Fishing Reports, Tips & Discussions

Salmon and Trout 8-20-10 thru 9-2-10

I have been fishing just about everyday I just have been slacking on the reports.  Fishing slowed down after the hard North winds last week.  Its still been good though.  Where I was fishing a couple weeks ago is still very good but the average fish size has really went down.  We have been catching alot of small kings (1-3 lbs) with a few bigger fish mixed in.  I got tired of catching small fish and changed my location in the last few days.  It has worked out much better for quality fish.  We have had to deal with some bad conditions the last few days which made things tough.  The best depth of water has been 45-50 ft of water.  Spoons have been the best.  Dreamweaver Mag Natural Born Killer has been good for kings.  Dreamweaver Super Slim Mixed Veggies has been the best for the steelies.

Salmon and Trout madness 8-19-10

It's still on fire!!!!!  20 fish in the boat by 11:20 A.M.  Just great fishing.  Same stuff as yesterday.  Spoons have been the best.  Dreamweaver Super slim mixed veggies has been the best.  We also caught our biggest fish today on a chrome mixed veggies spindoctor with a rapture fly farmers market fly.   This was a new combo for me but it worked very well today and yesterday.    We ended up with 9 steelies (biggest just under 15lbs), 2 big kings (14lbs and 16lbs), 1 big laker, and 8 smaller kings.  Just great fishing, nonstop action.  Great job guys!!!!!

Steelhead and Perch 8-14-10 thru 8-18-10

Perch fishing has still been hit or miss.  On the 14th we did very well on 17th we did terrible.  Its just hard to figure out what to do.  The fish are around but getting them to bite has been tough.

Salmon and Trout fishing has been hot!  We fished today and caught 14 steelhead, 2 cohos, 3 kings, and 1 laker.  It was great we had 20 fish in the boat by 11:30.  We also lost about 12-15 fish!!!  Best action has been on spoons.  Best depth of water was 55-70 ft of water.  With good weather this will continue!!

Oh ya I forgot to tell you we landed all these fish with NO NET!!!  The net had a accident this morning and we made due without it.  We never lost 1 fish because we didn't have a net.  I hand landed every fish.  This was a challenge to say the least.  Great job boys.

Steelhead MANIA!! and perch 8-9-10 thru 8-13-10

I have been out almost everyday this week and fishing has been great.  Perch have been ok but a little hit or miss.  We did limit out on the 12th.  The real story here is all the steelhead trout we have caught this week.  I found an area thats holding a very good amount of fish.  We have been slammin' them hard.  Most are from 8-11 lbs and they are MEAN.  The fights have been awsome.  Spoons have been working the best.  Best depth of water has been 60-75 ft. 

Today was great fishing in big waves.  It just never stopped!!  We fished in 3-5 ft waves all day with a bigger one mixed in.  It was tough but we were safe and still caught our limits.

Salmon, Trout, Perch, and a day of Smallmouths 8-1-10 thru 8-8-10

Sorry I know I have been slacking on the updated reports!!  Salmon and Trout fishing has still been good.  We just have had to put in a bit more effort.  I have been fishing on the Northside of Chicago in 65-100 ft of water.  I do what ever it takes to stay on fish.  If it means going out of a different harbor thats what we do.  We have been catching 12-15 fish a day and losing about the same amount.  Lots and lots of nice steelies out there.  We have been catching a few nice kings also.   

As for the perch its been hit or miss.  One day we get 60 keepers the next we get 25.  Its hard to tell what will happen over the next week. 

I had a day where I had no trip so I went smallmouth fishing in the evening for about 3 hrs and did very very well.  Me and my cousin caught 10 and lost about 5 others.  The suprising thing was the average size.  We had 3 fish that were 1 lb and the rest were 2.5-4 lbs.  This is not typical for summer.  The bad part was I didn't have my camera!!   All on poorboys in 16-22 ft of water. 

I am going to book smallmouth trips through Sept.  I still have open dates.

