Dave Mull

Fall Catfishing for the Big Boy Flatheads One of the things on my bucket list is to catch a big flathead catfish and I had that chance the last week of September, fishing the Kalamazoo River at Saugatuck with Capt. Tony Wolte of Frostbite Charters. Also along was Bob Gwizdz, one of the most widely read outdoor columnists in the state, who also works in communications for the Michigan DNR. CAPT. TONY WOLTE SETS UP HIS ARRAY OF CATFISH RODS Tony, who I first fished with 10 years ago, is an experienced river rat, living on the banks of the K'zoo up at Richmond. He guides clients on the big lake during the summer, and on the river, mostly after steelhead , but in the last five years or so, he has been diligently figuring out how to catch big flatheads. A week or so earlier, he'd actually trolled up three of them--one a monster 38-pounder--while probing the lower river for salmon. Although most of his catfish trips are a way up river in holes he has discovered, this night would be an experimental trip to see if he could catch lower river flatheads. We took off just as the sun was setting in his big flat-bottom Tracy Craft boat, a custom jobn that's as a nice of a river fishing boat as I've ever been on. It's great for steelhead fishing; just as good for anchoring and setting up for catfish. A GREAT BAIT FOR BIG FLATHEADS IS A LIVE BLUEGILL ON A 3/0 CRICLE HOOK He runs six rods for cats, all spooled with heavy, 50- to 65-pound braided line, set up to run three-way sinker rigs, with pyramid sinkers holding the bait in place on the bottom. Two rods are spinning rods, the other four are casting rods. No real special tackle--the baitcasters included a Daiwa linecounter or two, and the rods were all formerly used for downriggers. Four rods got live bluegills and two got chunks of salmon bellies. Tony said most times the big flatheads prefer live bait, though some nights the cut bait reigns. WOLTE POSES WITH AN 8-POUND CHANNEL CAT We set up a couple of places without a good bite--Wolte noted small channel cats pecking at the salmon belly rods, finally anchoring in front of two barges down towards the pier heads. Within five minutes a spinning rod's tip shot down towards the water's surface and Tony handed it to Bob, who soon had a nice channel cat at boat side. That ended up being the only fish of the night as we quit around 10. Gotta tell you, I can't wait to get back out there and try again. For charters, Tony Wolte can be contacted at 616-836-8452.

Thanks for the additional insight! It really is a great place for a vacation.

