Lake Michigan/Milwaukee

made it out yesterday afternoon for a few hours, relying on the weathermans report of NW winds, 10 to 15 knots….well, he was partly right; they were NW, but 15 to 22 knots. Not the smoothest ride in my meager 17 ftr. We launched out of Bender, planning to try the perch bite for a couple hours, before trolling for the big boys. So we headed over to the Boils, and tried anchoring along with a few other boats, but couldnt hold due to the winds. So motored over to the Power Plant, and tried a few spots for perch…saw a bunch of them in 10 fow, right along the rocks, but the little buggers wouldnt bite..not crawlers, not fatheads, and not artificials, so off trolling we went. got our first and only fish in 5o fow on a dipsey/spoon, a nice 10 lb. king shown here, and that was it. Pretty much just trolled with the wind to keep it relatively smooth…no other hits. No other boats trolling the bender area.

Hey, appreciate the report. Thanks!!

Out again on friday afternoon with Diesel to see if we could continue our roll of good outings, and we are now 5 for 5, as we kicked off our 2006 Adventures. Started out with the odds against us, with N/NE winds at 15 knots, coming off a small craft advisory that ended in the morning. So needless to say, the big Pond was stirred up pretty good…..but did that stop us….Noooooooo. Launched at 2:30 at McKinley, and motored out slowly into the 3 to 4 foot swells with chop added from every direction…..(No green gremlins to describe how one of the crew were feeling).set up for the troll into the wind at 70 fow, and pretty much washed spoons all afternoon to 120 fow and back, except for an 8 lb. king that hit on our way out in 90 fow. Then just after at 6pm, the action picked up ,just as I was describing to Diesel that “magical hour” that James Holst coined (I think) to describe the late bite at Red Wing experienced out there. schools of bait fish started appearing in waters that were previously devoid of any signs of life.The schools grew larger and more frequent on my Lowrance 334C screen (which worked flawlessly, by the way, for this first trip after getting it back from Lowrance), and the arches of predator fish started showing up around the bait fish….a classic example and fun to watch in living color. But the best was yet to come…..we started getting some fish, and ended up 4 for 5 with 3 kings, 8 to 15 or so lbs, and a nice steelie at about 6 (Diesel says much bigger, just cuz he caught it ), plus a 12 inch chin-shaker that was on one of the downriggers unbeknowst to us till we cleared lines. Lost a monster at the end, that came unhooked after a 10 minute battle, and callled it quits at 9pm, as we had already cleared most lines to make room for the big one. Spoons took all, except for the 15 lbr., that gobbled a j-plug. Dipseys, downrigger, and 3-color lead took the fish, all in 60 to 70 fow, except for the first chin. Off the towers…..I’ve seen this type of late evening bite before in this area, and would expect more of the same till conditions change drastically, so would be a pretty good bet for those inclined to fish till the sun goes down. Unfortunately, that doesn’t include me for a few days due to family schedule….not until later next week anyway. Pics to be posted later, including the lit-up screen full of bait fish/marks if its clear enough..

…and now for the pics….3 on the hickory stick, before the 15 lbrs….

…and the 15 lbrs. in the cooler….kind-of.

Well, as Z-man stated another great outing for us. The string of good luck continues even though I was a little bit green from the swells. Z-man handled the boat perfectly and I handled my stomach just as well. No dirty boat on my part .

Seriously, a great time was had on the lake with Ed again. It was amazing to go from no fish to the “magic hour(s).” I have the bruises from the rod butt to show that getting a chin or a fired up steelie in the boat is a blast. No whinning on this trip about not being able to get a crank turn on a fish. . Although I almost told Z that “we need a bigger boat” when that hot last fish decided that he/she wasn’t coming in easy.

Thanks Ed Zyga for a great outing. Got the fish fillets all bagged and ready for Christmas gift . Smoker is ready and so is the grill.

Derek

Diesel…but 2 questions still ramain….

1. did you talk your honey into a bigger boat after showing her the shots of the swells, for your own safety of course, and

2. did she help you clean those fish?? (If she did, does she have any sisters)

Answer #1

She liked the pics I took of your rig and it is going to be a slow process of watering that new boat seed I planted. After I told her about the boat fund I wanted to start she hit me with “well I want a travel fund for vacation.” I said we can to both. She doesn’t know which one is priority though

#2

Nope, She doesn’t clean fish and I would not let her anyway. She can be dangerous with knives. Not to me but to herself. She has a tendency to cut herself pretty often.

