Manistee - The Final Tally

This years trip will be remembered as the year of very few fish but large fish. We put in a lot of hours fishing for the few fish that we caught. We hooked 33 fish and landed 28 of them which gave us a catch rate of 85%, which is very good. We lost one fish at the net and 2 broke the line and the rest just got off the lure. We caught 25 king salmon and 3 coho. We caught 14 fish in the morning and 14 fish in the evening. Of the 13 sessions we could have made it out fishing we made it out 11 times, some of which were in 2 to 4 foot seas. Wednesday was a blow day. We totaled 51 hours of fishing and landed 28 fish for an average of .54 fish per hour, which is slow fishing. The 28 fish weighed 452.25 lbs. for an average of 16.15 lbs. per fish, which is very good. The largest fish weighed just over 26 lbs. and the smallest fish weighed 6 lbs. We had 11 fish that weighed over 20 lbs. Below is a list of lures that caught the fish.

Silver Horde - Green Splatter Back..............................................6 hits
John J Meat Rig............................................................................5 hits
Black Mamba Meat Rig with a Red Head....................................4 hits
J Plug - Grey Ghost.......................................................................4 hits
Scare Pace Meat Plug....................................................................4 hits
J Plug - Light Pink and Green(lost)...............................................1 hit
Silver Streak Spoon - Light Purple(slider)....................................1 hit
Mountain Dew Meat Rig with Green Head...................................1 hit
J Plug - Glow Wonder Bread.........................................................1 hit
J Plug - Bloody Nose Glow...........................................................1 hit

End of the Trip

Well, the week went by too quickly. Daryl showed up on Wednesday and was able to fish on Thursday and Friday. After the blow on Wednesday the fishing was very tough on Thursday morning. We only caught 1 king in the morning. We were hoping the lake would stabilize for the afternoon fish. We headed back out and the first 2 fish we lost and then we finally caught some nice fish. We only caught 3 fish but they weighed 71 lbs. Friday morning the harbor water temp was 68 degrees so we headed south and the catching was pretty good. We kept 6 fish and 4 of them were over 20 lbs. On the way back to port the big motor quit about 4 miles from port, it sounded like the same problem that I had last year. We got it running and made it back safely. We made an adjustment to the gas line and were hoping that would solve the problem. Went out fishing for the afternoon fish and we headed right back to the location we fished in the morning. There were very few boats around and things were not looking good so we started to troll north towards the harbor. Well as my luck goes the kicker motor quit running and we could not get it started again (figured out it was a broken gas line) so we trolled with the main motor. Right before dark we started to catch some fish and we ended up with 3 nice kings for the trip. Over all the catching was bad but the fish were large. I should have a final tally in a few days.

Salmon Fishing, Part 2

Fishing with Joe and John. The temp was in the upper 40s Monday morning but the winds were light. The surface temp at the harbor is 65 degrees so we decided to fish in front of the harbor long lining silver hordes and J plugs. The fishing was pretty good until the sun came up and then it shut right down. Caught 4 kings and 2 of them were pretty nice size. The wind was starting to pick up out of the southwest and the water is starting to warm up. For the afternoon trip we decided to run south and make one long troll back towards the harbor with the waves at our back. It makes for easy fishing and an easy ride back to the harbor in 2 to 4 foot waves. The dipsy's were hot with the meat rigs on them set at 150 feet back. We caught 5 kings and 4 of them were pretty nice. We had 82 lbs. of fish in the cooler which made for a good evening.

Tuesday Morning the wind was still blowing but fishable and the water temp at the harbor is 69 degrees. We headed to the shelf and dropped the probe down and got water temp at 70 feet so we thought we were in for a great morning. We only caught 2 kings but they were nice sized again. For the afternoon fish the lake was still bumpy and we were on some fish, but we also had some bad luck. On the first fish the line broke right in front of the second treble hook so we lost that fish and another fish broke the line. We caught 1 coho and one small king around 12 lbs.

Wednesday the waves were 4 to 5 feet, so we had a blow day. We went up to Manistee Lake and tried jigging for salmon but we had no luck.

Salmon Fishing Manistee

Fishing out of the Port of Manistee for salmon with Joe and John for the first four days and then Daryl is going to show up on Wednesday. When we arrived at the harbor the lake was calm and we were eager to go fishing. As we were getting the boat ready we talked to the DNR person taking surveys of the boats coming back from fishing and he said most boats are catching 1 to 2 fish and a lot of boats are coming back with no fish. Not what we wanted to hear. Got the boat ready and checked into the motel and away we went fishing. We headed south to start fishing because that is where we had our best luck in the past. We caught 1 king Saturday night. Monday morning we went straight out and fished the shelf with no hits so we pulled lines and headed for the shallow water. Caught 1 nice king (25.5 lb.) and that was it for the morning fish. This afternoon we went back out to the shelf and fished until dark and caught only 1 king. Things are not looking good. At our marina the boats are coming back with 0 to 2 fish. Hopefully the lake will started to stabilize as the week goes on. So far we have in 3 trips and 3 fish.

