Rockin' Randy

My only glitches with it are the top speed is one mph faster when trolling and 10 mph faster when running. I hope to be able to calibrate that. Couldn't get it to calibrate on the trailer, so maybe it has to be in water. If not I have that info on my graph. I didn't have a good spot for the transducer to mount, so it might be affected being in between the trolling and main motor. Good luck Clyde.

Scuba, I know right? I talked to two guys today who went out Sunday evening, three guys in the boat brought in four kings. The clincher is they said they were in around 220 fow, and all of them came from the top 40-50'. The fish are really scattered apparently. Once the water stratifies I think we are going to have a really good year. Good luck, hope to see you out there sometime. Sent from my moto z4 using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Fished 6/18 from about 6:45 am to 8:15 am and got one king, 17.5#. It was my nephew's first time salmon fishing and he was pretty happy to bring in such a nice fish. The water was pretty rough for a first timer but we ran a few miles north and set up trolling back with the waves to make things easier. I got 5 lines set and took the wheel back to think about whether I wanted to try setting a board out or another diver for the sixth line. Checked the speed at the ball, 2.3, and temp was 47ish at 60 down. My center rigger was set at 110' in 220 fow, as I noted a couple of marks at that depth prior to dropping lines. Now at the wheel, I saw most of the marks at 60' and 80', so I stepped back to the center rigger to raise it up to 80'. After bringing up the rigger, I started to reel in the slack line, but after a couple of turns, the rod bent over and the drag screamed. Handed it to my nephew and schooled him on bringing in his first king. The only fishing he did before this was trolling for pike with another uncle 12 years ago at age 17. It was a special moment. The fish hit on a Salmon Candy vegan rig - Mercy UV, trailed behind a silver Kingfisher flasher with a chartreuse stripe. I was trying to reset the rig when my nephew yelled from the wheel he was going to be sick. The wind had picked up quite a bit more so we called it. The next day, 6/19, my nephew had to leave as it was father's day. So took my buddy out for a few hours and got him into a 23 # king. What a difference one day can make. The water was flat, but after a couple days of hard north winds, the water was 44° at 50 down. This is like my third time out with the Fishhawk, so still trying to get used to it and apply it. Like, I know salmon like 54ish and will come out of their comfort zone, but I saw marks at 40, 50, 60 and 80 in 150ish fow, so still set lines to what I saw on the graph. After a bit I moved everything up to the 40-50 range as those were the predominant marks, but still couldn't buy a bite. Running the same program as day before, with the exception of putting out a three color on a board just because everything was up so high. The other lines were running off three riggers with two flasher/flies and a spoon, and two wire slide divers - one with flasher and the other a spoon. At 8 am the port diver woke us up. It turned into at least a 20 minute fight. Right off the bat the king tangled with the three color and I reeled in the slack while my buddy fought the fish, until I could bring it in and untangle everything. The 23# king hit on a Moonshine fly with a glow in dark willow blade, trailed behind a blue Salmon Candy flasher (can't remember the name). We put four hours in and only one fish. As an after thought I wish I'd have run everything up even higher. The slide diver was out 70' on counter and #2 setting. It also had the magnum kit. Back at the dock, both days, the gal running the launch said nobody else brought anything in. There were very few boats though, both days. Probably because of weather and then being Father's day. Tight lines folks. Sent from my moto z4 using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

So far I like it. I never did use copper. I got out of salmon fishing for a number of years, so I went from leadcore of yesteryear straight to weighted steel. I actually still use leadcore too. So far I only have a 200' and 300' weighted steel, but will be stringing up a 400' today. The hardest part is learning how to tie the steel into braid and mono. After trying the termination kit they sell (junk imo), and several other methods, I finally came upon a system I like. I start by running a 50' fluorocarbon leader 25# test to the steel. I use high vis yellow braid backer (65#), with a 15' or so section of mono for clipping the board on. I went with a technique which gives me 100% knot strength on the entire line and no giant knots to catch on the guides. I love it. The steel is terminated to the mono and braid using a Daho needle and hollow braid. You can Google a YouTube video on this. I will have to look up the knots I used for braid to mono for 100% strength (break tested by IGFA if I recall correctly). I can elaborate more and look up links if you have questions, but my breakfast just got here. Lol Sent from my moto z4 using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Oh boy, I hope that doesn't happen. I've watched a few videos, some say it matters how you wrap the line. I don't know. I still have the off shore releases if I have problems. I just want the front one to release so I'm not fighting the board when switching lures or bringing in fish. I've done it both ways though. Good luck to you Jason.

No fish this morning but I gathered enough information to post a little report, maybe help someone planning to fish this area. I started out a bit late and didn't get lines set until about 7:30 am. This was only my third time out this year and the main purpose was to try out and tweak some new equipment. I marked good numbers of fish and there were a lot of dead baitfish floating on the surface. I ran two downriggers with an Agent Orange Moonstone spoon on one, and flasher/fly on the other. Tried Kev gf with a green fly for a while and then a blue combo Salmon Candy rig. Marked a lot of fish in the 40'-50' depths, enough worth mentioning at 80', and a few down over 100'. There were also spurts here and there at 20-30'. Started in about 120 fow and headed north into over 200 fow. I marked fish pretty much everywhere. Even on a big turn which took me out to 300+ fow. I had two new reels set up with weighted steel line, 200' and 300', which I took turns putting out with different flasher/flies, and spoons. No hits, nothing. Fished until 10:45. When I got back to the launch a boat came in with four people and they had four kings. The most I could get out of them is the fish were real deep. One guy mentioned 110'. Funny, I always am pretty free with information when someone asks. Not sure why some guys act like you're going to fish the lake out if they share something. Ego I guess. Anyway, I had fun and that's what counts. It was the first run with my new Fishhawk so I was getting that figured out. Also bought some big boards for the weighted steel and was playing with the tension setting on the Sam's pro releases. Looks like a decent forecast for tomorrow so I plan to hit the water earlier in the morning. I'll post if I manage to get anything. Sent from my moto z4 using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Good to know. No tips on Ludington. I live up by Frankfort and am more familiar with that. I eventually want to trailer down to Manistee and maybe Ludington a bit more in the future though and learn those ports as well.

