its an addiction

That kit looks like a nice starting point, but I would want to order some different items to be able to get creative. That has to be part of the fun in making them! I'm pricing out what it would be to order everything separately from Jann's, and depending on what that comes out to I will determine if I will go with the kit or not. Thanks for all the tips.

Thank you. It's difficult choosing the lure bodies over the computer. It sure would help if I could hold one in hand and see the actual size. I definitely plan on adding some latex tubing on the hook, and dressing a few with some bucktail.

Ahh...Might be a good choice with the kayak. Me and my buddies were debating bringing a canoe or two so we could cover more water, since it seems the fish are scattered, at least from what I've heard. Good Luck!

I know inline spinners in general are effective. It's my go to lure fishing for any species in most rivers. I've caught everything bluegill to salmon and everything in between on them. What I'm afraid of, is investing and finding that the ones I make aren't effective. I think I'm going to attempt to mock the Mepps Aglia and the Blue Fox Vibrax, as those are the two I've seen to have the most luck with, but then again the most often fished. I'm checking out Janns Netcraft now. It's a nice site. And I already have the tool for bending the wire, as I bought it to punch pencil lead for drift fishing. do you guys have any pictures of the inline spinners that were effective for you guys? I know a lot of people are into those Oslos, but I haven't caught a single fish on them, and fished them quite a bit.

Hey guys. Does anyone here have any experience with making their own inline spinners? I've caught quite a few steelhead and coho in the rivers with the mepps aglia, but I've also caught quite a few spinner stealing snags trying to get the lure down to the fish. Therefore, making inline spinner fishing fairly expensive each season. So, I'm debating taking on the task at hand of designing my own, but first I was hoping to get some input from anyone that has experience themselves. First off, sure there easy to make, but did you find your homemade spinners effective? Secondly, is it worth the time to save a few bucks? Any other words of wisdom of whether or not it's a worthy task to tackle?

Let us know how you do. I'm going up next weekend with a group of friends Thur-Sun.

I've got a 16 foot Smockercraft walleye boat. This is my third year fishing the great lakes, michigan and erie. I learned very quickly in my first year how important it is to respect the great lakes. My buddy and I actually signed up for a fun fish tournament on this site out of Muskegon a couple years back. We went up to prefish the tournament on a Friday and went out in a forecast of 1-3 footers. We were greeted with 1-2 footers. Suddenly, in the matter of minutes, in 80 feet of water, the wind shifted from the west to the North and we were met with seas that built to 6', and this is according to others on the radio and not my own interpretation. We just rode the waves back in and finally made it home safe, and entered port to the sight of 26 foot boats (10 feet larger than mine) sitting idle waiting in Muskegon Lake waiting for things to calm down so they could go out. Now, I will NOT go out on the big lake unless the forecast is for waves around 1 foot, or waves 1 foot or less. Yes, it is often wrong, but I do not take any risks any more. I also now check multiple weather sources to predict the waves, rather than the NOAA source or one single source. I'd rather catch a limit of gills, chase eyes, or trout on an inland lake than put myself in that position again. Besides, even if it is 3 footers, probably still safe I would say, it is NOT fun to fish in.

Thanks for all the input guys. I imagined most would start off casting if the conditions allow because it's less gas those huge boats would use, therefore increasing their profit for the day. That is why I requested we troll. I suppose I wouldn't be opposed to casting/drifting, but I think it would be more enjoyable for the others on board to troll since a few of them have very limited fishing experience. Blue Collar - I hope we don't have the same experience as you did with SeaBreeze, but I imagine with a fleet of 20 boats there is bound to be a rotten egg or two in the fleet. I appreciate everyone's input, and I'll be sure to let you all know how my experience goes with them.

Thank you. I called and spoke to them, and they said they're set up to troll, and have recently been producing limits/near limits. He said what type of fishing and what species we target is entirely up to us, but he also said the conditions the day of could determine what we do or what he suggests. understandable. I guess we'll give it a try. I think all of the guys going on the boat besides me will just be happy to be on the water and reel in a few fish.

Guys, more opinions needed. My good friend's brother assumed the duties of finding a charter, and he has very little fishing experience. He called me last night informing me he wanted to go with Seabreeze charters. I see Seabreeze is out of Oak Harbor. I think this could be a bad choice because we are scheduled for Sept. 15th, and at this time of the year shouldn't we be further East for the walleye bite!? I suppose I need to get on the phone with Seabreeze. What do you all think?

I've had the insulated guidewear from Cabela's for almost 4 years now. It's awesome. I hope to eventually purchase the uninsulated for the same situations as you desire. If it's close to the quality I bought four years ago, it should be a solid choice.

Good work. I bet that 30#er was a riot!

Sounds like fun! Too bad I'm 3.5 hours away.

I've been putting mine on a stringer. Once on the stringer and tied off to the boat I've just been slicing both gills with a pocket knife. I plan to get a pair of scissors on board and see how that works. Scissors sound/seem much safer.

I just started doing it this season, and will continue to. The meat is cleaner, and what I really love is I don't end up filleting Salmon in a pile of blood.

