Holland Evening 8/10

[zgrinder on Fin Warrior]

Set down between Holland and Port Sheldon about 5:30pm in 170 FOW, flipped Fin Warrior around and trolled east with the waves to set up rods.  Decided on 2 slide divers with spoons (ran them more like standard dipseys because of the attached Smart Troll probe) and one downrigger with a Kevin's Girl Friend (or something similar) meat rig.  Got the two slide divers down and was setting up the meat rig when the slide diver got bit but it was a Lake Trout.  Decided not to net it and release it on the swim platform.  Bad decision.  LT flippin out of control, broke the line and there goes the slide diver bouncing off the platform and into the water.  LT still there with a beautiful spoon still in its mouth and I started to reach down to get it as the fish was flipping around and a moment of clarity struck and said to me, don't do that and I watch the LT flip off the swim platform and away it goes with the lure.  Had another strike on the other slide diver almost immediately after that but it was gone by the time I readied the rod.  Bent treble hook.  So now I have nothin in the water.  Went down below, got a spare slide diver, replacement PK mag foil blue dolphin and fixed that rig.  Replaced the bent treble.  Got those lines back down and then the meat rig . . . . 30 minutes later.  That was wasted time on the water.  However, the repaired slide diver blue dolphin lit up again at 7:10pm in 143FOW and boated an 11lb king on a west troll.  Got that back down and headed NE.  Nothing on that pass all the way in to 100FOW.  Dropped the meat rig with the 11 Pro-Troll flasher (a magnet to any other line in the spread) down to 70' to avoid tangles and made a hard 180 degree turn to a SW troll.  Before I could reposition the meat rig down rigger it went off on a nice strong run.  Started fighting that for a minute and the slide diver blue dolphin goes off again.  Decided to holster the meat rig and large flasher and deal with the slide diver.  Had a really good fight going on then pop goes the line and I donate another slide diver and PK mag blue dolphin spoon.  The break was above the knot so not sure how that happened but the Smart Troll probe was still there.  I pulled the other slide diver, cranked down the trolling valves and reeled in the meat rig.  King weighed in at 14lbs.  The sun was still just above the horizon but since I had all the lines up and a broken set up, I decided to forgo the dusk bite and call it a night.  Finished the evening 3 for 6, minus to set ups.

 

 

[numberguy77]

Thanks for the report and the detailed spreadsheet with results.  I like that.

I plan to give GH a try Friday night.  Weekend looks like a blow.

[2MD]

yes - very good report and nice job!

I went with a couple guys last night as well on a different boat and we good SKUNKED - fishing can be humbling like that

we trolled mainly outside 200fow and lost 6 rips - everything that could've gone wrong did... 

[lil' fibber]

Sorry bout ur luck but good reporting. Don’t know how you keep such good records when you’re doing all that!  Best of luck next time. 

[Rockin' Randy]

Great report. Sounds like one of my fiascos. Do you do that spread sheet on your phone, or computer? Or is it some kind of app? Just wondering. Nice details.

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[zgrinder on Fin Warrior]

Regarding the spreadsheet.  This is the innovation of MegaByte on this site.  Please thank him!  I looked at what he was publishing and jumped on board.  My spreadsheets may be slightly different but the sole purpose is to share info.  

How I record:  I have a paper copy on a clip board setting on my map compartment.  The original owner of my Rampage installed a Depth Raider and a secondary Furuno autopilot display on the back of the Starboard storage compartment right above the bait station.  This was so smart and I am the lucky beneficiary of this original install decision.  Therefore, when I hook up, I glance at these displays as well as the depth displayed at the helm and hope I can remember all the data after boating the fish.  When I fish alone this is frankly a bit easier.  When I have guests it depends.  If they are boat salts, no worries.  If I am educating the entire float, that makes it tough.

And when I put a post on the site, I retype the info into my blank Excel file and then do a Snip-It copy in my post.  It is a bit more work but my lap top does not smell fishy 

Cheers!

 

[Rockin' Randy]

Cool. I recall Megabite doing something similar. The clipboard sounds like a great idea. I like the latitude/depth idea for location rather than longitude. I may have to print some blank sheets out and give it a try. Through there years I've started several little notebooks for salmon, ice fishing, etc, and they always seem to get misplaced. Thanks for the tips.

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