HitMan

Again, this depends on what sized Salmon you have been catching while PRE-FISHING. There may be large salmon out deep and there may be smaller salmon. Usually, you will catch salmon while fishing for Steelhead anyways. Your speed is faster and more lures are Steelhead and Salmon type lures, unlike while specifically fishing for Lake Trout. A lot of guys catch their 9 Salmon and then go and fish for Steelhead and you just continue to catch more and more Kings and have to throw them back; dead or alive. There are a ton of different ways you can look at the tournaments and your plan of attack. The best way to get used to the tournament atmosphere is to go fun fishing and try to act like you are in a tournament to become familar with the certain techniques and ways you would like to handle things. Just like any other sport; practice, practice, and practice.

Yeah, all you got to do is ask Mike. Don't be afraid to come and talk to us at the boat. Some people get intimidated and are afraid to talk for some reason. I will let you know what marina we will be at. We are going to be in St. Joe too this year. Licensed charter captains can not fish in the AM division. Some rules say if you have charted within the last 5 years you are still a PRO, even if you let your license expire or whatever. A PRO is mainly a licensed charter boat, licensed captain, or tackle manufacture in some tournaments. An AM is anyone who is not a captain or licensed charter boat.

The most important piece of information you can try to gather from other anglers is location, location, and location. This could be what direction from the harbor and what depth of water. Many guys are not willing to tell a lot of their details, especially when it comes closer and closer to tournament weekend. Many anglers can catch the fish on their own if they know a place to start. They fish normal with their personal and favorite color patterns and lures, just like any other fishing trip. Some guys will share what lures have been working, set-ups, etc. Many anglers do not take off their lures from their rods while at the marina, while many others put decoy lures on their rods at the marina. A lot of guys will not discuss direction of troll, currents, or very specific details that may give them an advantage over their competitors. In the PRO division, discussions and information sharing is usually tight lipped. It is a lot more intense with certain pre-established relationships and competitors. The AM division has some serious fishermen, but a lot of learning, sharing, and helping occurs more so in the AM division. You just have to be willing to share information and not only ask for information. We will usually help any AM boat that we know and is requesting information. We don't spill all the specific beans, but enough information to help a fellow angler out. The PRO division information is a lot more selective and specific sensitive. Many boats, both in the PRO and AM division, "team up" to help one another in trying to win and all place higher. Some days this can be effective, but other days you leave your fish to go fish someone else's invisible fish that you don't know anything about. Radio fishing is not always the best thing to do; never leave fish to go find someone else's fish. Like I previously stated, many anglers fish tournaments for the fun, beer, and friendships, while others take it extremely serious and it can be a stressful weekend of fishing. It all depends on what personal perspective you take when fishing in a large money Lake Michigan tournament.

Most smaller lake trout live in the 70-110 foot depths. If you can find structure and quick depth changes, that is an excellent place for trout to be. Bigger trout are normally in deeper water and are suspended or on the bottom. The suspended trout in deeper water are almost always decent sized and willing to bite with their desired presentation. We try to locate alewives and baitfish on the bottom. Lake trout like to eat, even though they don't grow quickly If you can find some food, lake trout should be in the area somewhere. Lake trout usually do not tend to move quickly like salmon can overnight. But, of course when it comes tournament time, the huge numbers of lake trout always disappear. There are a lot of specific variables involved with catching lake trout consistently, the most important being locating them and then figuring out their desired presentation.

Most tournament teams will split all winnings and costs 3 or 4 or 5 ways; depending on the number of crew members fishing in the tournament. There is then another stipend taken out for the boat payment or boat use or whatever. So, if you have 4 crew members, 5 shares of the winnings will be taken out; 4 for the crew and 1 for the boat. Many PRO boats have sponsors who pay for everything and the crew splits the winnings. They also take a share out for the boat use, etc. Other PRO boats may receive a tournament check at the beginning of the year and that team can use the check for whatever they want, whenever they want, but when it is gone, it is gone. Mainly, most tournament teams, split the costs and winnings equally with an additional share taken out for the boat.

