Perch Season 2009

Fished with Doug Sowa. Temperature this morning was 46 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 60s. The wind was out of the northeast 5 to 10 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 70 degrees. Started fishing by the Toledo Light House on this side of the ditch and we never had to move. We caught a lot of fish and had to sort through them to keep what we did, but it made for a fun day of perch fishing. Kept 45 perch between 8 and 10 inches with most of them in the 8 inch range. We picked up our bait at Lake Erie Party Store and Joe had some nice shiners, which are now $3.50 per scoop.

2009 Salmon Fishing

Fished Manistee from 8-15 through 8-22 with Joe and John H. We also had captain Daryl's boat, the Lucky Strike with Dwayne and Mark. Captain John and his crew stayed at a different motel.

The weather made it one of the toughest salmon fishing trips that we have had for a long time. The wind was mostly out of the west at 10 to 25 knots almost every day. When we did get out, we fished south between the 1st set of nets and the second set of nets, in 140 to 200 feet of water.

The fish were very deep this year. We fished the downriggers anywhere between 95 and 130 feet down, running J-Plugs, cut bait rigs and spin doctors and flies. I only have 10 pound cannon balls and I should have had 14 pound cannon balls. It would have created less blow back and made for easier fishing - maybe next year I'll pick some up. Off the dipsy's we ran the spin doctor with glow squids and cut bait with hoochies or spin doctors back 250 and 300 feet. We kept 24 salmon for the week with the largest at 21 pounds. The average size was around 18 pounds.

Daryl must have caught a rogue net with his downriggers on Tuesday night so we had to tow him in about 4 miles. They had 3 downrigger cables break and some of the cable wrapped around the prop. They only lost the Wednesday morning fish because they had some great help getting everything replaced and put back together.

All in all, we all had a great time, excellent food at the restaurants, met some nice people and had a lot of laughs. Can't wait until next year's trip!

Salmon Fishing in Manistee

Well, Joe and John and I are off to Manistee, Michigan for our annual Salmon Fishing Trip! Will meet up with Daryl and Duane at the motel. Same place we stayed at last year. Looking forward to a busy and (hopefully productive) week of salmon fishing on Lake Michigan. Hope to have a few posts during the week, but if not, I'll post on Sunday, August 23.

Greenhouse Bash

Fished with Captain Eddie aboard Hollywood. We had a crew from one of the greenhouses that Joe Barson knows. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and by the time we quit fishing in was in the middle 70s. The wind was out of the northwest at 5 knots which made for no waves. The water temp is 76 degrees. Started fishing just the other side of the dumping grounds (41 48 600 / 083 18 900) trolling wiggle warts 90 feet behind the boards. The action was pretty slow so we put dipsy's set at 90 feet back with spoons on one side of the boat. Started to catch a few fish off this setup so we put dipsy's on both sides of the boat. The fishing was slow but we would catch enough fish to keep us in the area. Caught a lot of junk fish and quite a few weeds so we always had to tend the lines. Kept 20 walleye between 16 and 21 inches and 2 perch. Everyone had a great time fishing and then we went to Trappers for a walleye dinner. Joe and Debbie Barson host this party for the fifth year now and again they did a great job. I had the privilege of fishing with a great bunch of people which made for a nice day on the water.

The Cooler Smells Like Skunk

Fished with Captain Daryl and Doug. Temperature this morning was in the upper 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind was out of the southwest 20 knots and the water temp is 75 degrees. We started fishing in the swamp trolling dipsy's set at 30 feet back and wiggle warts set at 30 feet back. Marked a lot of fish and the water is clean, good conditions for the swamp. The waves were about a foot, which was not to bad. We caught only junk fish so we decided to fish by the dumping grounds. When we arrived at the dumps the waves were 2 to 3 feet, which made the fishing difficult. We trolled here for half an hour and called it a day. No keeper fish today!!

Mixed Catch

Fished with Joe. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind was out of the west southwest 15 to 18 knots and the waves were 2 to 3 feet. The water temp is 75 degrees. Started fishing the other side of the dumping grounds and we stayed in this general area (41 48 100 / 083 18 700). We had wiggle warts set at 80 feet back on one side of the boat and dipsy's set at 80 feet back on the other. Started catching more fish off the dipsy's so we put them on both sides of the boat. Best spoon color was anything with pink on it. Had a few weeds in the area but it was not too much of a problem, the wind was the major problem. Kept 10 walleye, 1 small perch and 1 small muskie.

Perch Mouth

Fished with Daryl and Mike. When we arrived at the marina this morning there was a large mayfly hatch from last night. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. It rained for a couple of hours in the morning and then it was overcast for the rest of the day. The wind was out of the northwest 10 to 14 knots with waves around a foot. The water temp is 75 degrees. Started fishing just the other side of the dumping grounds where we have been fishing the last two weeks and did not catch anything. Made a move into the swamp and trolled there for an hour and caught nothing. Made another move and we went 2 miles northeast of the E buoy where we caught a couple of walleye off the jet 20s set at 55 feet behind the boards. Made a couple of passes there and then we started heading towards the dumping grounds again, with out any luck. Finished the day with 2 walleye and 1 perch.

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.