Advice needed for fishing out of Holland

[usmcpaul]

Hey guys. I am going to be making a trip out your way (west)this Thursday if the weather holds and I need a little help or advice for fishing out of Holland. Sorry for the laundry list, but it's 3.5 hours away and I probably wont get to go out there very often so I need a little help to try and make this trip count.

1. Where would you all try first? I am thinking of heading out straight west to 70 fow and then dropping lines and trolling out deeper?

2. Is there a DNR launch and where is it? If not then where is a good place to launch from? (Edit: it looks like there is one in Holland state park, is this true?)

3. We have 3 guys going so I am planning on running 6 in-lines with lead-core and spoons, then 3 down riggers with spoons. I have about 5 j-plugs and one small dipsy all of which I have never used. I might try them?

4. Does anyone ever use body-baits like Bomber Long A's or Reef Runners? I have a bunch of them.

5. Any super hot colors that are a must have? I have green and blue dolphins, monkey pukes, kervorkians, Micheal Jackson's, and a bunch more that I don't know the names of.

6. I plan on starting out trolling at 2.5 mph at the ball?

7. Any nets to be cautious of, and are they marked well?

On my 74 Slickcraft, I have an older, but good working GPS, a good working VHF radio, an old sh11ty Lowrance X70a (that has about 7 working pixels:thumb:), a new Cannon Speed and Temp probe and 2 new Beefy bags to slow my troll if needed.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Paulywood]

As far as where to start, 70' sounds good but there should be some reports by then that will help you narrow down your start. And I usually run either northwest or southwest. Then when you hit fish turn and run parallel to the shore. The DNR launch is over by the State Park. They have a great new fish cleaning station there. Inlines and riggers are good, if you get time later you can try running the dipsey. Start with what you are comfortable with. If you have some flasher and fly combos don't be afraid to run them. I caught a steelie on a 3 color with an F18 Purpledescent Rapala saturday. We were trying to target steelies in the top of the water column after the sun came up. Last weekend there was no pattern that I could find, almost everything we ran went. I was trolling 2.7-2.9 SOG last weekend. There are no nets. Be careful if you plan on going out in the dark. If you have a chip in your GPS it will help you get across Lake Mac to the channel. There is a large No Wake area in front of the launch and the channel entrance, make sure you obey this when coming back in. The channel entrance is kind of around the corner and can be a little confusing in the dark if you are not familiar with it. There are a bunch of guys on here that fish Holland regularly and can be more help than I am. Good luck!

[usmcpaul]

The DNR launch is over by the State Park. They have a great new fish cleaning station there. ....... If you have a chip in your GPS it will help you get across Lake Mac to the channel. T

Thanks Nick, I thought the DNR launch was in the state park? So I guess I am wrong. So is it by Parkside Marina? I only have google maps to go by, and they only show Parkside on the north side, and do not show a DNR launch. Is it on the south side? I do not have a chip for that area.

[plumkrazy]

no that one is no longer the there is one righrt before the yacht basin marina just go to there web sight yacht basin.com

[usmcpaul]

Ok, I think I finally found it on google maps. It is on the north side of the lake.

Any thoughts about my fishing plan or suggestions on changes to the program?

[plumkrazy]

i will be out thursday also willl be on 68 an boat name is plumkrazy

[Paulywood]

I think you have a pretty good plan. The lake is supposed to be calmer tomorrow so hopefully you'll get a few reports to help you out. Good luck!

[jimbobber]

Paul,I fish holland a lot and would suggest you go south look for the big sand dunes and start in front of them they are called the sliders. I would probably start in 60 to 70 fow and troll out on a sw troll till you hit fish then troll south if he currents are rite for it.Are you going to be out all day and eve? I will be out in the eve. Call phil on the plum crazy he will point you to fish for sure! Good luck hope your trip goes well. Jimbobber

[jimbobber]

Also A hot color for us has been a glow fire dog jp slammer it is like a bloody nose pattern only glow,moonshine has one to caled a dalmation glow i think. hope this helps jimmy

[usmcpaul]

Also A hot color for us has been a glow fire dog jp slammer it is like a bloody nose pattern only glow,moonshine has one to caled a dalmation glow i think. hope this helps jimmy

Paul,I fish holland a lot and would suggest you go south look for the big sand dunes and start in front of them they are called the sliders. I would probably start in 60 to 70 fow and troll out on a sw troll till you hit fish then troll south if he currents are rite for it.Are you going to be out all day and eve? I will be out in the eve. Call phil on the plum crazy he will point you to fish for sure! Good luck hope your trip goes well. Jimbobber

Jim about how far south are these sand dunes? We are leaving here at 0200 cause we want to have the line in the water at sunrise, so I don't think I have enough stamina to make it into the evening.

I will go out and get a few of those spoons today.

I will definitely call out to Phil, although I don't have a name for the boat yet, maybe Lord Vader??????

[Paulywood]

The dunes start just south of the harbor, if you head out southwest you will be in front of the first one by the time you get rods set.

[usmcpaul]

I am headed out to pick up a few spoons in a few hours, so do you all suggest Mags, or regulars? I have quite a few regulars but only a few Mags.

[plumkrazy]

you wont find jp slammer unless you are in holland they are only in a couple of stores here

[usmcpaul]

I suppose I will have to go with the Moonshine then, because I doubt I will be able to find anything open when I roll through.

Any thoughts on size?

[Paulywood]

We caught more fish on Mags than standard last weekend, but caught them on both. Good colors for us were Mag Polish Blue Dolphin (Yeck), Fireball w/ earrings (Yeck), Mag Caramel Dolphin (Dreamweaver), Mag Jerry Lee (Silver Streak), and a silver/green Mag Dreamweaver. But pretty much everything we put down took a hit.

[usmcpaul]

Thanks. I went put and got a couple glow Bloody nose's in reg and Mag and a couple of Mag Monkey pukes.

[steeliebob]

Let us know how you do. It sounds like you cannot miss down there and it really does not matter what you use for lures or flies. There has to be fish down in that area because the DNRE fisheries trucks back up like a presidential motorcade to release the fingerlings.

[Nailer]

Let us know how you do. It sounds like you cannot miss down there and it really does not matter what you use for lures or flies. There has to be fish down in that area because the DNRE fisheries trucks back up like a presidential motorcade to release the fingerlings.

Get your boat over to Detour right now. The fish are stacked in there heavy.