adrenalin

Yep it changed alot from Saturday to sunday. Saturday was pretty easy for everyone and sunday morning they either moved or shut off, I think moved. I started where I got them saturday in 25ft, on Sunday, and messed around for an hour and a half without a bite. Then I pointed it East and took it all the way out to 175 catching one here and there. Fishing was better out around 150 but I just ran out of time. I agree the water is getting to warm in close and that why they moved.

In Wisconsin you also need: sport trolling liscence $100 guide liscence $40 permit to charter through county $350. for another 500 bucks

Charter lakes here too. cheap for me, like $500 for the year. It is going to depend on the boat value for rates.

It's 2013 Josh, treat yourself to some shimanos...

This is a great point. Flashers work alot better than spoons in warm water. Also try to find 1 or 2 flashers and 1 or 2 flies that always catch fish and just run them on every rod, you will see your numbers go up. the same flashers and flies stay on my riggers and divers all year.

I cant imagine trying to untangle that stuff once a fish is netted. A fish on a plug is bad enough.

Michigan guys troll way faster then us Wisconsin guys. Just the way it is. Speed has to do with lead length and yes it will affect the fish you catch. If you troll slow say 1.7, you will catch more trout, but if you push past 2.2 you will also catch alot more cohos and steelhead than kings. On my depth raider trolling flashers I find 1.8-2.0 catches the most kings, with 1.9-2.0 being the sweet spot. Sure you can catch them way faster but not nearly as consistently. When the fish are biting like they have been all year it's pretty hard to get it wrong, but when it gets tough you will see the guys who come in with 5 fish and the guys who are still doing double digits. Speed and direction are key, and the guys always getting them know just how important that is.

Thats funny Randy and I were talking about that Sunday and I told him I don't think it matters just like you said. I run a 25 inch lead to the head of the fly and troll 1.8-2.0 and NEVER change that. Once you figure it out those are 2 things you never have to factor into your program again. I fish 2 color flashers and 2 colors of flies, that's it, and if it aint working I'm either not on fish or going the wrong direction. I think the main reason people struggle with flashers is because they create WAY to many variables, the fish don't change what they eat everyday so there is no reason to change your setups everyday.

Don't you guys have downriggers on your boats??? At that depth you could easiely catch 3 fish to 1 on a rigger by the time you got that copper in. In my experience when the fish go that deep it's hammer time with just riggers and divers.

Thank you Jim, It was fun as always!

I'm sure this wont be popular but I have released thousands and thousands of salmon over the years. I've let over 30 fish go in a tournament more than once. I don't think they all die. If you shake the hook out with a pliers at the back of the boat, how is that any different than if they fall off 10 feet behind the boat?? I think people get to worked up over this stuff, especially seeing their is no proof that they are dieing when released anyhow. If you don't eat them or have anyone to give them to, your just not supposed to go fishing???

Very sorry for your loss.

Nice work, take some pictures of your hunt too. Would love to see that!

Nice, good to hear the cohos are showing up!

Fished the harbor on Sunday morning after the thunderstorms quit. Very windy so stayed inside. A lot less fish in the harbor right now than outside. Went 4 for 6 with all the bites in the same stretch of water. All fish came on small orange spoons behind 2 colors. Most fish came on a color change in water. Nothing big all browns from 3-5 pounds. Slower speeds of 1.6 on the depth raider was best. Water was anywhere from 48- 52 degrees. Once that water gets above 50 degrees the fish sure seem to move out. Hope for calmer water this next weekend but, ain't lookin good right now.

No need to coat them, the coating comes off bouncing bottom anyway.

I didn't read all the responses so maybe I missed something. Why cut the stocking the same lake wide to deal with the natural reproduction in Michigan?? We don't have natural reproduction in Wisconsin so cut the stocking in Michigan and stock fish in Wisconsin to return to our rivers. 4 year old kings don't swim over to wisconsin to spawn if they hatched in Michigan rivers so one side of the lake has all the kings. Doesn't make sense to me.

How much for the round ones? 16 pounders would be cool. 15's are only 3 pounds heavier than 12 pounders you can get in any store.

I agree

Nice Jim, that laker is a pig, and cool about that coho. I heard of a few others caught too. If a guy ran some coho rigs and just kept heading east, I'll bet you would get a bunch of them. These early kings are a real bonus for us westsiders.

Well today was our first trip of the year. The boat ran good and everything works so thats a major plus after sitting in storage for 6 months. Fishing was awesome just like the reports have been saying. Ran crank baits on flat lines 75feet behind the boards and spoons on the riggers and on 2 colors. Best cranks were bomber long A's in gold and black, and mother of pearl, Rebel fastrac's in silver and black and orange and gold. Best spoons were small fishlander monkey puke, stinger blue dolphin, and stinger wonderbread. Riggers set at 10 and 15ft. Fished from 15-45fow. Ended up with 25 browns 2 lakers and 1 king in about 4 hours of fishing. The browns looked pretty skinny compared to normal so I hope that isn't a bad sign for years to come.

First light is great for fast action but I catch alot of small aggressive fish at first light. My best time for big kings is 9:30 -11:00 am. Let's hear from everyone else.

Hey Dave, check out this boat, a buddy of mine is selling. Probably the cleanest fishing boat around. This thing is a fishing machine and can handle some big weather. For what he is asking I think he is nuts this thing is worth so much more. Check it out http://www.skipperbuds.com/Page.aspx/diid/7069994/list/InventoryList/pageId/9033/view/Details/1998-Baha-Cruiser-278-FISHERMAN.aspx

Ya, basically the same as a mast without the mast. You should have no problem running 3-4 boards a side and a diver and rigger. Use the line counter or count the level wind passes on your reels, I usually figure about 8 feet a pass I'll be out first weekend in April if all goes as planned

Jim, here's my setup. Tie the keel weight directly to your line with a bead above it, then reel it to the tip of the rod and tie on a swivel below the reel, (about 6 feet.) I start the year out with 1/2oz weights and move to 3/4 and 1oz as the water warms. I start with 50 foot leads to the board on every rod and as the water warms stretch out as far as 100ft if needed using the bigger weights also. Set up one side of your boat with 00's and peanut flys and the other side with baby spin doctors and 2" coho flys. Don't mix and match on the same side. Every time you catch a fish just let out the other boards and run the board your setting on the inside, you'll never tangle and this is the fastest way to reset your spread. The other reason this is important is when your on a big school and fish are biting like crazy if you try to put a board back on the outside alot of times a fish will hit one of the other boards as you are letting the boards back out and it will tangle your lines. Alot of times one side will out produce the other, so when one side is up by 5 fish the other side gets switched out and every rod on the boat has the same setup. Don't waste time with leadcore for cohos early in the year, you can catch twice as many fish in the same amount of time with keel weights.