Algae is Starting to Form

Fished with Captain Daryl and Jim after the therapy session. Temperature when we started fishing was in the lower 70s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80s. The wind was out of the northeast less than 10 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 75 degrees and the algae is starting to appear on the water. Started fishing at (41 49 250 / 083 23 150) trolling with wiggle warts set at 65 feet back trolling at 3 mph. Started catching walleye right out of the gate and it only slowed down one time for us. Towards the end of the trip we caught the last 6 fish at the 49 / 22 line. This was Jim's first time walleye fishing on the great lakes and he did great and caught a lot of walleye. Kept 18 walleye and only had a few junk fish to deal with.

Just Missed the Storms Again

Fished with Daryl and Mark after the therapy session. Temperature when we started to fish was in the middle 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70s. The wind was out of the east southeast less than 10 knots most of the day and the waves were less than a foot. The water temp is 71 degrees. The flies were terrible today. We sprayed with bug spray and 45 minutes later you had to spray yourself again. Started fishing on the northeast side of the dump trolling with wiggle warts set at 75 feet back. Made a pass through here and we caught no fish so we headed towards the Michigan / Ohio border. Nothing but a few junk fish. Switched to dipsy's and spoons set at 60 feet back on one side and that did not help. We were marking some fish but not catching any walleye. Made a swing towards the E- Buoy and we took off the wiggle warts and put on crawlers set at 50 feet back. Finally caught a fish off that set up but then it went dead. Took off the crawlers and put on jet 20s and spoons set at 50 feet back and we started to catch a few walleye. We caught all of the walleye just south of the E- Buoy. The dipsy set up probably caught a few more fish than the jet 20s. A huge storm started to roll in so we pulled lines and headed for port. This time we beat the rain putting the boat away and cleaning the fish but when we went to dump the guts it started to rain. Kept 6 walleye and had 3 walleye that were under size that we put back.

Just Missed the Storms

Fished with Captain Daryl and Mark after Daryl's therapy appointment. Temperature when we started fishing was in the middle 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 70s. The wind was out of the south when we started to fish and then it switched to the southeast 6 to 15 knots. The waves were anywhere from 1 to 2 feet and the water temp is 69 degrees. We decided to try and stay in Michigan waters to find some fish. We stopped short of the E-buoy and looked for some fish, then we motored through the Michigan dumping grounds and there were very few marks. We moved towards walleye ally where we marked a few fish so we set lines here (41 49 050 / 083 18 700). We trolled up and down the Michigan / Ohio border fishing in Michigan waters. We set up with wiggle warts set at 75 feet back on one side of the boat and 85 feet back on the other side of the boat. After a while of trolling we caught more fish off the 75 foot set up so we switched all the poles to 75 feet back. The best color wiggle warts were the metallic green or light green with a red bill. We also caught some fish off the large dipsy's set at 30 feet back with purple spoons. We started to troll back down the border when Daryl noticed some dark clouds back by Toledo Beach Marina. It was a good thing that we were only 4 1/2 miles out from the marina. We made a mad dash pulling lines and headed back to port, got the boat put away, cleaned the fish and dumped the guts all before the rain started. Kept 16 walleye and we missed the rain.

Just Too Far to go Walleye Fishing

Fished with Joe and John. Temperature this morning was in the middle 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60s. The wind was out of the east around 10 knots and then it started to rotate to the north less than 10 knots. The waves in the morning were about a foot and then laid down to less than a foot. The water temp is 68 degrees. We had a major blow yesterday so I was not sure what was going on with the fishing. We headed out to where we fished on the last trip hoping the fish would still be there. We set up about 1 mile short of where we were last trip with dipsy's and spoons set at 90 feet back and jet 40s and spoons set at 65 feet back. Did not mark a lot of fish so we headed northeast hoping to find some fish. Finally started to catch some walleye around the 41 45 325 / 083 04 750 line so we just stayed here and pecked away at the walleye. Caught a few junk fish but it wasn't too bad and Joe caught a couple of plastic bags. One of them had a life vest in it. He would not hold them up for the pictures, that little wimp. Kept 15 walleye and a couple of plastic bags.

