No Perch Yet

Fished with Daryl and Mark. Temperature this morning was in the middle 50's and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70's. The wind was light out of the northeast and the waves were less than a foot. The water temp is 64 Degrees. This string of great weather just continues. The fog was not too bad, visibility was about 1 mile. Started fishing in the swamp and we were catching perch but they were small. Made a couple of moves here and we only had 2 keeper perch. Moved to Huey's old spot and caught nothing. Made the move to the light house and fished the second set of buoy's to the east. Not even a bite. Saw a pack of boats on the gravel pits in Ohio so we headed there. Caught 2 perch about 5 inches and saw no one else catching fish so we moved to the first set of buoys before McDonald's. Not even a bite. Went back into the swamp and set up. We were catching perch but most of them were small. We stayed here and sorted through the fish. Kept 11 perch on a very nice day on the lake. The algae was pretty bad in the swamp from all this east wind. I know if we had stayed in the swamp we would have had more fish.

Lunch at Trapper's

Fished with Joe and Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 50's and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70's. The wind was out of the northeast less than 10 knots with waves around a foot. The water temp is 66 degrees. When we arrived at the marina the fog was thick, as Huey would say it's thicker than pea soup. We motored out very slow to the E-buoy and set up for perch fishing. Not even a bite so pulled anchor and made a small move. Again nothing and the fog was still thick. We decided to head to the spot we fished last time out. It took over an hour to get there. Spent the rest of the trip here. The catching was slow and the size was not very large. We just stayed here and caught enough fish to stop at Trapper's and have a perch dinner. Kept 26 perch. The fog did not lift until 11:30 AM.

Caught a Few

Fished with Joe. Temperature this morning was in the lower 50's and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 60's. The wind was out of the southeast in the morning less than 10 knots and when we quit fishing it was out of the east just over 10 knots. The waves were 1 foot early and when we quit fishing they were around 2 feet. The water temp is 64 Degrees. Started fishing by the E-Buoy and the water was a little dirty and we caught no fish. Moved out to the shipping channel between Sputnik and McDonald's and caught nothing. Made a couple of moves around here and caught nothing. We packed up and moved to some old way points off the Raisin River channel and caught no fish. Moved into Breast Bay on the Michigan/Ohio border (41 53 013/ 083 11 650) and we started to catch some perch. We had one flurry where we caught about 12 fish between 10 and 12 1/4 inches. It was slow picking but a least we kept 35 perch.

Still Slow Perchin'

Fished with Captain Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 50's and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60's. The wind was out of the west southwest less than 10 knots with waves under a foot. The water temp is 66 Degrees. Started fishing by the number 2 buoy on the River Raisin. We stayed here for quite a while just catching a perch a once in a while. The fish that we caught here were pretty nice. Once the catching quit we moved straight out about 2 miles in a pack of boats. We drove through the pack and only saw a few fish being caught so we moved towards Stoney Point in 25 feet of water. We set up and spent the rest of the trip here catching a few perch that were just keepers. We finished the day with 31 perch. We also caught and released a few small mouth bass and a couple of small walleye. The one walleye was only 5 inches long. We also saw 24 monarch butterflies out on the lake today making their long journey to Mexico.

Same Old Story

Fished with Joe and Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 50s. Kind of cold for this time of year. The wind was out of the southwest around 10 knots with waves about 1 foot. The water temp is 67 Degrees. The game plan was to head to the number 2 buoy and start fishing there. Well, we got a report at the dock before we left that they were catching some perch at McDonald's so that was where we headed. Started fishing on the northwest side of McDonald's and we caught a couple of keeper perch but after an hour we moved to the other side of McDonald's. Caught nothing here so we went back to the other side of McDonald's and caught no perch. Decided to head to the River Raisin Buoy #2 and fish. On the way there we were going by an old perch way point from last year so we tried that. Again nothing. We went to Buoy #2 on the River Raisin channel and set up. We would catch an occasional keeper perch so we stayed put for the rest of the day. Kept 20 perch for the trip. It started to rain when we were by McDonald's and then it quit. It then started to rain again by the number 2 buoy and we had light rain for about an hour.

