Wasabi

Anybody getting perch yet? I heard saugatuck was beginning to hit some last week.

Nice job Frank, which port are you fishing out of? Gonna try driving over from GR on Sunday to give it a whirl - enough salmon in the freezer, time for the 'other white meat'!

Spent Friday evening till 1 am getting the Rough Diamond rigged up with some electric big jons and big jon trees from my good bud Just Hook'n. Slept in till 5 am and got out this morning around 7:30, set down in 80 FOW and started a north troll 2.8 mph at ball. Picked up 3 back to back before 9:30, then washed lures rest of the morning. This young lady caught the first fish of the morning - happened to be her first fish bigger than a bluegill! Way to go Tanya, spoiled her salmon fishing for life. This guy slammed a wire diver at 225 back on 2.5, white paddle and fly. Kept screaming the drag until 450 before she could show him who's boss. Picked up a couple more shortly thereafter, 5 color Tequila Sunrise and 9 color Pink Panties. nice day to be on the water and LOVE the new setup. Thanks Mark!

Wow! Well done.

Had the oppty to take my son's Hockey coaches from our State Championship season out for a day on the water. Had a great time showing 3 trolling rookies what salmon fishing is all about. Ended up 6 for 8, threw one shaker back. Had 3 nice kings and a couple dinks in the box. 155-165 FOW What worked: 225 wire diver on 2.5 Blue UV paddle / ocean fly - 2 biggest kings 300 copper - blueberry muffin - king 5 color - flounder pounder - dink rigger 80 down - lemon ice - dink missed 5 color - mountain dew spinnie and 105 down rigger NBK

THANKS FOR THE UPDATE! Gonna play hookey today now.

WOW, wtg Kevin and crew

W2G Marko! Looking forward to getting back out there on the new ride with you soon.

Thanks for the update and good job! I am gonna need to upgrade to electric downriggers and get more cable if they stay that deep!

Focused on 195-205 FOW off sliders, had a tight pocket of fish we worked all day. Cohos had alewives in their bellies. Went 23 for 30, including TWO doubles on the same rod (free slider) - had to give 3 shakers a chance to get bigger. Only 1 king (was one of the doubles ), rest were tasty jacks. Reminded me of perch fishing, but on salmon rigs! What worked: EVERYTHING Wire diver 2 1/2, out 270 - Blueberry muffin mag - few fish white paddle/green fly - 120 w/ free slider Tequila Sunrise (HOT LURE, AGAIN) most fish Mountain Dew spinnie/blue ocean fly on 300 copper - few fish Orange dodger/blue fly on 5 color - many hits Double Orange crush on full core Greasy chicken free slider on 72 down rigger w/ uv paddle/pickled sunshine fly heard big kings in gh, may try there next.

They don't charge (your tax dollars at work), but they usually do a full blown inspection when you get boarded, whether in distress or not. Make you wear the orange life jackets of shame when you get towed, and Coastie tickets can be expensive if you don't have your ducks in a row.

Well, it's been a good day. Good eats, good fishin, and good deeds. Ralph and I went fishing out of Holland this morning after a nice breakfast at DeBoers Bakerij, yummy hippy hash. brrrrrrrr. We picked away at the filet mignon of Lake Michigan - got 1/2 dozen small cohos and lost a couple with slow on the draw mcgraw grabbin the rods. We worked 185-220 FOW this morning. What worked: 35 feet down, Tequila Sunrise - repeated 5 color, orange dodger, blue fly 72 feet down, screw ball Couldn't buy a bite on the surface flats. We were out in 200 FOW, about 6 miles out, when we received a distress call from another boat - out in 250 FOW with engine trouble. Coast Guard no where to be found on the radio this time of year. :confused:So we pulled lines and went WEST to 250 feet of water - where's the boat???? Call him up on the radio, now they are in 270 with the offshore wind - next stop, Milwaukee. So we continue west to 15 miles from shore, and then towed them back at 7 mph for a couple hours. Got to 1/2 mile from shore, 1/2 gas tank later and the 2 stroke low oil reservoir buzzer finally puked enough and the engine said enough is enough. :eek:Safe mode kicked in on the engine and limited my rpms to keep her running. Clever boys at Mercruiser. Lesson learned - always keep a spare gallon of 2 stroke oil in the boat! Thank you West Wind for stopping on your way in and riding the last 1/2 mile in with us as a little insurance policy, very much appreciated. Hope to see you at Brown Blast next week, will gladly buy you a beer! :thumb:The guys from Baldwin/Ludington were very appreciative and kind enough to fill the boat back up with gas once safely ashore. I sure hope someday, somebody is willing to come pick me up 15 miles from shore on March 31st!

Sorry for the late post, but the week flew by me. Despite the fog bank, we headed due west out to 170 FOW for first trip of the year. Set down to flat as glass water. Kept trolling west till we hit 245 FOW and made the turn back towards 230 FOW before pulling lines. Picked up 7 for 9 along the way - all coho's and 1 steel. What worked: Red Thin Fin on mono board 3 color - old school Halloween spoon 5 color - screwball and halloween spoons couple times each 42' down - orange dodger / blue fly Great to get back on the water. Hope to repeat the exercise this weekend. Trying to figure out where to go - SJ, Hol, or PS. http://www.greatlakesfisherman.com/gallery/files/1/8/4/3/fishing_03242012.gif' alt='fishing_03242012.gif'> 2012 fish count 6 cohos 0 kings 0 browns 0 lakers 1 steelies trips 1 total fish 7

U guys are nutz!

