EdB

I'm Ed

K-zoo. The water clarity there was much better than the Joe.

I got out Saturday and covered some water in SW MI looking for steel. Put some wear on the boots since we bank fished instead of taking the boat. Didn't expect much with the high water but we did hit a few fish. 4 of us went, everybody hit at least one and we landed two. I got a nice hen and another buddy got a small one. A couple other nice fish were hooked but not landed. Water is up and raging everywhere we went. The fish were found in some calmer spots that don't usually hold fish. We fished spawn. Here's a pic:

Took my daughter out ice fishing this am. I was proud she made the wake up call in the dark to get ready. Had time for some bacon and pancakes and off we went onto the lake. Olivia caught a 13 inch bass to start our day on a tip up. Then another tip up went off and she caught an 18 inch bass. That gave her a good fight and we let them both go. Back inside our shanty, we're catching some small gills and having fun. I have a big shanty hole and it's like an aquarium. Olivia spots a big fish under the ice that I couldn't see till she pointed it out. I thought it was another bass coming in due to it's size. I told her to jig her waxworm and the fish came right in and hit it. She jerked and the fight was on. Ultra light pole and a spinning reel. The fish was taking drag and shot up under the ice. The pole went limp and I thought she had lost it. She was dejected as we both thought it was off. Then the fish almost pulled the rod out of her hand and the fight was back on. She got him to the surface spashing around as I tried to grab him and not blow it. I slowly palmed him onto the floor of the shanty and wow, it's the biggest spec or crappie I've ever seen! 16 inches and a tad under 2 -1/2 lbs. A master angler indeed! She didn't like the skimmer and wanted to hold her fish.

Got a 7 pt and a doe, let lots of bucks walk for next year.

I've had a depth raider for a few years now and have nothing but good to say about them. When I broke the power connection due to abuse on my part in mid August, I shipped it to them for repair on Monday and had it back Thursday. That kind of service in the peak season really made me a loyal customer.

Got this nice brown off the pier. Trolling Lake Michigan was outstanding in 07! The best memory for me was my daughter's solo salmon. She can't handle a king by herself yet but this coho make our day.

Merry Christmas to you and heres to the very best New Year ever!

Nice start to the season, Merry Christmas indeed!

Just got out duck boat (and river steelhead boat) pulled from duck hunting and I'll be hitting the Joe a lot the rest of winter. I think I'm muzzleload hunting this weekend but I'll be chasing steel for the most part going forward. I'm a spawn man!

It was a great deer camp this year. Everybody could have tagged a buck opening day but none were shooters for the adults and all walked. We planned to pass on all 1-1/2 year old deer and did. I saw over 50 deer on opening day and 4 bucks. Some may have been the same deer at different times. The two kids in camp that never killed a deer had the green light from us to shoot any buck. My 13 yr old nephew got a 9 point on opening day and that led to a great celebration! I had bucks in the crosshairs under 50 yards on Thur, Fri, Sat, Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat night. Most were small but on Monday I had a real big buck in the crosshairs but he was about 100 yards out and moving through brush. He stopped a few times but never in an opening. There was no good shot and I didn't pull the trigger. I saw another nice shooter on Wed well out of range. I took a 2-1/2 year old 7 point Sat night. He was a year away from being awesome and next year I'm going try to restrain myself on deer that age. I saw about 20 deer, mostly does on this past weekend. On Sunday, I let one of the kids hunt my stand. He went in a 10:00AM and nice shooter walked right by tracking 2 does about 10:20. I wish he could have been there for a shot. My buddy watched them from another stand. We had good deer movement the whole time. No doe punching for us in regular gun season and the neighbors don't either so they don't get spooked too bad in our neck of the woods. We'll fill some doe tags in December to thin them out some. Thank God for the piece of land I get to hunt and the neighbors who cooperate. Here's a pic:

I'd drop one rigger for sure and probably two in a nine rod spread and add a wire diver and another core or copper in place of them.