Here We Go Again

Fished with Captain Daryl and Joe. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60's and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70's. The wind was out of the southwest around 10 knots with waves about one foot. The water temp is 74 degrees. Started fishing on the Michigan/Ohio border with the guys from the marina and we caught only junk fish. Made a move towards the Toledo Lighthouse and set up and we caught little perch and junk fish. Made another move in this area and it did not help. Moved up the channel and fished by the second set of buoys from the Lighthouse and had he same results. Moved again past McDonald's half way to Sputnik and set up and again we had no fish. Went to an old perch spot north of Sputnik and we caught a couple of keeper perch so we moved again. Saw a pack of boats in the bay so we headed there and again small perch and junk fish. Made one last move to the #2 buoy off the Raisin River and we caught a few keeper perch. Fished all morning and made a lot of moves and we kept 11 perch. Something is not right. The season is winding down and we only have a few perch to show for it. We just might try walleye fishing next time out.

Tough Perch Fishing Again

Fished with Joe and Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind was light and variable and there were no waves. The water temp is 74 degrees. The plan was to fish at the number 1 buoy off the Raisin River but we changed our plans at the dock. The water was dirty when we left the harbor and when arrived at McDonald's it was still dirty. Caught nothing but small perch at McDonald's so we moved to the north of Sputnik. We would catch an occasional keeper perch but nothing to keep us in this location. Started moving around in this area and the catching did not improve. Made some moves to the east and fished some old perch spots and that did not help. After fishing for 3 1/2 hours we called it a day. Kept 15 perch on a day the lake was like glass.

Perch Fishing at it's Worst

Fished with Captain Daryl and Mark. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind in the morning was out of the south southeast 20 to 25 knots with waves 2 to 4 feet with the occasional 5 footer. Around 9:30 am the wind was letting up and the waves were laying down to 2 footers. Not the best day to be perch fishing. The water temp is 75 degrees. With the bad weather we thought we would fish in close by the C-buoy but we did not mark any fish, so we headed to the E-buoy. Dropped anchor here and fished but we only caught little perch and little sheep head. Made another move in this same area and had the same results. By this time the lake was settling down so we made the move out to McDonald's. We set up on the Michigan side and started catching small perch and small sheep head. Made a little move in this area and we caught the same thing, small perch and small sheep head. Moved to the Ohio side of McDonald's and had the same results. Pulled anchor and moved to the Ohio dumping grounds and caught the same thing, small perch and small sheep head. Made one last move to the S-buoy and caught the same thing, little perch and little sheep head. Came home with no fish and I know Daryl will be tired tonight from pulling the anchor so many times in rough water.

First Perch Fishing Trip of the Year

Fished with Joe and Daryl. 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 southeast less than 10 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 74 degrees. Started fishing at Huey's old spot and we caught nothing so we moved out to McDonalds and fished on the Michigan side. The catching was pretty slow but we just stayed here and picked away at the perch. Not a lot of junk fish but we caught quite a few large sheephead. Called it quits before it got too hot out. Kept 36 perch with the largest one measuring 12 inches. Most of the fish were in the 8 to 8 1/2 inch range.

Salmon Fishing 2014

Salmon fished with Joe and John out of Manistee, Michigan from 8-16 to 8-23. The weather was good for most of the week. Only had rain for 1 trip and that was light and fishable. Temps ranged from the lower 50s to the lower 70s. The lake was calm except for one trip and that day the waves were 1 to 3 feet.

The fishing report was pretty bad so we did not have very high hopes of catching a lot of fish. When we arrived at port on Saturday the waves were 2 to 4 feet so we said we would not go fishing that night. When we came back from the bait store the wind switched and the lake laid down so away we went. We fished the shallow water (30 feet ) north of the harbor and caught the two kings in the picture. We were pumped and ready for the rest of the week.

Sunday the weather was perfect and the lake was flat. We fished both north and south of the harbor and we never had a hit, I can't recall this ever happening before. Monday we caught 2 kings in the morning and that was it. Tuesday we had a rip off the dipsy that we lost and that was it for the day. Things were not looking very good.

Wednesday we went south of the harbor and we caught 5 kings with the largest one weighing 18 lb. Thursday we fished south again and we only caught 3 fish.

