Trophy Specialist

We took limit catches the last two days on Saginaw Bay fishing just two miles from the Au Gres river mouth in 29 to 31 feet of water. Yesterday it took us almost seven hours to take my customer's limit of 20 walleyes and it was a very fun trip indeed with some regular costomers from my home town of Manistee. Today we limited out in about four hours of fishing taking walleyes up to 27". In fact several of the fish today were real dandies. It was great to chat with Priority One on the water today. Welcome back to the big pond Frank. We've been taking all our fish over the last two days on crawler harnesses fished right on the bottom with bottom bouncers. The bite continues to be extremely light with the fish barley latching on and often times just swimming with the troll with very little pulling. We hooked one six pounder today that didn't even move the planer board at all and we didn't even know she was there until we checked than line. It's taking two to three bites for every fish we are landing but they are biting so lightly that we are only going through a couple dozen crawlers per trip: They are hitting so light they are not even ripping up the crawlers much. I have trips scheduled for the weekend and the weather is predicted to be good, so I anticipate good catches in the day's to come. Capt. Mike Veine

I've been going to Au Gres earlier and earlier every year. I may start there in early April next year. Right now on Erie, the white bass as so bad that you have to sort to the point where it's a real pain in the butt. I like it a lot better in Au Gres these days and so does my dog. My customers took 20 keeper walleyes today in seven hours of fishing all on meat. Red beads with silver blades was best early, then chartreuse/orange harnesses were best later on. I ran two Hot N' Tot's all day today and not one bite on those. I ran six other rods with crawlers. We took most of our fish off the flat lines (no boards) 80' back at 1.4 mph using 3 ounce bottom bouncers. I'm ate walleyes for the fourth straight day today as I got to reel in a couple fish today too for your truly. It's my birthday tomorrow, so I'm going to take the day off and just fish with my wife at mid day, then I'm going to drink some beers afterwards to celebrate becoming an older man. I have more charters on the weekend though. Capt. Mike Veine

I've been eating Saginaw Bay walleyes for three staight days, but I'm certainly not complaining. We limited out on walleyes again today fishing in 26 to 33 feet of water off Au Gres on Saginaw Bay. It was kind of a crummy day today with a lot more wind than the weatherman predicted along with spitting rain and winds that switched around; not real good fishing conditions. The walleyes have been extremely lethargic and picky and the bite has been tough, but by being very precise with presentations along with employing correct fish fighting techniques, we have been doing pretty good anyway. Most of the fish that hit are just latching onto the lures and swimming with them without pulling much at all. It's been hard to tell when even the big fish have hooked up. Trolling speed has been especially critical with 1.2 to 1.4 mph being the best speed. The bite has been changing a lot too with the fish preferring different colors at different times of the day. Chartreuse/orange spinner/crawler rigs behind bottom bouncers have been the most consistent presentation for us. We have also taken some fish, and bigger ones, on perch pattern Hot N' Tots pulled within a couple feet of the bottom. The fish seem to be scattered in deeper water. Almost all the fish I'm seeing on my sonar are hugging the bottom with very few suspended fish or baitfish being marked yet. Capt. Mike Veine

I bet you didn't have to sort through 20 white bass for every walleye trolling on the Bay though?

I finally got back out onto the water today after waiting out a prolonged period of rotten weather that kept me shore bound. We headed out to the Toledo Harbor Light first thing in the morning with jigging rods ready to rock today and the walleye bite there was fast and furoius for the first hour with some bigger than average walleyes, then the bite slowed down as the sun rose up. It took us a couple hours of fishing to limit out in Ohio jigging with blade baits, then we slid over west across the boarder and broke out the trolling rods. I deployed a mixed spread of crank baits and spinner/crawler rigs. The white bass there were quite a pain in the rear, but we were able to sort through them and take a half dozen more walleyes. All the walleyes caught trolling came on crawlers/bottom bouncers with chartreuse/orange being best. The trolling bite was slow for walleyes because of all the white bass fouling our lures constantly. I have two more days scheduled on Lake Erie, then I move my boat to Saginaw Bay. I'm looking forward to heading to Au Gres as we don't have to deal with the trash fish like we do on Erie. Capt. Mike Veine

I just checked out the satelite view of the lake. Looking around the clouds, you can see that the lake clarity is changing around big time in the few days. I'm predicting a good trolling bite this weekend in MI waters and also in parts of Ohio waters too. If it continued to clear out, then the jigging bite will be tougher. Here's a link. http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/modis/modis.cgi/modis?region=e&page=1

The big winds we experienced with northerly winds which come offshore from Michigan. Northerly winds tend to clear up the Michigan waters which will make that much better for trolling there, but it also tends to dirty up the waters in Ohio. If that clearing extends out to Turtle Island and the light house, then the jig bite will be tough there. If the water is dirty there, then the Jig bite will be good in the dirty water. Often times, when the water at Turtle Island clears, there will still be good jigging to be had off Little Cedar Point. My next trips are scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, then I'm done on Erie and will move my boat to Saginaw Bay (Au Gres).

