3/4 mile to the west. Did not mark any fish and did not catch any fish so we headed back to the original spot. It took a while but we started to catch a few fish. The catching was slow and the talk on the radio was that people were just not catching any fish today. When I got home I checked the weather report and the barometer was on a steady decline during the time we were fishing. Our game plan was to catch some perch and go to Trappers and have them fry the perch for dinner. Well, we had to stay out fishing a little longer than we should have to catch enough for dinner so that made me a little late for work. We kept 28 perch for dinner.

Labor Day Weekend

Fished with Captain Dan. Temperature this morning was 58 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 80s. The wind was light out of the Northeast with waves less than a foot. Just a great day to be fishing.
Started fishing where we left off on Friday and the fish are still there. The size of the fish were a little smaller but they are plentiful. After 1 1/2 hours of fishing Captain Dan wanted to try by the pack of boats by the Turnaround Buoy so we headed there. We drove through the pack of boats and did not see a whole lot of action but we anchored anyways. Fished for about 20 minutes and caught 1 keeper and a couple of dinks so we headed back to our honey hole and finished out the morning there. We kept 42 perch between 8 and 11 inches with most of them in the 9 inch range. After we cleaned the fish we went to Trappers and had them fry up a nice mess of perch. A good way to end a great fishing trip.

Perch Season Again.

Fished with Captain Daryl. Temperature was in the lower 60s with a little sprinkle when we started and the rest of the day was overcast with temps in the middle 70s. The wind was light out of the South with waves less than a foot.
We were going to start at the E-Buoy but the water was dirty so we went 1 mile east of the E-Buoy and fished for 20 minutes with out any bites. Decided to go back to our hot spot from last year 41 51 900 / 083 11 070 and we started to catch some fish. The only problem was that we caught Sheephead ( a couple close to 10 lbs ), white perch, silver bass and smallmouth bass. The perch that we caught were nice size so we just stayed at this location. Another problem is the weather is making it hard to get shiners so the ones that we had were pretty large for perch jerking, but at least we had shiners. Kept 44 perch between 8 and 11 inches for the day.

Salmon Fever !!!

Fished Manistee from 8-16 through 8-23 with Joe and John H. We also had Captain Daryl's boat, the Lucky Strike with Dwayne and Mark, Captain John's boat, the Laura Cristina with Gale, Pete, Pat and Little John. The weather cooperated for most of the week except for Friday night and Saturday morning which had high winds and thunderstorms.
We fished the whole area, from the skinny water of 10 feet to the shelf and beyond out to 175 feet. Most of the fish were caught in water of 20 feet or less running J-Plugs off the in line boards and off the downriggers from 2 to 4 feet down. This year the best J-plugs were the Superman and the Gray Ghost. The fishing was tough for the first couple of days because the lake was changing over but once we had the East wind, fishing started to pick up. Our biggest fish was 18 pounds with the average around 14 pounds. The best trip only produced 4 fish, not very good for this time of year. Every one had a great time even though we did not get very much sleep. The plan was to update the blog every day but the motels WiFi did not work, maybe next year. We kept 24 salmon for the week.

On Our Merry Way

The boat is ready and the fishermen are ready! John and I are leaving on 08-16-08 and Joe will meet us on 08-17-08. We will be fishing Manistee again this year, staying at the same location as last year. We will be coming home on 08-23-08.

Almost Time For Salmon!

No trips planned on Lake Erie this week. I'll be bringing the boat home from Toledo Beach Marina on Saturday, August 9, to get it ready for salmon fishing on Lake Michigan.

Plan on leaving for Manistee on August 16, 2008.

ONE HAPPY CREW.

Fished with Captain Eddie and first mate Ryan aboard the Fish On II. Our crew consisted of Jake, Chad, Neil, Sydney and Deb Barson. Temperature was in the lower 70s when we started fishing and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 80s. The wind was out of the Southwest about 7 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 79 degrees.

Started fishing where we left off Tuesday 41 49 400 / 083 18 250. We ran jet 40s 60 feet back on one side of the boat and 70 feet back on the other side, I don't think it made much of a difference because both sides caught fish. The pod of fish in this area is not very large so the fish would come in spurts. We worked the general area all morning and kept 24 walleye between 17 and 22 inches. Lure color did not seem to matter. Every one had a great time fishing and then we went to Trappers and had them cook the fish up for us. This is an annual trip put on by Joe Barson and MDFA (Metro Detroit Flower Growers Association) that had 8 charter boats for the day that caught 176 walleye. Joe, you did a great job organizing everything and I appreciate being invited! Thanks Again!

Should Have, Could Have.

Fished with Daryl. The temperature was in the lower 70s in the morning and by the time we quit fishing it was in the upper 80s. The wind was light out of the southeast and the waves were less than a foot. The water temp was 80 degrees.