Then came Friday, our last day to fish before we headed for home. The day started a little foggy and dark and we fished south again. We set up on a south troll at the 11 line in 80 feet of water and we never left this area. We were on the fish right out of the gate and the catching never quit. We went 10 for 14 in the morning session and when we took the boat out in the afternoon to clean it up and start to put things away we caught 2 more fish. Friday saved our trip.

Over all we caught 24 fish for the trip with the smallest fish weighing 5 lb. and the largest fish weighing 18 lb. We caught 24 fish out of 33 hits. The 24 fish weighed 265 lb. which gave us an average of 11.04 lb. per fish. We never saw a 20 lb. plus fish at any cleaning station, which is not a good sign.

Lots of Weeds Again

Fished with Captain Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind in the morning was out of the north northeast 14 to 17 knots with waves 2 to 3 feet. After a couple of hours the wind laid down and so did the waves. The water temp is 72 degrees. We headed towards Brest Bay (right into the waves) looking for some fish. Once we were past the River Raisin channel the lake was full of floating weeds. We kept heading northeast hoping to get past all the weeds but they were every where. We headed back to the E-Buoy and set lines with wiggle warts and hot and tots set at 75 feet behind the boards. We caught the first fish in the Michigan Dumping grounds. Made another pass through the same area and we caught 1 more walleye. We made one more pass through the same area and caught only a couple of silver bass so we called it a day. Kept 2 walleye.

Lot's of Weeds

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 southwest in the morning around 10 knots with waves about 1 foot. As the day went on the wind laid down and then there were no waves. We lost our good walleye chop. The water temp is 72 degrees. Started fishing by the water intake (41 43 150 / 083 13 450) trolling with wiggle warts set at 100 feet on one side of the boat and hot and tots set at 115 feet on the other side of the boat. Caught the first walleye off the hot and tot pretty quick and then the weeds started to get on the lures. We spent most of the day cleaning the weeds off the lures. We just stayed in this area catching a few walleye and very few junk fish. When the wind quit blowing and the lake went flat the walleye catching came to a halt. Kept 5 walleye on a weedy day so we were pretty happy.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Fished with Captain Daryl and his brother Dwayne. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind was light out of the southwest and there was a little chop on the lake. The water temp is 72 degrees. Started fishing by the water intake with wiggle warts set at 90 and 100 feet behind the boards. The catching was pretty slow but at least we were catching some walleye. After a couple hours of fishing Daryl decided to put hot and tots on one side of the boat set at 115 feet behind the boards. It only took a couple of minutes and we had a fish on. We caught one more walleye off the hot and tot setup so we switched both sides to the hot and tots. That helped us put a few more walleye in the cooler. Kept 14 walleye and 1 perch. The silver bass were not too bad and there were no weeds floating on the water.

A Tough One Today

Fished with Captain Daryl and his brother Dwayne. 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 southwest 8 to 15 knots with waves around a foot. The water temp is 71 degrees. Started fishing by the water intake trolling with wiggle warts set at 100 feet behind the boards. Trolled around here for 2 1/2 hours and we caught only 1 walleye and a few silver bass. Decided to head towards the Michigan dumping grounds and give that a try. Set up with wiggle warts set at 50 and 70 feet behind the boards. Fished here for a short time and then we pulled lines and headed into the swamp. Set wiggle warts at 25 and 30 feet behind the boards. Trolled around the swamp for a while and we only caught 1 more walleye. After a tough day of fishing we threw in the towel and called it a day. Kept 2 walleye and caught 1 little walleye that we put back.

Fishing is Slowing Down

Fished with Joe and Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind was light and there was just a little chop on the lake. The water temp is 75 degrees. The little flies were pretty bad this morning with the light winds. Started fishing in the swamp with wiggle warts set at 30 feet behind the boards. Caught the first walleye right out of the gate so we thought we were in the right spot. After trolling around for 1 1/2 hours and no more fish we decided to pull lines and head towards the water intake. As we were pulling lines we caught a throw back walleye. Set lines by the water intake with wiggle warts set at 100 feet on one side of the boat and mini disk and spoons set at 90 feet back on the other side. Started to catch a few walleye off the wiggle warts so we switched both sides to wiggle warts. The catching was slow but we just stayed here (41 43 125 / 083 15 150) and picked away at the fish. Caught most of the fish on the east troll. Caught quite a few silver bass and 2 very large sheep head. Kept 12 walleye, cleaned them up and went to Trapper's for a walleye dinner.

