This One's A Keeper!

Saturday Morning

The morning temperature was in the low 60's. Winds were out of the North 10-15. Waves 3-4 ft.

JPlugs were the lure of the day. We picked up our limit of 6 King Salmon.

Thank you John, for the posting and the very nice photo of Doug and an 18# King!

UPDATE: Saturday Evening - First trip out that we've gotten nothing at all. Same for Daryl.

Next Planned Trip: Monday 09/03/07 Perch Fishing with Joe and John?

Friday Morning Catch

No, this isn't something they caught in Lake Michigan. The guys didn't send a photo today, so instead, I posted one of my fish.

This mornings catch was 4 King Salmon and 1 Steelhead. The winds were light and out of the West, lake was calm. Not catching anything until we changed the hootchies from the inside setting to the outside setting. (Thank you Daryl for the good tip!)

Happy Fishermen

This post was guest written by John.

Thursday Morning: Winds were out of the southwest 5-10 mph. Waves were 1-2 ft. with a morning temperature that was in the upper 60's. The best bait was Glow Squids and Green Dipsy Divers. The Kings came in a flurry, up to 3 at a time!

Thank you Capt. Doug for picking the RIGHT SPOT!!!

Bird's Nest and Lucky Strike

Doug's boat (Bird's Nest) and Daryl's boat (Lucky Strike) in their slips at the motel's marina. It's around a 6 minute ride down the river to Lake Michigan.

Wednesday Morning's Catch

Here is this mornings catch, 6 for 12. It was a nice day with winds out of the East, 5-10 mph.

Looks like the rain has stopped and it warmed up a bit.

If you click on the photo you can enlarge it for a better view.

Fish Guts and Beer Gut?

Well, here is the photo the guys emailed today.

Since they just emailed the photo with no explanation, and didn't call and leave a phone message, I'll just have to guess that this is today's catch, and from the looks of it, this must be the cleaning station. (Looks like blood and other nasty stuff on the table)

Come on guys, your photo

composition needs some improvement.

Oh well, at least you can catch fish!

Wet Start to Fishing Trip

It's wet and cool in Manistee. Have 7 King Salmon so far. (2 for 6 Saturday p.m., 4 for 4 Sunday a.m., and 1 for 3 Sunday p.m.) Nice fish ranging 8 - 14 lbs. We have been using Dipsy's and JPlugs. The motel is very nice. Coming into the harbor is not nice - it's like 100 boats coming into the harbor at once with very poor lighting. Also a challenge getting my boat into the slip at the motel, with a fast current and not much room. By the time the boat is in the slip I have about 6 inches on each side of the boat!

John H. was at the cottage in Rogers City over the weekend and they were unable to get out because of the wind.

Time for bed, as we'll be up at 4:00 am to fish again!

On the Road Again!!! (for Salmon)

Finally!! Heading up to Manistee, Michigan, for salmon fishing on Lake Michigan. John and I brought the boat home last Saturday to get it ready for salmon fishing. Joe, John and I worked on it Saturday and Sunday. I continued working on it this week.

We'll be staying at the Manistee Inn and Marina. The motel is right on the river with its own marina. About a 6 minute boat ride to Lake Michigan. We plan on returning home August 26 or 27.

Looks like the fishing should be good. I'll try to update the blog from Manistee.

McDonald's

Fished with Daryl before work. Temp in the morning was in the lower 70s and by noon it was in the mid 80s. The wind was out of the west less than 5 knots with hardly any waves. We started trolling for walleyes by the Toledo Water Intake without any luck. We were marking a lot of fish but no takers. Moved to McDonald's and started perch fishing and we only caught a couple of fish there so we headed to the E buoy. Made a couple of moves there and then we went to the S buoy. Started to catch some perch and then it was time to leave. Kept 22 perch for the day. John H. is going to help me bring the boat home on 08-11-07 to get it ready for salmon fishing.

Lucky Strike

Fished with Captain Daryl before work aboard the Lucky Strike. Temp in the morning was in the lower 60s and by noon it was in the lower 80s. The wind was out of the northeast 10 to 15 knots with waves 2 to 3 feet. We started fishing north of the Toledo Water Intake trolling wiggle warts 100 feet back on one side and spoons 60 and 65 feet back on the other side. The lake was full of weeds floating on the water which made the fishing very difficult. We spent more time taking weeds off the lures than fishing. Caught 2 walleye off the wiggle warts and 1 walleye off the spoon. We should have went perch jerking today!!

Next Planned Trip: 08-06-07. Fishing with Daryl before work.

Toledo Harbor Lighthouse

Fished with Daryl before work. Temp in the morning was in the mid 50s and by noon it was in the upper 70s. The wind was out of the east northeast 10 to 15 knots with waves around 2 feet. We started fishing where we left off on Sunday by the Toledo Harbor Lighthouse and we only caught a few small perch. Made four moves around there trying to find some fish with no luck so we headed towards the E buoy. Moved a couple times there without anything so we went to the S buoy and caught a few small perch. Decided to long line some wiggle warts and head for the swamp for half an hour and we picked up 1 walleye 65 feet back. Kept 1 walleye and 3 perch for the day.

Next planned trip: Monday 07/30/07 with Daryl before work.

Joe Fishing the Wrong Side of the Boat

Fished with Joe and John H. Temp in the morning was in the lower 60's and by noon it was in the lower 70's. The wind was out of the northeast less than 10 knots with waves around a foot. We decided to go perch fishing because the walleye fishing is starting to slow down. Went to the Toledo Harbor Light to fish and we never had to move. We were fishing about 1/4 mile north of the lighthouse in 18 feet of water. Kept 45 perch between 7 3/4 and 9 inches. Not the biggest perch but just big enough to keep us there. Fished with shiners off the bottom that we picked up at Lake Erie Party Store.

