Turfwrench

I run both all season with success. A lot of the time I will run the deep divers on a 3 way swivel with a spoon trailing behind. Sometimes they go for the body bait and others they take the spoon. Over here in the southern end of Lk Huron we get into the walleye over deep water and then the Mann's 30+ series seems to kick some butt. So in essence I kinda use the plug instead of a smaller dipsy to get a spoon down fishing off the boards. As we don't have a lot of kings over here it is effective for the steelhead, coho, and walleye.

Al, I have not spent any time on the southern end of the island near Windigo (which is the closest from Grand Portage) but I would assume there is great fishing on that end of the island. We would go over in groups of boats either from the N entry @ Houghton or preferably from Copper Harbor which was 20 miles closer to the island. Have spent time in Malone Bay, Caribou Island, Tobin Harbor,and Todd Harbor. Always was some great fishing around middle island passage but my favorite area was near Scoville Pt to Blakes Pt.

I would suggest Isle Royale for some dandy lakers. When I lived in the Keewenaw we used to run over every spring around Memorial Day for several days. The lakers were usually right up on the reefs and not uncommon to catch 20+lbs just highlining. The largest our group caught was 32lbs.

Well Grant as you know I am in the midst of a boat restoration. It is the hull that I wanted and I feel it is well worth my time and effort. I certainly know this boat well inside and out and will be confident when I complete it that I will indeed have the fishing rig that I will be happy with. Guess my point is that if you really like the hull and don't mind the labor involved then it would be worth it (personal satisfaction) to restore it.

We are heading up Friday thru the following weekend. Will be fishing Frankfort and Traverse City....Probably do Frankfort early in the weak and Traverse the latter end of the week. Just don't want to fight with all the boats doing the Frenzy next weekend. Good luck to you, maybe we will see ya out there.

Good luck with the new rig Brandon.

It boils down to personal preference and what you believe works best for you. I run all singles and they seem to bury deeper into the fish and they stay hooked up. Sure, some will slap at the spoon but not hook up but I feel the hook up and catch rate has increased since I switched a few years ago. Also nice that I don't have to fight with getting treble hooks out of the net. Best advice is to run some singles for yourself and compare your results.

We all have plenty of pics of fish that we have caught over the years but do you have one that is your favorite? If so, post it and describe why. This is one of my favorites...this King in certainly not the largest I have caught but it has a special place in my heart. We were fishing out of Pt. Sanilac on Lk Huron in early August of 2011. It hit a rigger line 74' down over 119fow. It fought long and hard and the excitement of my grandkids was priceless. They had never seen a fish that size. It was also exciting to know that since the crash on Huron that Kings of this size existed in the southern end of the lake. A very special day for me and the grandkids!

I have owned boats for over 30 years....owning a boat gives the opportunity to go fish where you want and when you want. When I ask someone if they would like to go I don't expect them to pay, only to enjoy the trip. Several times I have been given or they have tried to give money but I just tell them it is not necessary. A couple of years ago a friend that I know from the port I fish out of had never been to Frankfort but was unemployed. I took him from the lower east side of the state up to Frankfort and spent 3 days there fishing, never asked him for a dime. He had a great time and we have been great friends since. Now we plan 1 - 2 trips a season over there and he insist on splitting the cost...which for these trips is fine..we now can do 2 trips for trips for the cost of one. I guess what I am saying is I don't look for people to pay my way to fish on my own boat.

Congrats!!! Looks like she is a happy sleeper.

Those are some beautiful fish!!!

33,000 steelhead were planted Friday in Pt. Sanilac. Along with the Atlantic Salmon that were planted previously this spring the DNR is putting fish in the lake and hopefully they will survive to give anglers a rip on the line. For those of us in the southern end of Lk Huron we are again experiencing some fairly good salmon fishing this spring with fish being caught in the 19+ range. That's not too shabby for a fishery everyone says is dead. Results of the Spring Fling and Salmon Stakes out of Pt Huron and the CanIIcan out of Harbor Beach showed some great boxes of fish again this year. Maybe the lake has stabilized and we will have more consistent catches of all species out there instead of just lake trout like so many believe are the only fish available.

Grandson and I went out on Saturday and worked the skinny for a while in the morning with no success, Moved out to 45-75fow and got into some fish. These were all took in the top 30 feet all on spoons. Sliders on riggers set at 30' took several and the wire divers with spoons on setting 3 50-60 back took the rest.

http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2011/04/the_salmon_experiment_the_inve.html This is an interesting read about the inception of salmon plantings. Information provided by Howard Tanner who at the time was the newly appointed fisheries chief. He stated that their intent was to create the worlds greatest freshwater fishery with the alewife being the foundation for the food supply to the salmon. He also stated it was a misconception that they were stocked to control the alewife. Obviously the idea worked and the salmon fishery exploded into a huge success. Unfortunately now with the lowered supply of alewife the salmon fishery has has declined, especially for those of us on the Huron side. Now they reduced stocking on Lk Michigan which hopefully will halt a collapse like what happened on Huron. It is a shame that it took the collapse of Huron to open their eyes on the control of stockings to keep the fishery at a level that brings and keeps people fishing the Great Lakes.

