Dagwood

Fished solo. Set lines at 6:30 in 60 fow. Zigged and zagged out to 130 fow and took a steelie on a NBK down 60- south troll- 3.2 sog. Wandered out to 160 fow. Turned east and the braid dipsey got slammed in 120 fow with a BW greasy weiner meat rig back 200- high diver. Battled for 20 seconds then gone. Felt big but I just can't keep them on the dipsey's this year. Would of been ugly trying to net him anyway. My first mate (13 year old son) was too tired from goose hunting the morning before. Reset the dipsey and took a small laker- 200 back in 110 fow. Finished 2 for 3. So much for 1 foot or less. I cannot get my coppers or core to go. Tried plugs, spoons and flies. Done at 10:00. No activity at the fish cleaning station. Talked to one other boat and they had 1 fish. Good luck out there.

Went 1-4 last night. Fished 5-8:30 The "1" came on a UV Jager bomb slider with DR at 65 in 115 fow. It hid underneath the bag of ice in the cooler...would of thrown it back but it was a bleeder. The 3 misses were all on dipseys and meat. Greasy weiner and moo moo. Low diver at 130 back had 1 big rip and was on for 20 sec. then gone. Other 2 were high diver back 160 with big rips then gone. All hits came in first hour. Nothing on coppers and plugs. Good luck.

Went 8 for 9 tonight in 100-150 fow. Unfortunately 4 were lake trout. Fun night on the water tho. 5 fish came on wire from 145-175 back on moo moo meat. 1 on rigger 55 down on a white SD with procto fly. 1 on slider on on jager bomb with rigger at 55. 1 on braid dipsey 190 back with white slick paddle with blue bubble fly. Speeds ranged from 2.5-3.1. Even after speeding up we still nabbed a laker on the meat. Even the jager bomb slider caught a laker. Caught fish in all directions but the current got really crazy out there. Maybe that is why the lakers were biting. Hard to figure out down speed. Nothing on 150 or 300 cop with either chrome with green ladderback plug or green spatter back or a orange with black ladderback plug. Fished mostly straight out but a lot of boats south toward saugy. Hope for more fun this weekend. Good luck.

Lines down at 6:00 with first fish at 7:45 in 130 fow. Then had 2 quick ones at 10:30 pulled lines at 12:00. 3 for 3. Fish #1- rigger at 80 white SD, proctologist fly- 130 fow 12.7lb king Fish #2- On the slider with rigger at 45- UV green dolphin- 145 fow- 4 lb king Fish #3- 3 color with 4 oz dive bomb down the chute- 6 lb coho Marked a lot of fish from 100-150 fow just could not get them to go. They swim up to check it out then nothing. Marked a lot of fish up high so put the 3 color down the chute with the dive bomb on and 3 minutes later had a fish. Could be luck. Anyway, all of the fish were stuffed with alewives. Nothing on divers with meat and nothing on 150 or 300 coppers. Tried f/f, plugs, spoons. Great morning on the water. Good luck.

What loop knot do most tie for heavier leader line like used for flies? Mainly to attach to flashers...

Fished 6:30-9:30 in 100-130 fow and went 4 for 6. SOG was 2.4-2.7 all directions. Fish #1- 12.8# king rigger at 83- 8" white SD Proctologist fly Fish #2- 5# king rigger at 55 slider double orange crush Fish #3- 10.6# steelie 300 cu 8" white SD Blue Bubble fly-hit while reeling in at the end of the night Fish #4- 6# steelie 150 cu MS orange peel- double with Fish #3 The misses were on a wire dipsey 130 back on 2 white paddle with proctologist fly and same rigger as fish #1. Was excited to try the meat rigs for the 2nd time but forgot the meat in the freezer at home. Oh well. Marked a lot of fish in the 120-130 fow and more in 90-100 with a lot of bait pods as we were bringing in lines in the dark. Great night on the water with the family. Good luck out there.

Fished Holland last night from 5:30-8:30. Went 1 for 3 in 80-130 fow. Caught the 9.5lb steely right away in 90 fow on the slider with the rigger set at 69 on what I think is a Craig's Steelhead. It was orange, silver with black dots. My daughter who is 9 had a blast reeling it in. The 2 misses were on a full core with a MS agent orange. Had him on for a minute or two before coming off. Last miss came right at 8:30 in 100 fow with the rigger set at 80 on a white spinny with a blue bubble fly. Nice steely that did not stop jumping. Had him almost to the back of the boat when he really went bezerk and unbuttoned. SOG was 2.6-3.0. Turned out to be a beautiful night as the rain stayed south. Marked some huge pods of bait fish in 50 fow on our way out as we were deciding on the weather. Just wondered what they were. Good luck.

