How was your season?

[Mark]

I was surfing a few fishing websites and came across one that was saying how 2008 was kind of a tough bite. I'm not sure about you guys, but it was definitely one of the best I've ever had, certainly every bit as good as the past couple years. Both numbers and weight were up for me around Frankfort. How did everybody else do this year compared to previous?

[j1musser]

This was my best year ever, although it was my first! I have learned so much this year and really am happy with 2-3 fish average for my trips. I believe only 1 skunk this year which is pretty good for my 1st year. Next year will be better as i continue to learn.

[Priority1]

This was my best year ever for walleye, but last year was a very close second. I only made one Salmon trip, this year, with my boat and did ok. I was able to hook on, with some of the good people here, for some quality Salmon Slammin. It was a very good year. I believe the cooler Summer temps, helped the fishing on the Saginaw Bay. Of course we had fish numbers like never before also.

[Fishwhisperer]

This was my worst year yet. Didn't get out as much this year do to the weather. When I did make it out, the wave forecast was wrong. The calm trips proved to be tough too. Other than my one solo trip, my hook up rate was over 90%. Can't complain too much as I only had one skunk for the year. My high light for the year was taking first place and big fish in a small St. Joe tournament. Had four fish over 17#'s this year, but can't break my goal of 20#. It's not over yet, I still plan on fishing till the end of the month.

[DIRTY DOG]

this was a very good year on the dog, but its not over yet , becouse i normaly dont put here away till the risk of frost is nearly every nite {somewhere near the first of nov.}

my average was around 10 fish per trip, with a 3 man crew most of the time ,and i will never complain about that , and no skunks in 3 years running

and as said already the size seemed to be up a little

[Nailer]

This year was great, other than the weekend blows. We got fish every time out, and the size was noticeably bigger than last year.

[tltorrice]

This was the best year I have had since I started serious salmon fishing about 3 years ago. I think one of the main reasons our season was so good is I required my crew to read Keeting on Kings last winter. That and we learned the value of sharpening hooks. I am looking foreward to next season. I am done for this year. Time to get the bow out.

[silver one]

For as short of fishing season as I had due to coaching commitments the fishing was as good as it has been. I feel the last 5 seasons on the silver one have been no better or no worse. at times we struggled in the summer to find big numbers but always manage a coupel of fish which make any trip worth while. Southaven is a tough port to fish in mid summer and has made me more apt to moving up to Saugatuck, Manistee,luddington, during these times as having my boat on a trailer give us options. St.Joe was good early for us. However as you know if you dont fish everday your odds decrease drastically and that is where all of you and this site come in. Thanks to all who report.

Also my wife and I just purchased a little cabin up north with in 30 min to either Manistee or luddington. I forsee alot more trips with the boat further north.

We are officially done for the year and I wish all still going out the best of luck. Looking forward to getting back in the Deer woods and chasing that elusive booner.

[salmonquest]

This was my best year. I heard a lot of guys in the straits were struggling but I found that I just had to read the water and fish in non-traditional areas. I also think the strong east winds up there clouded the water a little bit and my rigger bite was as hot as anything. Also had my top three biggest fish.

[1mainiac]

Well I started the year by spending 13g on a boat toss in about another 2500.00 on gear. 6 months later Raythion still won't release the autopilot system so finally gave up and got my money back. Ok no autopilot but still a nice boat. My regular crew had issues all year so no regular crew for the Tournies I had planned so spent most of the first part of year teaching my wife how to drive the boat and not complain about the waves. Ok so she can't swim and is very scared of water over 5 ft deep mix the 2 and she is not happy. As to the fishing we went a lot probably close to 40 trips only got skunked 3 times. A few great trips but mostly average catchs overall better size but still have not got any really big fish like last year. Overall catch so far 82 Kings 21 Steelhead 9 Lakers and 2 Coho. Not quite dbl last years catch but fished 2 times as much. So I guess if you want to catch more fish fish more often. Last year I averaged more fish per trip and also got a few really nice fish over 20lbs. This year the bigger boat let me spend more time on the water and more money on gas but no really great days. Don't get me wrong I would do it all over and had a pretty good time but when I sit like this and do the math and compare the season to last year it is tough to call going from a 18ft boat to a 26ft boat changes a lot. I did a lot of things I never could in my old boat not all for the best as I found being able to run up to 14 lines is not allways a good thing as you can have some unreal tangles. Especially while your wife is learning to drive the boat she would ask which way I wanted to go and I would say any direction you can keep it straight long enough to set lines without hitting anything. But thru all the screaming and messed up gear I got a new fishing partner out of the deal and as such this could be the best year ever fishing. Cuz now when I call home on my back from work to tell her I wanna go fishing for a few hours after work she has the boat ready and the gear laid out when I get there don't get me wrong she will still complain if the waves are over 3ft but she will still fish. All in all a darn fine year even if the fishing was a bit wierd at times.