We took excellent catches of walleyes the last two days on Lake Erie with over 20 fish each charter. Yesterday, our best spot was in 10-12' of water off Little Cedar Point in Ohio waters. Gold blade baits worked the best there in that dirty water. Today, despite the high winds and pounding waves, we managed to jig up a quick Ohio limit out near the Toledo Harbor Light House with silver blade baits being most productive in those more clear waters. The fish we caught jigging today were some real dandies with some going over five pounds. After catching and releasing fish today until our arms hurt, we decided to troll some in Michigan waters. We caught some real nice walleyes on Rouges set 60' back behind the boards with a 3/8 ounce rubber core sinker one rod length ahead of the lure pulled at about 1.7 mph surging with the waves. We made one, long trolling pass from about one mile north of Turtle Island and pulled lines when we were about two miles out in front of Bolles Harbor taking hits all along that stretch. Capt. Mike Veine

4/13/12, Lake Erie, Fishing Report The trolling bite today was much tougher than yesterday. Having 100 boats, mostly from the MWC tournament, all plying a somewhat small area, really had an impact on the bite. It took us a full eight hours of hard fishing to take my client's limit of walleyes today. The bite really changed big time today, compared to yesterday. Yesterday Shad Raps were best; today I never took a fish on those lures. The fish were very high in the water column today and we took most of our fish with Rouges (three hook floating, short lipped size in purple/gold pattern) fished 30-40' behind the boards with a 3/8 ounce rubber core sinker 5' in front of the lure. We had to troll slower today too at 1.1 to 1.3 mph. I figure we were pulling those lures about 4-5' down. Since the fish were so high up, all the boat traffic had a much more negative impact on the bite compared to if the fish had been down deeper. Capt. Mike Veine

With bluebird type weather conditions today, my customers took limit catches of dandy walleyes. The only downside to today's charter was possible sunburn. We took fish that ranged from 15" to 28" today trolling in the open waters of Lake Erie. Our top five fish today weighed a total of 35 pounds. We started out with the plan to do some jigging out by Turtle Island, but the water looked too clear there to me, so we went right to trolling. We had good action in the morning, but when the wind switched, the bite died down some, but we still managed to pick away at them all day long. Our best presentation today was a #7 Shad Rap in Natural Shad pattern set back 45' feet behind the boards, taken to depth with a 3/8 ounce rubber core sinker, pulled at about 1.5 mph. We also caught a lot of white bass today, so there was lots of action. Capt. Mike Veine

Frank, I bet you're chomping at the bit to get out fishing, especially after all you went through last year, which kept you off the water. Hopefully you'll be well enough to hit the Bay with a vengence this spring. Lake Erie is tops for walleyes during the early spring, but from May on, I much prefer fishing on Saginaw Bay. Capt. Mike Veine

It was an absolute beautiful, enjoyable day on Lake Erie today with good people, blue skies, calm winds and plenty of fish on the lines. We took limit catches of some outstanding walleyes fishing mostly in Ohio waters, but we did try one trolling pass in Michigan waters too at the end of the charter. We took most of our fish trolling in water 20-23 feet deep with our best lures being gold/black Thundersticks 60' back and a Rattling Shad Raps 45' back behind the Church Tackle Walleye Boards. I had 3/8 ounce of weight 5' in front of the lures. We found some good trolling water about 15 miles southeast of Bolles Harbor. We also did some jigging and pulled six fish off the reef in about 45 minutes, then we went back to trolling which always produces bigger fish. We did take some jumbo walleyes today to top off an impressive box of fish. I'll be taking the next few days off to let this predicted weather system blow through and then I'll be hitting the water again when fair weather returns mid-week. I everyone a happy Easter. Capt. Mike Veine

The jigging bit out by Turtle Island was terrible today. It blew very hard yesterday with 4-5 footers and it really riled it up there. We tried jigging there this morning and only took one small fish in two hours. We then went to a trolling program and picked up five big walleyes along with some small fish too. The trolling bite was also tough and it really died when the wind switched in the afternoon. The trolling bite is transitioning from a stick bait bite to a crank bait bite. Had I figured that one out earlier day, I think we would have done better. Our best lures today were #7 Shad Raps and Rattling Shad Raps in Shad patterns. Capt. Mike Veine

What a difference a day makes. The weatherman predicted two foot waves, but when I got out on the lake this morning, the waves were a steady four footers with some fives. We turned around and didn't even wet a line. The weather is suposed to be nice tomorrow, hopfully they will get it right this time. Capt. Mike

I'll be wrapping up my Lake Erie charters and moving my boat to Au Gres at the end of April.

