Willie Bee

We just finished shooting another salmon show with Hunt Fish TV and with the slower fish action this year and the weather working against us we still pulled out some exciting action and again a few surprises. The show should air in 2 weeks and you can go to ther website at www.huntfishtv.com to see the many channels it's broadcast on or after the TV airings it will be available to download. When the link is ready I'll update this post.

I start setting up lines a little fast 2.6-2.8 knots or faster. It helps get the lines in faster and usually eliminates tangling lines. Once we are set up we slow down to 1.8-2.2 knots and make S turns to figure out current direction by watching the downrigger cables. Once we know which way we are pulling through the current we make larger circles to pinpoint what speed the fish want to hit at for that day. If the fish hits on the inside we need to stay slower and outside we need to run fast. We then look at the direction we are heading when the fish hits and travel in that direction at the speed the fish let us know what they want. If we are not getting more action after we covered a good distance we start the turn again. We run big boards with pumphandles and this method for us lets us dial the fish in very quickly.

Teh ice cold water has the rainbow action heating up in Two Rivers. the Ramuda pulled in this 20lber, the Karen Marie hauled in a 17 and the Willie Bee saw a 15lber this week. All the action is off the surface this week with orange spoons from 14-90 feet of water. Picture will not link up here, so goto my websites fishing reports section to check it out.

Finally a beautiful day to be fishing came our way and we took advantage of the fish biting. We ran to 120 feet and trolled south, setting out the full pumphandle spread today and the fish responded. The green flasher with a green Loner fly special and a blue or green moonshine on the riggers at 45-55 helped us get to a near limit day. We had steady action untill the sun came out late in the day and we had to finish with 12 kings, 3 rainbows, and a coho. Check out the pictures on our websites fishing reports page.

The salmon action is picking up, we had a 2 boat trip picking up 24 kings and missing number of fish. The cold water has the kings putting up a big battle. The 120-180 foot depths with green and blue glow spoons down 45-55 feet and the pumphandles out 16 passes with green flashers and crinkle green Loner flies. Hopefully we'll see some sable weather soon, it is supposed to be summer time.

With the flood of flashers, spoons, flies and other lures adding E-chips on them this year what do the fishermen think? The chip does emit a electrical pulse, but is it enough to draw fish in? By shaking the chip it makes a loud rattle could the sound be causing the attraction? I did see a increase of fish on the finned E-chip flashers but that could be due to the roll of the flasher. So, what are some other thoughts on the chips?

We had a small run of browns that I heard of 2 weeks ago, but the wind and the bar blocking the marine in Manitowoc has kept people off the lake. The Manitowoc marina should be opened this weekend and I'm hoping to get out with a small boat off of Two Rivers this weekend. You probably saw my father at the Home Show.

Go to the following site, pre-register, print out the bar code and set up a appointment at a site nearest you. With a captains license you get a reduced rate but it will expire when your license expires or you can pay full price for 5 years. I'm through the appointment, and waiting for the card. With no notices being posted not many people know about this yet, so expect long lines by the end of summer. http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/layers/twic/index.shtm

I don't know how to make the connections to put the video in direct, but here is a link for a fishing trip we had out for HuntFishTV. http://www.williebeecharters.com/video.htm Some excellent action, it might take the edge off before the boats can come out of storage.

Ran the first trip of 2007, finally the weather let us get some fishing in. Our 2 person trip boated 5 fish, 2 browns, a rainbow, a laker, and a king. Cool water temps in the low 40's and the shifting winds have slowed things down after the early brown action. Pro-Kings in orange and green run off the boards, dipseys and riggers got the fish today. We hugged the shoreline from the lighthouse to the hospital. A 29.5 lb brown was hauled in off of Manitowoc already this year, but a little help with the weather is still needed to jump start the salmon action.

I just sent my renewal in, to Toledo. Fill out the packet they send you on request, and they have a number of locations around the Great Lakes to be fingerprinted at, but you need the card from Toledo saying they have your paperwork to make a appointment. All the info is in the packet. Good thing I started early, my card said 6 - 8 weeks before the paperwork will be processed. I heard some people sending the packets to Alaska for quicker processing, but I would hate to have to report there for fingerprinting should the off site locations be taken away. The WI DNR informed me of the TWIC program, sounds like we will hear more about this by the end of this year and have untill late summer of 2008 to be a member. Sign up early, it sounds like all workers with access to Fed. water ports will need this.