Nothing like a big ole bugle lip to get your heart racing.

Had a great time at the show today....a lot to see and do..and buy. Well worth the drive over there. Stopped and talked with James @ Fish-On Sports, great customer service, he hooked me up with a pair of stanchion double rod holders. They are sharp. Their arch looked great and I think I would like to see one of them in my future. Also ended up with Bubba Blade Fillet knife which my buddy also got one and he picked up a Fish Hawk TD for a great price. We also got some flies and teaser bodies. Sure was a lot of people in attendance.

Looking forward to seeing the show. Will be our first time to this show as it is 2 1/2 hrs away. Long drive but certainly can't get the boat out yet so will enjoy this trip.

Spring sure is taking it's time to get here Grant. It didn't help getting the snow this weekend. Extended forecast not looking much better so we will be off to the Grand Rapids show on Saturday probably buying things for fishing instead of hitting the water and actually fishing.

I am with Jim on this one as I too believed that it was to be less than others but is not the case as the Smart Troll does not offer just a speed/temp probe so that does omit the other units as a price comparative. With over 30 years of trolling the Great Lakes, from bottom bouncing in 200+ water in Lk Superior, banging the bank in Frankfort on Lk Michigan, to dragging drop offs in Lk Huron I have yet to lose a cannonball off my riggers. Although the possibility does exist I would certainly not plan on bottom bouncing a rigger ball with any probe system attached. As with most everybody with internet access I am constantly searching the best prices on the net for items I am interested in. Today the X4D is listed by one vendor is $709.99 and the TD is listed at $124.99 I understand the TD is not live display but the fact is why put a probe on a line that is most vulnerable to breakage and run it all day. Yes it would be nice to put on a diver line, get a reference then take it off to fish with thereby eliminating the possibility of loss. For those lines I am unable to see on the fishfinder I am just looking to spread line through out the water column not necessarily being at a specific depth and although not entirely accurate depending on conditions the Precision charts are used for that purpose. As we know, fish are not just at one specific depth but rather rise and fall in the water column as I have caught steelhead on the surface lines and 90 down and salmon at 30' and 85' on the same pass. I don't doubt that the Smart Troll can be a great unit but as a weekender the cost is prohibitive with gas prices, trailering boat to and from, and trolling...well you get the picture.

After all the hype I have read about on several forums for this unit it was a big let down to see the actual pricing on one of these systems. I don't own an android device so to purchase one + the lowest priced package offered puts it pretty close to the cost of the X4D so I see no advantage there. A display unit would be a better option as where we fish those with the smart phones (and regular cell phones) are constantly searching for service thus rapidly depleting the battery making it necessary to keep the device charged while out fishing. Other speed/temp units that are available are more within the price range I am looking at as I don't feel depth readings are that important to me as my balls display on my fishfinder and give me a ball park on where they are running and my divers and highlines are staggered so I feel I am covering the entire water column. Although this new unit may be great for some people I don't believe I will invest in one.

After seeing this post I too decided to get some of the duals. They cost a little more than others paid ($44.95) but I guess that is due to a different design where the rod holder mounts to the vertical plate. I note there are no screws protruding on the vertical plates. I will have to say they are good looking holders and love the black bottoms. Should make a good addition to the boat. Shipping was not as quick as expected (11 days from order date). I had called to check on status and was advised that the delay was that the anodizer was back logged but no big deal, boat is not ready to go out yet. So far quite satisfied with the purchase.

It is still a work in progress Grant, but will get her done. I too am worried about where we may be able to launch this season. I am sure we can get out of the Black R. this spring but that does us no good for the summer.. The dredging from what I understand is for the marinas and the harbors but does nothing for the launches. Heard some talk they may drop in some gravel @ Sanilac but who knows???

Grant, I have had the itch since I put the boat away last season and so has the grandson. Spring seems to be taking it's good old time getting here. Did you just come out of hibernation??

Hard to go wrong with the Special Mates. I have one of the stickbait boxes that holds most of my bombers, raps, thundersticks and have almost 400 spoons in my spoon box (I run single siwash hooks and hang them on both sides). Though some may complain that they are a bit bulky I find then extremely useful and can hold a lot in an organized manner. They also allow the lures to dry while hanging unlike the boxes for my soft tackle bags that keep the moisture in. Overall a great box.

I usually start with looking at the depth charts for the area I would be heading to. Researching catch info available on various forums, if nothing for that particular port at least looking at results from nearby ports give a rough estimate. Ports like Frankfort have a board up at the launch that displays the recent reports and the local tackle shops will also have reports. And last but not least talk to the guys at the launch, always someone willing to talk. At least these sources will give a starting point and then adjust from there.