GLF

Welcome aboard Lonnie! You boat sounds like it is named by a Laaksonan We look foreward to having you around. If you need anything, let out a yell. ps..Thanks for taking the time and doing an introduction! Mike

Thanks Frank! This is exactly what I was looking for.

Nice job Rob!

I know a few charter captains charter on Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. They trailer their boats(31') back and forth. There is a fee for everything, so I would think there is a few involved with getting a permit? What about the charter guys who store their boats at their house in a barn in the winter? Are they pulling permits also?

OUCH Sorry, to hear that Larry. At least you made it back in.

Who knows what the maximum width of a trailer is that you can legally haul down the road? If your trailer is wider than that, what needs to be done so you can haul the trailer?

Which boat are you on?

Thanks for the report guys! That rod knock does not sound good Larry?

Has anyone ever tried using a super line instead of cable for downriggers? What are the advantages or disadvantages? How do sea fleas affect it?

There is a mathematical equation for figuring out the depth the wave-induced turbulence is felt at, but its easier to get a ball park figure this way. For every 1' in wave height, the wave-induced turbulence is felt approximately 7 X's in depth....ie...if you have a 2' wave, the wave induced turbulence will be felt 14' deep. A 3' wave will be felt down to 21'. This is where Figure 2 comes into play. Now lets say there are 10' waves. The wave-induced turbulence would be felt at 70' Notice how the red circles go around in Figure 2. They do this all the way down to the end of the wave-induced turbulence. Talk about a giant blender

Thanks Empty Hook and Blue Knight. I am not sure if I will be able to do it this year. Everything depends on the money situation at home.

Ever wonder why the fishing is so messed up after a good blow? Once you understand the affects of waves, you will have a better understanding. Waves The motion of water waves results from the transfer of energy from the atmosphere to water. Most water waves are generated by wind moving over the water’s surface. The size of the resulting waves is dependent upon the wind velocity, wind duration, and the fetch (i.e., the area and distance over which the wind travels). Deep water waves have a sinuous pattern as illustrated in Figure 1. The highest point on the wave is called the wave crest, and the low point on the water surface between crests is called the wave trough The distance from crest to trough is the wave height, and the distance from one crest to another is called the wavelength. Although not obvious to an observer, a wave extends below the wave trough to a depth that is one-half the wavelength. This depth is called wave base, below which no water motion attributable to surface waves occurs. http://faculty.gvsu.edu/videticp/waves.htm

The Lake Erie Unit of the NYS DEC collected 750,000 walleye eggs for fingerling production to be stocked in the Buffalo River in late June. This is the third year in a five to seven year program to establish a riverine spawning stock of walleye in the Buffalo River. Historically it is believed that walleye spawned in the Buffalo River however due to years of dredging an industrial pollution that stock of walleye had been lost. Pollution abatement programs and laws have resulted in better water quality, which may allow walleye to spawn in the river again. In the Eastern Basin of Lake Erie, walleye predominantly spawn on lake shoals and near shore reefs. Spawning in the lake subjects the eggs and fry to the hazards of rough water conditions during spring storms. Conditions for good spawning success are infrequent from year to year. River condition differences are less dramatic from year to year and storm run off is tempered by miles of the low gradient of the river. The cycle from winter to spring conditions is rapid causing plankton blooms, which provide the necessary food for the walleye fry. Walleye spawned in the Buffalo River have miles of ideal habitat to grow before they reach the lake. An experiment conducted in the Cattaraugus Creek, a tributary to lake Erie, to establish a river spawning stock of walleye was successful. Don Einhouse, Sr. Fisheries Biologist at the NYS DEC Lake Erie Unit thought that a similar experiment was needed for the Buffalo River. The Buffalo River received about 53,000 walleye fingerlings total for the first two years and several hundred thousand fry. The eggs collected are taken to the Chautauqua Hatchery where they are raised to fingerlings. Volunteers during the egg collection and stocking also support the restoration efforts for the Buffalo River.

