Fish Tank

Had lines in the water by 3:00 pm and fished until 7:00. We had high hopes seeing the surface temp at 59 degrees and 45 degrees at 70 feet down according to the Muskegon buoy. Started at 80 fow and trolled west, south west all the way out to 230 fow. Trolled east and took a good steelhead (12 pounds) on 200 feet of copper on a double orange crush. Took the board under and was gullet hooked. That was it. Not another bump. Marked big bait balls and good marks in 110 to 130 fow but no takers. This was a brutal season for us. The worst ever. We have one more trip in us before we take the boat out of the slip. ...................Fish Tank

Thanks to both of you - greatly appreciated. I'll keep you posted and keep the advice coming - I'll try to download that video. ................Fish Tank

Tried mightily to download the video but no luck. Heading back in tonight at 30 mph and all of a sudden things did not sound good and it happened quick. We shut her down and here is the scoop. 4 cylinder i/0 OMC 3.0 liter Smelled some fumes just a bit and then she just started making all sorts of noise and we shut her down and took of the dog house. Waited 5 mins and started her back up with a little bit of trouble. It was noisy, really noisy like a car with no muffler. We hobbled back in at 6 mph sputtering all the way. The whole engine was shaking like crazy but it got better as we went. The exhaust was definitely in the compartment - all of it. It seemed like the exhaust was escaping near the bottom of the compartment rather than out the back. So, blown head gasket. I'm no gear head so any help would be greatly appreciated. ....................Fish Tank

OK, so I need a little refresher here. A few years back I nailed the fall steelhead just beyond the second sandbar out of Holland. J11 jointed orange rapala was the ticket, and if I remember correctly, this is what I did. We never got deeper than 30 feet if I remember correctly. 1) 1/2 oz bullet weight 2) bead 3) barrel swivel 4) 24 inch 12 pd mono leader 5) rapala knot 6) j-11 jointed rap The question - 1/2 oz enough and is a 24" leader long enough. Picky questions I guess but I just remember being dialed in with a set up like that. thanks ahead of time.................Fish Tank

Fished from 3:00 pm to sunset. 4 for 6 12 pd four year old king - 400 copper - green spatterback silverhorde - 170 fow Laker - white paddle/white fly - 85 down on rigger - 150 fow steelhead - green scaley jplug - 300 copper steelhead - 200 copper - uv watermelon 120 fow We lost a monster on 400 copper in 100 fow close to sunset - just pealing drag for 30 seconds and then off. Bummer, that was a good one. .................Fish Tank

Wow! Thanks to everyone. I checked out the dive charts on the blood run site and was surprised to see the comparison between 32 and 45 pd. So close. I'll definitely be going with the 32. I will also take the advice on the powerpro. I have plenty of it and will simply add 20 feet of mono between to attach the boards. I've got my plan. thank you very much.................Fish Tank

So I have 6 copper rods - 75 to 300'. The copper on it is a good 7 years old and really trying my patience. It's just old, caught tons of fish but the 7 strand is now separating and causing all sorts of bird's nests. I'm going to respool it all. I've heard good things about Blood Run copper. I only run 45 pound. Any feedback here would be greatly appreciated. Second - for backing I run the hi-vis green Berkley Big Game but I can't remember what test I use. I'm not going to run any powerpro as backing to save reel space. Just need the recommended pound. I was going to do 30 pd. Thoughts? thanks ahead of time..............Fish Tank

Went out from 4:00 to 8:00 pm last night. Had my 12 year old son and his buddy who had a great time, but below deck in what the call the 'basement'. Waves were going every which way so it was tough to find a good trolling direction. Ended 2 for 2 - both 14 pd kings. Blue Spatter Back Silver Horde - 300 copper - 130 fow - west troll Green Scaley JPlug on rigger - 75 down - 120 fow - north troll Boys had a blast but it was kind of like fishing solo - autopilot would have been great to have! ...........Fish Tank

Very Nice! Well done. ...........Fish Tank

One more thing. Every GL fisherman would agree with this. Experience is everything. If you are a seasoned boater (I could go on and on here) that will help. New to boating? New to the big lake? Double down on every precaution. apologies for the sermon..............Fish Tank

All good advice here. Having the safety gear and making sure your are coast guard compliant is big. Flare gun, life jackets, throwable, a vhf radio, atleast a hand-held is never a bad idea. Did I mention life-jackets? Went to a seminar years ago and a coast guard captain said, "I have yet to pull a dead body from the lake wearing a life jacket." IMHO 14' is pushing it. The lake can change quickly. I was out of Muskegon in my 17' smokercraft years ago and it went from dead calm to 4 footers in 15 minutes and built to 6 atleast from there. I was out probably 5 miles. I've never been so thankful in my life to clear those pier heads. My bilge ran non-stop all the way back in. Scary? Absolutely. You hit whitefish nets in a 14' with your cannonballs, it will drag your transom under and flood your boat in seconds if you're not paying attention. It's happened. No scare tactics here - we all have stories. Preaching to the choir here, just be careful! The 100 ft limit from the above post is good advice. ...............Fish Tank

We've heard this a million times - 'Don't trust NOAA wave reports' - 1 foot or less? More like 3 to 5 footers. It was rough. The Lund 21' took them like a champ but we bounced around pretty good. 2 for 2 - both steelhead - 120fow - 70 down on rigger, south troll, mag green dolphin. Right after that one of our passengers started hurling over the side so back to the launch to drop him off. Headed back out with an hour of light left but nothing to show for it. My buddy fished out of Port Sheldon and went 5 for 5, all kings in 2 hours of fishing on meat rigs and plugs. Same depths as us. ..............Fish Tank

Launched out of Ottawa Beach around 4:00 pm. It was a mad house. First trip in my 88' Lund Sport Fisherman. Ran great, cut through waves well and trolled down perfectly. It's my first I/O and the steering at low speeds will take some getting used to. So who cares about all that - on to the report. Fishing was slow. We went 1 for 3 with a bonus giant shredded black tarp on 300' of copper. Temp break was low according to the radio chatter. 70 feet down was still 72 degrees. 6 pd King - D/W - pickled sunshine fly 130 down on rigger in 150fow. Lost two others on riggers both on spatter back blue Silver Horde - 105 down and 120 down on riggers. in 140 fow. So not so great but atleast the new boat floats. .................Fish Tank

Appreciate the report despite not catching anything. I've been there this year for sure. 0 for 3 my last time out. ............Fish Tank