Paulywood

Normally there is a lull in June due to water conditions. The water warms up and scatters the fish, but a thermocline hasn't set up yet. Looks like Tony figured out a heck of a program and found the fish. One thing about salmon fishing is just when you think you have it figured out it can throw you a curveball. Fishing temp breaks (aka scumlines) can be very productive. There is a link on the top of the page that takes you to the surface temp maps. Somedays this can be a very usefull tool. Good luck.

Thanks for the excellent report as always Captain. We all appreciate it.

I wouldn't run anything down the chute, you are just begging for trouble. As far as flasher/fly combos, it really depends. For 8" SD's, the Blue Bubble and Mountain Dew are consistent producers. On the 11" paddle's I have had good luck with double fish scale. Doubkle crush white glow is good for anyone. Green, blue and white flies are all good. I have also had good luck with the No-See-Um type flies paired with a dark paddle. But they have been best at very light low conditions for me. On cores it depends on the depth. You can usually run the same type of spoons that you run on your riggers, at the same depth.

Vacuum sealer here. Air causes freezer burn, water has air in it. Therefore, water will also lead to freezer burn. It works well if you flash freeze them on a cookie sheet for half an hour or so before sealing them.

Performance is definitely better with a thru hull but if you trailer there is chance that you could damage it. And it would suck to break something that plugs a hole in the bottom of your boat. If not for that I would put one on.

July 23rd is the DW so that one is out for me. I would try to make it on another day depending on my work schedule.

Welcome to GLF! Feel free to ask any questions you might have and posting pics of the new boat is a requirement, the people here love boat porn!

I have heard that the bolt on skegs are too strong also. I know people that have had skegs welded back on with no issues. As far as the housing goes, I would not trust the JB Weld. I have seen it fail before. The housing can also be welded, like the skeg. But the prop shaft might have to be removed. I would talk to a marine mechanic and a good welder, get a professional opinion or 2.

Welcome Scott! We all had to take the plunge at one time or another and become the captain. I'm sure you'll be successful.

I plan on heading over saturday, but I'm not any help as far as the fishing goes. I'm just hoping to have my autopilot back from Raymarine by then but I'm not holding my breath.

I was surprised Marty was able to pay cash for fuel, I figured he'd have to work it off!

Sorry for the late report, I started my new job this week and have been really busy. I also got home a little late on sunday. We ran out to 200' and headed SW. Picked up a king and laker as we were setting up. King came on a rigger 50' down on a BLL prototype that is red/orange/UV. We also missed a king on this setup in 220' a little later in the morning. I'll post a pic of it later. The laker came on a BLL Blue Halfstick on a fullcore. We took another king in 160' mid morning on a BLL Holo Green Dolphin on a 7 color. Our last fish was around 11 in 95' on a Blue Chilly Willy SS mag set on the SWR 65' down on a north troll. This was a big 'ol 13# laker. But my biggest catch of the day was a 21' Sea Swirl Striper caught on an anchor line in 120' just south of Saugatuck. Marty (ratchet) was also fishing the WMFL. He had his new GPS zoomed out and thought that he was just south of Holland. The night before he hooked up the boat and checked the gas gauge. He thought it read 3/4 full, but in reality it was less than 1/4 full. When you combine the 2 you run out of gas about 1 mile south of Saugatuck when you launched out of Holland. We ran down and towed him into Saugy so he could fuel up. By the time we ran back up to Holland and loaded up it was after 3pm. By my count we came up with roughly 5,000 jokes about why Marty purposely ran out of gas so far south just so he could visit Saugy. The people on my boat found them much funnier than the people on Marty's boat. He did get some consolation as his son gave him an early Father's Day present, 2 brand new Big Jon Pro Tournament riggers for his new boat. All in all it was a very interesting day, even though we couldn't seem to catch many fish.

I think that all Jason meant was it's easy for us to say since we aren't the ones paying the bills.

I'd replace or rebuild. My theory has always been if your car breaks down you can always get out and walk, it's a lot tougher to do that on a boat! Short term pain (loss of boat time, money) for a long term gain (fresh motor that's reliable for you and your family).

Ran out to 110' and setup on a 230 heading around 6am. As I was letting the port dipsey back it reached 60' out and started peeling line. Tightened down the drag and boxed a nice 8 lb king on a Big Lake Lures Blue Veggie. Great way to start the day. Kept setting rods and just as a 7 color was set it started pulling line. Boxed a 5 lb laker on a Big Lake Lures UV Holo Green Dolphin. Then things went dead. The lake built up to 3'ers and the 230 troll got a little rough tried a few different things and worked out to 190'. Turned back in and took and 8 lb laker on the same 7 color setup. In 150' had a release on an East 42nd street parked 50' down on a rigger. Around 10 am heard Alex (hollandpiper) on the radio. He was stranded with an outdrive issue. He was in 80' and we were in 115' when I spotted him straight ahead of us. We were dealing with a tangle so only had 3 rods in the water. Pulled them in and headed over to give Alex a hand. Ended the day 4/5 with 2 lakers, 1 king and a large blue Sea Ray. Plan on heading back out on sunday to fish the WMFL. Oh, the AP died on me today too. I sure hate having to drive the boat manually.

Yeah, postponed until sunday

Very nice! Thanks for the report and welcome.

Just go the ok from the boss, sign me up. I plan on being out friday and saturday morning.

Finally got the boat back. Had a few seals leaking so he changed all of them in the outdrive, pressure and vacuum tested it, and changed the impellor. The better news is that I got a new roof on part of the house today and that was my big project for the weekend. Plan on heading up to Higgins sunday to run the boat and hang out and then next weekend the Sugar Momma should be back on Lake Michigan putting fear in the fishes!

I would definitely suggest an 8' antenna. VHF radio is line of site so the higher the signal the longer the range. I use this one: http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=15966&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=10103&subdeptNum=10278&classNum=10279 And have been very happy with it. Some of my friends use it also. I just have a cheap Uniden Solara radio and have been able to transmit from Muskegon to Pt. Sheldon on some days. If you want you can even use a RAM mount so that it can be removed if you want to take it off for using the boat inland.

Good job and great report!

Get well soon Dave.

I started running some spoons for Larry last fall. I have only had one trip to use them but they were effective. I was hoping to run his new UV lures last week but between boat issues and the weather it didn't happen. The finish on his lures is very good, he uses a strong clear coat that seems to hold up well. Hope you guys give them a shot, and thanks for doing this Larry.

I have been using flourocarbon leaders on my leadcore setups. I don't have any proof that it works better, but some claim that it does. That being said, I have used regular mono in the past and I know plenty of guys who do. But for the price of a small spool of 20# flouro I figure it's worth a shot.

I can't make it either weekend Ken. I have Parker's baptism next weekend and have to replace a small roof over the holiday. Like Kevin said, the fishing should still be good in June.