The handle extends to 10 feet.

Here's a picture of the 28 pounder with caught.

When it comes to a net I highly recommend a Beckman. They may have changed the name on the salmon series, but the Salmon Special is the last net you'll ever buy. They have a hook proof net and a lifetime guarantee on the yokes. I've had mine for 15 years and it's still going strong.

Thanks for the input. It all comes down to catering to each customer. I have also seen the increases in the late start and afternoon trips where people don't care if they catch any fish, they just want to be on the water. I always tell them they can still enjoy the lake while pulling in a fish.

The Manitowoc Wi derby will be July 6,7,8. along with the 3 day derby is the 4 port Super Tournament on Sat. where you can leave from the ports of Manitowoc, Two Rivers, Sheboygan and new this year Kewaunee. This will be a 2 man limit tournament with the top 6 fish being weighed. New this year is the Scotty Challenge, with a $500 entrance fee and a 3 man team plus a observer. This has a departing port of Manitowoc only and a 3 man 15 fish weigh in. You can go to www.newglsf.org and click on the bottom link for all the information.

The Two Rivers Wi Derby is July 20,21,22 with the Super Tournament being on the 21. For more information call 920-793-5354.

I was hoping to see better success from the Gulp last year, I didn't see much success using the strips in herring heads. I'll put more work into it this year. May have to cut them in a fish shape and work on better spin. I still have been impressed with putting a Storm rattling minnow in the Rys Davis head and running a 11" Bech. in front of it. Still my best alternative to artificial cut bait. But you still can't beat the real stuff to light up the bigger fish.

Just curious to see what start times in the morning you leave the dock. With the advances in the glow spoons and the pressure rising to bring in limit catches I'm considerering getting a earlier start to 4:00 a.m. this year. I am happy with a 5:00 a.m. start and do prefer running out with a little light, but getting a double hot spoon bite and then changing to the hot fly bite can get you back to the dock quicker and save on expenses from a buisness side of things.

Hello All, I'm Captain Keith Heberlein from Two Rivers, WI. I run the Willie Bee, Hawker, and Little Hawker.

With the water temps hitting the 70's the action moved out to 150 feet of water and mainly all downriggers and pumphandles 100-120 feet down and on the bottom with any color of flasher fly working. The winds kept us on out toes this week but the bigger sized fish made the bouncey ride worth the trip. Sunday's catch was 15 kings and a laker with a couple fish hitting the mid 20's.http://www.crappie.com/gr8vb3/showthread.php?t=24450

We have been pulling alot of limit catches all week. The water temps are in the low 50's and the kings, coho, rainbow, and browns are in 10-20 feet of water right off the piers. Pier action has been really good, if you can get a spot. It's been a all spoon bite with most fish coming on green or glow. I'm running Moonshines, Raiders, and Pro-Kings in green, black, white, and orange and all colors are getting hit. The boat traffic is thick, so a excellent driver is needed to weave the trafffic with multiple fish on at once. The fish are hitting all day with the best time being mid afternoon due to the lower boat traffic.

We see this all the time. I get alot of new fisherman that come out and want to see how we do things to set up there boats. They will hit waypoints and track where we are going, but I tell them every day is different and you have to do a little more than go to the same spot to find fish. I have jumped on there boats when they come back a help get them set up, it's alot of fun to see how everyone looks at things and sets them up differnent ways.

The fishing has been very good all summer here, and the bigger salmon are finding there way into the coolers. Kings and rainbows are making up the bulk of the catch. The bows have been on the larger size all summer, alot in the 12-15 lb range and the bigger kings in the lower 20's so far. The kids helped ther dad and grandfather haul in these lunkers, the day after the derby. The 23+lb king would have taked at least 2nd in the tournament. The green on green flasher fly fished on the pumphandles and riggers have been the best and the douple orange spoons on the surface continue to bring in the bows. the water temps dropped into the low 50's today so look for the action to get even better. 40-65 foot depth in either direction are producing fish. The pier fishing has been producing some kings and bows and with todays drop in temperature that action will pick up.