The Mayfly Hatch has Started

Fished with Daryl. Been working on the boat with Daryl over the last 9 days and we finally got it all put back together with the help of Derek. 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 southwest 12 to 18 knots with waves 2 to 3 feet. The water temp is 69 degrees and the mayfly hatch is under way. Started fishing where we left off on the last trip and we caught 2 walleye and a few silver bass. We trolled towards the pack of boats to the northeast of us and when we got there we caught a couple more walleye and some junk fish. We decided to head back to our original location and we only caught a few junk fish. We pulled lines and went back towards the pack of boats (41 45 600 / 083 06 550) and set up with mini disk and spoons set at 90 feet back and jet 40s and spoons set at 70 feet back. Once we did that we were on the fish. We just stayed right in this area and caught our 12 walleye. By this time we had solid 3 foot waves which made for a tough ride back to port.

Close to West Sister

Fished with Captain Daryl and Mark after the therapy session which is turning out to be a good thing. This is the third trip that we missed out on the large waves in the morning. Temperature when we started fishing was in the upper 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind was light and variable with no waves. The water temp is 68 degrees. Started fishing by McDonald's trolling wiggle warts. We were marking some fish but we only caught one walleye. Pulled lines and headed to the east and set up in 28 feet of water. Started fishing again with wiggle warts set at 75 and 85 feet back. After a half hour of fishing with out a hit we decided to put mini disk and spoons on one side of the boat. As we were doing that we caught a fish off the wiggle warts. Just got the mini disk in the water and they started to catch some fish. Made the decision to pull the wiggle warts and put jet 40s with spoons out. Once we did that it was game on for us. We caught most of the fish around 41 45 300 / 083 09 000 with the disk set at 90 feet back (which caught most of the fish) and the jet 40s set at 65 feet back. Kept 18 walleye and caught very few junk fish.

Hook Em Mark

Fished with Captain Daryl and Mark after Daryl's therapy. Temperature at mid day was in the upper 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 70s. The wind was light out of the east and the waves were less than a foot. The water temp is 68 degrees. Got a report that the fish were not in the swamp anymore so we headed out to the Michigan dumping grounds and set lines. We had wiggle warts set at 75 feet on one side of the boat and spoons and mini disk set at 65 feet back on the other side of the boat. The wiggle warts started to out produce the spoons so we put wiggle warts on both sides of the boat. We were fishing the Michigan/Ohio border on the Michigan side (41 50 000 / 083 17 500) in 22 feet of water. The catch was not very fast but we just picked away at the fish. Caught very few junk fish and we kept 18 walleye. About half way through the trip Mark put a hook in his finger trying to remove the lure from the fish. We did the fishing line trick to remove it, put on a little peroxide and he was good to go.

Wiggle Warts

Fished with Captain Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the lower 60s and when we quit fishing it was in the upper 60s. When we arrived at the marina this morning there were no hi lo drivers. Come to find out Amy scheduled the drivers for 8:00 AM, even though the marina opens at 7:00 AM. The winds were out of the northeast 10 to 15 knots. When we started fishing the waves were about a foot and when we quit fishing they were 2 to 3 feet. The water temp is 65 degrees. Started fishing just past the S-Buoy trolling towards Turtle Island. We were running wiggle warts anywhere from 25 to 50 feet behind the boards without much luck. Once we were north of Turtle Island we started to catch some fish with the wiggle warts set at 40 feet back. Caught very few junk fish and we would have had our limit but it started getting pretty rough. Kept 11 walleye for the trip. When I got home they told me it rained all day around here. We never had a drop of rain on the water, go figure.

Last Trip Using Worms

Fished with Joe and Doug. 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 southwest early and then it switched to the southeast.  Waves were less than a foot and the water temp is 64 degrees. We started fishing in 12 feet of water by the N buoy in front of Bolles Harbor and trolled towards the C-buoy. We used crawlers 35 and 40 feet behind the boards. We started setting lines and we had 3 fish on real quick. Decided to pull lines and make another pass through the same area. Picked up a few more walleye but then we ran into silver bass and sheep head. We decided to just stay and work this area and pick away at the walleye and put up with the junk fish. Not sure why but we lost a lot of fish today. Had them on for a while and they would just get off. Kept 13 walleye for the trip.

Ran The Crawlers Again Today

Fished with Daryl after his therapy session. Temperature was in the lower 60s when we started fishing and it was in the upper 60s when we quit. The wind was out of the northwest about 10 knots with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 60 degrees. We decided to stay fishing with the night crawlers. We fished the northwest side of the dumping grounds trolling crawlers 40 feet behind the boards with 2 ounce weights. Pink and purple blades worked the best. Trolling speed was around 1.5 MPH. We trolled with the waves and it only took a couple of passes and we were done. Kept 12 walleye and 1 nice perch. Caught about 6 silver bass and 1 large catfish. Just another nice day on the water.

