CaptLevi

I guess I shouda done this befrore I stareted posting.? My name is Levi Sanders. I live in Montcalm County. I own and operate charterboat at the graet Port of St. Joseph, MI. Sportboat Fishing Charters. www.sportboatcharters.com I fish up to seven days a week from Mid-March through the end of Sept. on Lake Michigan, then it's home to chase whitetail and turkey; and to take time to catch up with my family and friends.

Welcome Stevo! Is Mark going to come on to the site? Hows the tackle biz going? Hope to see you in March. Maybe swill a few!

I have 4 riigers on my 32' charterboat and usually run them all. Ocassionally I will run less, like when in tournaments with rod limits, and if the dipseys or core get hot, I will pull some riggers and switch up. Another Captain I know has 6 on his boat. He usually runs 4, but during the fall bite in the mouth of the harbor he runs all 6 and really cleans up on the kings!

A lot of folks use various sizes of line test for trolling the big lake. I run 20 lb. - 25 lb. thoughout the season and will leader down to 15 lb. in the spring for shallow / clearer water conditions usually fished then. Also the fish get larger as the season progresses so larger line is needed then. I run 30 lb. wire, and 27 lb. lead core.

The water warms in the Southern end of the lake first as well as many fish(including baitfish) wintering in the warmer waters. The better fishing moves up the coastline with the warmer waters of Spring and the migration of the fish. This past year we had a very consistent bite from Spring through Fall in the Southern end of the lake. Many of the old timers said it was the best year they could ever remember out of the Port of St. Joseph.

The scum line is a temperature inversion in which two very different water temperatures meet. It is usually in relation to currents, winds, and upwellings. You will usually see a very flat line of water compared to the water surrounding either side of the line. When it first forms you may not notice much floating on the surface, but after it has set up for a bit you will see foam, vegetation, bugs, debris, garbage, you name it! It usually is a virtual fish magnet, although at times they may not hold fish at all. I have fished the scum from Frankfort to St. Joe, and have found them from 20 miles out to as little as 1/2 mile from shore, probably less. Steelhead usually can be caught at or near the surface around scum lines, and salmon commonly frequent the waters on one side or the line. Hope this helps!

Most spools of lead core come in either 100yds(single spool), or 200 yds (dbl. spool).;although some of the better great lakes trolling stores have bulk spools in excess of 1000 yds. If you can only afford a couple rods, spool them with 10 colors and let out different lenth of colors to achieve different depths.(about 4.5 ft depth per color). If you can afford the time and have space, use 10 color, 5 color, 2-3 color. I use 15, 12.5, 10, 7.5, 5, 2.5 on my charter, but even with a very large room this many rods take up an awful amount of space. I retie new leaders often. Leader lengths are your own preference. I start with 70' and run them down to about 15'-20'. The fish still bite em. I only respool the lead core when it has too many splices or shows too much wear on the sheathing. I use 25 lb. test backing. Take two identical reels, put on your ,leader, then lead core, then finish filling it with backing. Tie it to second reel and transfer it to put the backing on the bottom; then add your leader. If you have a line counter, you just found out how much backing to use! Rods are your own preference also. I prefer 9' medium action. Good Luck!

Dave hit the nail on the head. Leadcore accounts for a very large percentage of the fish we catch on my Charterboat. The only time we don't run leadcore are: 1.Too shallow water 2.Tight proximity to other boaters (pierheads) 3.Too rough of seas I would only digress with Fishdog on a couple thoughts. 1. You CAN attach your inline board directly to the lead core if you are just an occassional fisherman. A frequent fisherman would find doing so often will weaken the nylon sheathing from wear at the pinch point, and eventually the line will break. 2. While the Church boards are most used and a very good product, I prefer the Offshore boards, they track way better than the Church boards. They do require an after market rear release though for best results. Good Luck! Capt Levi