pikeman8

I run out to where I fished the end of the summer or where we caught fish the last trip out and start by running a spread and covering many different depths. Once you start taking strikes or marking bait/fish adjust to that depth. Fall fishing can be AWSOME------fishing is good and no traffic. Just watch out for the weather, it starts to become unpredictable near the winter and the number of days you can make it is diminished.

Both these spoons have been super hot my last two trips out of New Buffalo. The first one shown has been TOO HOT TO HANDLE its a Silver Streak mag UV and the second is a DW Caramel Icecicle.

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Good job on the fish. I too fished New Buffalo on Saturday. Beautiful day on the water. We trolled all over and water was warm top to bottom. Headed north and almost to Bridgman in 140 found cold water down 100' (55 deg). Proceeded to do cloverleafs in the area and pulled a three man limit with a triple to end it. My radio was kinda on the fritz but I talked to a few guys who didnt have much going also while we were working a double met another boat head on out in about 140'....sorry if it was you we were very occupied. I was amazed, second best day all year for rate of fish caught! Downriggers at 95, 115, and 135 did all the damage and we were off the lake well before dark. One spoon was by far the producer. I will try to post a pic of it later (its in my boat) but it is the Yellow UV mag silver streak. Has been good for some time but was just awesome saturday. I bought two from Tackle Haven but lost one early in the day from a mean king that got into the rigger cable. Had a bunch of real nice coho too.

Your question is like asking to choose between ford chevy or dodge. IMO Big Jon, Cannon, and Walker all make quality products. I have fished on boats with all three. Do some looking and find the one that has the features you like and go for it. Each one has it's own unique features and style. I have ran both cannons and big Jon but I prefer the Big Jons. I have pro tournaments now and love em. I really like when you are running long booms you can swing up the boom to clip a lure. Three years now on this set and not a lick of trouble. Bottom line is any of the major brand electric downriggers are nice and as long as you take care of them they will take care of you and provide years of service.

My first thought if you know your spread is 'similar' to others who do catch a lot is read as many reports and research favorite spoons on this site. There are many threads about favorite spoons or favorite flasher and flies. Many with pictures. Then go out and buy a few of the known good producers and give it a go. Fish change depths and locations all the time so recent radio chat, fishing alot, reading reports, or talking to others is the best place to start. But usually the same spoons can and will produce day in and day out, granted some better then others. I find Silver Streak and Moonshine spoons have done great for me the past two years and from reading reports they are good all over. I have not found a bad moonshine color personally but the Flounder Pounder seems to always take something in the standard and magnum size. Silver Streak try some blue, green, and yellow patterns both standard and magnum. There is no reason why you shouldnt be getting more fish in the boat. And honostly you dont have to spend a ton to get the basic standbys.

I use 30# on all my copper and 30# for my longer leads ie. 10 + color. My shorter leads all get 20#. With the shorter lead I feel you have some more give when the fish strikes with the board and I think the lighter leader helps with the high steelhead bites. Three years now running lead and have never had a break off due to only being 20#. But I do fish New Buffalo almost exclusively, and although the fishing is great here the port is not known for producing the 20+# kings on a basis like the northern ports.

I prefer to run three downriggers on my boat a 25 footer. One down the chute w/ flasher and fly and the two off the corners w/spoons. Also I always run flashers off my dipseys. Four downriggers can be a chore unless you have a large boat because you just can't get separation needed for the swing of the flashers. If you insist on four riggers stick with spoons or keep you leads real short. When the big kings are around I like to stay simple w/ a seven rod spread. Three riggers, two dipseys, and two boards. Nothing more frustrating than spending prime time untangling lines cause a king had a mind of it's own. More rods is not always better.

You can catch em all day long. Generally morning and evening is when I get most of the fast and furious action but mid-day I found to be steady. Last few trips I have made have been 3 or 4 till dark and have got fish right as we were setting lines. You have to be fishing to catch em!

Black divers here. Always seem to catch fish so no reason to change it up. I have a couple clear ones somewhere that I have caught fish with in the past but havent ran them for a while.

Always put the board on the backer. You are drastically shortening the life of the lead by putting a board on it.

If you are targeting Steelhead there are much better presentations for them. I have gotten one Steelhead all season on my dipseys and it was a hog. IMO they are great presentation just not for all species. Kings on the other hand I wouldnt fish w/o them. If you want to target steel get more boards with leadcore. 3,5,7,and 10 have all taken their share on my boat with the shorter lengths generally being better.

Sounds like it was a little cooler out deeper but not the fish. Were you the one calling out on 68? I tried calling back but never got a response. There were only two other boats besides myself so its a good chance it was you. Makes me wonder if my radio is working.... I was the farthest north boat.