The first time I ever heard the term “Disney World fishing†was up on Alaska’s middle Kenai River about seven years ago. That’s what the guide said the fishing was going to be like—a ride at Disney World. Pay your admission and enjoy. And he was right. Using light spinning gear with a simple split shot a couple feet in front of a “flesh flyâ€â€”a really simple piece of fuzz tied to look like a hunk of decaying salmon flesh—we caught a whole bunch of rainbows with some Dolly Varden mixed in. WRITER STEVE GRIFFIN ATTEMPTS TO LAND A TANEYCOMO RAINBOW. A bunch of years ago I was invited to fish for bass on one of the lakes at Disney World in Orlando, and while we caught quite a few largemouth up to about four pounds, the “Disney World†fishing in Alaska saw our rods bending a whole lot more. I remember an Asian couple applauding us catch a bass while they were headed to breakfast at a Disney The real highlight of the Orlando experience was applause from several members of a tour group apparently from the Far East when they saw us land a nice bass while they were eating breakfast. A week ago I experienced Disney World fishing for the third time, and it was every bit as much fun as the first two. Add in the fact we were doing it from kayaks and canoes raised the fun bar even more. WRITER TIM LESMEISTER TUSSLES WITH A TROUT. I was attending the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers’ annual conference, this year in Branson, Missouri. Seems like an odd place for a Great Lakes-oriented group to meet, but AGLOW has members from all over the Midwest and some southern states, too. These conferences are fun and educational, designed for members to learn new nuances in communication and gather story material. The last day of the four-day deal is always a fun one, with fishing and hunting trips put together. This year I signed up to fish Lake Taneycomo out of a Hobie Pro Angler—a pedal-powered boat like one like I own, but two feet shorter. It was Disney World fishing at its finest. Lake Taneycomo, where we put it at a resort called Lilley’s Landing, starts right below the dam at Table Rock. Water comes from the depths of that massive reservoir cold and clear—perfect for the thousands of rainbows and browns the state of Missouri stocks there. We fished within a couple miles of the dam, in an area full of deciduous trees and all sorts of bird life. Beautiful. MARK AND LORI SMITH CHECKS ON FOUR RAINBOWS IN THE TROPHY ANGLER LIVEWELL. My friend Dan Johnston, a sales rep for St. Croix, gave me a 7-foot ultralight rod to try out and suggested I find a lure called a Trout Magnet, in pink, and I would be in for some fun. I bought some of these tiny jigs at Lilley’s and Johnston had told the truth. Pedaling the Hobie out into the river, which was more like a lake since little water was coming through the dam, I caught a 15-inch rainbow on my third cast. I was spooled with four-pound test Northland line designed for ice fishing, with a three-foot leader of three-pound fluorocarbon. The seven-foot rod could fling the 1/64-ounce jig with its pink plastic about 50 feet, which was plenty far. The strikes always came as the jig sank—the floating line was a good strike indicator. Of the dozen or so trout I caught in a couple of hours, none was much bigger than 15 inches, but my colleague P.J. Perea, who edits magazines for the National Wild Turkey Federation caught a dandy of about three pounds. A TYPICAL TANEYCOMO ’BOW IN A TROPHY ANGLER LIVEWELL. I kept some fish for Mark and Lori Smith, who were in a wild game cooking contest that afternoon—they stayed fresh and lively in a Trophy Angler Livewell, a fish sack perfect for all sorts of use. All we were missing was a cameo appearance from Mickey Mouse.