YAY!!! My favorite discussion topic about tournaments!!! First, I will say this depends somewhat on the time of year and the location on the lake you are fishing. Generally, almost all the time, we go and catch our Trout limit first. For example, this is very evident in St. Joe and South Haven. The kings tend to bite all day long and there is usually a lot of them in that area in May; so catching 9 or 12 Kings usually only takes an hour or so. We may spend up to 3 hours trying to catch our Trout limit. Sometimes we are totally devoted with Trout tactics and sometimes we still have a few salmon rods out there. Targeting Lake Trout or Steelhead is basically personal preference, with some knowledge of the area and what species can be found more easily that time of the year in your locations. Personally, we like to catch Lake Trout so if there are Lake Trout in the area we will go and target them before Steelhead. We have the most confidence catching Kings and Lake Trout. A few years ago we did run 20 miles west to catch Steelhead and then ran back in to catch our Kings. Also, a few years ago, in South Haven, the BIGGER kings tended to bite later on in the morning, so we goofed around with our Trout until the late morning BIGGER king bite came around. Basically, days of PRE-FISHING determines what species you will target and in what order. Being familar with the area, currents, structure, etc. are very helpful in determing where certain species may be and what time of day they bite best. If there are bonus points in a tournament for Trout, we will definitely spend A LOT of time pre-fishing and concentrate on catching the bonus points fish. The bonus points may give you that extra step against the other competitors that is always a plus when fishing in tournaments. In the professional division, usually the boat that catches their limit both days is in the top 2 or 3 guaranteed; when Trout are needed to be caught. Tournaments are stressful and take a lot of careful thought on what decisions to do when and where. Some days the decisions fail and other days they pay off. That is where the luck comes into the picture!!!!

Based on past experiences, the LARGEST salmon of the year move up the lake in late April and early May. As May progresses, usually more and more salmon arrive and the size gets smaller and smaller. The LARGEST kings can be caught in the 25-50 feet of water range, especially in the mud in Grand Haven. Many kings larger than in the fall are caught in the Grand Haven mud this time of the year. The mud is a HUGE attractant for alewives and is the warmest water in the area; thus BIG kings find the warmest water source and the alewives are waiting for their arrival.

The first thing to consider is that the Brown populations are WAY WAY WAY down compared to only five years ago. When brown fishing was actually worth it in the Muskegon and Grand Haven areas, we usually caught the most fish on high-lines and dipsy divers. Our spread was usually 6 surface planer boards with an assortment of Rapalas, Thundersticks, Thinfish, Bombers, and Stinger Spoons. We ran lengths anywhere from 40-180 feet back. We then ran two high-lines with Rapalas in a dipsy diver position back 120-180 feet. We then ran two dipsy divers with Stinger Scorpions on them and those were usually back 20-30 feet. Lastly, we ran 3 downriggers with Scorpion and regular-sized Spoons 5-7 feet down and 50-80 feet behind the ball. The most productive rods day in and day out were the 2 high-lines and 2 dipsy divers. We don't even book any early brown fishing charters anymore as it doesn't seem worth the hassle and lack of fish.

Our most memorable trip of the year was the middle of May prefishing in South Haven. In South Haven, we caught a true 6 person limit of 18 Kings, 1 Coho, 7 Lake Trout, and 4 Steelhead in only 1 1/2 hours. It was crazy fishing and the funniest thing was we had 28 fish and still needed 2 Kings to make the 18 King limit. I don't have a photo of this trip as there was no place for a picture in South Haven.

I don't know if CBS wasn't expecting any bad weather or what, but the lens sure were foggy and full of rain drops. It was weird that it was like that.

Mike, Are you mounting all three on the back gunnel or the two outdowns up the gunwale a few feet? It is a lot easier to fish if you mount them up the sides of the gunwale more. You have room to net fish and have room in both corners of the boat to work. Either way, I would definitely go with the 4 foot arms. You never have to worry about cable tangles and diver rods can still clear the arms.

1. Dark 2. Either-Used to work extremely well in complete morning darkness in the muddy water of Grand Haven in the Fall 3. Bright-The brighter the better 4. Either-Extremely popular lure anytime of the day and any conditions 5. Bright 6. Dark 7. Dark

Charters and tournament fishermen are in a whole different world when it comes to this topic. We usually change our downrigger rods 4-6 times throughout the year. We buy huge spools of RipCord for the divers and just pull 10-15 feet off once in awhile. We change our lead core when it gets frayed or breaks off. Basically, we ALWAYS change our downrigger line and all diver, lead core, and copper leaders before every tournament. We are constantly retying and fixing something when we have breaks from fishing.

