What to Fish For and When????

[Boltman]

Spring is coming... We all know this, but what do I fish for and when? What species bite in early spring and what water depth? I don't have a fish Finder and dont see myself getting one either, after all the fish in the finder aren't the one's biting the hook. We want to hit the water with the poles already in the water, but is this possible in early spring. We started in late August this year, just before the run, so it's hard to know when to fish early spring summer mid summer or fall orlate fall...

Thnks Guys for beng so patient with me, God I can't wait for my Keating on Kings to get here.

[bluedevil]

Well this will vary as to what port you will be fishing out of but I mainly fish Manistee and as soon as the ice is out, start fishing.

The Northern ports in early spring the target is going to be Browns and Steelhead. The way southern ports it can be a mixed bag of just about anything (kings, coho, browns, and steelhead). As the water warms the fish will move north. King's usually dont get to Mansitee untill late April early May.

I cant comment on water depth in the southern ports (never fished them) but near Manistee/Ludington the mouth of the Pier can produce fish but I find running the shallows along the shoreline better. I will troll on average 5-10' of water. The key is to get your planer boards in tight. I have caught many fish with my planerboard less than 5' from shore. If the water is calm and clear I like to have a guy watching off the bow looking for hole's or trough's and I will run my boards over top of them. Not having a fish finder is fine when fishing this shallow but I HIGHLY recommend something to monitor surface temp. The warmer the water you can find the better. Just a 1/2 to 1 degree increase can make a difference.

If there is heavy boat traffic in the area the fish will spook out of there. If you find an area that you are catching fish in and other boats start showing up and you find the fish "shut down", try moving out a little deeper. You may have to adjust you presentation also, like deeper running crank baits, I have also had luck with running spoons with just 1 color of lead.

[1mainiac]

In all honesty I fished my butt off this last spring and only got skunked 1 time but only had a few trips before June that landed more than 1 fish. I will admit much of my early fishing was debugging a new used boat but still at cost of gas and missing out on all my inland lake fishing was sad. I spent every spare hour on the boat or setting it up this year I will be hitting the river till early May and then pounding the Gills thru June. My only plans for the big boat will be the handfull of tournies I plan on fishing. I am not being pessimistic I love the early fishing but gas is not cheap and I really missed out on my inland fishing. When I realize I did not even catch 50 panfish this last season and did not even go to my trout lake one time all season I have to make a few changes. So I am gonna go back to my old scheduale and pretty much stay off the big lake till early June or later.

[2UNREEL]

First I would start the year off fishing at Cabelas for a new fish finder. That is the most usefull tool you have to target fish. With a decent unit you will see the fish that are biting your riggers. Otherwise you will be chasing the radio, if guys are talking, and you can't always trust what you hear. If you want to have sucess anytime of the year the fish finder will put you on fish any time of the year.

[Boltman]

I don't know where the first trip out will be but I'm thinking Ludington, I would like to try Manistee later, but do not know how that ramp looks, I do not know if it's large enough for our boat, but I believe someone will let me know on this thread for sure..

So Stay shallow is what I'm reading....I can understand that because of the warm water is near the shore...Don't have planner boards yet though, I'll look into that as spring nears.

[j1musser]

God I can't wait for my Keating on Kings to get here.

That is the most usefull tool you have to target fish. .

I just started into Keating,got it Saturday, and much of what he talks is bottom structure and bait for finding fish. A fishfinder will greatly help with this and usually u can get one with temp sensor. I waited til i found one on sale and ended up with Hummingbird with temp for $200 plus the GPS for another $100. The GPS does not have map just grids and my waypoints, tracks, Speed, and compass. Its very nice for night and in fog. If u have a GPS already, U can pick up a fishfinder w/ temp for pretty reasonable price.

A few Church Walleye Boards will let u fish shallows in spring as well as leadcore, copper, and flatlines in summer and fall. I used to fish 5-10fow in Lake Huron and let me tell ya catching a big brown or steelie that shallow is awesome, they can only go up! No need for the finder until later unless unfamiliar with shoreline, ie rocks, depths, etc.

Never fished up in ur ports but some great action on Cohos down here in sping. Last year was my first try at them and my buddy and I limited out on them my 1st trip out. As others have said, I believe more steelies and browns up ur way. Good Luck and enjoy Keating on Kings:grin:

Edited January 20, 2009 by j1musser
sPielLiN

[bluedevil]

Robert,

How big of a boat do you have? Manistee has a very nice ramp and should accommodate your boat. I have friends that have 28' and 30' boats and they launch there.

There are many types of planer boards out there. If your looking to save a little $$ I would look into Yellow Bird in-line planer boards. They work well but don't like ruff water. I prefer Off Shore in-line boards. They still have there limit in ruff water but track well.

One more thing I forgot to mention is speed. On most days the slower the better. I try and keep around 1.5-2MPH. At those cool temps fish are not likely to chase fast moving bait's.

[Paulywood]

I have found that Meijer is often the cheapest place to buy the Church walleye boards. A lot of times I find them or $20 each. I check every time I go to Meijer. They are very useful.

[Boltman]

We have a 32 foot Sea Ray Sundancer, takes a lot of water to launch her, but if you say they launch 30's out of there I can do it... thanks for the information

[1mainiac]

You will like the Launch at Manistee it will handle your boat just fine and is right out near the lake no long rung to get out it has long been one of my favorite places to fish. easy in and easy out and great fishing also has the highest number of Salmon plants on west side of state so large numbers of returning fish every fall. If it did not cost so much for me to tow there I would fish it a lot more but I still fish it a couple times a year or more most years.

[mattmishler]

boltman there is a ramp in ludington (coupland park) where i now of a guys that puts in his 38 searay every year and has no problem but the only thing that is a problem is it only two docks and about 45 minutes to the big lake. there is a ramp that we put in every year its on loomis street and theres 4 docks there iv seen 30 fter go in there will a little trouble

[Boltman]

We use the DNR Ramp near the lighthouse, it's fine, but the Docks are very short, I have to spin the boat around and let the Wife get on from the swim platform, sometimes that a little tricky in the wind at Ludington.

[JWheeler]

I concur, manistee's launch is real nice. Nice & big..

[JoeMan]

In Ludington the Copeyon launch off of Washington Ave. is the best place to launch in early spring with a large boat. The Loomis launch needs to be dredged every spring before they put all the docks in, be careful. Fish shallow along the shoreline from the pier heads north to the Lincoln River outlet and up to the first curve and the Sable River outlet. Or south to the water project. Browns and Steelies are great in the spring.