Newbies first trip

[Adam Bomb]

Well, Lake Michigan has been aweful good to me this year. Most trips have resulted in limits or at least a respectable catch. As i thought after all this wind the fishing was challenging. We fished Sunday evening and Monday morning and struggled both days. Water was all mixed up and the fish are extremely scattered. I covered allot of water and never found any concentrations of fish other than in shallow water and i could not get them to go. Was really hoping for another trip of seeing red as i had my 12 yr old cousin Will with me and this was his first salmon excursion ever. Despite the sub par fishing he had a great time battling fish that "man they pull hard". Needless to say i think another person has caught the sickness.:cool:

Anyhow, fished Sunday evening. Started at the Bath house in about 250' and worked our way north west to the nets. Hit a few fish from 277-307' just south of the stick. Had 4 bites and 2 fish in the same hundred yard section. Two runs through and they were gone. We never caught up with them again until closer to dark. They had slid just east into about 250'. Had a small spot that we had three quick hits and boated two. Never had another bite the rest of the night. Worked our way in to about 120' and never really found anything.

Low wire-#1 dipsey w/mag ring 1 1/2 back 250' w/Holographic Mnt Dew/glow blade SD w/Bloody nose fly; 160' back w/Dbl. Crush Glow SD w/Glow Green Chaos fly

High Braid-#1 dipsey w/mag ring 3 1/2 back 265' w/blue dolphin SD w/Blue Chaos fly, also 200' back w/Ace High Glow wonder bread

Riggers

110 Mag Moonshine Carbon 14

95 Daisy Cutter

Sunday, we woke up at 3 am and got things ready. It was dead still at the motel. Hooked on the boat and headed to the launch. When we pulled into the Loomis street ramp the flag was standing strait out outta the SW. WTH!!! (supposed to be 1' or less) So, we put the boat in knowing its wasnt going to be all peaches and cream. And sure as chit it wasnt. So, we ran strait out to the north side of the dumping grounds and set up in about 65' and put it on an northerly troll with the waves. Trolled all the way to the bathhouse before hitting our first fish. Put that one in the boat and as i was taking it outta the net the low diver got absolutely crushed....Tripped the dipsey, but nobody home. Then nothing for quite awhile. So, i put on an 11" Fish Catcher with a meatless teaser that i tied up. Wasnt long and it took a hit, but didnt hook up. Then nothing again. We worked our way up past the stick and finally turned around in the high 06's and headed back into the waves...What a treat that was....After awhile i was changing things up and brought up my fish catcher from 150' down up to 100'. As soon as i did a fish hit it and we boxed a FAT little king...Thing looked brownesk with its profile! Beforehand i was setting out a high diver when the fish hit on the rigger. So i tightened it up and then shut the low diver off a short distance out. Well Dad had to leave the wheel to net the fish and when he did the boat kicked sideways and the high diver/spinny got into my low. Well needless to say it wrapped up 10 million times and i was able to free everything, but not without the expense of 187' of wire! I couldnt break it in my hand, but i could tell that it was tweaked pretty good and itd only be a matter of time before it failed. A little while later the dipsey took a shot and nobody home! Just as we got south of the Stick we had another dipsey shot and hooked up. I could tell it was a decent fish, but not a giant. Will worked the fish great, but it came in too easily. Got to the boat and it was still VERY green. Its slashed back and forth acrossed the transom missing one rigger rod and got into one rigger line momentarily. I quickly grabbed the rod, stuck the tip in the water to clear the fish of it, returned it to the holder and then the fish shot like a lazer thru the prop wash and rammed right into the transom with a loud THUD! The line was tight going under the boat in the area of the trim tab. I figured it has snagged and the fish had broken everything off. I look over the transom and under our mini swim platform to see the fish is trailing the boat like a torpedo in tow with the line wrapped on the tansducer bracket. So, reach down and put the death grip on it. Got my hand in the gills good and was praying for no hooks. It was pretty dosile, but finally made a thrash and in turn he ended up upside down. I was unable to free him as the head was tight to the transducer and i just couldnt get a hold of it. So, i grabbed it by the tail and hoisted it up. Dont know why, but it worked fairly well. Only problem was that i ran outta room because the line was still bound on the transducer bracket. So here i am tail in hand, half the fish in the boat and half out. So, I hollered for Will to grab the pliers. With a death grip on that fish's tail i unhooked it and tossed it in the boat!!!! Talk about working for your fish! Ended the morning 3-3 and two other hits that didnt hook up. We checked the forcast and its supposed to be SW 15-20 w/gusts to 25 amd 4-6'ers tomorrow, so we opted to cut our trip short and head for home. Couldnt see paying the big money for the hotel if we probably wouldnt be on the lake.

Rigger

100' down w/11" Dbl Crush Glow Fishcatch and 18" Glow blue chaos meatless teaser

High diver 265 and 230' back. NBK SD w/Green Mirage Fly and Ace High Glow Wonderbread plug

So, overall the trip didnt go as id hoped numbers wise, but it was a succsess none the less. Little guy had a ball. We wanted to run out farther, but with the conditions we opted to fish closer in. And after i get home i read a report from a charter and they smacked em last night just south of where we wanted to go...CRAP!!! But, that was a long haul and would not have been a fun ride this morning. Damned if ya do, damned if ya dont..Thats fishin'.

[Nailer]

Adam, the smile on that boy's face tells it all. Nice work out the. Nice story also.

[ALLEYES]

That's quite the story bomber ! Glad Will could land something that tugs a little ! Looks like this coming weekend will be a blowout too.

[mattmishler]

nice job adam seen you put in we fished south and got one real hog

[GLF]

Nice job Adam. It only takes one to get someone hooked. Nice job on the hand net job.

[fishsniffer2]

Nice job Adam

[A-Fishy-Anado]

Great report!

[Priority1]

GJ introducing our sport to a youngster.

[EdB]

Nice job pulling that one out of the transducer. Great to see another new angler join the sport!

[JWheeler]

Look at the picture with Will kneeling over those 4 at night. Looks like he's thinking "man this is the cats meow". Next time he'll be jumping all over those rods, saying "let the big dog eat, woof"

[Just Hook'n]

Nice work getting another one hooked.

[DIRTY DOG]

great job adam , it's alway's fun getting the young one into the addictoin.

[Adam Bomb]

Thanks guys. Been trying to get him over there the last few years, but things just havent worked out. And for this trip it finally came together. It was definitely a great feeling to see him enjoy fighting a salmon the way he was. Reminds me of my first salmon years ago in Alpena. We introduced him to hunting and fishing when his mother married my Uncle and he has really taken to it. In the summers he fishes nearly everyday at LBM, enjoys trolling walleye on the bay and is starting to get a pretty good touch when it comes to icing walleye in the winter. Now he can add salmon to his repertoire. I get more enjoyment outta watching him catch fish than i do myself. Like you guys said, that smile tells the tale. He really loves this stuff....Wont be long until early goose and the youth waterfowl hunt...Cant wait!