Tight Lines

Jim

[EdB]

It was a great year with a family milestone. My oldest daughter who is 7 has been on the boat occasionally since she was a baby but usually for short trips in the afternoons. This year she started getting up early with me for the first time for morning trips. She would jump out of bed at 4:15AM and couldn't wait to go. I'd ask her if she wanted to pull lines after the morning flurry and she would want to stay out. Then she couldn't wait to go again the next day. We fished in some big waves and she doesn't get seasick. She could handle the fish ok too. We had some great trips together and she talks about wanting to go all the time now. It melts dads heart. Looks like I might have a new "hardcore" fishing buddy!

Also had some primo vacation time with the weather and the fishing all coming together. Tackle losses were way down all year until I lost a probe...ouch. Stuck a hook good one time and had to see the doc. That was a bummer but we made the best of it. First fish of the day and we were a long way out. My buddy called his doc and made a 1:45PM appointment. We cut the hook off, taped it down, I drove the boat and we filled a nice box. I didn't keep count but our overall numbers were probably down a bit but the size was up. No mechanical problems all season! I still have to bring the boat home so probably one more trip before October. I fish hard for 10 months but Oct and Nov are nothing but hunting for me.

[JoeMan]

My season started very slow. Big storm in mid-June shut down the launches for 2 weeks. Inconsistent weather in July made fishing very tough. Late July, August, and September were very good. Averaging 4-5 fish per trip. The fish look more healthy than previous years. Overall my numbers were down(due to the late start), but this was still a very good season for me. I fish out of Ludington and I hope to get another 2-3 weeks in before the switch to archery.

[GLF]

I had a pretty good year this year. I think the size of the fish was slightly smaller than last year. The bigger fish did not show up till late June. In 23 trips, we caught 144 fish.

[Priority1]

Well I started the year by spending 13g on a boat toss in about another 2500.00 on gear. 6 months later Raythion still won't release the autopilot system so finally gave up and got my money back. Ok no autopilot but still a nice boat. My regular crew had issues all year so no regular crew for the Tournies I had planned so spent most of the first part of year teaching my wife how to drive the boat and not complain about the waves. Ok so she can't swim and is very scared of water over 5 ft deep mix the 2 and she is not happy. As to the fishing we went a lot probably close to 40 trips only got skunked 3 times. A few great trips but mostly average catchs overall better size but still have not got any really big fish like last year. Overall catch so far 82 Kings 21 Steelhead 9 Lakers and 2 Coho. Not quite dbl last years catch but fished 2 times as much. So I guess if you want to catch more fish fish more often. Last year I averaged more fish per trip and also got a few really nice fish over 20lbs. This year the bigger boat let me spend more time on the water and more money on gas but no really great days. Don't get me wrong I would do it all over and had a pretty good time but when I sit like this and do the math and compare the season to last year it is tough to call going from a 18ft boat to a 26ft boat changes a lot. I did a lot of things I never could in my old boat not all for the best as I found being able to run up to 14 lines is not allways a good thing as you can have some unreal tangles. Especially while your wife is learning to drive the boat she would ask which way I wanted to go and I would say any direction you can keep it straight long enough to set lines without hitting anything. But thru all the screaming and messed up gear I got a new fishing partner out of the deal and as such this could be the best year ever fishing. Cuz now when I call home on my back from work to tell her I wanna go fishing for a few hours after work she has the boat ready and the gear laid out when I get there don't get me wrong she will still complain if the waves are over 3ft but she will still fish. All in all a darn fine year even if the fishing was a bit wierd at times.

Tight Lines

Jim

Jim, It sounds like your wife is a "REEL Keeper". I wish I could get my wife interested. Jeanice is afraid of the water also, and doesn't have basic direction skills. She doesn't like being out on anything smaller than a cruise ship.