We Lost Our Touch

Fished with Captain Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind in the morning was out of the northeast at 15 knots which meant we had 3 foot waves for the ride out to the Turn Around Buoy( 11 mile ride ). About 10:00 AM the wind laid down to 5 knots and so did the waves. We just dropped the lines and the first fish was a 11 inch perch and we thought we were in for a good day. Well, it was all down hill from there. We moved a couple of times in this area without much more luck so we went to the north side of Sputnik and only caught a few more fish. Decided to go back to our hot spot and we caught a lot of white perch, sheepshead and 4 more perch. It was getting late so we called it a day. Kept 17 perch between 8 and 11 inches.

First Day of Autumn

Fished with Mike (Hi-Lo driver from the beach ). Temperature this morning was in the upper 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70s. The wind was out of the west southwest about 10 knots with waves around 1 foot. The water temp is 68 degrees. Started fishing 1/4 mile southwest of the Turn Around buoy. We never left this spot but maybe we should have. The catching was just good enough to keep us there and then about 10:00 AM the bite just quit for us. Took about half an hour for it to start again so maybe we should have moved. Kept 30 perch between 8 and 10 inches but most of them were about 8 1/2 inches.

Last Day of Summer

Fished with Big Booth. Temperature this morning was 70 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s, summer time weather. The wind was out of the southeast less than 10 knots and the waves were less than a foot. The water temp is 68 degrees. Started fishing by the N buoy and only caught one small perch so we moved out to the number 13 buoy. Had a few bites but no keepers so we headed out to our hot spot from last year. For the second trip in a row we caught no fish there. Moved 4 miles to the northwest and started to catch some fish. The catching was slow and the size was not very large but at least we were catching some fish and not riding around the lake. Talked to Daryl on the radio and they were fishing just west of the Turn Around Buoy and they had 35 keepers and they were still fishing. On the ride back to port we were hammered by a rain storm but by the time we arrived at port the storm was over. We kept 25 perch between 7 3/4 and 10 inches.

Super Slow Day

Fished with Daryl and Dave(from TBM). Dave was going to go fishing by himself so we invited him to ride along with us. 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 northwest in the morning at 10 knots with waves just over a foot and by the time we quit fishing the wind was out of the west at 5 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 72 degrees. Started fishing at our hot spot and only caught a few dinks. Made 3 moves in this area and nothing else happened so we moved into Breast Bay( middle numbers 53/ 13 ). Caught some fish but they were not very large so we headed out to buoy number 5 on the shipping channel. Only caught some dinks there so we went to buoy number 13 on the channel. Had some bites and caught a few small fish but the catching was very slow so we called it a day. Kept 9 perch between 8 and 8 1/2 inches.

09-11-09, Busy Day On The Water

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 southeast rotating to the east less than 7 knots. The waves were less than 6 inches and the water temp is 69 degrees. The algae bloom was pretty bad within the first 4 miles leaving the harbor but we were heading out to our hot spot so it did not matter for us. Our fishing spot is 2 1/2 miles north of the shipping channel. We were just fishing having a good time when we noticed this ship coming towards us. We were way out of the channel so we thought we were OK. As the ship was approaching us we noticed she left the channel and was taking a short cut to the Raisin River Channel and we were in her way. Most of the boats left the area because they were in its path but we stayed put. I cannot believe that this ship was going to drive through a small pack of boats perch fishing to make her route a little bit shorter but she sure did. The ship passed within 75 feet of us, close enough to throw a rock and hit it. Unbelievable. After it passed you could see where it was churning up the bottom from all the muddy water behind it. Anyways, we were fishing and the catching was pretty slow. Made 4 moves but we stayed in the general area. The talk on the radio was that fishing was very slow, so we did not bother to move too far. On the way back to the harbor we were pulled over by the United States Border Patrol. They were just wondering where we were headed and where we came from, must of been 9-11 related. Talked to them for about 5 minutes and away we went. Kept 35 perch today between 8 and 13 inches but most of the fish were 8 1/2 inches.

Larbor Day Weekend, Monday

Fished with Joe. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60s and when we quit fishing it was only in the lower 70s. The wind was out of the northeast around 10 knots and the waves were any where between 1 to 2 foot. The water temp is 68 degrees. The weather report called for light rain all day but we didn't see any of it. When we got to the bait store they were out of shiners but Joe (the owner), said that the minnow truck was on it's way. We only had to wait 5 minutes and we had some fresh bait so it was worth the wait. We headed out to the same spot that we fished on Saturday and we never had to move. The fish were not as large as we had hoped for but at least we caught some nice keepers. Kept 67 perch between 8 and 11 inches.

Labor Day Weekend, Saturday

Fished with Captain Doug Sowa. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind was out of the north less than 5 knots with no waves at all on the lake and just enough breeze to keep the bugs away. Water temp is 69 degrees. On the way out to our fishing spot we saw a pack of boats halfway between Turtle Island and the Toledo Light House so we went over there to give it a try. Stayed there about 20 minutes and only caught a couple of small perch so we went out to the number 13 buoy on the shipping channel. Spent about 45 minutes there with only some small perch so we made the move to our hot spot from last year (41 51 900 / 083 11 070). Started catching fish right away - we still had to sort through them to keep what we had, but at least we caught some nice perch. Kept 42 perch between 8 and 11 inches. Our only problem was that once we found the fish we just ran out of time to fish for them. Today was just another beautiful day to be on the water.

Labor Day Weekend Fishing

Fished by myself today. It was just to nice to stay around the house. Temperature this morning was in the middle 50s and when I quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind was out of the northeast at 5 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 69 degrees. Started fishing by the number 13 buoy on the shipping channel and I never had to move. The perch today were all about the same size, just over 8 inches. Only a few were over 9 inches. Kept 30 perch and called it a day. Sure was a beautiful day on the water.

Day Three of Perch Jerkin

Fished with Uncle Dan. The 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 northeast 5 to 10 knots with waves around a foot. The water temp is 70 degrees. We headed back to the number 11 buoy because we did so well there yesterday. Today the fishing was not as good, could have been the water( little more cloudy) or that the bait store had smaller shiners. We caught a lot of fish but the size was a lot smaller. I made the decision that since we were catching fish and some of them were keepers that we were not going to move. We kept 50 perch between 8 and 11 1/2 inches and the majority of them were 8 inches. Talked to a couple of boats that were fishing in close and they came back with very few perch and the ones that they caught were small.

The Making For a Great Perch Year

Fished with captain Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the middle 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. Just another nice day on the lake. The wind was out of the northeast 5 to 10 knots with waves around a foot. The water temp is still 70 degrees. We started fishing by the Toledo Light House and made 3 moves in that area with out any luck, only caught some small perch. Made a move out to the number 11 buoy and fished the south side of the buoy and we never had to move again. Once we were on the fish it was non stop action, but again we had to sort through the fish. Today we caught a lot more white perch, silver bass and sheep head, but we also caught larger perch. Kept 67 perch between 8 and 11 1/2 inches.

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.