Fake Bait

Switched from Walkers to Blacks about 5 years ago. Made a huge difference for me. Hook ups were better and I don't have lines hang on the release anymore. Good part of that could be that my Walkers were really old. I only use my riggers for Salmon fishing.

I have a trolling plate. Works great. My boat wasn't stalling, but I had a hard time staying in the trolling speed zone. Ended up shaving the plate down smaller to get exactly what I needed. Never tried bags, but have heard many guys say they like them.

I am going the longer lead route this year. I have a 19' Crestliner, so not a ton of room, but I can walk the rod up to the bow to reduce the amount of hand lining I need to do. My dipsy production was way down last year and I need to do something different. Always ran 8' leads in the past

Looks great Jimmy!

Thanks for the report Jimmy. Trying to get out Saturday night for the first time since the 4th. Hoping the action continues to heat up.

Nice morning to be out. Lake was beautiful. Lines were set by 5:50 in 65' just north of the pier. Tried west/east, north/south, submarine evasion tactics, faster slower, spoons, paddles, plugs, copper, core, big dispies, little dispies, if I wouldn't have eaten all of my sausage mcmuffin I would have stuck a hook in it and tried that. Closest thing to a hit was spinning out a dipsy. Back on the trailer by 10:00. Hopefully June will not be a long month.

Real nice fish! Even better for a first timer!

Thanks for the report!

Thanks for the report Nate. Nice end of September catch!

Love running plugs this time of year. Seems like the old stanbys continue to produce... Green Ladderback Pearl/Wonderbread Crome Crome/Bloody Nose Have had the same plugs for years.

I have a 1950 crestliner and was out as well. It was definitely rocking the further you got out. I look at the sites that were listed above, but echo the comment that the best determiner is hitting the pier head and making a judgement call. I will say that with my more experienced crew I will fish heavier water, but with people I am not used to fishing with I tend to play it safe. Over time you will learn how your boat rides in certain water. The better you understand your boat the safer you will be. There is a big difference between fishing larger rollers vs smaller chop that is breaking over your gunnels too. Bottom line is that making the call not to go or turning back at the pier head gives you the opportunity to fish again. Taking a risk and going for it.... Just google "fishermen dies on lake Michigan" and you can see what can happen. Even the most well maintained boats with the most experienced captains can have a problem at the worst possible time.

I actually like combat fishing when everyone is working together. Kind of fun being able to see the guy next to you get a fish on, give him a thumbs up, give him some space to fight his fish, etc. But there is always "that guy" who yells at people because he wants to run the lead core through the pack or do the opposit troll as everyone else. I remember combate fishing Grand Haven when I was a kid with my grandfather. He had a 40' Riverqueen Houseboat (imagine the ugliest boat to ever run a downrigger). That was back in the early 80's and I clearly remember the sound of boats bouncing off the steel hull. I prefer to not think about whos fault those encounters were, but based on the language he used over the hailer, I am really hoping somebody elses.

Now that is funny!

I agree the $10 is a huge bargain. Considering I used to pay $75/year for state park stickers and boat launch permit. The $10 is an awesome change. I paid $10 to launch at Grand Haven a couple weeks ago and they don't have a nice cleaning station like Holland does. I will continue to fish out of that launch 90% of the time. I can even live with the people that don't hold the skillset to launch and retrieve their boats. They entertain me and I help out when I can. Heck, I remember a time when I was around 20 years old when I sank my trailer and car into the lake at the Reeds Lake launch in East Grand Rapids. A bunch of guys helped me get it out while I blocked the launch for a half hour. I didn't think it was funny at the time, but I be that the crowd watching thought it was hillarious. The part that gets me worked up is people that are flat out inconsiderate. It just doesn't need to be that way. We all learn how to do things in life, but in theory we all should have learned to be considerate in kindergarten.

Because when there is a holiday.....everybody comes out to the lake! I know better and probably should have just ignored it, but from time to time I have been known to let people know when they have committed a social injustice. In this case my quest for justice lead to me getting a talking to from the DNR. Should have just kept my mouth shut. So Labor Day, 4:30pm at the Holland DNR launch site. There are probably 25 boats lined up to pull out for the day. Everyone is kicked back enjoying the last day of summer, patiently waiting for their turn to pull out. With one exception.... Two gentlement and their wives on Sea Doos, who I can only assume are very important people, motor on past the entire line of boats and park on the beach next to the ramp. Me wanting to think the best of people assume they will wait their turn to get their trailers and pull out. Unfortunately this is not the case..... Just so happened that I dock and grab my truck/trailer and end up in line right behind the two guys that have line jumped. They have now created gridlock for those of us trying to get out boats out because they are waiting for the dock to open up so their wives can pull the See Doos over. The entire system comes to a screaching halt! So... I go over to try and politely explain the system to the first of the two gentlemen in line. Who proceeds to tell me to blow myself. My reaction was not exactly one of Christian brotherly love unfortunately. Eventually his wife cuts off a boat trying to get to the ramp so he can pull See Doo #1 out. Next, the second of the two gentlmen continues the gridlock. Back out of the truck and over to explain things to him. Fortunately this time I had the backing of everyone else at the launch site and received several encouraging cheers. This is the point when the DNR guy shows up. He doesn't look to explain the system to the gentlemen Sea Doo drivers, but instead explains to me the importance of keeping a cool head in these situations. While he may have been right I was not interested in hearing about it at the time. Anyways.... that is my sound off. Didn't let it ruin my day, but I sure wish common courtesy was used by everyone. Because it only takes one to screw up a good system of everyone working together to be efficient at busy launch. Some day I am going to get a bigger boat and rent a slip right next to the DNR launch. That way I can kick back with a beer and be entertained by the launch ramp drama on a busy afternoon.

