Big Gills

Fished with Daryl and his friend, Dale, in a canal to Woodburn Lake, in Unadilla, MI.

Temperature this morning was in the upper 20's with a slight breeze. A perfect day for ice fishing.

We were fishing in water about 4 ft deep and most of the fish were about a foot off the bottom. The fish were being finicky biters today and it took just the right touch to hook them.

Dale had a hot hand and caught the most fish of the day. Daryl also had a good catch. I was using spikes and Daryl and Dale were using mousies. Thank God for good friends, as they made up for my lack of landing very many fish and added theirs to my pile so we would have enough for dinner tonight!

Kept 43 bluegill and 2 crappie between 7 and 9.5 inches. By the way, the photo is of Dale and his pile of fish.

First Fishing Outing of 2008

Ice Fished with Doug Sowa today at Lake St. Clair. The temperature this morning was 9 Degrees and by lunchtime it had made it up to a whopping 20 Degrees. Wind was out of the southwest 5-10 knots.

Started fishing at Metro Beach straight out 500 feet from the beach, which was as far as we could go out on the ice safely. Had about 3 inches of ice. We fished this area for about 45 minutes and decided to move because the water was very dirty. Only caught 2 perch. Headed up to Campau Bay off of South River Road. Only a few guys were fishing here about 500 feet offshore but it didn't look as though they were catching anything so we headed to a canal on the Salt River. Doug caught a few small bluegill and that was it. Went up to New Baltimore, but no one was fishing there, so we went to Fairhaven. A few shanties at Fairhaven, but again, no one seemed to be catching anything, so we headed to the apartments by Gino's and fished in the marina there for about 45 minutes. Caught a lot of dinks, so we decided to call it a day. Spent more time driving than we did fishing, but that usually happens on the first ice fishing trip of season. A good way to spend MLK Day!

Ice Fishing ??

Hoping to go ice fishing Monday, January 21, since I have the day off. Went to the Ultimate Fishing Show at Rock Financial in Novi last Saturday with Joe and John.

Enjoy Karen's Current Favorite Song

Good bye boat

Winterized the boat today with Joe's help. Temp this morning was in the mid 30s but the sun came out and it warmed up to the middle 50's with a light breeze out of the southwest. Changed the oil in main motor and the kicker motor and the lower units of both motors. Greased the steering on the main drive and the lower unit of the main motor. Also ran 3 1/2 gallons of red pop through the main engine. Next year I need a new gasket for the engine oil drain plug for the kicker motor and I also found a leak on the reservoir for the trim taps that has to be fixed before launch. Next fishing trip will be off the docks.

Last Boat Trip of the Season

Took the day off work and fished with Joe and John H. Today's temp only made it to the lower 50s. The wind was out of the Northwest about 15 knots with waves about 2 feet.

Started fishing by the S buoy and caught a few small perch so we decided to head out to our honey hole. I followed the shoreline up the lake before we headed out to deeper water and the ride was not too bad. Started to catch some nice perch and then the white perch moved in and that was all that we were catching so we moved about a 100 feet. Same thing happened again so we picked up and moved. Same thing happened again so we called it a day. The perch were there, just the white perch were more aggressive.

Kept 29 perch between 7 3/4 and 11 inches for the last trip of the season. Will winterize the boat Sunday.

Summer in October

Fished with Captain Daryl and his friend Dale before work. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60's and by mid-day, it broke the record with a high of 90.

Winds were light out of the Southwest with no waves again today. With high expectations, we headed to the same spot we fished yesterday. Fishing was slow compared to yesterday. We moved three times in the same general area, trying to find some fish. Kept 48 perch between 7 3/4 and 10 inches. Not the catch we were hoping for, but at least we caught something!

Next Planned Trip: Friday 10/12/07 with John H. and Joe P.

99 Yellow Perch on the Table!

Fished with Joe. John H. could not make it fishing today. Temp this morning was in the upper 60s and by the time we quit fishing it was in the mid 80s, and it's October!

Tried to buy our bait at Lake Erie Party Store but he lost power last night and all of his bait died so he sent us to Matthew's Bait, just down the road. They had shiner's but the count was not as good as Lake Erie Party store.

There was no wind today so we had no waves, and I do mean it was flat. Most of the lake had a major algae bloom because of the warm temps and the flat water.

Went to the S buoy and tried fishing there for awhile without any luck, so we decided to head out to our hot spot that we have been fishing the past three weeks ( 41 51 900 / 083 11 070 ) and boy was it hot! The past few weeks we've been catching as many white perch as yellow perch but today we caught mostly yellow perch. The fish we caught today were between 8 and 12 inches and most of them were around 9 inches. We Kept 99 perch for the day. Too bad we only have 1 more week to fish from the boat.

Next Planned Trip: Monday 10/08/07, with Daryl before work.

Another Nice Catch!

Fished with Daryl this morning before work. Temperature this morning was in the lower 50's and by mid-day it was in the upper 70's. The wind was light out of the Southeast with waves less than a foot.

We went back to the spot we have fished the past several times, and the fish are still there. Still caught a lot of white perch but the average size of the yellow perch has increased. Action was steady all morning. Kept 74 perch between 8 and 11 1/2 inches, with over 2/3 of the fish over 9 inches.

Received a report that they are starting to catch fish at the S Buoy but haven't checked it out yet. Plan on doing so Sunday.

Next Planned Trip: Sunday 10/07/07 with John H. and Joe.

Daryl's Birthday Catch!!

Fished with Captain Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the mid to lower 40's and it warmed up to the 60's. Winds were variable out of the East and South 5-10 knots. Waves were about 1 foot.