We hit the channel around 6:45 am, trolled thru channel into fog bank, tried to keep it heading west best we could without seeing 50 yds in front of us the whole day. First fish (cookie size brown king) at 90 FOW, 300 copper mtn dew spinnie with mornin wood fly. Kept going west, next was a double at 110 FOW, Just Hook'n pulls in a 10# king on copper again and H brings in a tasty little coho on a 9 color, can't remember lure, but he was good on the grill last night wandered around until we got to 200 FOW, STILL IN THE FOG, turned around and hit another cookie king on a carmel dolphin 5 color core around 165 fow. Water was like glass and cold at 47 on surface. Marked most fish between 25 and 50 feet down on graph. Best troll speed was 2.9-3.0 SOG and zippo to little current underneath. couple pics below.

Sounds like a good excuse next time a blue 30 some foot cruiser in Grand Haven is trolling 3.5 SOG in the dark, overtakes my vessel from behind, then crosses in front of me, then turns 180 degrees to cross in front of me again, :confused:then tries to swamp my boat after he pulls his lines while yelling at me that he has the right of way the whole time. :mad:Did I mention he is responsible for his wake too? :thumb:Good thing I'm not bitter. Your day will come my friend...big boats doesn't mean big brains...right of way or not, show some courtesy already... http://www.gofishn.com/ned/reports/14046-navy-commander-opens-fire-on-fishing-boat-in-north-carolina

I'm not gonna beat a dead horse here, but I think the tournament committee missed the mark when they chose to make it catch 10, weigh 5 to increase participation. Now that the #'s are in, the boat registration in 2011 was one boat more than 2010 (55 vs 54), 2009 had 59. I wouldn't consider 1 more boat registered in 2011 with the rule change and still less than 2009 registration #s as the desired outcome (increased participation). I commend the tournament committee for repeatedly putting the event on and trying to increase participation. It was worth a try, but IMO, and opinions vary, more fish in the box means more success and skill than just more weight in the box. Yes weight matters and will also play a factor in determining the weiner, esp. when there are a bunch of boats with their 10 fish limit. Jim Bobber, WELL DONE with the nice king. You deserved to win the bread you did. I fish to have fun, PERIOD. I regularly visit this site to learn what's working, where it's working, and appreciate the fish stories as much as the next guy. Guys like Jim Bobber and Just Hook'n have been great contributors for everybody that visits this website. Keep up the good work and the good reports. Quit slamming one another publicly about having different opinions, it's not productive and will kill this website like GLA for postings. If you don't have something nice to say to one another, say nothing at all. peace.

Had a great time Saturday morning with a frustrating start - 3 for 8 - Worked 60-100 FOW in front of Muskegon, best depth was 60-65. COLD WATER 42 degrees at 40' down. 59 on the surface. Bellies full of small alewives 2-3" caught 3 kings - all in top 25 of watercolumn right above themocline. first time salmon fishing for Sal - awesome look on his face hooked another one Lost - Wire Dipsy with canadian plug - grrrrrr Lost - ANOTHER wire dipsy - WTF - why is my stainless wire breaking???? No kinks or loose stranding found, clean breaks What worked - 3 color pink panties caught a king and lost a nice steel behind the boat - spit the hook at us. 40' down free slider brass watermelon 7 color glow frog moonshine 5 color halloween 5 color ruby red

wow! well done.

We were north of Jean Klock Park 21 FOW, but just south of a HUGE, ugly, $ concrete retaining wall with golf cart path to the top that stands out like a sore thumb along the shoreline. How the government gave them a permit to build that is beyond me. We started around 10 am and called it a day by around 3:30 or so. Graph never really showed a huge xmas tree underneath us, but they were right below the boat.

Had a great time catchin a mess of perch today, we got ~120, with a few dozen throw backs. Nice day on the water and some of the best perch fishing I can remember, just like the good ol' daze, got new memories. GO GET SOME!

Anybody got any good news on Perch in SW Michigan?

What leader length range do you consider acceptable for lure action from the end of the first color to the lure?

Slow day, 2 for 3 - left the pierhead at 6:00 to set lines in dead calm water - already light out. Set up in 80 FOW SW troll heading towards the pack. First fish at 105 FOW on full core with superscrew - rookie dove the planer board which then released and went down to the fish. 0 for 1 on what was acting like a nice king. Next fish again in ~103 FOW, free slider on downrigger set at 93 feet. Greasy chicken on another super screw - ugliest damn lure I have in the box, but the fish like it. Next fish was on a copper slide diver set at 2, 150 feet back - modified blue dolphin, for another greasy chicken. Time to get out the smoker and pray to the fish gods for perch to show up. Scanned around in 25-35 FOW in front of spy glass - no sign yet. Pulled lines at 10. Temp break at 45' down. alewifes in the bellies

Slow day, 2 for 3 - left the pierhead at 6:00 to set lines in dead calm water - already light out. Set up in 80 FOW SW troll heading towards the pack. First fish at 105 FOW on full core with superscrew - rookie dove the planer board which then released and went down to the fish. 0 for 1 on what was acting like a nice king. Next fish again in ~103 FOW, free slider on downrigger set at 93 feet. Greasy chicken on another super screw - ugliest damn lure I have in the box, but the fish like it. Next fish was on a copper slide diver set at 2, 150 feet back - modified blue dolphin, for another greasy chicken. Time to get out the smoker and pray to the fish gods for perch to show up. Scanned around in 25-35 FOW in front of spy glass - no sign yet. Pulled lines at 10. Temp break at 45' down. alewifes in the bellies