Report from the water.... Beautiful morning to be out and start the last day of summer! 4 for 4 All fish came on west troll. 90 - 120. Off tunnel park. 12 pound king - rigger - 65 down - moonshine night crawler 6 pound steel - rigger - 65 down - moonshine night crawler 6 pound coho - wire diver - 155 out - nbk 8 pound king - 13 color - green glow j plug Great start to the day! Get out there and enjoy! Chris

Have had the same problem at probably the same cleaning station. When I say "heads up" getting glared at was not the reaction I was thinking. So what am I supposed to do, wait until he is done and cleared out to use the grinder and make sure the station is cleaner than when I found it?

What a great couple of trips introducing the next generation to big lake fishing. I got hooked back when I was about 12 when somebody like you got me out for the first time.

What worked: All between 120 - 135 just north of harbor. 300 copper JP Slammer natural born killer - landed one lost one - 14 pound king Monkey puke stinger - 155 back wire diver - 6 pound king Rigger 65 down - stinger natural born killer - 6 pound steelhead Pretty bumpy with the east wind and a good bit of current. Temp break at that depth was at about 90 ft. But all of our fish came in warm water. Chris

Love the catfish in the total fish count! Should have gotten a picture with that thing hanging at the cleaning station.

Sorry for the late report, but not a very exciting report anyways..... Very slow night. Set up in 120' at 6:30pm. Found a temp break all the way down at 100'. Set the spread pretty wide hunting for something and I finally dropped the riggers down to 140' when we hit 170'. Only ended up with one King, 14lbs. Came on a rigger down 140' in 177' of water just north of the pier. 11' white and mt dew paddle with a greenish/blue big weenie fly. Pulled lines at 8:45 and headed back. At this time of year any warm night on the pond is worth it. Summer is coming quickly to a close.

I have the Gander version and have been very happy with them. Got mine at an end of year sale a few years back. At the time much less expensive than the cabelas version. Like a few others have said, buy big so you can layer for cold weather. I actually use mine for snow skiing as well. My wife hates that, but she figures it is better than me making good on my threat to wear the blaze orange camo. I am too cheap to buy a ski jacket when there are many more lures to buy.....

Sorry for the late report.... Fished Holland Thursday Night 8/2. Started about 7:00pm in 110' north of harbor and worked out on a SW troll. Marked a ton of fish from 120' - 160' but no takers until 8:45pm. Switched baits, speed, etc. until finally had one go. Ended up 3 for 4 What worked: Moonshine Mongolian Beef - 85' Down on Rigger JP Slammer Green/Gold something (not sure what it was called) - 210' back on wire diver JP Slammer White/Bloody Nose - 300' Copper Moonshine Eminator - 75' Down on Rigger (lost this fish) Side note....... I had the priveledge of meeting Wild at Heart at the gas station on Tuesday. When I saw his boat I introduced myself and we got to talking fishing and JP Slammers, which I had never used, so he gave me two of them to try out. For what it is worth, I caught fish on both the lures he gave me. To try and test the quality of the lure I was running the same patter Moonshine spoons on the Starboard side and the JP Slammers on the Port side. JP Slammers caught two fish and the identical pattern Moonshine Spoons zero. I am no authorized field tester of equipment, but if somebody gives me something to try out I sure as heck am going to give it a shot. The 8 pound king that hit the JP Slammer on my wire rod hit the lure like a 20 pounder. The lures worked for me that night and I will be picking up a few more before the summer is out. Thanks Kevin for the lures and also the information at the dock Thursday night. It is good to be part of a community of fishermen that help each other out! Chris

Great job Tim! Always nice to produce when the kids are on board. I have that same sonar, and the same dog. Can't take the dog with me though, she has a little problem staying away from hooks...

1 for 1 this morning. A dark 15lb King. 65 down on a green paddle and fly. 85ft on a South troll. Very quick current this morning.