Anybody headed off to deer camp this season? I'm packed and off tonight. I have a long drive, about 45 miles to the other end of the county. Not many deer camps in southern MI but ours has been going on for about 10 years. It's in right in the middle and part of the Spring Brook Deer Co-Op. There is a nice crop of nice bucks this year. A big steak and baked potatoe dinner tonight will kick it off. It sure is nice to sleep a bit longer and just walk out the door and head to our stands. I'm not coming home until Nov 25. This is going to be the longest day at work all year. Good luck everyone!

I'll second the Great Lakes holders. Big jons are very good multi purpose holders but Great Lakes are better for divers. They are very heavy duty. One nice advantage is that you can grab the dipsey rod in the holder when extended perpindicular to the water and pull the rod and holder up and towards the boat to get the rod out in one motion. Way better than leaning way out from the boat to pull the rod out when you have a large king ripping on it.

St Joe sunrise Here's one from duck season

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 26, 2007 Contacts: Frank Krist, Hammond Bay Area Anglers Assoc. © 989-351-2053, (H) 989-734-3100 Erin McDonough, MI United Conservation Clubs (W) 517-346-6475, © 517-775-9500 Steven Schultz, Coalition to Protect MI's Resources (W) 517-371-8152, © 517-648-1315 Alan Terry, Cheboygan Area Sportsfishing Assoc. (W) 231-238-6710 STATE, LOCAL CONSERVATION AND PROPERTY GROUPS CALL FOR CONTINUED COOPERATION OVER PROPOPSED U.S. - MICHIGAN - TRIBAL TREATY AGREEMENT As thirty years of Tribal treaty litigation and negotiations draw to a close, Michigan sportsmen and property owners call Consent Decree a prudent approach. Lansing, Mich. - Conservation and property rights organizations say a proposed agreement announced today between five northern Michigan native American Tribes with state and federal officials is a tough, but fair process and is the right decision for Michigan's natural resources. The tentative agreement - now pending review by several of the participating Tribes and final approval by the court - clarifies the scope of the Tribes' hunting, fishing and gathering rights on northern land, as defined by the U.S. -Tribal Treaty of 1836. In 2005, state and federal officials, along with Tribal leadership, entered into negotiations aimed at settling litigation, which had been ongoing since 1973. The proposed agreement was announced earlier today by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which represented the State in the negotiations. Thirteen sportsperson and property rights groups joined the litigation as "amicus curiae" (friends of the court participants). This status allowed the groups to provide input into the litigation, but did not grant them party status or decision-making authority. These groups were present at the depositions and later, the negotiating table, voicing concerns and working to uphold their core values related to conservation, scientific management of resources and property rights protection. "The parties (below) participated in the process with the important goal of defending the longstanding core values of our members and all of Michigan's hunters, anglers, property owners and outdoorsmen and women," said Dennis Muchmore, Executive Director of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs. "We have worked to ensure healthy and sustainable game and fish populations, to protect private property rights and to preserve Michigan's sportsperson's heritage," he continued. "While we successfully achieved many, but not all, of our goals, previous court rulings made it clear that settling the litigation was the most advantageous approach for us and for Michigan's sportsmen and women." Critical to the success of the settlement are its provisions for the parties to meet regularly to resolve any resource management issues that may arise. "This is a critical piece of the process for Michigan's sportsmen and women," said Frank Krist, representative of the Hammond Bay Area Anglers Association. "The willingness of the state and Tribes to work together to ensure adequate enforcement, monitoring, and research under this agreement is going to be essential for maintaining the health and viability of our game species. We want to be part of this effort to work together to see that these needs are met." "Our mutual priority is the long term protection of resources. Both tribal and non-tribal parties have fared better as a result of this agreement," said Alan Terry, Secretary/ Treasurer of the Cheboygan Area Sportfishing Association. "We want to protect the health and abundance of our natural resources and commit to working with the State and the Tribes to achieve this goal." Most of the participating groups have strongly advocated the agreement as prudent in light of recent state (Wisconsin and Minnesota) and federal court rulings that resulted in diminished sportsmen's rights to the advantage of tribal rights. Both Minnesota and Wisconsin's Treaties were litigated in federal court and resulted in the court awarding as much as 50 percent of the take of many important game species to the Tribes. Some aspects of the settlement will cause consternation among Michigan sportsmen and women, but when compared to the court decisions in Wisconsin and Minnesota, Michigan is faring much better. For example, the settlement does not provide for the commercial harvest of fish and wildlife beyond what state law already allows, while the Wisconsin and Minnesota rulings allowed those state's tribes to commercially harvest several species. ### TREATY BACKGROUND Treaties with Indian Tribes are the supreme law of the land; state governments and courts are strictly bound by the terms of treaties. In 1836, the U.S. Government entered into a treaty with five Michigan tribes wherein the tribes ceded lands covering approximately the upper third of the Lower Peninsula and the eastern half of the Upper Peninsula to the U.S. Government in exchange for compensation. Under the Treaty, the tribes retained certain hunting, fishing, and gathering rights on treaty lands until those lands were "required for settlement." Previous Supreme Court decisions have consistently ruled that the passage of time cannot erode treaty rights. In 1979, the U.S. federal court ruled the waters of the Great Lakes can never be settled. Thus, the Tribes retained certain treaty provided rights. The Court's ruling did not address lands or inland lakes and streams. The recent negotiations have focu! sed on lands and inland water bodies. After depositions from expert witnesses were completed in early 2005, the State and Tribes decided it would be better for all concerned to negotiate a settlement instead of having a Judge make the decision. Usually a negotiated agreement is more acceptable to the parties than one that is imposed by a Judge. To view the proposed Consent Decree visit http://www.michigan.gov/dnr To see a list of Frequently Asked Questions and a full comparison of Wisconsin, Minnesota and the proposed Michigan settlement go to http://www.mucc.org HIGHLIGHTS OF PROPOSED AGREEMENT The settlement covers more than 130 pages. The advocacy groups - through actions taken as amicus to the litigation - focused on preserving long held values related to the scientific management of game species and natural resources, protection of private property rights and protection of hunting and fishing rights of sportsmen. Although the group was not able to achieve all its goals, it was successful in achieving key provisions including: Privately owned lands will not be available for tribal use unless they are available to the general public or unless a landowner grants specific permission. Gill nets will not be allowed on inland lakes or streams. Fish snagging will not be allowed on inland lakes or streams. Commercial harvest of game species will not be allowed beyond the extent already allowed by the state. AMICUS PARTIES Blue Water Sportfishing Association Cheboygan Area Sportfishing Association Coalition to Protect Michigan's Resources Grand Traverse Area Sport Fishing Association Great Lakes Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers Hammond Bay Area Anglers Association Michigan United Conservation Clubs Walloon Lake Trust and Conservancy

