zgrinder on Fin Warrior

Nice work in the AM. Need to get the divers way out and the riggers below 100 to find cold water right now.

Fished the evening bite from 7:00-10:00. Up till just before sunset I was doing more trouble shooting than fishing. Checking voltage on each of the 4 riggers, determined the Cannon Mag 20 rigger with the Depth Raider unit that came with the boat (my old first generation Fish Hawk was superior) was putting out 0.81 volts. So I grounded the cable to the raw water spicket McGiver style for the trip. I am strongly considering equiping Fin Warrior with a Smart Troll system in the off season and retiring the Depth Raider. Next, after sending my wire lines down multiple times with a Fish Hawk XD using different types of divers, I determined I spooled them up this spring with way too much 30# mono leader. So I striped that down to about 7' and improved the depth by 10 or back where my charts are useful. Tinkering came to an end when just at dusk Janet yelled tip up and we had our first king that came on Silver Streak Frozen Seagull down 92' on the SB aft rigger. It charged the boat from the time it hit and came in so hot we lost it under the swim platform in the attempt to net it. As soon as that rod was back in the water the wire diver 190' back on a one set went off with a small king that we unhooked at the back of the boat. I did not get that rod down when the newly grounded SB rigger tipped with a white dodger / white fly tipped up however the fish came unbuttoned quickly. Did not even have time to reel in the slack when SW on the Port aft rigger down 100' with a wonderbread Brad's cut plug and herring oil errupted. Janet played it like an expert while I neutral dropped the engine a number of times to allow line to be gained. The fight finished with a 16' king in the boat. Some where in that fight the white dodger & fly tipped up again but nothing on it. Then the action came to a complete stop. The little radio chatter seemed to indicate most boats were struggling during sun up. I ran the old school 4 riggers and two wire divers and no long lines. 4 of the 6 lines got hit all in 135 FOW but it was strickly a sunset bite for the Fin Warrior. Will be back out on Sunday.

Holland 4:00-7:00pm. Could not get out any earlier and had to settle for late afternoon. Worked 120-170 FOW with the same results, one rip on the 300 copper with a meat rig but came up empty. The flys were terrible so we pulled lines early. Marked very little bait on this trip. Janet (spouse and most trusted fishing partner) suggests I drop the long lines and go back to the 4 rigger program with a mix of flashers and spoons on light lines we ran years ago and on the other side of the lake. It sure is easier moving around other boats without dragging boards. Will give it a go next trip.

Fished between Holland and Saugatuck from 5:00 to 8:45pm between 110 to 170 FOW. Only action came between 125-140FOW after 7:30pm. Went 1-3 boating a 8lb king. Two long lines @ 10' and 22' down set for steelhead to my surprise did not get touched. Deep SWR run between 65-80' with spoons and a Brad's cut plug inked with bloody tuna oil resulted in no action as well. Downrigger 50-55' down after subtracting out blow back rigged with a Michigan Stinger killer green (similar to NBK but green on both edges) about 50' back off the ball took the king and had another release soon thereafter but came off with one head bump. Dipsey 3-set about 40-45' down with a copper/gold spoon + red witchcraft tape (something I gave new life to in the off season) had a great rip and a short lived fight until the hook bent and the fight was over. The king had one big alewife inside. Marked some balls of bait fish between 50-70' down. Great night to be out and the flies where very infrequent :). Fin Warrior

You are my hero fishing at the crack of dawn on a slow bite. Many thanks for the report!

Trolled just south of the harbor between 160-210FOW but mostly in 170-190FOW. Picked up a small king on a purple stinger off a 2-set dipsey 105' back. Took a 10lb king on SWR 135' down with a green/chrome j-plug. Only good marks were below 100'. No bait balls marked. Put a second keel on my Otter boards in the off season and ran them off the outriggers for the first time. They tracked beautifully. Ran 200' & 300' copper off the sides but unfortunately, it was not worth the effort on this trip. Word on the dock is 1-3 fish is the current fill for the fish box. Fin Warrior

1:00pm shake down run to check all water craft systems and fishing gear while trolling 40-70 FOW. Caught one laker in 66 FOW on a green fly / green spinny 40' down on a rigger. It was the only bump over 2 1/2 hours. North wind was biting by 4:00pm. Friend down the dock caught 3 lakers and one king in 40 FOW earlier in the day. PSS dripless seals are spraying water at 4000 rpm, SB side is actually dumping quite a bit so yes I have my shake down project to get after. Fin Warrior

I am jealous. It was a beautiful evening to be out on the water. Great to here some Coho are in the Holland area. Launching at the end of the week - be there soon.

Went 3 for 5 tonight on silver but it was far better than that because the fish were a bit active and I finally made the right counter moves to get 5 bites. The little chatter on 68 seemed to indicate not much was happening. Set down a little south of the channel in 110 FOW to set lines. Strong current from the blow yesterday so managing speed and blow back took some work. Took a small king in 116 FOW on a downrigger 66' down with a Moonshine Hot Lipps mag. spoon but with the blow back, depths was likely 44' down. Let the fish go to grow up to be a line ripper. About 135 FOW the same set up lit up again in a much bigger way. The good fight ended early and the king was skipping its way across the top of the water with my mag. spoon and I had nothing left but a slack line. Fixed that problem but it got me to thinking. Marked hooks 75' and below, along with a few bait balls, but no hits. Reset the high diver (3 set, 145' out and about 50' down) with a mixed veggies. About 30 min later in 127 FOW, it ripped and a good fight ended in a 10 lb king. Reset that line and changed out the other high diver with a Moonshine bloody nose going with the white spoon - color tip program program. Got pushed out to 130 FOW but near the bait ball I marked earlier and big fun happened with the high diver bloody nose spoon that resulted in a 20lb king in the net. The leader broke, the 45lb Sampo coast lock swivel was destroyed. Not sure how I got so lucky. Got that all repaired but not takers for a while. Pulling lines after sunset, the high diver bloody nose lit up again. About 20' off the back of the boat it came unhooked (I immediately changed out the hook on the spoon after that). Likely about the same size as the 20lb fish landed earlier based on the fight. It was a bit disappointing but the way I looked at it, it was a bonus fish that happened to hit when all lines should have been up and likely happened because I ran over the bait ball vector to the shore line (another good move). Very fun evening. Too many trips with no marks, no hits, swatting flies and the tolling brain fog sets in. Hope you guys have the same fun on your end of season runs!!!

Worked 170 to 240 FOW, 42o 42’ to 42o 44’ Lat. between 1:30 & 5:30 with a 6 rod steelhead program. Got bit 8X and would up 2 for 5, both steelhead. Slide divers 30'-40' down saw most of the action with Greasy Chicken Wing, Monkey Puke and Green Dolphin on a copper blank spoon getting most of the action. Basically copper/gold was the menu ticket. Had one big screamer on a dodger/crystal fly that came off after taking at least 200' of line out. Never got a chance to fight the fish, it had the upper hand the entire time. Counted 10 alewifes inside the mature male steelhead. Annoying black flies were still around.