WRENCHED 4 IT

Cool glad to hear you caught some. I went out late this morning. Set first line at 8:30 and fished till noon with no takers, but did find fish in 124 fow down at 85 ft. Seemed a little warm however at that depth temp was 56 degrees. Ran out to 158 fow and temp at 85 ft 51 degrees. This was south of Port Sheldon and ran to Grand Haven. Good luck everyone

It was my brothers birthday today, happy 67th birthday Dan, all he wanted was to take his 9 year old grandson Levi fishing and spend time together for his birthday. Well you don’t have to twist my arm, we loaded up the boat and headed out this morning along with more boats then I’ve seen in a long time, doesn’t anyone work anymore . Radio chatter was at a minimum but everyone seemed to be in the 70 fow to 100 fow. So we set lines and hoped for the best. We went 1 for 2 but the one was just what we needed. Levi reeled in a 26.4 lbs 39 1/2 inch king salmon giving Levi a Master Angler award. My brother couldn’t have been happier as the next generation of fisherman has been started.

Fished from 6:30 to 9:00 pm. Ran south of pier 1/4 mile and set lines starting in 90fow out to 125fow getting a good temp break between 110fow to 120 fow . Break was at 42fow temp 49 degrees while marking fish just above break. Fishing solo I ran 1 Downrigger 1 wire diver and 1 150 copper. Ran speeds of 2.1 to 2.3. Around 7:30 ish got some action taking 1 king 16.4 lbs 38ft down on rigger using a mag wart frog spoon on a south west troll in 118fow. Turned back heading north in 122fow caught 15.2 lbs king at 8:40 on the 150 copper using a flounder pounder. Headed in after landing fish. Just a heads up, nets are south of pier set in 126fow stretching east to west about 1/2 mile of south pier. Also the fish cleaning station is down for repair.

Thanks for the info Dave, nice job.

Great idea having a portable propane heater. I was a little apprehensive on using one since most of the time I’m fishing in waves. Let me know how that works. I wont have the boat out of storage till April 9 and have some new items to install before I do my shake down run. Fishing in early to late April is usually spotty do to water temp. I think where your at I’ve heard that once the ice moves out fishing starts. ill send you a pic once I hit the water, my phone number is 1-616-401-5069

Thanks for the info Ed ,and good luck to you also.

Good talking to you too Paul. No enclosure on my boat, at times I wish it did. I’m kicking around the thought of bringing out a portable heater. My previous boat had an enclosure and I do miss having a place to get out of the wind and cold. As far as going fishing together I’d be open too it, Im always looking to learn and the best way is to fish with another captain.

Paul, I used straight braid on my regular dipsy rods and a braid backer about 100ft on copper dipsy rods. I use a fluorocarbon leader from dipsy out to lure of 20 ft with a rubber snubber on front of dipsy . Lead core I run the same 100 ft braid tied to the lead core and a 45 ft leader of fluorocarbon tied to the end to lure. On my copper long lines I do the same as the lead core. My boat is a 21 ft deep v center console Robalo with 200 hp Yamaha 4 stroke. I run a maximum of 12 rods. I trailer this combo giving me the advantage of traveling port to port as the fish move up the coast from St. Joe in the spring to Ludington in the fall. I’ll be getting the boat out middle of March and will hopefully get out soon after.

Paul, I know a lot of guys who use straight 15lbs - 20lbs mono and a few that run straight 30lbs mono all year long. Hears my thoughts. The lake, do to zebra muscles, has cleared up to a point where the fish can see the line. To me in 15 to 45 ft depths the water is so clear that I want every advantage possible, I’ll even run out farther leaders sometimes out maybe 100 plus feet depending on the bite. Thus I went to the fluorocarbon line. I found early morning before sunrise I could run mono with no problem in shallow. Once the sun came up my fluorocarbon rods would out produce the mono. Maybe it’s just on my boat but this is what I’ve found. Once I start fishing deeper water I don’t see as much of difference in line size or mono versus fluorocarbon, which kind of proved my point. So I switch to 20lbs fluorocarbon, reason being I might start my day in closer but head out to deeper water. This way I’m covered for both. Hope this helped.

I use 30 ft of fluorocarbon on mono and braid and lead core 15 lbs line till I start to run into more of the green water and the lake starts to get cloudy. Then I switch to the 20lbs on all the above mentioned. On all the copper long lines I run the 20lbs all year long and usually I use a little longer lead to get more shock absorption, I’ll run out 45-60 ft . Paul that’s a good starting point. Don’t be afraid to experiment with longer or shorter leads depending on depth of water and clarity. I let others chime in with what they use. Good fishing.

If I’m not mistaken fluorocarbon line is different then fluorocarbon leader. Regular fluorocarbon line is thinner at same weight and softer more pliable. Fluorocarbon leader is thicker and is more resistant to fraying, also just a little stiffer, but has the same characteristics as the regular fluorocarbon. I’ve been using 15lbs and 20lbs fluorocarbon leader for the last couple years and it’s worked very well.

Welcome Paul to the sight. Ed is right it’s slow this time of year. Keep watching for posts as boats start to come out of storage. You can also go on You Tube and watch Reel to Reel or Tangle Tackle, they do a great job about what current tackle is hitting and a lot of great information. Paul don’t forget when you post to give the good and the bad, sometimes knowing where a person got skunked is just as important, also giving as much information as possible really helps, for example, water temp at what depth, direction of troll, speed over ground, speed at ball, rods and spread , what lines were hitting, and so on. Paul glad to have you and love the boat.