Fished the same spot we fished Monday and Thursday and another spot about 50 feet away. Even though we were catching so many white perch, we didn't want to leave the area because the yellow perch were so nice. We caught as many white perch as we did yellow perch. I don't know why we caught so many white perch today.

The fish were a bit larger today than what we had been catching. The average size today was approximately 9 inches. We kept 60 perch between 8 inches and 10 1/2 inches. Lake Erie Party Store had really nice shiners again today.

Next Planned Trip: Thursday 10/04/07 With Daryl before work.

Fun Before Work

Fished with Daryl today before work. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50's and by the time we quit fishing it was only in the upper 60's. The wind was out of the Northwest around 10 knots with waves about 1 foot. Picked up our shiners at Lake Erie Party Store as they still had nice ones.

Headed out to where we had fished Sunday and Monday ( 41 51 900 / 083 11 070 ). Started catching fish immediately and never had to move. Kept 70 fish today between 7 3/4 and 11 1/2 inches. It seemed like a summer day including a mayfly hatch and being bitten by mosquitoes as we cleaned the fish.

Only two more weeks to get in some fishing before we have to winterize the boats and the marina closes for the season.

Next Planned Trip: Saturday, 09/29/07 with Daryl.

The Dirty Dozen

Fished with Daryl before work today - oops! Went on strike today.

Temperature this morning was in the lower 50's and by the time we quit at 1:00 pm, it was in the lower 80's. Wind was light out of the Southeast with waves less than a foot.

Started fishing where we left off at yesterday, thinking we would do as well today. We caught nothing at that spot today. Moved around the area 4 or 5 times and picked up one fish. Saw a pack of boats North of McDonalds, so we headed over there. Nobody was catching any fish and neither did we. We headed off to the Northeast about 4 miles and fished some old waypoints - still nothing. Went back to the first spot.

Ended up with a grand total of twelve fish between 8 and 10 1/2 inches. Still haven't figured out why the fish turned off today, although some of them were full of wigglers.

Next Planned Trip: Maybe Friday, 09/28/07.

First Day of Fall

Fished with Joe today. Doug S. decided to fish with his Dad. Temperature this morning was in the upper 40's and by the time we quit, it was in the lower 70's. Wind was out of the Northeast 10-12 knots, with waves 1-2 ft.

On the way to the water intake we stopped at Buoy 17 and 18 to fish without any luck. Continued on to the water intake. Moved around the area about three times and decided to head toward Sputnik. Fished a mile southeast and only caught a few small fish. We decided to head a half mile north of Sputnik where there was a small pack of boats - Still Nothing! Made a move to the northeast about 4 miles where we fished a couple weeks ago as there was a large pack of boats there - Again Nothing! On the way back to the marina we stopped at one of the waypoints we had fished last year ( 41 51 900 / 083 11 070 ) and finally started catching fish. Fished there for a little over an hour and kept 60 perch, between 7 3/4 and 10 1/2 inches.

Next Planned Trip: Monday 09/24/07 before work with Daryl.

A Tough (and Rough) Day Fishing

Perch fished with Daryl before work. Temp in the morning was in the lower forties and it warmed up to the lower seventies. Winds were out of the southeast 15-18 knots, with waves 2-3 ft.

Fished a mile southeast of Sputnik ( 41 48 800 / 083 12 500 ), which is about 300 yards off Buoy 3. Even out this far, the water was slightly stained. We were catching a few fish until the last hour, when they just shut off. We kept 19 perch for the between 7 3/4 and 9 3/4 inches.

On the way back in we saw the Coastguard, so I flipped on Channel 16. There was a request for all boaters to help in a Search and Rescue for a boater who had fallen overboard two hundred yards offshore, between TBM and South Otter Creek. We participated in the search until we had to leave for work. As far as I know, according to a news report, the boater was still missing when they called off the search due to darkness.

Next Planned Trip: Sunday, Sept. 23, 2007 with Joe P. and Doug S.

A Good Day Perch Fishing!

Perch fished with Daryl before work today. Temperature was in the lower 60's this morning and the wind was blowing out of the Northeast 10-12 knots. Waves were around 2 feet. Weather improved greatly as we were fishing, the sun came out, the wind and waves died down and it warmed up to the mid-seventies.

Made a pass to the E buoy but the water was dirty so we headed out to Sputnik. Tried a few spots around Sputnik without any luck, so we headed out to where we were fishing last weekend ( 41 52 570/083 08 330 ), and we started catching fish. Nothing real big, but enough to keep us in that spot. We kept 50 perch between 7 3/4 and 10 inches, with most of the fish around 8 1/2 inches.

Next Planned Trip: Monday, 09/17/07, Fishing with Daryl before work.

Nice Bass!!!

Not what we were originally fishing for, but this large smallmouth bass was a lot of fun to catch! Thought it was a sheephead at first. The other bass was about 5 inches larger than the fish pictured.

Perch fished with Joe and John H. The temperature in the morning was in the upper 50's and by noon it was in the middle 80's. The wind was out of the WSW 10 to 15 knots with waves 2 - 3 feet, but it laid down by the time we quit fishing.

We fished 3.5 miles Northeast of Sputnik (41 51 825 / 083 08 750). Had to move several times before we found some fish and the bite was pretty good until we caught 2 large smallmouth bass, then the fishing slowed down. Made a few more moves, then called it quits for the day. Kept 47 perch between 8 and 10 inches, with most of them around 9 inches. Picked up our bait at Lake Erie Party Store, a mixture of chubs and shiners. Next trip we will stop at the harbor on the way to our marina for bait.

Next Planned Trip: Monday, 09/10/07 Fishing with Daryl before work.

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.