Good timing indeed! Hope you catch a bunch! Dave

Sorry for the lack of posting. Just got back from Branson on Saturday and had a bunch of stuff on the docket. Am working on a short story about "Disney World Fishing" for salmonids and will post that soon. In the meantime, enjoy this feature sent to me by Lawrence Taylor, who does PR for PRADCO, the parent company for a whole lot of brands, including Lindy. Advanced Live Bait Rigging Tips By Nathan Shore From late summer though fall, live-bait rigging catches walleyes every day. Other methods may catch more, but don’t count on it. Especially when that weight sliding on your main line is perfectly in tune with depth, wind, bait type and size. A leader separates a struggling live bait from that weight, giving it room to swim, squirm and attract fish. Simple. Beautiful. Deadly. But the key is putting that living minnow, leech or crawler on a target below the boat. Like a bombardier, rigging experts know how to triangulate their targets and allow for current, velocity and depth. But being a rigging bombardier doesn’t require magic or genius. Triangulating, in this case, is simple. As you move deeper, use a larger weight. As the wind picks up, go with a larger weight. And as the size of the bait increases – well, you get the idea. “There is no doubt that it’s a proven system, and the most efficient live-bait delivery system possible,†says legendary walleye pro Ted Takasaki. “Success is really about location, followed by time of year and bait selection. Carefully considering these ups your odds. The key to success with rigging is placing live bait precisely on a small target below the boat, and to do that it’s better to use a weight that is too heavy than one that’s too light. “What are bass anglers good at? Accurate pitching to visible targets. What are walleye anglers good at? Putting a sinker in a 12-inch circle 25-feet down. That’s why sinker size and type is critical.†Leaders testing 4- to 8-pounds and 4 feet long (from swivel to hook) are optimum most of the time. Takasaki primarily rigs with two types of sinker from late summer on: Lindy Walking Sinkers—the most popular rigging weights ever—and Lindy Rattlin’ No-Snagg Sinkers. “Lindy rigs really shine on main-lake points and humps from late summer through fall,†he said. “They maintain bottom contact to cover those critical transitions from hard to soft bottom that attract baitfish. Transitions are classic rigging zones.†Transitions show up on sonar -- the hard bottom showing bright and dense while soft substrates return a weaker signal. But, like a good bombardier, Takasaki likes to feel those transitions, too. “I use a sensitive, medium-light 7-foot rod with braided line on the reel,†he said. “Braid doesn’t stretch, so it transmits vibration and feel much better. I can tell when my bait is almost to that point where the bottom changes, helping me visualize exactly where it is.†During late summer, walleyes move out on main-lake points and humps to depths of 20 to 25 feet. By late autumn, it’s common to find them 35 to 45 feet down. “I’m following them down through fall with heavier sinkers,†Takasaki said. “If it’s windy, I go even heavier. Again – it’s better to go too heavy than too light. If you can’t feel bottom, go up a notch in weight.†Weekend anglers often forget that rigging is not just dragging baits around on bottom. Takasaki likes to criss-cross transitions, moving from shallow to deep and back again. “When I mark walleyes on the edge of a break at 25 feet, I snake from 27 to 23 and back down,†he said. “When the bait is moving away from them, going shallower or deeper, they react as if it’s trying to get away. I also lift the rig off bottom as it approaches a marked fish. If I’m using the Rattlin’ No Snagg Sinker, I’ll shake it. Raising it off bottom can trigger a reluctant fish. It’s that escape trigger -- making walleyes think the baitfish is moving away. “Which brings up another important point,†Takasaki added. “After every bite, try to remember exactly what you were doing before it happened -- what direction you were going, how fast you were moving, how high or fast you lifted the bait. All those factors become pattern identification. That’s how you go on to catch 4, 5 or a dozen more. And once you catch a few fish off a point or hump, try to find the same kind of spots. That’s how you create patterns with Lindy rigs in the fall.†When a fish bites, Takasaki feeds it line for at least 10 seconds while slowly maneuvering the boat toward the fish. “I’ll sometimes wait up to a minute,†he said. “If they really whack it, it’s 10 seconds. If they barely pick it up, I let them take it longer. I point the rod right at the fish and move the boat over it, slowly picking up slack. When I feel tension, I set. If I miss, I let them take it longer next time.†Takasaki says that sinker selection is the key element that many anglers overlook for late-summer, early fall walleye rigging. “It’s all about striking a balance between wind, depth, and bait size,†Takasaki said. “You want to stay relatively vertical in deep water. I mostly use ½- to 1-ounce weights late summer through fall because walleyes are 25 to 45 feet down. And I use bigger minnows in fall, lip hooked on size #4 to size #1 octopus-style hooks. You want to be right below the boat when you’re on fish, but you have to keep moving to find them, so you have to strike a balance that way, too. Once you start marking fish, zero in on that depth.†Takasaki likes to pulse his trolling motor, changing direction and speed. “That’s what triggers strikes when Lindy rigging -- slight variations in speed and direction,†he said. “And if I’m using that Rattlin’ No Snagg sinker, I lift, drop and shake it a lot to activate those rattles. That triggers strikes, too. But choose the shape and type of sinker based on bottom type, cover and conditions to be efficient. The classic Lindy Walking Sinker is perfect for sand, gravel and subtle transitions in clear water. The No Snagg shines around broken rock, wood and boulders, and the Rattlin’ No Snagg is right whenever the water is cloudy. “Another bonus is that No Snagg wobbles a little bit, which moves the bait,†he added. “It twitches a leech, crawler, or minnow just a little bit. That’s all it can take to trigger a walleye.†But don’t forget to zig-zag. And pause when you mark a fish. Lift the bait, too. And shake it. Just dragging bait around won’t cut it most days.

From my experience with dealing with Trevor, the owner, he runs a top-notch company and is really concerned that his products make fishermen happy. Does he care about the end user and customer service? When you call the company, he usually answers the phone!

