Lake Michigan Charters Wisconsin Rigging For Success Article #19
By Capt. Jim Hirt 
In three months we will be out on Lake Michigan. Now is the time to think about changes to make your trips more productive next season. There are many ways to go on this subject. Over the next several articles I will try to cover topics like rigging, tackle and presentation. My goal is to provide information, which should lead to more fish and less slow fishing.
In the last article we covered Leadcore rigging and presentation. Let us continue with rigging. The top fishermen know that when the action stops or never starts its time to spread the tackle and work all the different types of fish. If this sounds strange, you may not have considered that each species of fish likes different lures, presentations and temperatures. When I go out on any trip I start with what I believe is the hot set up based on the last trip. This works most of the time but when it doesn’t I spread my tackle out to cover all the types of fish. I usually fish 100 feet of water or more because most days all five types of fish are there. This gives me the most possible opportunities to produce fish. Deep water on summer days holds temperature changes from top to bottom creating the correct conditions for all Lake Michigan game fish. There are also some fish that do not hold very often in less than 100 feet of water. When talking to other fishermen they tell me they have never caught a Rainbow or a Lake Trout. This is because they do not fish all potential depths in deep water. As a general rule Rainbows like the warm surface water and Lakers prefer the cold bottom in 100 feet or more.
When I spread tackle out, I run a mix of different lures doing what I call mini sets. This is what I might do in a summer presentation. I split up my rods into three mini sets. On the deepest lines in the coldest water I fish for Lake trout. All the deep lines are matched for speed, color and preference of the target. This is a good time to talk about color as it relates to the amount of light. You may or may not remember learning the colors of the rainbow in school. The colors are remembered by this acronym “ROY G BIV”. These letters mean red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Most of the time I run lure colors of red, orange, or yellow when that lure is presented in the portion of the water column with the most light. The other end of the rainbow blue, indigo and violet are used in darker or low light situations. You may ask what about silver and white? I consider these as neutral or they will work in any type of light. All the other colors fall into either bright or dark. Bright lures are used in bright light conditions dark lures in low light. Now let’s get back to setting our deep lines. Go with colors for low light that work well at a speed you intend to run and in the size of the baitfish. Medium to large spoons, Opti-dodgers with flies, or spin-n-glows and lake trolls work most days. Look for temps below 48 degrees for Lake Trout. The next mini set will run in water above the deep lines. Fish the 48-58 degree water spreading the lines to run about every ten feet of depth. Here we are looking for Chinooks and Coho salmon. I like a mix of opti-dodgers, flashers and flies with a long lead spoon or two. The balance of my lines will run in 59 degrees or warmer water looking for rainbows and browns. Depending on how much warm water you have to work with you can cover it with long lines, diving planers and lead core. The mini set in the warmest water with plenty of light should have the lures with fastest action and brightest colors. When the fishing gets tough spread out your presentation and go deep. Good Luck Captain Jim. Let’s go fishing!! Jim charters out of Milwaukee, WI. With Blue Max Charters He can be reached at 414-828-1094 or visit his web site at http://www.bluemaxcharters.com