Weather Person did it Again Today

Fished with Captain Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind was out of the northeast 10 to 14 knots with waves 1 to 3 feet. The forecast was for winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 knots with waves less than a foot. That makes back to back trips with bad weather reports. The water temp is 73 degrees. We made the run to the other side of the Toledo Light House (41 43 125 / 083 16 600) and started trolling with wiggle warts set at 90 to 100 feet back. We started to catch some walleye at the 90 foot setting so we put all the poles to 90 feet. We caught the first 9 fish pretty fast and then the catching slowed down. We started to switch some of the poles back to the  100 feet setting and we caught the rest of our fish. Kept 12 walleye and had 1 walleye that was undersize that we put back. We caught nothing but walleye and most of them were pretty nice fish.

The Weather Person Got it Wrong Today

Fished with Norm. Temperature this morning was in the middle 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind was out of the north northeast 16 to 22 knots with waves over 3 feet. The weather report for today was light winds out of the northwest 5 to 10 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 73 degrees. Our game plan was to walleye fish for about 2 hours and then perch fish for a couple of hours. When we arrived at the bait store this morning to buy some minnows the wind was blowing pretty good so we decided to go just walleye fishing. We made it out to the E Buoy and trolled with the waves running wiggle warts set at 75 feet back. We had a tough time setting lines with the wind and the waves so after one short pass we called it a day. One of the few trips on Lake Erie that we caught no fish.

Flat as a Pancake

Fished with Norm. Temperature this morning was in the lower 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. There was no wind today so we had no waves and surprisingly there were no bugs. The water temp is 75 degrees. Started fishing north of the E Buoy trolling towards the Toledo Light House running wiggle warts 70 and 80 feet behind the boards. When we got to the E Buoy the weeds were very bad. Once we were past the E Buoy by about 1/4 mile there were not very many weeds so we cleaned the lures and kept on fishing. We found a small school of fish and we tried to stay on them but the boat traffic was getting bad. We would try and make some passes to our waypoint, but we could never get back to where we wanted to fish. The boat traffic started to clear out a little so we were able to get back on our spot and pick away at the walleye. Kept 12 walleye on a flat lake fishing on the dumping grounds.

Tough One Today

Fished with Captain Daryl and Joe. Temperature this morning was 51 degrees and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 60s, and yes, it is the end of July. We all wore long pants and coats. The wind was out of the southwest 17 to 24 knots with waves 2 to 3 feet. The water temp is 74 degrees. We decided to go fishing because the wind was off shore and the waves would not be too bad. We ran towards the Toledo Light House and made a pass to the E Buoy. We ran wiggle warts 75 and 85 feet behind the boards and 2 large dipsy's set on number 3 - 25 feet back with spoons. The dipsy's caught the first 2 walleye and that was all that they caught. On the first pass we caught 2 walleye and on the second pass we caught 5 walleye. We went and made a 3rd pass and the wind was picking up. It was hard to control the boat with the wind and waves and we only caught 1 walleye so we decided to call it a day. Kept 8 walleye and 1 nice perch. We caught most of the fish by the E Buoy.

Turned Out to be a Nice Day

Fished with Norm. Temperature this morning was in the middle 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind in the morning was out of the northwest 12 to 15 knots with waves around 2 feet and about 10:00 AM the wind laid down and so did the waves. The water temp is 78 degrees and the algae bloom is getting worse. Started fishing by the E Buoy trolling with the waves with wiggle warts set at 75 feet back and 80 feet back. The first fish we caught was a muskie 18 inches long. It jumped out of the water as soon as it was hooked and then it jumped about 3 more times. With the 2 foot waves we would troll with the waves through the dump, pull the lines and run back into the waves and make that same pass again. On the second pass we changed all the leads to 80 feet back. The plan worked good until the lake calmed down and all the boats came out, then we had to dodge all the boats. Kept 12 walleye and only caught a few junk fish. The weed problem is starting to get a little worse but it is still fishable. Just need to check the lines frequently.

Still Having Boat Problems!!!