Deeper Divers, TripZ Divers Join Fish Hawk Electronics The company that made some cool upgrades to the Fish Hawk speed and temp sensor units appears ready to do the same for Deeper Divers and Trip-Z Divers, formerly made and marketed by Walker Downriggers. Deeper Diver in Blue Dolphin Grayden Outdoor, LLC, of Brainerd, Minnesota, announced today it has purchased the assets of the patented and trade-marked Deeper Diver and TripZ Diver product lines originally introduced by Walker Downriggers. The Deeper Diver and TripZ Diver will join Fish Hawk Electronics as part of Grayden Outdoor’s growing line of trolling products. “The addition of the Deeper Divers and TripZ Divers makes sense for us because we share many of the same customers,†said Trevor Sumption, Grayden’s president. “Initially we’re going to focus on getting everything in-stock. From there we believe we can expand the use of divers in several fisheries, and beyond that we’ve got plans to add new technology to divers in the near future.†Deeper Divers are directional sinkers available in five sizes that allow trollers to target fish from just below the surface all the way past 120-feet. Deeper Divers get down fast and stay down until tripped. The bottom weight can be adjusted (without a screwdriver) allowing the angler to select how far to the port or starboard side they want the Deeper Diver to run. They are offered both in fish-attracting colors and stealth finishes like clear and black, and are staple a catching Great Lakes salmon, trout, and walleye. TripZ Diver in Copper The buoyant TripZ Diver features the same trip-release mechanism found on the Deeper Diver, which allows anglers to fight the fish instead of the diver. It has been a fish-catching hit on Lake Erie when fished under planer boards for walleyes, and today is an under-utilized tool in a variety of other trolling situations. Available in sizes that reach 20, 30, 40, and 50-feet respectively, TripZ Divers will be offered in seven proven- effective color patterns, plus they have an internal rattle that attracts fish and helps them dive more quickly. Launching later this fall, the new website—trollingdivers.com—will be a resource for anglers looking for more information on fishing with divers, including expanded dive charts, rigging tips, and detailed information from top charter captains and tournament fishermen from around the Great Lakes and other fisheries. About Grayden Outdoor, LLC. – Founded in 2009 and based in Minnesota’s lake country, Grayden Outdoor’s brands include Fish Hawk Electronics, Original Catch Cover ice fishing products, and now Deeper Divers and TripZ Divers. Because it’s a family owned and operated small business, Trevor’s boat mostly sits on the trailer, but looks really good in the driveway.

All good points, guys. I've had real good luck with plain swim baits in the spring, but not with the mult-lure rigs. I'm wondering if some of these could be used instead of a tradition flasher, just as the attractor, with a spoon or some sort of vibrating fly set a couple/few feet behind. Something to try.

When Paul Elias won a big bass tournament using the Mann's Alabama Rig, schooling configurations of baits became quite the rage. Last July at the ICAST fishing industry show in Orlando, Florida, I saw all kinds of schooling lures, ranging from duo Roadrunners to the full-blown umbrella-style rigs designed for large saltwater species, with all sorts of things in between. Even the surface-popping Double Up from lure manufacturing giant PRADCO qualifies. DOUBLE UP My question to the GreatLakesFisherman.com crowd: Anyone using these for salmon with any success? FLASH MOB FLASH MOB JR. As soon as I saw them and got a few samples, I couldn't wait to get them in the water for salmon. After all, we all imagine those big silver kings blasting into small schools of alewives and chomping away. Now, I haven't run them a whole lot since I've been limited to fishing with other guys and when invited, I don't push to put stuff I want to experiment with in the water. Most guys prefer to use the tried and true. TRIPOD But I've had some different kinds of these in the water a few times this season and so far, ZILCH. Now the three or four times I've run them were trips when fish definitely were finicky, so not much else was working either. So I don't want to judge these things from personal experience. Chime in and let us know if you've used them successfully and give us a few details! As a side message, this BLOG will be coming to you from Branson, Missouri next week, where I'll be attending the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers conference. These are always fun and a great place to see some new stuff and hob nob with some pretty good anglers. Stay tuned!