Its been a long time since I have posted last but here it goes. Fished New Buffalo again Sat. night from 4-10 after the storms cleared out. Was a little lumpy going out but the lake laid right down by dark. It has been a couple weeks since the last time I was out so we just ran straight out to where we had tore them up last time we were out in 90 FOW and were blessed with 70+ degree water down to 75' (Week and half ago it was 45 down 50') Setup with two riggers, two dipseys and two core trying to target that cooler water down deep. Worked from 80-110 and the water was cooler out deeper but not much. Ended the night 7 for 9 with 6 kings and a laker. ALL strikes came on riggers with spoons. My lead has been dead almost all season:confused: And I cant explain the dipseys not taking a hit. One king was 17 lb that came right at dark the rest were all below 10 lb. All fish came 70-90' down and best spoons were Moonshine Flounder Pounder, Stinger Nitro Blue w/Black Spots, and Silver Streak Yellow UV. Anyone find any cold water deeper or shallower out of NB or St. Joe?

WOW! WTG on the nice box of fish for the south end. Were those big ones starting to come in shallower or were you still out deep? We were out of New Buffalo Sat. and couldn't find any cold water till depths over 80'.

Talora rods and tekota LC reels here and they are awsome. I really like the drag on the Tekotas better then the Okumas. The convectors are a great reel too, all of my core and copper are on the convectors. I would spend the extra few bucks on the LC. I always find myself using it to keep track of my leads behin the ball to stay consistent. When running 50-100 foot leads it's a guessing game without the counter. Plus they are more versitile if you want to use them for a different setup down the road. Big Game line on the reels. It's a cheap line but it has never let me down yet and you can afford to change it often. I have never had a huge problem with fleas w/big game. Give it a whack on the water and all gone.

Its not just the quality of the hooks that sucks but the size seems to be too small. It seems disproportionate after looking at other spoons. Well I guess smaller hooks are cheaper..........

First off I would like to say I love the Silver Streak Mag spoons and usually always run one or more every time I go out in the summer. Matter of fact they have been my best producer this year. Well....after I change the hooks out. It appears to me that the stock hooks on the spoons are so small and weak I seem to lose way to many fish and have tons of bump and runs that dont get the hook. I have also has a couple points straighten with surprisingly low pressure put on the fish. Noticing this I have swapped the hooks out with pricey Owner treble hooks in mostly the 1/0 size but after doing this my hook up rate has come up to close to and sometimes even 100% with seemingly no ill effects on the number of strikes. Has anyone else felt the same way as me and run different hooks on the spoons? I keep buying them cause they put fish in the boat but am kinda upset when I buy a $5-6 dollar spoon to have to immediately put a different hook on it (which are not cheap either).

Surprised NOBODY has said Bloody Nose yet! Not saying I even have a single favorite but Michigan Stinger Bloody Nose is right up top on my list. It seems to always take fish for me.

I fish southern Lake Michigan but the Michigan Stinger Goldilocks spoon always seems to do real well for me on either 3 or 5 color. Haven't ran too many other spoons up high for steelhead this time of year because I have confidence this will take steelhead. IMO it's a must have in your box.

I installed the Fishhawk X4 last winter and have been impressed all season with it. IMO the coated cable is a royal PITA and after replacing it a couple times you are better off cost wise just getting the X4 and dropping the cable. I have had it down past 120' and it still worked fine. Can run it on any off my riggers and the triducer still picks it up. Cant say anything bad about it yet. Only thing that I question is the speed at the surface it gives. It always reads about .4-.5 higher than my GPS. It could be due to my mounting location as well but its not a big deal to me. All I am concerned about is at the speed/temp at the ball and gps speed anyway.

Good job during these tough times. Way to tear em up. What kind of leader lengths do you run those spin and glos at? I have never seemed to have much luck with them but I fish quite a ways south of you in Michigan City or New Buffalo.

Headed up to Lake Superior this July the second time since moving downstate. I am in need of some large jig heads (round) in 2-6 oz sizes without hair. Can't seem to find em anywhere in lower Michigan. Does anyone here pour these or know where to buy? I would like between 40-50 total and no need to be painted but if they are they must be white or yellow no odd colors. Let me know thanks.

I am in bad need of a new cooler. I think ice keeps longer out of my cooler than in it:rolleyes: Would like a 120-150 qt or so for my boat and would like to mount on the swim platform to clear up some space on the deck. Any advice on what is a good cooler and mounting systems for the platform. Its a teak swim platform and I am not afraid of drilling holes in it, it has plenty already. The Yeti coolers have a real nice feature to strap it down but I cant justify 500+ for the cooler and 70 for the tie down. That's just ridiculous. Plus I looked at one at Cabelas and the thing was so heavy I couldn't imagine lifting it with fish and ice in it. I just need a decent cooler with a decent tie down system, im not looking to keep ice for days. What do you guys have that works?

Good job! You can only read so much and the rest you figure out hands on to get your boat tuned in to what works for you. The wind sucks for anyone. Even the big boats struggle in the wind, it really takes the fun outta fishing. I do concur about the kicker, it's a real pain to steer from stern espcially in rough seas. I really like my ez steer. Keep up the reports!