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Melting snow carrying phosphorus from northern Ohio's farms contributes to so-called "dead zones" in Lake Erie where the oxygen is low, researchers say. Storms flush phosphorus, a common farm nutrient, into drainpipes, creeks, then rivers and finally into Lake Erie. Once there, phosphorus causes extreme plant growth and algae, which suck oxygen from the water when they decompose. Anglers had been reporting thousands of yellow perch floating off Cleveland and Lorain in recent days. This die-off follows a recent die-off of tens of thousands of sheepshead. "At first we thought the perch kill may have been a by-catch issue from commercial trap nets, but it was too widespread," said Kevin Kayle, an ODNR Division of Wildlife fisheries biologist at the Fairport Harbor station. "The perch kill stretches from Lorain to Conneaut." The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports the majority of the dead perch are in the 6- to 8-inch range, members of a large 2003 year class. Only a few thousand perch from a population in the millions has been affected so far, said Kayle. The most likely explanation is that those perch were stressed as the high-density year class spawned for the first time. Also stressing Lake Erie's fish stocks were last summer's abnormally hot weather followed by a mild winter with no ice cover, allowing winds to keep Lake Erie stirred up and muddy. "We always knew weather was important, but were not able to document it," said Gerald Matisoff of Case Western Reserve University, who headed a U.S. team of Lake Erie researchers. "Now we're seeing a connection." The findings were presented at a Great Lakes conference in Windsor, Ontario where the International Association of Great Lakes Researchers had convened for their annual conference. "Dead zones" create an area devoid of fish, worms and clams on the bottom of the lake, hurting commercial and recreational fishing. Researchers estimate that two-thirds or more of the phosphorus entering Lake Erie comes from runoff during storms. While summer storms also wash fertilizer into the lake, big winter snowmelts can be worse. Four of the 10 snowiest winters to hit the region have occurred since 2000. "We will need to focus some of our land management issues toward trying to keep the soil on the land and the nutrients on the land," Matisoff said. Fish kills have become common this year. The Michigan DNR is still investigating a winter kill that claimed about 4,000 muskies in Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River. Michigan fisheries biologist Gary Towns said the muskie kill represented a small percentage of the Lake St. Clair population, and muskie fishing should again be excellent in 2006.

It's hard to imagine topping last year's record-breaking salmon catches on Lake Michigan, but it could happen. Reports of an occasional chinook or steelhead taken by trollers 3 to 6 miles offshore began to trickle in weeks ago. While the deep-water haunts are producing, some anglers have been catching fish even closer the past couple weeks — right off the piers some mornings. Ideal water temperatures, plentiful bait and stirred-up water from rain and runoff are possible factors in the near-shore success at spots like Algoma, Kewaunee, Two Rivers and Manitowoc. Many anglers say they're seeing plenty of alewives in the clear water off the pier, on their fish locators while trolling and in the bellies of salmon they fillet. Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist and avid angler Paul Peeters of Sturgeon Bay has heard the encouraging reports, but isn't ready to make a proclamation that everything is back on track. "The only thing that's guaranteed in Lake Michigan is change," Peeters said. "We will continue to adapt our management to the ever-changing conditions, but we have no effective control over the number of exotic species that keep coming in, or things like the weather." Chinook salmon catches have improved steadily the past four years. More than 400,000 kings were caught last year, nearly 250,000 combined off Kewaunee, Door and Manitowoc counties. Stocking peaked at more than 2.7 million chinooks a year three times between 1984 and 1989. However, those salmon nearly ate themselves out of their favored food; an oily, exotic forage fish known as an alewife. There have been three substantial stocking cuts since, in 1991, 1999 and 2006. With this year's 21 percent reduction, Wisconsin will be stocking fewer than half as many chinooks as it did in the mid-1980s. Peeters said an increase in natural reproduction on the Michigan side of the lake makes it difficult for fish managers to keep salmon numbers in line with the forage base. Additionally, an alewife crash in Lake Huron in recent years resulted in an unknown number of salmon migrating into Lake Michigan. Declining body weights and fat content in salmon in recent years was a red flag to Peeters and other biologists that the forage base again may be in trouble. The last time alewife populations crashed in the late 1980s, stressed chinooks began succumbing to bacterial kidney disease. It took nearly a decade to get the fishery back on track. "We first stocked fewer salmon within the past couple weeks," Peeters said. "The first year, they don't even eat alewives, so the true impact of our reduced stocking effort won't be seen for several years." Peeters is cautiously optimistic about a combination of lakewide acoustic and bottom trawl assessments last fall that showed good numbers of young alewives, rainbow smelt and yellow perch. "But we've frequently seen good year classes of alewives that don't make it to the next year," he said. Peeters said the size and condition of the alewives is more important than the numbers. "Even a fairly small alewife year-class can bring off a huge hatch if conditions are correct," he said. "But then, they have to be able to find enough to eat, too. And we have no control over that, or how cold the winter is, or any of a number of other factors."