Very carefully, but yes, and infrequently. It mainly helps to stand up when I'm doing photos of other boats, which I do from time to time for different magazines.

It’s funny how you can have a fishing boat, large or small, and it works pretty well for catching fish, but then you add a new piece of gear and SHA-ZAM! It really works better than ever. Like a 19-foot Patriot boat I had long ago. It wasn’t a fishing boat until I got some new Bert’s Custom Tackle rod holders. Or the Raymarine autopilot that made a 30-foot Dorado into a dream fishing machine. I figured out how to troll my 21-foot Starcraft with the main 175 Merc and trolling bags to slow it down, but it really became a delight to fish out of when I started using the Minn Kota Autopilot trolling motor mounted on the bow to steer. They say necessity is the mother of invention, and of course I’d heard about how these bowmounts worked well for this sort of duty, but never really needed to try it until my wife took the wheel one time on Lake Ontario. It’s largely true that the trolling motor saved my marriage. The latest add-on to my current boat, a 14-foot Hobie Pro Angler, might not seem significant, but man is it ever. It an Anchor Wizard anchoring system and it immediately made fishing out of my pedal-powered kayak a whole lot easier. I’ve had my Hobie for about four years, and it’s rigged pretty nicely. It has a little Humminbird 385 electronics unit that features GPS mapping and sonar. I added a stand-up bar that makes it easy to stand and fish and several Scotty rod holders for trolling. It’s tricked out, but for me, boat control—especially in wind—was really challenging. The first largemouth I caught out of it was about three-pounds and actually towed me into lily pads. So wind blows it around like a leaf on the water’s surface. The Anchor Wizard changed all that. My old friend Jeff Wenzel is doing some marketing for Anchor Wizard and needed a kayak to test out a new kayak model, so I was lucky enough to have the first one ever made installed on the Hobie. We screwed down the two main components on my yak yesterday at the ramp on Corey Lake in southern Michigan. It consists of a pivoting tube with a base you put on the bow, and a one-hand crank placed at a reachable place on the gunwale. The whole shebang took less than a half hour to install, and I’m extremely inept with all manner of tools. We added a 5-pound anchor purchased at Dunham’s in Three Rivers. The A.W. allowed me to work breaklines and stretches of lily pads with ease in the strong west wind. All I had to do was drop anchor, make a half crank to stop the anchor line from paying out, fish, loosen the crank a half turn to let the wind push me back, fish and repeat. Then I easily cranked in the anchor so it stowed in the tube, pedaled to a new location, loosened the handle to drop the anchor again, tightened and started fishing. Not quite as easy as a bowmount trolling motor, but darn efficient. So now I’m in trouble. My boat fits in the back of my pickup--it's still there from yesterday--and public access signs to all sorts of lakes line the roads within a 20 mile radius of Paw Paw. I am fired up to explore! Just when my wife was getting used to me hanging around home when I can’t get out on Lake Michigan.