Fished with Willie, Mike and Rick. 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 south 10 to 18 knots with waves 1 to 2 feet. The water temp is 78 degrees. I started the kicker motor and was doing other things to get ready for the trip and the kicker motor quit running. When I would prime the bulb the motor would run for a couple of minutes and then quit. Tried to work on it for a while with no luck so I figured we would use the main motor for trolling today. Well, the main motor would not start. I went a got a can of starting fluid and gave it a squirt and it started right up, so away we went. Started fishing in the dumping grounds trolling wiggle warts 75 feet back and we were on fish pretty fast. Around 9:00 AM a huge storm was on shore heading to the north. The wind picked up and we got a little rain and then it finally moved on. The walleye were in small schools so we would just ride around and pick away at them. Kept 15 walleye and we lost about 5 other walleye. When we got back to port I worked on the kicker motor and found a split gas line where it was connected to the fuel filter. Hopefully this will solve all my problems.

Fishing in Close Yet

Fished with Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the upper 70's and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 80's. The wind was light and variable with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 82 Degrees and an algae bloom is beginning. The last hour of the fishing trip it began to get pretty warm. Started fishing just this side of the E Buoy trolling wiggle warts 75 feet behind the boards. We stayed in this area for the whole trip. After a couple of passes we switched one side of the boat to mini disks with spoons set at 65 feet back. Both sides were catching walleye but we also caught a lot of junk fish. We stayed busy the whole trip. As we were pulling lines Daryl caught this 20 inch small mouth bass. Kept 12 walleye and only had 1 walleye that was under size that we put back.

Still Good Fishing

Fished with Daryl and Chris. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70s. The wind was out of the southwest 13 to 18 knots with waves around 2 feet. The water temp is 73 degrees. Started fishing where we left off yesterday and we had the same results. Ran wiggle warts with any kind of orange on it back 75 feet. Only caught a few junk fish and we only lost a few walleye behind the boat. The water was a lot cleaner than yesterday and there were very few weeds. With the southwest winds predicted for the next couple of days the fish should stay here for a while. Kept 18 walleye and only had 1 throwback walleye.

Still Having Boat Problems

Fished with Joe. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind was out of the south less than 10 knots and the waves were less than a foot. The water temp is 72 degrees. We were trying to figure out where to fish, make the long run to the 04s or just stay out in front of the marina. As we pulled away from the dock the motor quit. Got it running again, adjusted the throttle screw and away we went. When we made it to the lake we decided to fish in close because of the motor problems. We only went about 3 miles and the motor acted up 4 times. Started fishing the south end of the dumping grounds trolling crawlers set at 50 feet back and wiggle warts set at 75 feet back. Picked up the first walleye off the night crawler and the next fish came off the wiggle wart. Made the change to all wiggle warts, bumped up the speed to 2.8 MPH and that seemed to help. We were fishing by ourselves at (41 47 800 / 083 20 100) which is right on the Michigan/Ohio border. We made about 3 passes trolling with the wind then we would pull lines and head back to our starting spot. Every time we would run back using the big motor it ran great. We got done fishing and ran back to port and it ran great, so I do not have a clue as to what is wrong with the motor. Maybe I will figure out something tomorrow. Kept 12 walleye, lost 7 behind the boat and had 2 under size walleye that we put back. Only caught a few junk fish. The best color wiggle warts were anything with orange.

Fast and Furious

Fished with Norm. Temperature this morning was in the upper 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind was light out of the west and the waves were less than a foot. The water temp is 74 degrees. Started fishing by the E Buoy trolling southwest with wiggle warts set at 70 and 75 feet behind the boards. We were on the fish in a hurry and were done fishing in a hurry. All that we caught were walleye. Kept 12 walleye and lost 5 walleye behind the boat.  

The Boy Had a Ball

Fished with Captain Daryl, Randy and Spencer. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind was light out of the south with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 74 degrees. Started fishing at (41 49 300 / 083 20 120) trolling to the southwest. We ran wiggle warts set at 70 and 75 feet back. There are a few weeds in the area but they were not too bad. Started catching fish right out of the gate and Randy and Spencer were non stop catching fish. Made a couple of passes in this area but the catching started to slow down. We figured we would fish for one more hour and call it a day. About that time the coast guard pulled up along side of us and wanted to check everything out. We had to pull all the fishing lines and the planer boards in so they could board the boat. They took our driver license's to run checks on them and proceeded to check for all the required equipment on the boat. The Captain had everything that was needed so they gave us back our license's and they were on their way. Since we had all the lines pulled we decided to call it a day and head back to port. Spencer drove the boat all the way back to port without a problem. I'm not sure if we should call him Captain Spencer or Walleye Spencer since he caught most of the walleye. Kept 15 walleye and we put back 2 under size walleye.

