Few questions for some of you more experienced salmon trollers.
Going to fish lake michigan early June so planning on trolling flys behind dodgers. And. Some spoons on dipsy divers and down riggers.
Whatever are some of the better colored spoons? How deep would you drop the down riggers etc. Any help to point in the right direction to get started would be appreciated.
Thanks
Corey
I would keep an eye on http://www.glangler.com for recent info come time for your trip. Your questions are all dependent on
1. port you choose
2. Water temp
Action starts on the south end of the lake and moves north as water temp increases.
You may also want to watch some Salmon Showdown on youtube, vimeo or carbon tv. all are available online.
What port are you planning to fish from? Location, the weather patterns leading up to June, and water temp will be determining factors for color, depth, presentation.
As often as I don’t like the site… the Lake Michigan threads are very well reported on from some quality individuals that share a ton of great information.
Lake-link.com
If it was me, I’d go back and look at past year’s threads and you’ll find a ton of info… but as Mark said, it can change very quickly based on wind and temp patterns. As a rookie in my second year, last year was almost easy to feel like a hero out of Milwaukee, unlike folks on the east shore that suffered all season from what I’ve read. That is the polar opposite of the season before.
I had a great run right into June will all lead core and a simple mix of spoons. Even late, we were killing the coho bite just under the surface.
Hey thanx guys. Last year was first year taking my own boat. We chartered a boat first day and then went and bought gear for next couple days.
Used to go out every year charter a boat around second week of June out of Port washington. And always done good.
We used to pick up a bonus King or 2 on the down riggers. But never paid attention to how deep they ran them.
I just ordered down riggers. And never ran them so that will be interesting learning a new tool.
My guess is dropping 30 feet of line or so. And try keep lines reasonably short.
Do you guys run different flys or colors spoons for the kings. Or maybe have a goto lure you always start with.
Again thanx. Your comments are appreciated
Every guy will give you a different answer, but June is a transition period for me; transitioning from being focused on coho and steelhead to becoming focused mainly on kings and steel head. That being the case, I start the day with a tight spread of flasher/flies on the down riggers and dipsies, and some spoons spread out on various leadcore lengths. The lead core will have some spoons shallow with some form of orange coloring for any remaining coho and the early morning steelhead and the deeper leadcore will be green, blue, or purple versions of spoons. Usually 1,2,3,4,5 colors early, longer lines as the sun comes up. Glow spoons in the dark. Depths of riggers and dipsies depend on water temperature breaks and fish location in the water column.
Do as Chuck suggests and keep track of the reports from various sights to find out what depths and colors have been productive. Be prepared to work- if a line or lines are dead, keep changing it up to find the hot set-up for you; but remember a hot bait may be hot because of what you have running next to it!Every boat fishes differently, so the possibilities are endless.
Some solid advice from the guys here. My biggest suggestion would be to get yourself a set of wire dipsys. You can spend a lot or a little getting them setup, but something about that wire flat out catches fish!
It will be interesting to see what the big pond gives us this year…. Every year is different out there, but last year was shockingly good. Things may start a little earlier this year with the seemingly early spring, but who knows. As suggested, keep your eye on the reports from LL and gangler. Bunch of solid guys on there, and for the most part, were not trying to keep any secrets. It’s a big body of water and there’s strength in numbers so to speak. If you have specific questions down the road, feel free to PM me. Im out there a lot during the summer.
Have fun out there and most of all be safe! Lake Michigan can turn ugly quick and no salmonoid is worth your life.
Is it just me, or do the Kings run the opposite direction as the Coho? It seems I heard great reports of BIG Kings starting in Door County and then as the summer wore on, they seemed to travel down the lake towards Milwaukee. Is that the usual run for the Kings? Coho head north and Kings head south?
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