9.7.12 Several theories exist as to why the perch fishing out of South Haven, Michigan is only starting to get good, when traditionally it’s great all summer. One theory blames the early warm-up of the lake this spring, causing spiny water fleas, an exotic invader, to proliferate and perch to find them easy pickings. Full of these teeny critters, the perch were in their usual hotspots, but mostly spurned anglers’ favored baits. Another says the water was so warm the perch stayed deeper all summer to stay cool. Whatever the reason, anglers and guys who sell bait agree that it’s better late than never. Limits of perch 10-inches and better started coming into the quaint port town a little more than a week ago, and fishing keeps getting better as the word gets out. \ SAMANTHA RUDLAFF POSES WITH A BRACE OF LAKE MICHIGAN PERCH CAUGHT FISHING WITH DAD ELMER. “Perch fishing is really good right now,” says Adam Pyle, who, with wife Cathy, runs Pyle’s Porthole at South Haven. He said this week, the hot spot was in 20 to 30 feet in the areas locally known as “The Dunes” and “Deerlick,” both within a few miles south of where the Black River empties into Lake Michigan. Minnows and wigglers fished near bottom on two- and three-dropper-hook rigs with a bell sinker at the end of the line have been the ticket. Simply lower the rig straight down, keeping the weight in contact with the bottom. When the fish are really active, some anglers hook a perch but don’t reel it in right away, letting it swim around trailing the other two baits, provoking other fish to hit them. Reeling in three big perch at once is fun and a good way to get to the 35-fish limit in a hurry. Different anglers prefer different types of rigs and hooks. Many believe light, 4-, 6- and 8-pound leaders of fluorocarbon promote more bites as perch can be line-shy. Some anglers prefer small No. 8 hooks; others believe hooks as large as No. 4 are better because bigger hooks are easier to remove from fish and can keep smaller fish off the line. Non-stretch braided line for the main line works great for feeling subtle bites, and long, limber rods allow the perch to take the bait without feeling resistance. Keep a net handy for scooping big ones, as many won’t be hooked deeply and can fall off when swinging them aboard. Finding fish is not difficult, especially with a good sonar unit. The typical strategy is to move slowly while watching the sonar to find a school, which typically appears as a bullet-shaped hump with its base on the bottom, and rising to a point five or more feet above. Savvy anglers toss a marker buoy when they spot the school, and then idle to where they can anchor and let the wind or current move the boat back over the school. Hi tech electric trolling motors such as the Minn Kota iPilot interface to a GPS to enable hands-free hovering over a spot without anchoring—a real plus. Perch can congregate tightly in relatively small areas, so most perchers are accustomed to fishing close to other boats. For everyone to get along, common-sense etiquette is the rule. Newcomers approaching a pack of boats should do so slowly and as quietly as possible, and not get too close before dropping anchor. In fact, to really get along with boats fishing in a pack, it’s best to cut power well upwind of the flotilla, letting the wind push the boat close and quietly setting the anchor where there’s no chance of swinging your boat close to another boat or over the other boat’s anchor line. Once in the group, be a good neighbor, which means no loud music, no fish alarms on the sonar and generally following the Golden Rule. Although some anglers believe firing up the boat motor can stimulate fish to bite, other anglers in a group that don’t believe this definitely will get annoyed if you try. Pyle noted that with a little searching, you can avoid the tight group altogether—just find another school nearby, and you’ll likely have it to yourself—until anglers in the pack see you catching fish and come over to join you. For current fishing reports, call Pyle’s Porthole at 269-637-6720 or check out their website at www.pylesporthole.com. South Haven also has several charter services that will take parties perch fishing. One is Perch On This Charters, 269-720-8730, www.headhunterguides.com. Another is South Haven Fishing Charters, 269-208-3545; www.southhavenfishingcharters.com.

I've used 7-foot roller-guide Taloras with Tekota 600 LCs for years, same set-ups, and they worked fine because I like to run four Dipsies, wire on the inside, braids on the outside. But this year, boatless, I have been fishing a lot with Uncle Bud Roche, and he uses 10-foot Blue Diamond roller guide rods (I think 10-footers, might be 9s now I think about it) with Convector Line Counters. Not the best reels int he world, but he also uses the reall long snubbers--I think they are three-footers--and they really seem to help keep fish hooked up. I know I've lost a lot more fish per hookup with standard snubbers and those 7-footers. But Bud runs just two Dipsies. Next season, when I have a boat again (hoping!) I still plan to run the 7-footers and give those long snubbers a try. I think Dreamweaver and Warrior both make 'em. I always thought they were goofy until I started fishing a lot with Bud.

That sounds great! Being able to keep track of where everything is doesn't sound like a problem to me--more like Heaven! Dave

Thanks Matt! Definitely hope to get over to Huron this fall!