Awesome report. I plan on ordering a fishhawk this week, so that's good information for me. Which model did you get, X4? The fish seem pretty deep already. Thanks for info.

Hang in there jdh. Sounds a lot like my attempts -- nice when I'm working and Gale force winds on my days off. On top of that I just tore my bathroom apart to remodel it, agh! I am hoping to get enough done on the bath so I can get out by the weekend. As far as tactics and catching fish, I have learned a lot by reading posts on this forum and sifting through other information sources. I attended a seminar this Spring with speaker Russell Gahagan. I learned a lot I am waiting to apply this summer. Prior to that I watched a lot of his YouTube videos and others. There was a lapse in my salmon fishing for about 15ish years. Coming back into it about three years ago I found everything had changed. Learning to adapt to different strategies and new techniques was hard for this stuck-in-the-mud angler, but that was exactly what I had to do. I went from a few fish in the freezer three years ago, to doubling that two years ago, to three milk crates of fillets last year to share with friends and family. Last year I added two wire divers (slide divers that is) to my arsenal and they paid off well. I still occasionally ran braid divers on the outside them. This year I have set up a couple of weighted steel line rigs to experiment with. I fish primarily out of Frankfort, but I plan on hitting Manistee or other nearby ports to learn more about those areas. I might even make it to Ludington if my truck holds out. Good fishing to you down the road. It gets better the more time you put in on the water. Sent from my moto z4 using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Went out at around 4:30 this morning with plans of trolling inside the breakwall. I was fishing alone, so for simplicity I set two spoons on riggers and a two color leadcore with a firetiger bomber out the back. The spoons were a black/glow Silver Streak and a orange/glow Moonshine. Marked a lot of fish along the channel dropoffs and in the channel itself. Picked up an undersize pike about 7:00 am on the Silver Streak glow spoon. The riggers were set around 14'-17' down so I could troll 20 fow range. I moved them around a bit and took a couple laps outside the pier as far as 50 fow. Didn't mark much out there but did see one big hook on the screen 20' down in 32' fow. It was only my second time out since getting the boat unwrapped last week. I went to use the washdown hose and it didn't work. Opened the engine compartment to have a look and something was cracked and water was coming in pretty steady. Luckily the auto bilge pump was keeping up. I always make sure not to set a rigger 13' down or twist the line in the release 13 times. Didn't stop to think about the date. I'm not superstitious but why take a chance. Lol. Anyway, it was fun while it lasted. Boats back at the marina. Plan B for the weekend. Sent from my moto z4 using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

I have one Cannon Mag 10 STX I plan to sell. It's basically brand new. I bought four and quickly realized it's to much hassle go try to get the port side up between my main and trolling motor setup. So it has only gone out on about six trips and not used but a couple of those times. I plan to post it here this morning. Watch for it if interested in Cannon brand. (Sold) Sent from my moto z4 using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App

Thanks for the info. I really am leaning towards the 700. I know the price is worth it for a quality reel, but wow, $250ish for the line counter version. I kind of have my thoughts set on the weighted steel though. Thanks. What reels is your copper on?

Alas, the ice fishing gear is tucked away and thoughts of sugar plum colored lures are dancing in my head. It will probably be well over a month before I even get my boat out of the shrink wrap here in the Frankfort area, but it's time to start preparing and buying gear. I am interested in setting up a couple of rods with weighted steel line, and actually went as far as buying the line towards the end of the season last year. The trouble came when I found out that terminating, or splicing, the line to braid and mono created such a big knot I couldn't get it through the levelwind guide. I tried the termination kit, several knots, and finally bought the needle to splice it to the braid (which I liked the best). I know I really didn't have the correct reels but I just wanted to test the stuff out, and without altering the shape or removing the plastic from the guide, it just wasn't going to work with what I had - which was a Penn 310 and Diawa Sealine 47LC. So this year will start out with a couple new reels to accommodate the weighted steel. My question to those using this line, is what are you using for reels? Do the bigger Tekota or Okuma reels come standard with a wider space in the guide, or do they too have to be altered? Are there other reels worth considering for this purpose? Also, I had planned on setting them up on line counter reels because that's what the charter I went out on had (He ran mostly Tekota 700LC's). But are line counters needed or useful in some way being we are using a pre-determined length of line? I am thinking about starting out with around 200' and/or 300' set-ups, so looking at reels able to hold that at least. I look forward to and appreciate any information on what reels you feel are best for the task and how you are set up. Oh heck, tell me what rods you like too. Thanks guys

Awesome! Good report. I do do that a lot with lakers. Pop the line off the rigger and set the rod back in the holder, letting the lure work it's way off the bottom. I started doing it with the large Kingfisher flashers because they are such a job to reel in until they hit the surface. When I noticed I was getting fish quite often, I decided to try it as a technique one particularly slow day. I was marking good numbers of trout on the drop-off at Herring hole but they wouldn't hit. So I popped the line off the rigger when I went through 4-5 fish. It worked! Kind of a hassle to reset the lines if it fails, but on a slow day who cares. That day I had my limit and headed for the harbor 40 minutes later. Now I do it to put fish in the boat when all else fails. Need to do it right when you mark the fish. Sent from my moto z4 using Great Lakes Fisherman Mobile App