The paperwork is your renewal application that you will call Toledo for and they will send to you. Paperwork is the ENTIRE packet you receive in the mail, including the application, day log sheet, and physical form for the doctor, plus instructions on what to do. If you have your ENTIRE packet filled out and ready to rumble, then all you have to do is the finger printing process in the Toledo office. I believe you also need 2 government pieces of identification. I brought 3 with me, just in case; my Passport, Birth Certificate, and Driver's License. One of my buddies didn't have 2 pieces and he had to fax a copy of his Birth Certificate to them before they could continue processing his renewal. I figured it would be good to be over prepared then having to redo something and holding up the renewal process. Let me know if you have any other questions!!!

I have been to Toledo and renewed. You can and should have ALL your paperwork completed and your Check to pay with then too. All you have to do is get finger printed, hand the ladies all your paperwork, and write your Check out. They will look at the paperwork in the order they receive renewals and if there are any questions or problems they will send it back to you. But, the one disadvantage is there are A LOT of people who need to be renewed and only 2 employees and computers. From my experience, plus others input, I would be there waiting in line when the door opens. Otherwise, later in the day the line builds and it takes a lot longer. It should only take 15-25 minutes while in the USCG office.

We have mainly added an additional 6 Copper Rods and Reels. 30 pound and 45 pound test from 175 feet lengths to 400 feet lengths.

We also came up with a new tactic the last few years that is extremely beneficial when fishing in bigger waves, or even if you don't ever want your lead core planer board to release without you personally releasing it. We wrap a rubber band around the arm of the Church Walleye Board. I wrote a little write up for Great Lakes Angler magazine. It hasn't yet been published but here is what I wrote: Fishing in rough seas can be extremely tough and I know everyone has experienced a false release of their lead core planer boards before, often occurring at the least convenient times. It can quickly get annoying and frustrating. Here is a rough water tip that is simple and very effective. Like normal, you simply hook your backing, often a super braid line, into your release. Then take a #16 rubber band, available at any office supply store, and simply wrap the rubber band around the release and your backing line. When it is time to release your board, physically remove or break the rubber band and release your line. We have used this easy tip, during rougher than normal sea conditions, for the last few years with great success.

I managed to make it to Lake of the Woods yesterday afternoon for about 3 hours. Some guys were doing way better than me pulling their 25 fish limits and leaving. I only managed 18 keepers, but they were all nice fish. It depended a lot on location and the presentation you had and they were not very aggresive.

There are 3 different ways most people attach their planer boards on their lead core rods. First, many people splice a piece of mono inbetween the superline backing and the lead core. This tactic allows for the board to always be attached to mono, even when fishing with superline backing. Secondly, some people attach their boards to the lead core, but you have to watch out for nics in the lead core because the lead core will break pretty easily right where the board clips on. Lastly, some people attach their baords to the superline backing, but this often results in false wave releases. Everyone has their own personal preference and do what they like best and feel the most comfortable with.

Hey Steve, Any updated reports from this week? I am planning on going tonight or tomorrow and have no clue where to go.

Thanks for the information Steve! Did you or have you heard any reports from any of them lakes? I am definitely going to go this weekend and was wondering which lake I should go to. Thanks again!

What are some decent lakes for bluegill ice fishing within a reasonable driving distance of East Lansing?

I am a Cannon Pro Staff member who uses the Digi-Troll IV and I am not yet familiar with these new units for this year. But, I believe the differences are that the Mag 10 HS has the 24" to 53" boom and the Mag 5 HS only has the 24" boom. The Mag 10 HS also has 400 feet of cable, while the Mag 5 HS only has 250 feet of pre-rigged cable. Also, the Mag 5 HS does not come with a swivel base, but I THINK the Mag 10 HS does. Other than that, I do not yet know of any other differences. If you want, I can call the Cannon people and find out for you. Let me know!

It would have to be extremely small to reel through the guides on the rod and the levelwind on the reel. We do use tiny Spro swivels to connect our backing to our copper and our copper to our leader, but other than that we just tie knots for leadcore rigs.

On most normal days, we have 3 Downriggers, 2 Wire Divers, 2 RipCord Divers, and 8-10 Lead Core or Copper or Surface Board rods.