It Was a Hot One

Fished with Joe and Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 80s and it was hot. The morning started with a brief rain shower that actually felt pretty good. The wind was out of the south southwest 12 to 17 knots in the morning and about 10:30 AM it laid down to less than 10 knots. The waves in the morning were 1 to 2 feet and then the lake laid down to waves less than a foot. The water temp is 72 degrees. Started fishing at the south end of the Ohio dumping grounds ( 41 47 250 / 083 18 100) trolling towards the Toledo Light House. We ran jet 40s set at 35 feet back and mini disk set at 45 feet back. Started to catch some walleye off the mini disk so we put them on both sides of the boat. We messed around trying to figure the correct depth and we finally figured out that 45 to 60 feet back was the best setup. We started to catch some fish at 41 46 300 / 083 19 220 so we just stayed in this area. We caught some junk fish but it was not too bad. Kept 18 walleye and we put back 8 walleye that were under size.

Different Day Same Results

Fished with Dwayne and Dan. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70s. The wind in the morning was out of the southwest 10 to 15 knots with waves around 2 feet and by 11:00 AM the wind started to come out of the south less than 10 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 69 degrees and the mayfly hatch is starting. Started fishing at 41 45 125 / 083 12 450 trolling with jet 40s set at 30 and 35 feet back. After a while we put the small dipsy's on one side of the boat set at 80 feet back and that caught 1 walleye. The water was pretty bumpy and the mayfly larva floating on the surface of the water made setting the lines difficult. We fished around here until 10:30 AM and only had 3 walleye so we pulled lines and ran out to 41 49 100 / 083 07 300. Set up here with jet 40s set at 80 and 85 feet back and the catching was still pretty slow so we put out the small dipsy's on one side of the boat set at 110 feet back. That started to catch some walleye but now it was getting late in the fishing trip so we pulled lines and came home. Kept 7 walleye for the trip. On the way back to the harbor the boat quit running 2 miles from shore and it would not start again. We started the kicker motor and started to come in with that until we got the main motor to run again. We made it back to the harbor and I was heading to the fuel dock to fill up and the motor quit running again when we were about 25 feet from the dock. Made a crash landing at the fuel dock and put some nice scratches in the boat. Put some gas in the boat and got the main motor to start again and we made it back to the rack and launch without another accident. Now I need to figure out what the problem is.

Still Tough Fishing For Us

Fished with captain 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 northwest 15 to 20 knots in the morning and around 10:30 AM the wind died down to less than 10 knots. The waves in the morning were 2 to 3 feet and when the wind laid down the waves were less than a foot. We caught most of our fish in the rough water. The water temp is 68 degrees. We started fishing at 41 48 750 / 083 09 125 trolling with jet 20s set at 70 feet back and jet 40s set at 75 feet back. Most of the fish came off the jet 40s and we were fishing at 41 49 600 / 083 07 500 trolling into the waves. The best spoon was the cat dog on the 40 jets. Most of the fish we caught were pretty nice size and we had 3 throwbacks that were under 15 inches. Kept 7 walleye and caught very few junk fish for the trip.

The Weather Was Great

Fished with John, Sherrill and Dan. Temperature this morning was in the middle 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper60s. The wind was light and variable and the lake was pretty flat. The water temp is 64 degrees. Was not sure where to start fishing so we headed out across the lake. We set up at (41 09 250 / 083 09 800) trolling with jet 40s set at 65 feet back on one side of the boat and 75 feet back on the other side. The catching was very slow so we moved the shorter side back to 80 feet back. Nothing seemed to work and most of the reports we had were not very good. We caught most of our fish on the 07 line and even then it was slow pickings. We kept 7 walleye and everyone seemed to have a good trip.  Again the best report was around the McDonald's area.

Rough and Long Ride

Fished with Daryl and Mark. Temperature this morning was in the middle 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 60s. The wind was out of the north 10 to 15 knots and the waves were 2 to 4 feet. Around 10:00 AM the lake laid down to 2 foot waves. The water temp is 63 degrees. The water is dirty in Michigan so we had to cross the channel to fish. We set up at 41 47 100 / 083 10 250 and trolled with the waves using jet 40s set at 75 feet back. We caught 1 fish right out of the gate but then it slowed down. We ended up fishing at 41 46 200 / 083 06 500 which is too far to go for walleye. We could not troll into the waves so we would pull lines and run back into the waves and set up with another downwind troll. Kept 6 walleye and we only caught a few silver bass. Hopefully the lake will clear up by tomorrow so we can fish closer to port. We added a new buoy report on the blog which is located just this side of McDonald's, called it the Bolles Harbor Weather Buoy. It has some very useful info.