Lexinton report 4-29-2010

[usmcpaul]

Boated one 9 pounder (without a net because I forgot it) and had 2 knock-offs.

The landed one came on a 5 core Blueberry muffin body bait in about 35 fow, about halfway between Lexington and Sanillac.

Still looking for the elusive Kings. Anyone with some advice on what to look for, or where to try in that area, please feel free to chime in.

[Paulywood]

Good job Paul. I can't help you on the kings but at least your getting out.

[UNREEL27]

Paul,

There are no kings. Brought my boat home last week, for a reason. Lexington tournament tomorrow, I'm guessing 35-40 pounds will win it, all lakers.

Lake Huron is pathetic. Nothing like last year. If there were fish, I would be there, without a doubt. I talked to 3 or 4 guys who prefished today, only a few greasers boated out of all of them, no silver at all, from Lex to Harbor Beach.

[mayvillemark]

Kinda just gives you a warm fuzzy feeling all over buying those licenses and paying the dnr to do nothing dont it!

[GLF]

Nice job Paul. With no baitfish the lake will not support the silver fish.

[garry345]

Caught a King Thursday 13lbs. 1oz. 2 miles north of Port Sanilac on a silver rapala in 25 ft. of water down 6 to 8 ft. They are there.

[Priority1]

Boated one 9 pounder (without a net because I forgot it) and had 2 knock-offs.

The landed one came on a 5 core Blueberry muffin body bait in about 35 fow, about halfway between Lexington and Sanillac.

Still looking for the elusive Kings. Anyone with some advice on what to look for, or where to try in that area, please feel free to chime in.

GJ without a net Paul. What kind of a fish did you boat??

[usmcpaul]

It was Lake Trout.

[UNREEL27]

Caught a King Thursday 13lbs. 1oz. 2 miles north of Port Sanilac on a silver rapala in 25 ft. of water down 6 to 8 ft. They are there.

You have boated king #23 that I have heard caught all year, by about 50 different boats and 4 tournaments, that have been fishing for the last month.

No, they are not there.

Tourney #1- Salmon Stakes Media Tourney....0 kings 14 boats

Tourney #2- Spring Fling.............................2 kings 27 boats

Tourney #3- Salmon Stakes.........................7 kings 128 boats

Tourney #4- Lexington A&A.........................3 kings 29 boats

I'm sure there have been more than 23 kings caught out of Lk Huron so far this year, but those are the ones that I know about, from the guys who fish it daily.

I fished all my good spots for 4 days straight, and 2 the following weekend, never caught a king. Since it is a very short season around here, we are all pretty much in tune as to what goes on out there. If it was worth fishing, I would be there, right now.

[UNREEL27]

Nice job Paul. With no baitfish the lake will not support the silver fish.

Last Year, April 29th 2009 80# box Port Sanilac. Same baitfish then as there is now.

[Priority1]

Lake Huron is not the same as it was 10 years ago. I quit chasing Kings on Lake Huron and switched to Walleye. When one door closes another one opens. Don't concentrate on what's NOT there. Sure there are a few Kings caught on Lake Huron. Some ports on Lake Huron still have a decent Brown,Steel Head, Walleye, and Lake Trout fishery. A few years back there were a ton of guys bitching about the Huron Fishery, the DNR, etc etc. All ya have to do is evolve. I can get whatever fish I want in less than a 3 hr trip. I get my Walleye fix on Lake Huron. I get my King fix on Lake Michigan. There is no need to think negative. Think positive. We are all so fortunate to have these Great Lakes in our back yards. Gotta Luv all Dem Great Lakes.

[Twill23]

I totally agree with you. Lake Huron is lucky enough to have 2 or the top 10 walleye fisheries in the nation with with Saginaw Bay and Thunder Bay. The Lake Trout fishery is absolutely amazing. It's a great starter fishery for younger kids, in my opinion. Yes there is no doubt i do miss the days of screamers but, again only my opinion, its a lot easier to get the younger kids to catch a fish they can reel in all by themselves, and to keep them excited about it, rather than having a king dang near rip the rod out of their hands. I am still extremely excited about Lake Huron fishing, maybe because i live on lake huron. But hey, theres plenty of fish and lots of fun. Its just different than it used to be. Not any average joe can just go out and catch fish anymore, and maybe thats unattractive to some people, but to me i find it very appealing.

[mayvillemark]

Its quite a shame I miss salmon fishing badd!!!

[Priority1]

Its quite a shame I miss salmon fishing badd!!!

Go West young man go West. No need to miss a thing.

