SUPERTRAMP

Get it down there they are rt on the bottom in warm weather.. Right now they are in shallow water and up in the water column. Today Dirty Dog picked up a good one in 20 or 25 FOW so did Something Fishy. This was out of St Joseph Michigan.

Set lines in the channel and turned to the north to stay in the muddy water, got all set and headed south toward the Pump Station, as we cleared the south pier in about 34 FOW the rt short rigger at 6' with a Red fire tiger Thin Fin fired and we got the first King of the year an really nice 11#buck. Picked away and picked up 4 coho in the mud between the Pump House and the pier, Heard Dirty Dog down by the Chalets and his program was working. Pulled up and headed down that way. The fishing was steady and we finished 11 for 17, 4 fish came unbuttoned rt at the back of the boat. The hot ticket was the red 000 dodger with a red coho candy fly and the red fire tiger Thin Fin. High light was the double as we finished a really fat 12# Steelhead and a nice coho about 3#. We caught fish on the riggers and dipseys with only 2 hits on the boards but did get one nice fish on an SWR rig (1 color 27#lead core) with a Red dodger fly combo. The bite has slowed a bit, probably due to the weather changing so quickly. Be back out Saturday. Mike (Supertramp)Chamberlin Boat MC@ Fish count for 2011 Coho 20 Kings 2 Steelhead 1. :)

Way to get the girls started, nothing like success to keep young children interested and get them hooked on fishing. The fish are a bonus!!!!!!!!!!!! Mike (Supertramp)Chamberlin Boat MC2

My boat is slipped on the Island if u go str8 across fm the launch and keep to the rt u will be fine I am going to hit the lake around 8 to 8:30 give the MC squared a call on 68 and will let u know how we are doin.

The Church tackle company came out with the revrsed clip about 2 yrs ago, the guys at Bretts Place on Ebay sent me a couple when I had questioned the slip issue on braid. they do help stop the slip. I do remove my boards when running copper and Lead core makes for a better fight and less strain on the tackle, Church boards adapt well to this and I have been doing it for several years. When a fish hits u point the rod tip at the board to keep it fm diving on you and it comes to the boat quickly un hook it and u r fighting your fish without the added weight and drag of the board.

Yep the sticker is for your truck plate not your trailer plate.

Ok so u have a smaller rig check out the little tramp that I fished in for a few years.

aaaah got it

ok so now my pics wont post how do I do it again, (by the way keep it simple for an old man).

now that has happened to me about 100 times over the years, Its better now that I have a head on the boat.

St Joe is a bigger water shed and has more fish in the area than SH. I hope to get out Thursday, I fished out of So. Haven last year and am back in St Joe this year. It is a few min longer to the lake but well worth it. The coho bite will last until about the end of April but it will start slowing down when the lake water starts to warm up above 40 degrees. Right now the dirty water plume is the place to fish. Water is 3 to 4 degrees warmer than the clean water area.

East side southern end St Joseph. But plan on a trip to Manistee in August.

That is about right The A frames are more commonly called the Chalets, the pump house is about 3/4 of a mile the Junk cars about 3 and the Chalets about 6. Then u get to the power plant and south of that the dunes. Weather permitting we will be fishing the weekend give the MC squared a call on 68 or try the cell 269 929 4221, we are slipped at Brians Marina on the Morrison Island:)

I wanted to go Sunday but the forecast and the fact that my Son and Grandson didnt want to chance the T. Storms put a kabosh on the trip. I will be over as soon as the lake lays down from this blow. GOOD JOB ON THE SUNDAY HO'S

Nice job Steve, the dirty water was the ticket on Thursday too, if u got out of it u stopped getting hits. That water was 38 to 39 degrees, and out side that it was 35 to 36 degrees.

Nice goin Jason, I was really disappointed with the forecast for the weekend and had planned to stay in Kalamazoo, but aftrer looking at the web cam this afternoon gonna hit the Joe tomorrow after church.

The key Thursday was to stay in the muddy water of the river plume 2 to 3 degrees warmer than any where else and the fish were really active. The boats that went further South did run in and out of active schools but it was spotty. The weekend looks like it is going to be a wash out, I dont mind rain but 2 to 4 footers when u r fishing on the beach is not a good recipe for success. I may try to get out Sunday PM if the lake looks good in near the piers. Nice job with the kids, always a hoot to get the younger ones on coho.

WTG Terry U gotta Love April Coho fishin. And the eating is superior. They are the steak of the Lake.

Good job Phil, Hope we can get back out Sunday but the weather say NO.

They will work fine u only need to install a twill tip and they will do the job. I had the Okuma blue diamond roller rods and they were a pain in the but. I went to 10' Okuma classic dipsey rods installed the twill tips and they work like a champ. I prefer the 10 to 10' 6" rods so I can get the rod ends out past my long arm riggers.

You should never troll across current! You are asking for trouble if u do. The best indicator of trolling direction is get all of your spread to run straight of the back, your boards should be out equally not swinging across the back, same with dipsys and the riggers should not swing across. It can take a while to get the direction but like has been said on southern Lake Michigan a SW direction will usually get you into the current, then it is a matter of tuning the direction by degrees until everything is running straight. The best explanation I have ever heard was by Best Chance Too Charters at one of their seminars several years ago. They run up to 18 rods off their boat and never tangle because they are very observant of current and trolling direction. Another good thing to remember is to keep your spread in a V configuration the outside lines being shallowest and going deeper as you come in toward the boat. You can usually count on a 2.7 mph at the ball being a great place to start for speed.

The Storm Thin Fin is the original but they went out of business and quit making a lot of their baits, ie Hot n Tot, Wiggle Wart and Thin Fin. Rapala bought the company and started making the baits again. However they do not make the most sought after colors for Salmon and trout. Brads started making the Thin Fin several years ago and still produces the colors u want. Red Coachdog(black squiggly lines) Gold Red back and some other really good producers. The original Thin Fins work well, but I havent bought any new ones by Rapala. I do use a lot of Brads in the afor mentioned colors, and they do work. Good luck and good fishing.

:thumb:Nice job Phil: U got to love making a run like that then filling out in short order. We had the same experience in the PM.

Took the boat over to St Joe to get the season started, We got to the launch about 2:00 PM had to go to the Marina befor we headed for the Lake, got the Slip all set and headed out about 2:45. We cleared the piers, turned south and started to set lines. Had the first board out, J13 gold rapala out 100', started to set out the next and the rapala ripped, while my companion reeled in the first fish I set a rigger Red 000 dodger with a Siggs rig Coho candy Fireball, dn 5 25 back, only ran 6 rods no time for more, ended up the day 11 for 13, the last was a dead dragger on an SWR Red 000 dodger back 80. The key was stay in the dirty water between the piers and the end of the steel seawall. We took fish on Brads Thin Fin Red coachdog, the Rapala, fly and dodger and Brads thin fin gold red back. The 2 riggers were set at 4 and 5' the long lines on boards were all back between 60 and 100'. Off the lake and back in the slip in 1 hour and 30 Minutes from the time we cleared the piers. Weather permitting will be over there Sunday afternoon again.