I believe the website is showing sub-surface currents.

http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/currents/glcfs-currents-avg.html Here is the link for the currents-

Fished solo from 6:00 to 10:00 and went 3 for 6. Steely on a slider with a NBK down 45 190 fow, laker on a 150 copper with a UV mixed vegy- turning to sharp, and a 5lb king on a 2 color with a 2oz dive bomb pulling a MS JJ Mcmuffin (I think) in 175 fow. I think I just got out to deep as most boats were in the 100-150 fow range. Started marking more fish and bait as I was bringing lines in around 140 fow. All fish had 4-5" alewives in them. Just feel like it is such a guessing game with no temp/speed probe. The website that shows what the currents are doing never seems to be accurate. Yesterday it showed the currents going from south to north and my lines were angled south when trolling west. It was a great night on the water however. Just have to keep practicing. Good luck, Dave

Headed out for the first time tomorrow morning in Holland- 5/31- need all the help I can get. Depth, how far down, SOG, lures, whatever else would put a few fish in the box. Looks like the weather is shaping up nice. Thanks for the help. Dave

What is the average length of leader from dipsey to spoon?

Had time for an afternoon trip before the soccer tourney this weekend. Wind forecast was wrong again. Less than a foot was more like growing rollers. Anyway headed into the waves almost to PS and 125 fow. Started on a south troll with the waves. Marked a lot of fish but nothing interested. Waves continued to grow. Finally hit a 7 lb king on the dipsey 125 back on 1 using a white fishscale paddle with a blue fly. Fished till 5:45 and called it quits. Good luck.

Sorry I wanted to get this out last night but to much going on. My Son and I went 4 for 6 Sunday morning mostly south of Holland. Launched at 6:00 and was 2 for 3 by 7:15 in 120 fow. Then nothing until about 9:30 when we picked up a small king in 175 fow. Picked up a steelie after that in 160 fow. Started to wrap things up and just ready to grab the last pole (300 CU) and the drag starts to zing. Thought it was a great way to end until the line broke. A good lesson as I knew I should have retied. It looked like a steelie because he jumped about 10 times trying to shake the MS Bloody Nose plug. Which had been our hottest setup. Oh well, it was a great morning out there. Here is what worked- Rigger- 65 down Carmel dolphin slider- 6 lb king Rigger- 60 down MS RV wonderbread 6 lb coho 300 CU- MS Bloody Nose plug- 12 lb king 150 CU- Purple spatter back plug- 7 lb steelie Good luck

Went 3 for 4 tonight- 120-150 fow in front of the sliders. 1st fish- Rigger- 60 down SS mixed vegy slider 9 lb coho 2nd- 300 CU MS bloody nose plug- 7 lb steely 3rd- Same copper rig- 16 lb king We did not mark as many fish as Friday night but still happy with the results. I am not sure if it was the currents or what but could not figure out the speed. Plus the I-pilot could not stay on course. No idea why not. I guess I will have to go fishing again to try and figure it out. Good luck.

I bought a MinnKota Terova trolling motor with I-Pilot and have not had a argument in the boat since. WAY worth the money. I justified it as a marriage saver...

Finally I can post a report- my son (age 11) and I went 5 for 6 in 120-150 fow. 1st fish- 19 lb king- Moonshine RV- Blue/black dots- 60 down on rigger #2 laker- same spoon same rigger #3- 9 lb king- wire dipsey 130 back on 2.5 white paddle arctic ice fly-BW #4 laker 300 copper wonder bread j-plug #5 5 lb king on moonshine RV crabface 75 down on rigger Lost a dandy on the same dipsey. Just a great night on the water. Some big ones at the cleaning station- one was 27 lbs said was caught on a white black ladderback ace hi plug. Marked lots of fish all night- speed was around 2.7 sog. Direction did not seem to matter. Between tangles and fish we never had all the rods in the water the whole night. Good luck out there.

What is a rainbow alewife?

That is the reason for my question unfortunately- I have a Lowrance HDS7 and anything past 1/4 throttle and the transducer picks up to much interference and the screen is unreadable. I have adjusted the transducer as much as I can with the same results. The other problem is I do not have a probe so I am fishing blind as well. Obviously I have surface temp on the graph. So many issues...

Couple questions on surface temps- If I look at the surface temps on the Coastwatch website can I determine from that a good starting point when heading out fishing? And how do I determine from the lat and longitude lines how far out I will need to go to hit a particular temp break? Thanks for the help. Dave

What kind and lb test rigger cable do you use? What does your end connection look like to your rigger weight? Might as well start thinking about next year. Doesn't look like I am going to be able to make it out again. Thanks, Dave

Another question, do you just pull the shrink tube over the knot and that is it? Or do you heat it up somehow? In some of the pics it looks like it was heated up. How do you warm it up if so?

So when you use a spro what knot do you use and what size spro? 50lb? 80?

Started this morning at 6:45 in 50 fow. Went 4 for 6. Went out to 100 fow and took a 10 lb king on a 150 copper on a DW chrome with red head plug. Then headed south and took a 16 lb king on a full core with a chrome with green ladder back j in 100 fow. Trolled all way to Saugy. Headed back north after a little break trying to catch a catfish in the channel with my son. Headed straight out to 190 fow and immediately took another 10 lb king on the full core with the same chrome green ladder back j. Marked a lot of fish in the 180-200 range but could not get them to go. Wire dipsey 180 back in 160 fow with a white paddle and brand new green/blue BW fly took a huge rip but by the time I got it out of the holder it was gone. The line just below the paddle broke. Last fish came as I was reeling in the 150 copper with about 50 ft of line out a steelie hit the chrome red head plug. A lot of trolling for 4 fish as we pulled lines at 5:00 but really turned out to be nice after it got a little bumpy this morning. Good luck, Dave