We started fishing at 41 48 980 / 083 18 190 which is 5 miles from port on the Michigan/Ohio boarder using crawlers and bottom bouncers set 75 to 80 feet back. Within 5 minutes we had the first fish on and Daryl was bringing it in and right behind the boat the fish spit the hook. The hook ended up in my right temple about one inch from my eye. We tried to push the hook through but we could not get it far enough past the barb to get a good grip on the tip of the it with the pliers so we pulled lines and headed for the hospital. It took a couple of hours and I felt OK so we went back out fishing, just a little hook shy.

We trolled with crawlers for 45 minutes and picked up a couple of walleye and then we switched over to Jet Divers set at 55 feet back and Dipsy's set at 75 feet back. The dipsy's were the most productive so we switched over to all dipsy's. Now we were fishing in the heat of the day and the fishing started to slow down. We kept 7 walleye between 18 and 20 inches, 1 perch and one cut hook from the doctor. We should have caught our limit and we could have caught our limit, but we had to take a time out.

Perch/Walleye Combo

Fished with Joe and John H. Temperature was in the upper 70s to the lower 80s. The wind was out of the West / Southwest 10 to 15 knots. The waves were 1 to 3 feet on the ride out and by the time we quit fishing the lake laid down to less than 2 foot waves.

Our game plan was to perch jerk for awhile until we caught enough perch and then start fishing for walleye. Well, the plan worked today. We perch fished about 1/2 mile East of Sputnik and we caught 62 perch between 7 3/4 and 11 inches with most of the fish in the 8 inch range. While we were perch jerking we noticed that the boats fishing for walleye were just about 1/2 mile South of us (41 49 000 / 083 08 500). After we were done perch jerking we started to troll with crawlers towards the pack of boats. We long lined 4 poles with 2 ounce weights from 80 to 140 back. We picked up a couple walleye running this program so we fished for about another 30 minutes and caught 2 more walleye. Had we used the planer boards we would have caught more fish. The total tally for the day is 62 perch and 4 walleye.

Next Planned Trip: Sometime this week with Daryl

Good Day Finally

Fished with Captain Daryl. The temperature was in the middle 80s a light wind less than 5 knots out of the Southwest. The waves were less than a foot and the water temp is 76 degrees.

We got a late start because Daryl had a dentist appointment but the weather was nice all day so it did not matter. We started fishing at 41 48 350 / 083 07 520 and started catching fish right away. We ran 20 jets 105 feet back on one side and 40 jets 75 feet back on the other side. The best color spoon was the blueberry muffin and anything with purple or pink. The 20 jets started catching most of the fish so we put 20 jets on both sides. The only problem was that we caught 14 walleye that were less than 10 inches, if you want to call that a problem. We kept 12 walleye between 17 and 21 inches and 2 perch that were 9 inches. Now that the Mayfly hatch is over the fish are a little more aggressive.

Next Planned Trip: Wednesday 7/16-Friday 7/18 At Bev's in Carp Lake

Walleye,Perch Trip.

Fished with Daryl. Temperature was in the lower 70s when we started and the upper 70s when we quit fishing. The wind was out of the North/Northwest 10 to 15 knots. Waves were 2 to 3 feet and the water temp is 74 degrees.

Our game plan was to troll for walleye for a while and then switch over and start perch jerking. Started fishing at McDonald's and trolled towards Sputnik with divers and spoons, all we caught were sheephead. When we got close to Sputnik we went about 3/4 mile east of it and started perch jerking. Had to move 3 or 4 times and we caught some fish but nothing very large. Made a move to our hot spot from last year and we caught only one keeper so we called it a day. Kept 18 perch between 7 3/4 and 9 inches.

Next Planned Trip: Tuesday July 15, Late trip with Daryl

Another Tough One.

Fished with Joe. Temperature this morning was in the lower 50s and by the time we quit fishing it was in the upper 60s. The wind was out of the North/Northeast about 15 knots. The waves were 2 to 4 feet which made for a very long boat ride out. It took 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to Sputnik. On the ride out the antenna mount broke when we hit a large wave so we had no communication. The water temp is 73 degrees.

We started fishing at the Turnaround Buoy drifting with crawlers because it was too rough to troll with spoons. We made 4 or 5 passes and caught a couple of walleye and a few perch so we decided to perch jerk for a while. Picked up 26 perch between 7 1/2 and 9 inches but most of them were around 8 inches. We trolled towards the harbor the last 45 minutes and caught one more walleye. It makes for a tough day of fishing when the conditions are that bad. At least the lake started to lay down for the ride back to port. Kept 3 walleye and 26 perch for the day.