Our hot bait today trolling was a gold/black (with green glitter) Jr. Thunderstick pulled 65' behind the Church Tackle Walleye Boards with 3/8 ounce of weight 5' ahead of the bait. We trolled at about 1.0 to 1.5 mph surging with the waves. We moved to the reef and started jigging when the wind died down and the trolling bite slowed. We really hammered them jigging with a chrome Lazer Eye Blade Bait. One of my customers really caught on quickly and he was pulling up fish non-stop. Here's a photo of a spawned out female we took. Some of the females were egg laden, while others were post spawn.

I got back out on Lake Erie today and we ran out into Ohio waters (15 miles) and got into some awesome fishing. Our biggest fish was ten pounds and we took limits by noon. Then we went to Michigan waters and did some fishing there to fill out our Michigan limit. We started out trolling and also did some jigging too. Both were productive. When you can do both, it makes the day a lot more fun I'll be running trips daily out of Monroe until the weather turns sour. Capt. Mike Veine

I'll be heading out tomorrow for a stint on Erie. Hopfully I'll have something to report on. Capt. Mike Veine

I just got this press release from the DNR today which is good news. ------------------------ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 3, 2012 Department: Natural Resources Contact: Todd Kalish, 517-373-1282 or Ed Golder, 517-335-3014 Lake Erie daily limit for walleye to remain at six through April 30, 2013 The daily possession limit for walleye in Michigan's waters of Lake Erie will remain at six through April 30, 2013, the Department of Natural Resources announced today. In 2011 Michigan adopted a process for setting regulations that allows the DNR to use real-time population data instead of using year-old survey results. This process parallels one adopted by Ohio in 2010. "This regulation process is critical to helping us manage walleye in Lake Erie in a timely manner," said DNR Lake Erie Basin Coordinator Todd Kalish. "In order to do that, we have to set regulations in March instead of the previous autumn." Michigan's daily possession limit for walleye on Lake Erie is based on its share of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the lake, which is determined by the Lake Erie Committee under the aegis of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. The TAC is generally based on overall abundance of walleye. The commission establishes quotas for each jurisdiction based on the percentage of habitat for adult walleye in each jurisdiction's waters of the lake. The daily limit is based on a formula that projects how many walleye anglers can keep but still remain within the quota. See the table below for an explanation of the formula used to set the daily possession limit. The 2012 Total Allowable Catch for Lake Erie is 3.487 million fish, making Michigan's quota 203,000 fish. As a result of this regulation process, the possession limit for walleye on Lake Erie is not set until TACs are determined each March, after the annual Michigan Fishing Guide goes to press. Anglers must check for changes annually. The DNR has developed a strategy to communicate the walleye possession limit that includes a statewide press release, informational flyers, an updated online Fishing Guide, and a pre-recorded message at 888-367-7060 to inform anglers of the limit. There are no changes to either the fishing season or size limit for walleyes on Lake Erie. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state's natural and cultural resources for current and future generations. For more information, go to www.michigan.gov/dnr. If Michigan's share of the annual TAC is Then the daily possession limit for walleye shall be greater than 108,364 six (6) 96,958 to 108,364 five (5) 85,551 to 96,957 four (4) 74,144 to 85,550 three (3) 62,737 to 74,143 two (2) less than 62,737 one (1) Questions? Contact Us

A lot of tackle stores give charter captains discounts. Just call them up, tell them you are a captain and what you want and see what they can do for you. Mike

I move my boat around a quite a big from Lake Erie to Saginaw Bay, to Lake Michigan and then to Lake Huron. I've never run into many problems with local captains. Just be courteous and helpful to others and treat everyone like you would want to be treated yourself and you'll get along fine.

I personally think you are better off with your current boat rather than up sizing. I run a 22' Lund Baron and can accommodate four customers. Times are changing for the charter industry and I believe that smaller, more economical boats are going to be the wave of the future. Escalating fuel prices are the culprit. I can charge less than charters running bigger boats and yet still make more profit per trip than they can because my boat is very energy efficient. Sure, I get calls from groups of five or six people that I can't handle on my boat, but I try to convince them to charter two smaller boats and most of them go for it and the ones that don't get referred to bigger boat charters that refer trips back to me, so that's a win-win too. The main drawback to smaller charter boats is that you might loose a few more trips to the weather. A lot of customers don't want to fish in rough seas though anyways. Mike