Paulywood

Welcome aboard! We have a lot of great memebers who fish Holland and are willing to help people out. If you have any questions or need help with the site feel free to ask.

Welcome aboard! Let us know if you have any questions, look forward to your insight and reports.

I'd be interested Mike.

Good job Nick!

I'm giving up too. I have been hoping to get out but have been putting in a lot of hours at work to make up for missing half the year. School starts the 11th so I won't be getting out after that anyway. Hope to get out a lot more next year.

I've learned it's easier to lose the spinner than to screw around with trying to get them out of snags. They come out to about $1 each if I make them myself. Plus, it's a lot more fun to catch them on 8 lb line. Lots of trial and error involved in getting to 8 lb.

I don't really target kings in the river but do fish steelies. I usually use inline spinners. I make them myself because I lose a lot of them. I use 8 lb mono after many years of trial and error. I like to go during the week as the rivers are a lot less crowded.

If you are using mono there is no need for a snubber. I don't use them for braid either, unless I am running a flasher/fly combo. But I use them on all my wire combos.

Since I just got home I would like to be the first one to welcome you. I think we should be able to help you out. I think we'll need a little more info about your spread. What are you using for line on your dipsey's and leaders? I would suggest trying running only 4 divers when you go out, 2 on each side. Braid and wire are what I use. I don't run mono divers. One of the reasons to go down to 4 divers is because divers tend to be a very aggressive presentation. With the clear water we have now (compared to the 80's) it might be worthwhile to tone it down a little. And I like to keep the leaders a little lighter and use flourocarbon. I guess if I had a suggestion I would say to run a pair of low divers and a pair of high divers. Set the low divers on 1 and run a flasher/fly combo one one and a spoon on another. For the flasher combo I use a heavy leader, #50. For the spoons I use 20# flouro. For the high divers I would set them on 3 and let them back farther to reach the same depth as the low divers. This allows seperation and puts them farther from the boat. I would run a flasher/fly on one side, the side that you have the spoon on the low diver, and a spoon opposite. I don't fish Grand Haven but fish Pt. Sheldon and Muskegon all the time and the fishing is very similar. Now, you say you are running dodgers. I don't normally run dodgers unless I am targeting lakers. I run Spin Doctors or Pro-Troll flashers. They are more speed tolerant and are made for targeting kings. I never run anything in front of my spoons or plugs. I know people do and have had success but I don't as a general rule. One other thing is fishing low light can be easier than fishing during the day. I don't know when you normally head out but an earlier start or later ending if fishing at night can help improve your catch. When you head out in the morning if you see this you might want to head farther west. I hear there are fish out in the 200-225' depth. Good luck.

Thanks for the report, it sure has been a strange few weeks.

I'm going to install an X4 next year as well. I wasn't a fan of the old 840 but the new unit seems to be a big upgrade. I like not having to deal with a coated cable.

Good luck!

I made the antennae removable on my old boat by using a RAM mount and routing the cable so that I could easily unscrew it from the radio. I think I still have the RAM mount if you want it.

Welcome Mazen! I know that I would gladly take you along if you are looking for a ride, I'm just not sure when I will be heading out again this year, if at all. If not, there are other (probably better) fishermen on this site that might have room for you. If I do make it out I will let you know. Good luck on the new hobby. I started out fishing with some of the guys on this site and it helped me out a lot, it is a great way to learn.

Welcome aboard Dan! I live in St Louis so we are practically neighbors. I just saw this post so I'm sorry for the late reply, let us know if we can help you out anymore.

Welcome aboard! I have fished Bay de Noc once in the summer. We didn't do that well. But the tour of the Marble Arms factory was cool. Let us know if you have any questions and I look forward to your posts.

I use the clear Opti snubbers. I don't like the LJ ones because they have a shock cord in them so they can only stretch a certain distance.

Hey Nick, most guys fish lakers on the north side. There is a large flat area that runs between the North State Park and Treasure Island that holds fish. If you are looking for browns and bows you can see them feeding on the surface first thing in the morning and at last light sometimes. Guys troll the dropoffs for them, but that is usually after Labor Day when the boat traffic clears. For lakers if you are trolling then cowbells or dodgers with peanuts can be successful. Also large yellow spoons have been good for me before. Not to mention cut bait or sewn minnows. You will also see some boats out there jigging for lakers with Swedish Pimples or Sandkickers. Just an FYI, most of the large schools of fish you see suspended are actually suckers, they are often mistaken for trout. That is according to the pike spearers who see them all winter. Good luck, my grandparents have a cabin on Higgins, I practically grew up there. I just reread your post, if you are going up next weekend don't plan on fishing much between 9am and 5 pm, the boat traffic will be ridiculous. Do yourself a favor and visit sometime before Memorial Day or after Labor Day, the lake is much nicer when it isn't so crowded. If you plan on skiing or tubing a good time to do it is after supper. The boat traffic clears and the lake usually lays down. That's when we used to go wakeboarding.

Welcome aboard! I enjoy reading your dad's posts and look forward to yours. I always feel like I'm in the boat when your dad posts.

Thanks for the report. I plan on fishing this weekend, hopefully the fish will be regrouped by then.

Sounds like a good idea. Good luck Chris.

If you aren't used to fishing in a pack I would head south. The point to the north is going to be packed. Check out the report on www.fish-ludington.com, Glen usually gives pretty good info. Once August rolls around I like to avoid Mudington and Manistee. Too much traffic on weekends. Sounds like you got some good advice from the Ludington veterans on here. Let us know how you do and good luck.

Good job. I thought Mike didn't fish in the morning?

Good job Troy, glad you got your boat all dirty!

A good rule of thumb is that when selling items used, even if they haven't been used or used much, is that people are normally willing to pay about half of what they cost new. It might be worthwhile to do a little research to find similar items for sale on line when setting prices. Good luck.