Thank goodness I have a great boss. I saw how beautiful it was out while sitting in my office and asked if I could scoot out of work early for some fishing, and he willingly allowed it! What a beautiful day on the lake, if only the fish were more active! I only had two hits all day, but at least they were two good ones. Water temp leaving the harbor was 80 degrees, and out at 100 feet it was still 78 at the surface. WARM!!! 5:30 pm lines set in 85 foot. First hit on a NW troll in 100' of water on the 300' 45lb Cu with some sort of nbk spoon I believe. Ended up being this big slob. My personal best greaser. Weighed out at 14lb 6oz. Then it went quiet again until 8:00pm. I maintained my NW troll and got this nice king in 130' of water on my rigger set 100' down. He hit my standard size double orange crush spoon on my free slider. 2nd time ever running sliders and it has already paid off! And that was it. I did speak with another boat at the launch. The three of them tried water from 60-90 feet and went 0-1. Another beautiful Lake Michigan Sunset.

That is sweet! Thanks for sharing!

I learned what Mark said the hard way this weekend. I ran mine for the first time, and with only the one swr down and the other rigger, I still managed to create quite the mess. Although, I made the mistake of having my non swr rigger being the deepest set. So, I think that's where I went wrong.

Thanks guys. I just got a new camera and have begun trying to take more photographs. No need to worry though, the photo was taken afte I pulled all my lines before heading in with motor in idle

Made yet again another solo mission to the big pond. Had lines set before sunrise in 90' of water. It was an hour before the first bite. At 7:30 I got 5lb coho on the DR set 70' down in 115 with mag lemon ice. At 8:30 I got a nice steelhead on a 2 color SWR set 90' down in 120' of water. Dead until the Lake Trout action picked up. 115' of water on PP dipsy 200' back with white Spindoctor and fly. Then two more lakers on the 2 color swr with a pro king purple/pink magnum spoon set 100' down in 120-125' of water. Lots of chatter on the radio. Sounded like the majority of the catch was coho, steelhead, but mostly lakers. Sounded like the kings were playing a game of hide and seek and nobody could find them.

Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate it.

Hey Guys! One of my best buddies is getting hitched this October and we're having a bachelor party a couple weeks before in mid-late September. He is my biggest fishing partner and loves to fish so I was thinking we'd take a charter out. So, I'm looking for recommendations. 1) The bigger the boat the better. I'd like to take six guys out. 2) It's is a bachelor party, so I'm sure there will be some alcohol consumption, so It would be nice to have a captain that has no issue with that. 3) We'll be staying in Toledo, so anything within an hours drive from there would be fine. 4) Cost, not worried about it. Seems $540-$600 is standard. 5) And most importantly, somebody that can lay the smack down on the walleye. I'd definitely like it to be a trolling trip. It would also be nice to have a captain that is a personable and friendly person. Thanks for your time guys, and I appreciate any and all recommendations!

I made the solo trip yet again to New Buffalo. Got set up in 65' of water and headed on a W troll at 5:30. Two hours of nothing until the first hit at 7:30, then nothing until all hell broke loose for me at 8:30 with 3 fish all back to back to back. I actually broke a sweat with the short period of non stop action between reeling in two full cores and my manual downriggers. Then that was it. Ended up 4-4. Fish were caught straight out in 85' to 95' of water. Two on a S troll and two on a W troll. Two steelhead on full core with a freakin veggies spoon. Two Kings on Downrigger set at 67' on lemon icicle spoon. Marked quite a few bait balls out in that 90' of water. Here's the damage.

Woke up early and had the lil 16 footer in the water at 6:45. We dropped lines in 60' and set the boat on a W troll. First action was a big hit and felt like a nice fish on the ten color that disappeared after about ten seconds in 88 feet of water. A few minutes later in 93 we got a small coho on a braid dipsey out 120 set on 2 with a MD spin doctor and fly. I turned the boat on a South troll staying in the 90 foot of water and shortly after we got a nice king once again on the MD spin doctor and dipsey out 120. Next we got a nice king on the 10 color on mixed veggie spoon. Nothing else until we started to pull lines at noon and found a small king on the downrigger, then had a nice rip on the dipsey and as soon as I got the rod out and a few cranks he disappeared as well. So, 4-6 for the day. I sure wish the waves around 1 foot forecast was true. It was a little bumpy at times.

I made the trip solo for the first troll this year. Lines in at 7:45. Sat down in 45 feet of water straight out from the pier and a touch South. Picked up a shaker and threw it back. Shortly after I had one of my most memorable fights thus far. Hooked a 12lb king on a SS double orange crush on the downrigger 37 down in 47 feet of water. Got it up to the boat and it took off towards my dipsey line, so I thumbed the spool and pulled hard trying to turn him. My rod snapped in half in a failed effort. Oops. He still got tangled. I winched him and the dipsey line in as close as I could with my 3 foot rod, and eventually ended up hand lining the king the last few feet and gilled him for my one and only keeper catch. No other hits all day. It sounded like most were struggling in close. I heard good reports coming from 120 feet. I worked my way out to 90 with no other hits. I tried stick baits, 000 dodgers peanut flies, spoons, about everything I had in the box. Water temp was about 48 to even 49 in the mud, and about 45 in the clear.