She didn’t believe I had to do a Chin wrap around in the cooler to get the 15 pounder in so I had to show her and her girlfriend.

Her comment “sure beats those little 16 inch walleyes ” and “when are you grilling and smoking those babies “.

Gotta love her

D

Well, with all this rain, I might try to get over to the Rock for some of those “little 16 inch walleye”. Have had decent action there last time or two after heavy rains.

Out yesterday afternoon out of McKinley, from about 2 till 9, and it was slow. Started out getting banged by a 7 lb. bow just after setting my second rod, and thought it was going to be a busy afternoon…..well, it was busy, swatting flies, but the fish didnt cooperate that well. got a nice 15 lb. chin at 7 pm, and a couple drive-bys afterwards, but that was it. bow caught in 95 fow, and chin in 75 or so, both on dipsey/spoons. Seemed like the boats out deeper in evening had a bit more action, from the sounds of the chatter on the radio. Emptied out the freezer yesterday to smoke the bounty today…good eatin’ coming up for us and some lucky friends.

Well, it’s been a good week, and I got to go fishing yesterdayagain, though unexpectedly this time. A buddy called me up at work in the AM and invited me to join him on the Big Pond in the late afternoon. So after about a half second of debating, I agreed to go. My dear wife delivered my broken-in fishing clothes from the day before, and the bud picked me up at work at 3pm, and off we went. Launched at McKinley and had 6 lines in the water by 4:30, shooting straight out east from the north gap to 90 fow, and started trolling towards the N/NW, dragging a little of everything. About 30 minutes into it, the dipsey rod with flasher/spoon that I happpened to be sitting by started screaming, with drag coming out like there was no tomorrow. Tried to slow the spool down with my thumb, but there was no stopping that fish, as my thumb heated up PDQ, so let off on the spool. As the spool was close to being empty, the line snapped, and my buddy informed me that it was a rod he was recently given that hasnt had a line change for probably years…OUCH! …the big one got away again. The first fish boated was a 7 lb. bow that came 30 minutes later, and hit a spoon on downrigger, 45 feet down in 95 fow. But the action really picked up at 7:30 pm, and we proceeded to boat 5 more fish, a 8 lb bow, 10 lb chin, 14 lb, chin, 18 lb. chin, lost another dandy that got unhooked after 5 minutes during a double, and 3 drive-bys. Had a spell between 8:30 and 9:00 that put 2 in the box, and had 2 of the drive-bys. And , as we had most of the rods out of the water at 9, we called it quits. 2 Fish came on 7-color lead, 2 on dipsey/flasher/spoon, and 2 on downrigger..one on spoon and the 18 lbr. on a j-plug. So no clear favorite on this outing, as the fish seemed to gobble up everything we presented. All fish caught between 80 and 95 fow, and no hits in shallower, as we did venture into 55 fow, and back out. Won’t be out again till next weekend, as gotta do some work travel this coming week.

Hit the water at 4:15 am this morning, with great expectations, but the early bite did not pan out this time. Set up in 50 fow off the filter, , and trolled NE but nothing except a drive-by. First fish came at 6 am, a nice 13 lb. chin on downrigger/spoon in 80 fow. Picked away at 2 more by 9:30, both on downrigger, in 110 to 120 fow range, 75 feet down, and that was it…no hits, no runs, and no errors after that. Those early trips usually treat me well, especially the first hour or two….can’t win ’em all I guess. My buddy stayed in the 60 to 80 foot range, and ended up 7 for 10 by 9 am, with biggest at 10 lbs., mix of coho and chin. Should have followed his wake.

See if you were sea sick you would have caught more fish.

Well, may have to try that tactic this afternoon. From the looks of the trees in the yard a few minutes ago as I was loading the boat, I think the marine conditions report is wrong again…waves one to two feet…baloney. but my two guests are crusty ole guys, so I think they’ll do OK…we’ll see. One of them is the neighbor who got me hooked on the Big Pond about 17 years ago, so the least he could do is chum a bit to get the fish going. stay tuned for report tomorrow.