The Department of Natural Resources, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, has identified several areas in the state where double-crested cormorant control activities will occur this year. Once extirpated in the state due to dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other contaminants, cormorants have increased to record numbers in the Great Lakes region, according to DNR wildlife officials. In response to the potential damage these high numbers could have on fish, wildlife and other resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service authorized the local control of populations in areas where cormorants are causing damage. Under these rules, USDA Wildlife Services control activities began in 2004 at the Les Cheneaux Islands and Drummond Island. Activities were expanded in 2005 and will again be expanded this year. "It appears cormorants have the highest potential to cause negative impacts to fish or other natural resources in two situations," said Raymond Rustem, Wildlife Division natural heritage unit supervisor. "The first is the migratory flocks of birds that move through Michigan. During this period, large flocks of birds may feed in shallow waters of lakes during the brief period they move through Michigan." The second situation is when cormorants have established breeding colonies. Research indicates that cormorant breeding colonies may play a role in reducing game fish populations in localized areas. One strategy to help with cormorant control is harassment reinforced with a limited take of birds. USDA Wildlife Services are working with local volunteer agents to conduct these activities at Long and Grand lakes in Alpena County, Potagannissing Bay on Drummond Island, Brevoort Lake, Manistique and South Manistique lakes in Mackinac County, Indian Lake in Schoolcraft County, and Lake Huron off Rockport in Alpena County. Three sites in Michigan are targeted for egg oiling and reductions in adult breeding birds by USDA Wildlife Services. The Les Cheneaux Islands will continue as one site of population reduction attempts. Nesting colonies in Thunder Bay and Bays De Noc will also receive treatment. The DNR will be monitoring fish populations at sites with control actions to document how fish populations respond to cormorant control activities. "Our goal is to use the best scientific data (fisheries and wildlife) available to manage cormorants at biologically and socially acceptable levels," said Bill Moritz, chief of the Wildlife Division. The DNR is cooperating in a survey to identify and count breeding pairs in the state. Survey data will be combined with information from other Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces to obtain a full breeding population count of double-crested cormorants on the Great Lakes. The DNR has developed an online form for citizens to report cormorant activities. The department will use this information to identify cormorant migration patterns and locations where large concentrations of birds cause concern. Citizens are encouraged to report such sites at www.dnr.state.mi.us/cormorantobs.

I now have all of Red Hook Tackle's Raider spoon smilies uploaded. I have them list in the order they are displayed on the .pdf files located here starting with the Super Glow Raiders. Click on the "More" button when you go to use the smiles and it will display them. The name of the colors is on the right side of them. I went through the trouble of adding them, I hope everyone uses them. :SerialKiller: :BloodyPuke: :OrangeCrush: :SunKiss: :GDolphinSpook: :Frog: :SurfBoard: :SisterSledge: :OilSlick: :LemonIce:

Are you using them for trolling or stop and go fishing like bass fishing? It also depend on how fast you are moving. I had a 19' Basscat bass boat with a 200HP Merc with this set up. I could fish for 8 hours and more without a battery issue. I was not running it on high speed. You should be able to fish for at least 6 - 8 hours without a problem.

Thanks for the report Tom!

Thanks Tim!

Welcome to the Captains Chair. This area is for charter captains only. Thanks for taking the time and doing an introduction. If you need anything, just give a yell.

It worked. It shows you as being in Ludington.

A lot of you have found the site from a buisness card left on your vehicle at a boat launch. To date, I have passes out over 1,000 cards between boat launches, fishing shows, and outdoor shows. Thanks Dave, Mark, Steve, and anyone who worked the shows with them in passing them out. My goal for this site is to be one of the best fishing sites on the internet. I am looking for some members who would be willing to pass them out or put them on vehicles at some of the launches they fish. I have found that the best place to put them is on the drivers window above the door handle. I currently have an order in for an additional 3,000 cards. I did not skimp on the quality of the cards, so they are costing me plenty. The cards are supposed to be shipped on 6/6/2006 and I expect them here on 6/14/2006. I have South West Michigan covered pretty good. I am looking for members from Grand Haven and North on the West side, the whole East side of Michigan and all of the other states, and Ontario that border a Great Lake. If you are willing to help out, send me a private message and tell me where you are located. Thanks, Mike

I would be more than happy to help out with the control issue, and I would not charge a $.01

I am not a walleye fisherman. How fast do you troll when you are trolling for them?