Next Planned Trip: Monday 7/23/07 with Daryl before work.

Daryl Cleaning the Catch

Fished with Captain Daryl before work. Temp was in the low 70s with a little breeze out of the south. Waves were less than 6 inches. We headed out to the northeast corner of the dumping grounds and did not see the boats we were looking for but Daryl decided to stay put because we were marking fish ( 41 47 750 / 083 18 600 ). Put out wiggle warts ( purple and hot pink ) 80 feet behind the boards and we started to catch some fish. There were some weeds in the area but not enough to cause any problems. We worked that one area and picked up our limit of 12 walleye for the day. Stopped at Trapper's and had them cook up 8 fillets of walleye, fries, onion rings and a bowl of turtle soup for lunch and then we headed to work.

Next Planned Trips: Sunday, July 22 with Joe & John H.

Daryl and John H.

Fished with Daryl and John H. Temps in the morning were in the middle 50's and by the time we quit fishing it was in the middle 70's. The wind was blowing out of the northwest 5 to 10 knots. Waves were around 1 foot. We headed back out to the northeast corner of the dumping grounds (41 48 700 / 083 19 750) and started trolling with wiggle warts set 90 feet behind the boards. Started to catch some fish but the weeds were terrible. We stayed in that area to catch our fish but we just had to deal with the weed problem. Put out a purple wiggle warts and that was what they wanted. Kept 15 walleye for the day. Our 21st Annual Fish Fry is tommorrow. Hope the weather holds!

Next Planned Trip: Monday, July 16 with Daryl, before work.

Captain Daryl

Fished with Captain Daryl, His friend Ron backed out this morning. Temp in the morning was in the middle 70s and by the time we quit fishing it was in the lower 90s. The wind was out of the southwest about 15 knots with waves less than 2 feet. We made a pass through the swamp and caught only silver bass so we headed out to the northeast corner of the dumping grounds (41 48 175 / 083 19 400). We were running parallel with the Michigan/Ohio border. Set the lines with dipsys and spoons at 75 feet on one side and 70 on the other, picked up a fish real fast and then nothing. Reset the lines to 50 and 55 feet and we started to catch fish. Kept our 12 fish and we gave a couple to Bob the hi-lo driver.

Next Planned Trips, July 13 with Daryl and John H.

Leopard Frogs

Left Thursday July 5, at 3:00 am so I could be at the Manistee River in Grayling for the morning fishing. Started fishing and about 15 minutes later a big thunderstorm started coming through so I got off the river, waited 45 minutes for the storm to pass and continued fishing. By then it was too late in the day, the sun was up too high and the fish quit biting! Caught 1/2 dozen small browns and 1 keeper that was 14 inches.

Fished off the docks at Paradise Lake and helped Alyssa and Amy catch some small perch and bluegills. Bev and I trolled along the north shore for awhile and we had one very large fish on that unfortunately jumped and threw the hook. It looked like a walleye. The girls caught 5 leopard frogs for our ponds at home. Came back home Saturday evening.

Next Planned Fishing Trip: Fishing with Daryl 7/10/07.

Fished with Dan (Faygo) and John L. Temps in the morning were in the upper 40's and it did get up to the lower 70's. The wind was out of the northeast about 15 knots with waves 2 to 4 feet. We headed towards the International Buoy and it took about 1 1/2 hours to get there. Started fishing by the buoy with no luck so we trolled to the south and set the lines further back (110 feet) and we started to catch a few fish. The wind started to lay down a little and it turned out to be pretty nice. We had to quit early because John had to return a pig roaster he rented. Kept 10 walleye for the day between 15 and 22 inches.

Next planned Trip: July 5, 2007 Heading up north to fish Paradise Lake.

Fished with Joe. Temps were in the mid 80's with a southwest wind of 10 knots. Waves were about 1 foot. Started fishing in the swamp and we only caught garbage fish so we decided to move into Breast Bay. We were just starting to set lines when a huge storm came our way so we headed back to port and called it a day. Once the storm blew over it turned out to be a nice day.

Next Planned Trip: 6/21/07 Fishing with Daryl before work.

Went down to the boat today and gave her a good wax job. Talking to the fishermen, the catching was pretty slow today. Most of the boats were going out 18 miles to find the fish and they were coming back without limits, some of the drifters and casters only had a couple of fish because of the light winds. The forecast for Tuesday is Southwest winds 20 to 30 knots. I watched the local news and on the internet and they both agree that the winds will be blowing on Tuesday. Because of this, the A.W.W.T. is cancelled, if you are interested in a makeup day let me know ASAP.

Nice Catch Jack!!

Fished with John H. and his son, Jack. Temp in the morning was in the lower 40's and by noon it was in the upper 60's. There was no wind or waves. Started blading about 2 1/2 miles south of the harbor in 17 ft. of water and we only caught two walleye. We were fishing too deep of water for the blades and there was no wave action, so we decided to troll. Ran wiggle warts (rainbow was the hottest) 50 ft. behind the boards. Picked up 10 more and called it a day. The fish were between 19 and 26 inches. On the way out of the harbor we must have picked up some trash because the engine started to overheat. Stopped and checked everything, but found nothing and we never had any more problems. The trolling motor is still in the shop. We could have used it today.

Next Planned Trips:

• 4/22/07 Fishing with Captain Daryl
• 4/27 thru 5/01/07 Heading to Grayling to fish opening weekend of trout fishing with Joe and John.