Mega Byte

We ran West to the shelf off Pentwater targeting steelhead. This is something I haven’t done before. Usually I’ll throw some high lines for steelhead while I’m targeting kings and they typically do well. But, decide to give the deep water a try. Did what research I could on this and looked like guys were using keel sinkers and targeting the top 10 feet of the water column. My 100 Cu lines usually produce for me, so I threw 1 of those out and the other 5 lines where higher. We only ran a 6 rod spread. We set lines in 230 FOW, which is about 8 miles offshore. Trolled NW out to 477 FOW without a bump. We did see a few marks deep – around 80 ft down. It was very foggy out there and we were right in the middle of the shipping lanes, so we had to keep an eye out for freighters. There’s typically two times a year I wish I had a radar on board and this was one of them. After a few hours I decided the research I found was intended for cooler surface temps. We were at 66.7 degrees out there. We hadn’t had hit so I decided to switch things up. I set lines from 20 feet down all the way to 75 feet down, thinking we might pick up a younger class king out there. 80 feet down it was 44 degrees. 70 feet down it was 60 degrees. We ran a 100 Cu, 200 Cu, 250 Cu, 300 Cu, Rigger @ 75’ down and a dipsy diver at 70’ down. We also decided to turn E, work back into some relatively shallower water and run up the shelf. A regular sized orange Moonshine spoon on a 100 Cu went once we got up on the top of the shelf in about 260 fow. After a good fight (he ended up wrapping the line around himself and coming in sideways for a bit), we got a 12 steelhead in the boat. I pulled the dipsy diver deployed another 100 Cu. We fished for another 2.5 hours without a hit. We did have a throwback king on the rigger when we pulled lines. One of our challenges today was we weren’t able to find any surface temperature variations or scum lines. We kept the speeds around 2.7 – 3.2. (Surface speed when fishing all the high lines and ball speed after I reset.) I think I’ll save these offshore trips to when the satellites show some very distinct surface temp changes, or when the lake flips and they move in closer. If anyone has any fall steelhead tips. feel free to share. I’m trying to extend my fishing in September & October.

Nice fish! Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Did you mark much? Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Plugs recently turned on for us. Lots of spoon bites. Meat has been slow for us this year too. Part of that is because for much of the summer we were dealing with colder than normal water. The fish were up high where meat traditionally doesn't do as well. Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

What a fun morning. Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Actually, oldest girl always wants to touch the fish we catch. We get a fish in the boat and she is the first to say "Can I touch it?" My youngest girl takes complete credit for this fish. First, she picked out the plug he was caught on. It took about 5 minutes on intense study, but she found the one she wanted. Next, my wife or I had been driving all day. My youngest was at the helm for about two minutes and the fish hit. She starts yelling, "See! See! It's the driver! I told you I should have been driving sooner!" Then we got the double on and she says, "Imagine how many fish we would have if I had been driving all day! Told ya!" Lol. Good times. Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Took the whole family up to Frankfort hoping to find some cohos for the kids. It was a mid-day trip (11 am - 5:30 PM) so we don't have to deal with cranky kinds the next day. Asked for a fishing report on the way out of the harbor. One guy said "Try Lake Superior". Another said he didn't have a hit since 6 am. Hmmm...not what I was hoping to hear. We threw a 15 rod spread at them today. Covered water 20 foot down to 90 foot. Worked from 50 fow out to 350 and then back in towards 90 fow. Around 3 PM we finally got a hit on a SWR j-plug down 70-something ft in 90 fow. Rigger said 88', but with the blow back it was shallower than that. It pulled the drag for about 30 seconds but came off. Started marking some nice fish between 90 fow and 140. Everything was deep. Marked what looked like salmon and schools of coho. Switched out my deep baits from big flashers and meat to plugs and a spoon. We were dragging baits just a few feet above all of the marks. Nothing else would fire. Then, as we were pulling lines at 5 PM, the starboard 300 Cu took off. We just let him do his thing and the run stopped and my wife started working him in. About five minutes into the fight the port side 200 Cu fires. I would guess a big coho. Took the board back, but came off after a couple of minutes. We boated my wife's king. 28.2 pounds for a new boat record. She beat my son who caught a 27.6 pounder in July. She let him know about it. Several times. At this point we've found the fish and if we didn't have to get home to put kids to bed I would have been running plugs near bottom. But...we pulled lines and headed home. Had to work for them. Finished the day 1 for 3. Had a great time on the water. The Frankfort parking lot was stuffed full of trailers, but most people were heading in as we were heading out. Only had 1 other boat near us all day long. Enjoy the pictures. Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Pretty sure capt. chucks had a ton of them the last time I was there. Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Nice. Makes you wonder how big the one was that brokenthe wire. Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Thanks for the post! Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

That tangled mess is why I quit running spin doctors on both high and low divers on the same side of the boat. In theory they were separated far enough, but it only takes one bad turn to mess things up. Great looking silver fish. Nice job. Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

I didn't fish. Caught up on sleep and attended a bunch of birthday parties. Hopefully I will get out this coming weekend. Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Nice job. That's got to be tricky netting by yourself if it's a little bumpy out.

Regular size: https://capt-chuck.com/shop/fishing-gear/trolling-tackle/spoons/mi-stinger-spoons/michigan-stinger-double-orange-crush/ Mag Size: https://capt-chuck.com/shop/fishing-gear/trolling-tackle/spoons/dreamweaver-spoons-main/dreamweaver-magnum-spoons/dreamweaver-dw-mag-m616-double-orange-crush/ On your side of the lake, give Russell a call at Angler's Avenue (now The Reel Shot) or order here: https://www.thereelshot.com/products/dreamweaver-magnum-spoon-double-orange-crush-4-3-4

Those big fish can really test your gear!

Those big fish can really test your gear!

Beautiful fish! Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Took my son out for his birthday. Launched at 9 am. Marked tons of bait and arches in 80 - 100 fow south of the pier. Fished 80 fow out to 150 fow. Had a miss in 150 fow on a 200 Cu, RV green flounder. Picked up a nice coho in 80 fow on a 300 Cu, blue haze paddle and meat rig. That was it. Pulled lines at 1:30. Thought about going deeper, but had a buddy that went out to 300 fow and back without a bump. Decided to stay in where we were at least marking fish and try and force feed them. Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Gotta work for them. Nice job. Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Minor repairs to the boat. So we were back in action for the small, Michigan Sportsman tournament in Muskegon this AM. Heard the fishing hasn't been that great, so I decide to check the often overlooked water - that inside water less than 50 feet. Marked tons of bait with big arches around them in 48 fow. Tons of bait and fish. However, none of them would bite. Buggers. Started sliding out. Worked out to 200 fow with no hits. Spun around and tried an East troll. In 160 fow the starboard slide diver out 111' (about 30' deep) took a hit. The big guy peeled off 350' of line in his first run. My brother boated his person best king - 25 pounds. No other hits. We got him on a blue flounder pounder. We tried meat, spoons, flies and plugs. Covered 20' down to 65'. Temp break was about 35' down, but did vary significantly depending on your fow. Not many fish were caught in the tourney. Biggest was 27 pounds. Ours was 2nd biggest. Felt good to get the skunk out of the box. Got him around 10:45 am. Sent from my LG-Q710AL using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App