cliftp

I have a 2004 Silverado, two wheel drive and my boat and trailer weigh 3,400 pounds full of fuel and tackle. Never had a problem launching or retrieving, but a lot of places I used to fish when I had a smaller boat I don't even try and launch. Hopefully my next one will be 4 wheel drive but this one has served me well. Paul C.

Was able to get over to Lake Erie again yesterday, launched out of Sterling State Park. Lake was a little bumpy but what a fishery. Low 30's with Mike warming up my boat. It took around six hours of fishing time to get the three limits. Purple perch, green perch and blue and orange Husky Jerks caught the most fish with our one lone blue tail dancer catching four or five, can't remember. Best lead length was 30 to 40 behind the boards, speed 1.1 to 1.5. (Depending on what part of the wave we were on). Final picture before the cleaning assembly line. My wife talked me into going to Meijer for groceries this morning. Walleye was 8.99 a pound on sale. Seventy five dollars for fuel in the truck, filled up the boat, fifty dollars...........not going there. Out biggest was 29 inches and 8 something pounds. Glad I didn't put the boat away yet. Paul C.

Another plug for these guys. I've ordered new line counter window covers for my Diawa's twice now. Last order was on Monday, glued the cover on yesterday. Fast service. Never thought about upgrading drags though. Good idea. Paul C.

If you end up not finding a used one Pro Fishing Supply has them for $1,929.99, brand new. I see there is a $100.00 mail in rebate too. (Sure is a lot of money)...... Hope you find one. Paul C.

Something I've always wanted to try but just can not get the logistics down is one of Lance Valentine's teaching charters on the Detroit River. Very personable guy, plus a really good teacher. His web site is www.walleye101.com. He will be booking his trips pretty soon for the spring and he always fills up. He keeps his boat at Wyandotte and has a list of hotels and other logistical stuff for the area. A trip with Lance and then fish the rest of the time after the "Learnin" part. Sounds like a fun trip however you do it. Paul C.

I bought this one probably 7 or 8 years ago. The guys on Walleye Central were saying it was a good system. I must say, it works great. I can shave hair pretty easily with my fillet knives. Here is a YouTube video I found plus the link to the company. http://www.sharpeningwheels.com/new/ Paul C.

Got out of the deer stand to make a trip over to Lake Erie yesterday. I have never been on the Lake when it was so flat. Beautiful day. We ended up 6 for 7, with the biggest weighing 9.6 pounds on my hand held scale. We left home about 5:30 AM or so and were fishing by around 9 AM. Kind of a long day but what a fishery. We went out of Sterling State Park. Here are the fish. These are what worked, all Husky Jerks, could not get a bite on Reef Runners. Got one fish on the clear one, 70 back on a planner board, two on each of the other ones. Best distance was about 50 feet behind the board. Did a lot of Salmon trolling this year and did really good until August, then we really struggled. Talked about going over to Erie all fall and finally got the weather, the time, and the crew to make the trip. Thanks to all of you east side guys for posting all of your tips and success stories. Was really nice to make the 2.5 hour trip and catch some fish. Have a great Thanksgiving all! Paul C. Mattawan, MI

Here is a coyote who looks like he just ran something up a tree: Then give this one about 5 seconds. Nice deer. Hopefully this worked. The camera is a Cuddeeback Attack IR. Paul C. Mattawan, MI

Brian, I really like these. Have not tried them on Walleye yet but am very pleased with them on salmon. Love the adjustment. (also really enjoy helping people spend their money). http://www.downriggerrelease.com/ Paul C.

Enjoyed it. Thank you.

Very nice, much better then some of the fishing shows I watch too! Good job! Paul C.

Brian, on a different note, your boat looks GREAT! Very nice picture. Paul C. Mattawan, MI

Oh yeah, lost my "Digger" anchor too! Paul C.

Lets see, 1) 12 Pound pancake downrigger weight. 2) A one of a kind plug, unsure of the name, but worked great on Kings. 3) The net end of my Cummins big water net. (Darn little extension buttons, must have missed the hole.) (New one has a one piece handle, fixed that). 4) 10 color lead, Hoochie Mama and fly. (No idea what happened there). 5) One dipsey. 6) Spoons, not sure how many. 7) Do those cheesy TX 44 pins in the big Church boards count? Two of those broken so far. 8) At least 30 feet of a 300 copper. 9) Probably more, just don't remember. Sure have had a great catching year until a month or so ago though. Paul C.

One more thing you all need to know about Brian, he makes the best modification springs for Offshore boards. I can adjust the springs to keep the flag erect even pulling 5 colors with a flasher fly. He makes some other good stuff too. Welcome Brian, couldn't help myself. Paul C.

Morning Chris... I've been using stuff from this company. Very pleased. http://www.magneticmarineproducts.com/ Its nice and quick and spoons or plugs don't fall off. I talked to him at the Ultimate Show in Grand Rapids this year and he was developing more "stuff" so if he doesn't have quite what you want may be worth calling. Paul C Mattawan, MI

Good Morning Dave, Really enjoy having you here, (thanks Mike H). I was talking to a friend Friday and he told me about a guy who had a car run into his boat and cause a good bit of damage and the problems he is having with his insurance company. A few months ago I think you wrote a great article about the Veterinarian from Lawton or somewhere local for us, who was involved in the terrible traffic crash on M-43 while going to South Haven fishing. The description of the whole ordeal was certainly food for thought. At the time, I was thinking I need to contact my insurance company and find out where I'd stand if my boat was totaled. Of course I forgot to do it. Would it be possible to publish the article on this forum or a summary of it to remind us all to check on our policy? I was thinking I'd like to print a copy for my agent and let her read it and make sure I'm adequately covered. Oh, I gave the magazine away to one of my fishing friends after reading so no longer have it. Your thoughts appreciated. Paul C Mattawan, MI PS...Please keep the perch stuff going. Enjoying the info and your giving me some hope yet this year!

Good Morning Dave I must say I'm going to miss your work on the magazine. I've been a subscriber for years and always enjoyed your stuff. Wish you the very best in your new direction. Plus, can't think of a better southern Michigan place to live then the Paw Paw area. Its kind of lumpy on the big water today and yesterday so headed over to one of our numerous lakes to chase some bluegill with one of my walleye fishing friends from up in Lansing. (Bluegill taste pretty good too!) Hope all goes well. Paul C Mattawan, MI PS....enjoy Mike's site too, first place I go after email.

Thanks Mike, I'm ready to do the catching again! Chris, I really did enjoy June this year. We did catch lots of fish. The lake was beautiful yesterday though. Love it out there. Paul C. Mattawan, MI

We were able to go out of St. Joe again on Tuesday, 08-28-2012. Found some fish to look at: But could not get them to go, tried lots of stuff. As you can see, the cannon ball lines where the fish came up to look, but would not commit. We ended up with one king on a three hundred copper that hit a Pro King with lots of white and a blue tint and one Coho that was on a mixed veggie type Stinger down a hundred on the downrigger. Fish have been schooling us! Paul C. Mattawan, MI

I'm going to enjoy your fall! Paul C.

I obviously have much to learn! Could I borrow your father in law? Paul C.

A friend is out now, or at least was at around 12:30 PM. He went out in the 2's looking with his Speed/temp at the ball. I think he said he needed to go down in the 120's to get 65 degree water. At any rate, really deep. Oh, and this guy is pretty good at catching fish. As of 12:30 PM, one release. Fish only stayed on a short time. I'm thinking the buoy is probably correct. If you go, good luck! Paul C.