Pre- Memorial Day

[Hotdog71]

You decide you are going fishing the last week in April or first week in May out of Grand Haven. Ice has been out for 2-3 weeks. You have had an onshore wind from SW for 3 days. Waves are 2-3ft. It is partly cloudy and 60 F. You are fishing the top 20ft of water. Surface temperature as you enter the lake is 38-40 F. You have 6 lines you can run off any presentation. Do you stay shallow or go deeper? What does your spread consist of?

[HitMan]

I would stay in the 20-50 foot of water area, more so wherever the muddy water is at. The muddy water in Grand Haven will be warmer than the stated 38-40 degrees. This is where the bait fish will be, along with the big kings. The biggest kings of the year are usually caught out of Grand Haven the last week of April and the first few weeks of May.

For fishing the top 20 feet of water this time of year, I would be using 6 lead core or surface lines. For example, 2 surface planer boards, a 2 color lead core, 3 color lead core, 4 color lead core, and a 5 color lead core. If I didn't have those rods set up, I would use 2 downriggers, 2 divers, and 2 lead cores (3 color and a 5 color).

Fishing this time of year is almost entirely locational based. If you are not where the fish are, you aren't going to get them. But, if you find them and stay on them, you are going to have a fun April day! This is probably the only time of the year where the fish are really really schooled up and are all together in a certain area or place.

[medic]

I totally agree with Capt Jon. The muddier the better. Personally, I would run 4 Church boards. Two two color, a 3 and a 4 color, and 2 riggers. Brads thin fin and/or rattle shads off the 2 colors, Rapala husky jerk off the 3 color, and a dodger and coho fly on the 4 color. Two riggers with very short leads (propwash) with clean spoons. I'd run a mix of very bright colors and darks to see what the fish preferred. Try and follow the mudlines and locate baitfish.

[GLF]

A couple of years ago, I caught my biggest fish of the year fishing with the DIRTY DOG in Grand Haven at this time of the year.

This fish came on a Stingray size Freakin Veggies.

Like Jon said, fish in the mud. This is the plume of dirty water that comes out of the Grand River. You will see the temp difference between the clean water and muddy water. You want to stay in the warmer water.

I would run a North/South troll and keep my baits within the bottom 10'. I would run a couple of boards off each side of the boat, and 2 riggers, with at least 50' leads behind the ball. I would also have sliders on so I could have an extra 2 lines in the water.

I would have on a spread of Stingray size spoons, in the flavor of: Freakin Veggies, Craigs X-Mas, Orange Killer, Mixed Veggies, Killer Tangerine, and the Natural Born Killer. In the low light hours of the predawn, I would have Stingery size Nitros in Twister, Area51, ET, Nitro citrus, and Napalm.

[1mainiac]

I like all the ideas and pretty much agree with all the core plans but I am going to have a mag Glow spoon on 1 rigger 5 to 10 ft off the bottom and a J plug on the other rigger. Let the core and boards take care of the picky eaters and put the buffet in the chute. I am always amazed by the number of fish that will hit a J Plug in the mud.

[DIRTY DOG]

hey mike i remember that morning quite well , we where prefishing for a w.m.f.l. tournement on that saterday and on sunday we took 3 more just like that one and lost four more, they where all on a full core in 40 to 44 fow on that same spoon

[Reel World Fishing Team]

I have to say I agree with what everyone had to say, but I would like to highlight a couple things.

First, as Hit Man said, "find the fish". I would add that I may start out that close for a little, but I get itchy fast and will either run offshore a little or roll out before long.

Second Dirtys dogs response to Mike about their great day was that they caught all their fish on one rod, a full core in 40 to 44 FOW on the same spoon. I find that to be very common early in the year to have very specific lures and rods taking the majority of the fish. You never know exactly what they want or where, but when you find it they tend to keep going and going.

[Hotdog71]

Thanks guys. Lots of great thoughts on this one. Too bad I wont be able to get out till last week of April. But who knows, maybe some things will still work.

[GLF]

Thanks guys. Lots of great thoughts on this one. Too bad I wont be able to get out till last week of April. But who knows, maybe some things will still work.

The above fish was caught during the first week of May. There will be fish in the mud when you get out there.