First Trolling Trip

Fished with Daryl. Temperature this afternoon was in the lower 50's and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 50s. The wind was light and variable with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 59 Degrees. Started fishing at the mud line which was a half mile West of the E buoy. We were trolling worms with 2 ounce weights. One side of the boat was set at 35 feet back and the other side of the boat was set at 50 feet back. The side set at 50 back started to catch more fish so we switched them all to 50 feet back. On the first pass we caught 8 walleye and a few silver bass and on the second pass we caught our other 4 walleye. The best area was 41 49 000 / 083 21 240. We caught all the fish in clean water. Kept 12 walleye and we put back 2 walleye that were 15 inches. Just a nice day on the lake with very little boat traffic.

Felt Like Summer

Fished with Daryl after his therapy appointment.  Temperature midday was in the lower 70's and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 80's. The wind was out of the east at 10 knots when we started fishing and about 1:30 it switched to the south about 10 knots. Waves were around a foot. The water temp is 54 Degrees. When we came out of the harbor there was a pack of boats about 1/2 mile east of the S buoy so we headed out that way. When we got there the water was very dirty and we did not see any action so we headed towards Turtle Island. When we arrived at Turtle Island there were only about 6 boats fishing. The water was a little cleaner but it was still dirty. Caught the first fish in a couple of minutes so that gave us some confidence fishing the dirty water. We had a lot of hits today but we just could not hook them up. Kept 5 walleye and we also caught some white perch. Check out the new link I just added for the wind conditions at Toledo Light.

Maiden Voyage

Fished with Daryl. Temperature this afternoon was in the lower 50's and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 50's. The wind was out of the northeast 10 to 12 knots with waves about 1 foot. The water temp is 52 Degrees. We went fishing after Daryl's therapy appointment. The game plan was to get my boat ready for fishing and hit the lake for a couple of hours and then put the batteries in Daryl's boat. We got my boat ready and the lake did not look too bad so away we went. Headed out to Turtle Island and there were only 3 boats fishing. We set up on some old way points and started drifting. Made a long drift and we had no hits. Made another move towards some more old way points and started another drift. About halfway through the drift Daryl caught the first fish of the year using a blade bait. Went back up for another drift and we caught two more fish off the blade baits. Tried two more drifts and we only had a couple of hits so we called it a day. The water was stained, water temp was good and the wave action was good, so I was surprised that we only caught 3 fish. We planned on fishing tomorrow but the weather is not looking very good.

Trout Fishing 2014

Headed up north with Joe and John on Thursday morning (4/24) to set up camp on the Boardman River. When we arrived the river was just over the bank and flowing pretty good. On Friday we made a trip to the Jorden River to check it out. It was flowing pretty good and the camp site looked nice but we decided to stay and fish the Boardman River.

On Saturday morning the temp was in the lower 30s with a light rain. By the time we got dressed and ready for fishing the rain had quit. Joe fished his hot spot from last year, John fished around the camp and I headed to the closed camp ground. When we all met back at camp we had the same report. No fish and no bites. Not a good start for trout fishing. We had a light breakfast and headed back out. When we came back for dinner we had the same results again. Went back out for the evening fish and John caught 1 Brown Trout, so at least we were not skunked for the opener.

 Sunday we fished Mill Pond and John caught 3 Brown Trout so we had enough fish for a trout dinner. After dinner we headed back out and Joe caught no fish, I caught no fish and John had a nice fish on that he lost.

We made the decision to fish Monday morning, then pack up to head home because the weather forecast called for rain Monday night and Tuesday morning. We headed out Monday morning to our favorite spots. I caught no fish and Joe also caught no fish but John had his best morning ever trout fishing. He caught the fish that he lost on Sunday and then he caught his biggest Brown Trout ever - 19.25 inches. So John wins the trophy and is our Trout King for 2014. Congratulations John! All the fish caught this year came off night crawlers.

Lot's of Ice Yet

Fished with Doug, Dave and Dave. Fished a small lake in Bridge Water. Temperature for most of the day was in the middle 30s with no sunshine. The wind was out of the north 5 to 10 knots. The ice is close to 20 inches thick. Started fishing midday and we caught a few fish but the action was pretty slow. We started moving in and out from the shore line in 14 to 18 feet of water and that did not seem to help either. A couple of the guys had fish finders and they were marking very few fish. We fished until after dark and the catching never did improve, it was just a slow pick all day. Kept 12 crappie and 10 bluegill.

