Manistee Report.

[Priority1]

Roger69 from this site and I fished Manistee from Wed till Fri. AM. We had a great time fishing although it wasn't my most productive trip there. We both brought home a good load of salmon for the smoker.

The trip started off by me forgetting my new leadcore setups. Yes I know I'm a dummy. My Dipsy setups, that were hot last yr, only took a couple of hits with no fish in the box from them. Riggers did fine. Our most productive bait was a white ladder back J plug that I super glowed myself. To add to the problem of not bringing my leadcore rods, we broke 3 rods on this trip. I fell on one rod in the riggers holder when the boat was hit by a four footer. Another broke while I was netting a fish. I was just commenting on how I never broke 2 rods in a trip before, when I notice another rod with a crack in it. 3 fricken rods broke. Stay tuned this gets better. I did bring along two extra rods, and 2 brand new LC reels, that were in the cabin as standbys. We were fishing with 10 rods, that were in the rocket launcher and other holders.

Priority1 (The Boat) is limping a little, but she will be OK with another $100 donation from her generous owner. The voltage regulator went haywire, and was putting out way too much voltage on and off throughout this trip. When it would go into high voltage mode the alternator would make a screeching sound that I'm sure must have acted as a fish call (NOT). Due to it's age I'm replacing the alternator and not just it's internal regulator. But wait there's more.

After dark Thursday I hook into a nice King. No problem so far, as the Priority1 has some nice lights shining down on the fish area. With rod in one hand I hit the up switch to bring that ball up and swing the Port out and down rigger back to make a little room. All of a sudden I notice the cable spooling out. I checked the clutch only to find that the clutch rod was broken and the nob and rod came out in my hand. I called Roger off the wheel and he quickly grabbed the cable and wrapped it around a rod holder. I proceed fighting the King and after all this Roger skillfully scoops this fish up in the net. Now the fun begins. I have to inch aprox. 150 ft of rigger cable up by palming the riggers wheel with one hand and using the other hand as a brake. after one heck of a long time I get my ball and release into the boat. But wait there is more. During all this trouble we did manage to break off a Dipsy along with a flasher and squid. I have NEVER had a trip with so many things line up against me. Yes I will go back:). My riggers like the boat are 21 yrs old. I'm going to contact Cannon for the part, and check my other riggers also.

Our best depth was 80-100 FOW with riggers set @ 50-55. We fished in the 10s just S. of the nets where I had a few way points from last yr. The nets covered up a few of my way points. To get around the nets, we stayed less than 50 FOW or more than 200 FOW. The nets are a PITA but don't let that stop you from fishing Manistee. The fishing there will only get better through August and early Sept. It does make it tougher, but you can fish Manistee even in the dark, if you have the net coordinates. There should be a limit to the number of nets placed in an area.

[GLF]

In a way, you can say this was your shake down trip for salmon. Are you going to have it back together before the Stinger Challenge? Get any BIG ones? Any pictures?

[Priority1]

I had my digital camera along, but I never took a picture. All our fish were in the 6 to 15 pound range. I probably would have taken several pics but I was busy trying to deal with the extras that were tossed in the game.

Yes I'll fish the Stinger. I will have the Alternator done this week, and hopefully the rigger as well.

I was going to sell some rods and reels this Winter. After this trip, I think I'll keep all these rods as spares. I may sell some reels. I was all setup for downrigger fishing when I bought this boat that was also set up. I may be able to repair one of the broken rods, and I'll keep the other broken ones for parts. We broke one rod last year, but I was able to shorten it 6 inches, near the female joint, and make it functional again. I never looked that close at any of the breaks, and may be able to repair all of them. I do a lot of tinkering during the Winter.

[DIRTY DOG]

WOW frank that sound like a frusterateing but eventful trip sorry for all the problems

[Satisfaxion_Gauranteed]

I've had a day like that this year. It's good that it didn't ruin your fishing though!

[huntingfool43]

OUCH!

At least you did boat some fish and made the best of it. Trips like that could make a guy take up a new hobby. If you are lucky, you got all the bad stuff out of the way and can enjoy the rest of the summer with no more trouble like that.

[JWheeler]

Well, some of your gear may not have faired so well, but @ least you brought back some meat for the smoker. I don't know if you saw me on 55, I waved @ you as you passed by me heading home. I fished this weekend too in manistee, and we couldn't get anything going. few hits, one landed. I don't know, I would rather have all those problems and still catch fish, then not catch fish at all. Glad to hear you did well.

Good Luck...

[Priority1]

I didn't notice you on 55 Jason. I was pooped. LOL It wasn't my most productive trip there, but I think the noise my boat was making half of the time, could have been spooking the fish. I just put the smoked fish in the refrigerator. It will taste better after aging a day in the frig. I wish you would have gotten into some fish. Manistee will heat up in another week.

[Indybleck]

Frank all I can say is WOW. You had enough problems to last a lifetime on that trip. On the bright side it can only get better. Good Luck I know Manistee is a hot port I used to fish it a lot when I lived in Kazoo.