9.6.12 It’s just a freaking mess If I were living in a comic book, a comet or perhaps an alien spacecraft would come over the barn where I store all my fishing and hunting stuff and the whole mess—rods, spools of line, extra downriggers, Plano 3700 tackle boxes, trolling motors, batteries, life jackets, crankbaits, docklines, anchors and spoons and plastic duck and goose decoys would all become animated, drawn together into a huge, colorful cross between a mutant porcupine and The Blob. Floating crappie lights would be the eyes while empty storage tubs and tackleboxes would be the torso, decoys would be the head and shoulders and J-Plugs the monster’s hair. Fishing rods would form the arms and legs, spoons and crankbaits, Dipsies and Jet Divers, plastic squids and tinsel flies filling in the gaps. This creature would tower over our house, goose calls, elk calls, coyote howlers and buck grunters becoming its larynx; air mattress inflators its lungs, the game calls giving it a truly horrific roar as it bristled and stumbled across farmers’ fields and blueberry swamps into Kalamazoo and beyond, striking terror into the hearts of southern Michiganders and wreaking horrible havoc across the countryside. As I sit here writing in my family room office, I can hear all that tackle I’m intending to sort. It’s angry, and calling my name, daring me to get started. I am organizationally challenged from the git go. I can remember Sister Theodore back in first grade applying pressure to a jiu jitsu pressure point in my shoulder (I always suspected nuns had a chart of these pressure points on the inside of their locker doors) because my desk was by far the messiest in the class. I have panic attacks just thinking about balancing a checkbook, let alone keeping track of mileage and restaurant receipts. Guys like me really should not be involved in something as gear-oriented as salmon trolling, let alone have an interest in walleyes, bass, panfish and river steelhead. That’s not to mention whitefish fishing off of piers, dog training, waterfowling and ice fishing. And a couple of tents and at least two tubs full of camping gear, a stove and a couple of lanterns are also out there. I am not a hoarder. I just have a lot of stuff that I never use. At times I seriously wish all I wanted to do was fly fish for trout. Or maybe just give up fishing altogether and focus on gardening. Seriously. When my friend’s 18-foot boat sank five miles out in Lake Michigan last July, leaving me, him, his 10-year-old kid and his cousin bobbing around in Lake Michigan for almost four hours before we got found, the thought occurred to me while I clung to a Coleman cooler, my only flotation: I should give up salmon fishing and waterfowl hunting. Just get rid of about 40 rods and reels, 50 decoys and a Wal-Mart tackle department worth of lures. I’ve since reconsidered, the recent sound of a line counter reel screeching drag as a big king salmon sizzled toward the horizon bringing me to my senses. But I do have to have one helluva garage sale sometime soon.