A Nice Day on the Water

Fished with Joe and Doug. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind was light and variable with just a little chop on the lake. The water temp is 75 degrees. No wind, no waves and no bugs-Wow- what a great day to be on the lake. Started fishing in the swamp trolling wiggle warts 30 feet behind the boards. The only thing that we caught were some weeds. Stayed here a while and then we pulled lines and headed back to where we left off on the last trip, just past the light house. Set up on the 18 1/2 line trolling towards the water intake. Did not mark very many fish and did not catch a fish. Got a call from Norm and he was fishing the 46/16 line and had some fish so we headed over there. Set wiggle warts back to 90 feet on the one side of the boat and 120 feet back on the other side. Caught a couple of walleye but we also caught a lot of silver bass and weeds. Decided to head back into the swamp and ran wiggle warts set at 30 feet back and 40 feet back. Started to catch some walleye off the 30 foot setup so we switched everything back to 30 feet. We just trolled around picking away at the walleye. Not very fast action but at least we were catching some fish. Kept 15 walleye and had 2 under size walleye that we put back.

Another Muskie

Fished with Daryl after his therapy session. Temperature when we started fishing was in the upper 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 80s. The wind was out of the west southwest less than 10 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 76 degrees. Started fishing right in front of the harbor trolling wiggle warts 28 and 32 feet behind the boards. We set on a troll heading into the swamp and we were marking a lot of fish but not catching anything. Finally caught our first fish and it was a walleye. We stayed in this area for a while and we would catch a walleye but we caught too many silver bass. We also caught another muskie, that makes 2 so far this year. After only 4 walleye in the cooler we moved out just past the Toledo Light House (41 44 200 / 083 14 125) and set up with wiggle warts set at 90 and 100 feet behind the boards. We were on the walleye right out of the gate and the catching was steady until we needed 1 more fish. We trolled around close to an hour trying to catch that last fish, why this happens once in a while I don't know. Finished the day with 12 walleye.

A Little Muskie

Fished with Captain Daryl after his therapy. Temperature when we started fishing was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing ti was in the middle 70s. The wind was out of the west 10 to 15 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 73 degrees. Came out of the harbor and set up in 14 feet of water trolling wiggle warts 45 and 50 feet back. Caught the first walleye pretty fast. We made a few more passes in this area (41 49 250 / 083 23 200) and caught a few more. Trolled a little closer to shore and we only caught 2 more walleye. Had to deal with a lot of small junk fish and quit a few weeds. We stayed busy keeping the lines clear. Kept 6 walleye and caught 1 muskie that was 24 inches that we put back.

Rockin and Rollin

Fished with Daryl after his therapy session. Temperature when we started fishing was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60s. The wind was out of the west 15 to 22 knots and the waves were 2 to 3 feet. The water temp is 75 degrees. Started trolling at the S Buoy with wiggle warts heading towards the E Buoy. Did not mark very many fish and caught nothing so we pulled lines and headed past the Toledo Light House and set up at (41 43 450 / 083 17 525) trolling with the waves. Ran wiggle warts set at 85 and 90 feet back. Started catching some walleye off the 90 foot set up. On the first pass we caught 6 walleye and lost one behind the boat so we pulled lines and made another pass. On this pass we only caught 3 walleye so we pulled lines and we figured that this would be are last pass no matter how many fish we caught, it was starting to get pretty bumpy on the lake. Set lines and we caught the last 3 fish real quick. Kept 12 walleye and only caught 1 silver bass. The water was a little stained and there were a few weeds floating but they did not cause any problems.

Algae is Starting to Form

Fished with Captain Daryl and Jim after the therapy session. Temperature when we started fishing was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind was out of the northeast less than 10 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 75 degrees and the algae is starting to appear on the water. Started fishing at (41 49 250 / 083 23 150) trolling with wiggle warts set at 65 feet back trolling at 3 mph. Started catching walleye right out of the gate and it only slowed down one time for us. Towards the end of the trip we caught the last 6 fish at the 49 / 22 line. This was Jim's first time walleye fishing on the great lakes and he did great and caught a lot of walleye. Kept 18 walleye and only had a few junk fish to deal with.