Congrats PlumKrazy on winning the West Mi League overall points for the year!

It really sucks! Hope they catch them.

Interesting info, thanks for sharing.

Nice catch and pics!

Freezing it fresh in packs enough for one trip is the way to go. Uncured spawn has always outfished cured spawn anytime I've been around cured spawn for trout/salmon. The only time I've seen cured spawn out produce fresh was for whitefish.

Great pics! No 20 lbrs for us on Lk MI this year. In July and early August, a DW wonderbread SS on a full core, full copper or a 1-1/2lb was on fire every trip. A blue bubble spin doctor and fly on wire mag diver was 2nd then and moved to first in later August. The spoon has slowed down recently but a wonder bread j-plug on a half core or full has been awesome.

Depends on how much of a strong north wind we get. Lot's of warm water piled up on our side of the Lake(Mich) right now. Check the surface temp maps for changes over the next few days. We have some north wind today but it's predicted to be SW all weekend. We may or may not get enough wind to change the water up. Also, this time of year, water temps are not that critical to the kings. They want upriver and there will probably be some close to shore even if the water is warm, especially in the early morning. Kings will out of preferred temps in late August and Sept a lot. Surface temps link to the link on this sites banner:http://www.greatlakesfisherman.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7#post7

Walked the birdge once, that was enough for me but it was a neat walk. I'll be fishing all weekend, probably take Tuesday off too. When I get back I'll be spending a lot of time shooting geese.

I run my drags on the firm side, not line breaking firm but not loose by any means. I think it helps drive the hooks deeper.