The evening fish

Fished with Doug E. and Jack. Jack showed up for the last hour of fishing. Fished from 1 1/2 hours before sunset to 1 1/12 hours after sunset. Fished in a small lake in Bridge Water. When we started fishing the temp was in the upper 20s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 20s and starting to snow. The wind was out of the southeast about 10 knots. The walk to the lake was terrible, most of the time we were walking through a foot of snow. Once we got on the lake it was still bad. There was at least 6 inches of snow on the ice and below the snow was about 4 inches of slush. The ice is about 15 inches thick. The bite was slow to start but right before dark the bluegill started hitting. Once the sun went down the crappie started to bite. We were using small jigs tipped with mousies, wax worms and spikes. Kept 24 fish, a mixture of crappies and gills.

2014 Lake Simcoe Fishing Trip

We left Michigan for Lake Simcoe, Ontario on Friday, January 17, 2014. Fished with Dwayne, Fred and Dan. This year we stayed at the Whispering Pines Bed and Breakfast in Sutton,Ontario. Cost was $50.00 per person per night and included breakfast and coffee for the thermos. Temperature Saturday morning was in the lower 20s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 30s, pretty nice for this time of year. It got so hot in the hut that we opened both windows and had the door propped open. We were fishing in 14 feet of water and you could see the fish cruising along the bottom of the lake. It sure makes it fun to sight fish for jumbo perch. Our best setup was jigging a slab grabber about a foot off the bottom. The fishing was slow but we just pecked away at them. Sunday was a different story. The temp in the morning was in the lower teens and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 20s. The wind was blowing 20 to 25 knots and we had a few snow storms during the day. I started off with a slab grabber and Dan used a new jig called a Williams spoon tipped with a Jensen egg. I did not catch a fish off the slab grabber while Dan was doing pretty good using the new spoon. Dwayne was fishing by himself because Fred was sick with the flu. He did real well using a small jig tipped with a plastic body and a spike. For the weekend we kept 102 perch and 2 bluegill. The largest perch was 13 1/2 inches and we caught quit a few jumbos.

Last Trip for 2013

Fished Bolles Harbor with John. Temperature this morning was in the upper 20s and when we quit fishing it was in the middle 30s and sunny. The wind was out of the west 10 to 15 knots but we were in the harbor so it did not affect us. The ice is 3 to 4 inches thick and the water was dirty from all the rain we had last week. We only had two bites and caught no fish. Talked to some other fisherman and the only one's that had any fish were fishing further up the harbor and they were catching bluegills. It was nice to be on the water again!!!

The End Has Arrived

Fished with Joe and Daryl. Temperature this morning was in the upper 50s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 70s. The wind in the morning was out of the west northwest 15 to 20 knots with waves 2 to 3 feet.
Around 11:00 am the wind and the waves laid down. On the boat ride back in the waves were less than a foot. The water temp is 64 degrees. Started fishing at 41 48 200 / 083 08 150 which is between Sputnik and West Sister Island. We set up and only caught 1 perch so made some moves in this area. After 3 or 4 moves with only 4 perch in the cooler we moved out to another pack of boats just to the southeast of us and the water was a lot cleaner. Stayed there and only caught a couple of fish so we moved back to the mud line and started to catch some perch. Stayed here for the rest of the trip catching a lot of small perch and a few keeper perch. Finally we started to catch some nice perch to make the trip a success. Kept 76 perch, cleaned them up and went to Trappers for a perch dinner. Always a good way to end the season.

It Doesn't Get Any Better

Fished with Norm. Temperature this morning was in the middle 40s and when we quit fishing it was in the lower 60s. The wind was light out of the east with waves less than a foot. The water temp is 65 degrees. Headed back to where we have been fishing and the water was dirty so we kept going to the east. We set up at 41 49 800 / 083 11 650 which is just north of Sputnik and we never had to move. We were catching some nice perch so we decided that we would not keep anything under 8 1/2 inches. The catching was fast and furious and the majority of the fish were in the 10 inch range. Only caught a handful of white perch and 1 smallmouth bass. Kept 62 perch. We were fishing for about 20 minutes and it got so nice out that we had to take off our coats. Just a great day to be on the lake.