Southern Lake Michigan hasn’t been the best of places to catch perch this summer, although that’s starting to change. Word from Adam Pyle at Pyles Porthole in South Haven is the perch are finally in from wherever they’ve been spending their summer vacation, and there are starting to be some good—if sporadic—reports from places like Michigan City, Indiana and St. Joseph, Michigan. Uncle Bud with one of 10 nice perch he caught Tuesday, September 4. Last Thursday at New Buffalo, Michigan, I trolled for salmon with Bud Roche (everybody’s Uncle Bud) and James Clark, a friend of his who first mates on a head boat Bud fishes on during the winter inFlorida. We trolled Bud’s favored spread of meat rigs and flasher/flies out of his 22-foot Grady White, “The Uncle Bud,†struggling to get four bites and land two fish. After a long day, we idled up the Galien River towards the public ramp in tandem with an older bow rider carrying three guys and several spinning rods, obviously perchers. Bud engaged them in conversation and soon learned they’d each caught a limit of 35 nice perch in 40 feet of water up towards Warren Dunes State Park, several miles north of New Buff. They said they’d each caught about a hundred, weeding through lots of small fish. And after a telephone call from Bud Monday night, that’s where we were yesterday, along with Hoosier angler Charlie Lentine, in Bud’s dedicated perch boat, a 20-foot Grady-White center console, “The Uncle Bud Two,†searching for elusive schools. And searching and searching. Bud isn’t one to fish memories, picking a waypoint where he caught fish before and setting up there again. He uses his sonar unit to see schools of fish and fishes them. If they’re not the fish he’s looking for, he’s moving to find another school after just a few minutes. That was yesterday’s lesson. We spent around four hours looking. First spot where he saw fish turned out to be a big school of gobies—we caught several in just 10 minutes—and it was up anchor and move again. Second spot, all we caught were perch more appropriate for the home aquarium than a frying pan, so it was moving on again, in shallow to 15- and 16-foot depths, out to 40-plus feet. Still none in the cooler. Finally, after nearly four hours of this, within sight of Tower Hill, Bud saw something he liked in 19 feet of water, and a legitimate keeper yellow-belly about 10 inches long ate the top minnow of my two-hook rig. We circled back out and anchored, and in the next couple of hours, weeded through maybe 70 fish to keep 20. The fish ate minnows and small frozen crayfish, seeming to prefer the minnows. Bud with three rods in the back of the boat equaled Charlie and me in the front of the boat. He caught 10, I caught four using two rods and Charlie caught six with his noodle rod. Charlie, who fishes inland a lot for panfish, said he had plenty of fillets in his freezer and donated his six to me, which will make for a nice meal tonight. A few basics: Lively minnow work way better than dead ones, an aerator in the bucket helps keep them kicking. Bud swears by 6- and 4-pound fluorocarbon leaders and braided no stretch line. Number 4, 6 and 8 hooks all work, but Bud prefers No. 4s, believing they catch fewer small fish and are easier to remove from keepers. Use enough weight to keep the rig on the bottom. One good tip: When he saw a school on the electronics, Bud tossed a marker buoy overboard to mark it, then positioned the boat so that when the anchor was lowered (my main duty yesterday), wind and current would bring the boat back to that precise spot. Seems like South Haven is the place to go, and we’ll update what’s happening there in tomorrow’s BLOG. In the meantime, you can contact Pyles Porthole to find out where perch are snapping at 269-637-1849. For a New Buffalo report, call Captain Cook’s at 269-469-4510.

Grant, I have to give credit where it is due. That last page column Angling Life was written by my good buddy Dan Keating. Thanks for the kind words though! Dave

Well chickens eat about anything and everything, so maybe the solution to those biting flies...well, maybe. And would like to take you up on that offer of a troll on the Sea Ray. Only have been salmon fishing once out of Whitehall (got some real nice walleyes in White Lake one night years ago). Very nice port! Thanks! Dave

I certainly know of what you speak. Hardly any fishing magazines are as large as they used to be. Just got the recent In-Fisherman and it was 64 pages--used to be twice that size. Now writer/photogs such as myself need to find ways to provide digital content. Not quite as lucrative as print used to be, although what magazines pay has definitely slid in a lot of cases. Not always so easy to roll with the punches! Dave

Brian: Glad you joined up! I think you'll find a healthy, helpful atmosphere here, and probably a bunch of guys who will enjoy learning about how to repaint lures and such! Dave

Congratulations on a great first year Shannon. I want to do a little story about hat you did and things you might do differently--sort of a primer to help guys in other ports start a league. Will PM you a list of questions. Thanks and once again, GREAT JOB! Dave

Thanks for the kind words. The last I heard they'll be doing a Jan/Feb issue and five more in 2013. I hope it doesn't just go away. It was always a labor of love and I will miss putting it together. If any of you guys have really really deep pockets and want to buy it, I know an unemployed editor who might do a fair job of running it. Dave Dave

Thanks KJ. I will definitely be doing seminars and need to talk to Dan Keating to get a schedule together for 2013. Thanks for asking! Dave

Mike: I really appreciate the opportunity. Glad you enjoyed Wings, Etc. I wonder if I show them this thread they'd give me a discount? Ha. Dave