The salmon were originally planted to eat the alewives. The alewives were a huge problem mostly on the Lake Michigan beaches. They would die and wash up on shore. It was a stinking mess. I think there always was more alewives in Lake MI than in Lake Huron, and the problem was greater there. I'm not sure if the alewives survive better in Lake MI because of it's deeper water or its more Southern exposure. The zebra mussels and other evasive species have changed a lot of things. It is what it is. I miss the salmon slammin from Lexington to Rogers City. But I can have my boat in Manistee almost as quick as Rogers City. I miss the Lake Huron Salmon fishing, but not too much.

[Twill23]

It seems that a lot of people forget about how each lake goes through periodic cycles. I belive anyone who has fished the west side remembers the kidney disease that nearly killed lake michigan. There are higher number of smelt than there has been in the last several years as well as higher numbers of "blues" or other small shad in lake huron. In the past two years we're getting less and less of the kings who have a larger head than body. The salmon are adjusting and its going to take time. There are lots of fish to be caught if you want to put the time and money into it, but honestly with the lake trout fishery and walleye fishery, who wants to do that?

[UNREEL27]

It seems that a lot of people forget about how each lake goes through periodic cycles. I belive anyone who has fished the west side remembers the kidney disease that nearly killed lake michigan. There are higher number of smelt than there has been in the last several years as well as higher numbers of "blues" or other small shad in lake huron. In the past two years we're getting less and less of the kings who have a larger head than body. The salmon are adjusting and its going to take time. There are lots of fish to be caught if you want to put the time and money into it, but honestly with the lake trout fishery and walleye fishery, who wants to do that?

I didnt spend all that money to catch lake lizards and walleyes....

[Twill23]

you dont have to spend a lot of money to catch either. be thankful for what you have, and remember salmon were introduced to do a job, and with the help of some other contributing factors they have done their job.

[mayvillemark]

There are more smelt in lake Huron now than ever I dont know where you got that info from but its definately wrong and If they were introduced to do a job and everyone liked them around why not try and keep them around it stems back to all the hundreds of invasive species brought in to the great lakes by the shipping industry salmon is the only good thing we ever got out of the deal!

[mayvillemark]

Frank I do head to manistee on occasion but it cost so much money and 3 1/2 hours I could be to port sanilac in one hour or grindstone city in and hour and a half for just a one day fish and drive home. But as someone said I guess you need to adapt

[UNREEL27]

you dont have to spend a lot of money to catch either. be thankful for what you have, and remember salmon were introduced to do a job, and with the help of some other contributing factors they have done their job.

Then go invest $80k into salmon fishing, then watch them disappear. I'm sure your "thankful" attitude would change..

[Twill23]

yes there are more smelt now than in the last several years, you can get this information at your nearest eastside MDNR fisheries office. more than ever? i dont know where you would have read that? sure the alewives invading the lakes is the whole reason we're on this site right now. it was great for us. but if we want to keep these fish around we need to be patient and wait for them to adapt. there is plenty of bait...plenty. and yes, regardless of species i am always going to be extremely thankful for big lake fishing, even after spending over 100 grand into three boats and all the bells and whistles. again i can only encourage people to examine numerical charts of both lakes and notice the very clear trends. but then again we will all be sitting on our couches with our "investment" rendered completely useless if the Asian carp are not stopped.

[Adam Bomb]

No matter where you go on the Great Lakes there is great fishing to be had and thats something to be thankful for.You can look far and wide acrossed this country and you will not find the diverse opportunities we have in our back yard. We truely are blessed to live and fish in such a place.

[Twill23]

Amen!

[usmcpaul]

Trust me guys, I am not happy about the 'no Salmon' thing in Huron...I am not exactly a "the glass is half full" kind of guy. But I am not going to just sit here and bitch, and that was not the intent of my post. I don't have nearly the same amount of money invested as some, however, my new plan is to fish Saginaw bay for walleye most of the time and go west 4 or 5 times a year until it picks up again around here.

I am no expert, however I agree with the "cycle" theory. So for now I will clean Saginaw bay out of walleye and wait for the return of the Kings.

And if that never happens, I will start reloading for my 12 gauge and then start shooting Asian carp....Think about it; It might be kinda fun hanging off your gunwale doing 20 mph, with an auto-loader shooting them as they jump out of the water.

[Paulywood]

Thanks for the mental picture Paul! I laughed out loud picturing it. I think the lesson in this thread is you can't change the past. Adapt and react. Thanks to the crash in the alewife population the walleye fishing on Saginaw Bay is the best it has ever been. And the DNR seems to be trying to get some kind of fishery going on Lake Huron by increasing the plants of steelhead, browns and Atlantics. They are more adaptable to the bait that is available in the lake. I'm lucky in a way, Saginaw Bay is 1 1/2 hours away and Muskegon is 2 hours away. Now I just need to learn how to catch walleye! Good luck and good fishing guys!