Salmon and Trout 7-22-10 thru 7-30-10

Well after a brief period of slower fishing we have found them again.  Fishing all week has been excellent.  We have been catching almost all kings.  I wish I had my camera earlier in the week, we had some big kings!!  We have had between 14-17 fish everyday.  Lots of action everyday.  Spindoctors have been great again this week.  Best colors/combos have been Crome Frog spindoctor/Green dude Rapture fly, Crome gator spindoctor/sour apple Rapture fly.  Spoons have also been producing but the fish on spoons seem to be on the smaller side.  Best depth of water has been 65-75 feet of water.  Good luck.  August is going to be a excellent month. 

Salmon and Trout 7-17-10 thru 7-21-10

Fishing has become tougher.  Still not bad by any means but we have had to work a bit harder this week.  We still have been catching 8-12 fish per trip.  This week one day seems great the next is tougher.  I have fished everywhere from Portage, IN to downtown Chicago this week with the same results.  Best depth has been 50-60 ft of water.  Best baits have still been spindoctors with Rapture flies.  I did do very well this week with Moonshine Happy Meal spoons on downriggers.  We still had a great time all week. 

On a positive note yesterday we boated the largest brown trout ever on my boat.  Below is Alan with a 19lb 9oz brown.  It hit a Limewire spindoctor with a Rapture Green Hypnotist fly on 8 colors of lead core.  CONGRATS.

Salmon 7-16-10

Once again salmon fishing was great.  We are lucky to have such good fishing again this year.  Same baits and depths as the last few days.  We limited out by 12:30.  We had a hard time keeping them hooked today!!!  We lost about 3 time what we caught!!  Lots of fun though.  Good Luck.

Salmon Slammin' 7-14-10

Today was excellent!!  Lots and lots of "FISH ON".  We limited out by 11:30 with 11 kings, 1 brown trout, 3 steelhead trout, and 5 coho salmon.  Spin Doctors were the ticket.  The chrome series spin doctor with either a Rapture Green Hypnotist or Green dude flies.  Meat rigs were also very good.  Black momba flasher with the Rapture Code red teasers on a wire dipsy rod was hot.    50-55 ft of water was the best. 

The two young men in the photo below are TOUGH.  Most adults wouldn't have been able to do what they did today.  No complaining about anything.  They are true fishermen.  Good Luck

Salmon 7-10-10 thru 7-12-10

Fishing remains great!!   Staying in shallow water has been key.  50-55 ft of water has been the best.  Spin doctors with Rapture Flies are on fire.  The best thing going by far.  Any chrome spin doctor and the Rapture Little dude fly or Rapture Green Hypnotist fly.  A nice mixed bag of big kings, steelhead, and cohos have made up most of the catch.  Biggest king this week was just under 18lbs at the dock!!  Quite a few kings in the 13-14 lb range also.  That biggest king hit the meat rig.  Lots of fun had by all.  I will be out all week more fish to come.  If you don't own spin doctors now's the time to buy a few.  Good Luck.

Salmon 7-6-10 thru 7-9-10

Fishing remains very good.  Limits have been no problem.  Same baits as earlier in the week just a little shallower water 47-54 ft of water.  Its hard to believe that it's July and we are fishing that shallow but it works for me.  Meat rigs have still been hot.  Below is a picture of a average catch this week.  I still have days open for July and August but not many.

Salmon 7-1-10 thru 7-5-10

Salmon fishing remains excellent.  3 to 4 man limits everyday.  Lots of big cohos and nice kings.  Meat rigs are on fire.  Blue/Green Dolphin 12 inch John King flasher with Rapture Hypnotist teasers has been the best meat rig combo.  Spin doctors have also been on fire.  10 colors and 8 colors of lead with spin doctors have been awsome.  Best combos have been Chrome Froggy Spin doctor with a Rapture Green Dude fly, Glow Froggy Spin Doctor with Rapture Hypnotist fly, Limewire Spin doctor with a Rapture Hypnotist Fly.  Spoons have been ok but not as hot as the flasher/fly combos.  It should be another great week of fishing.  55-65 ft of water has been the best. 

Perch 6-27-10 thru 6-30-10

The last 2 days were terrible!!  That's perch fishing hero to zero really quick.  The winds changed directions and fishing just died.  If you want to fish for perch you will have this happen to you at sometime.  That's perchin'.  Salmon fishing is on fire I can't wait to get back at it tommorow.

Below are a few pictures from earlier this week.  I took out Steve Ryan, one of the top writers for In-Fisherman Magazine, and his wife, Josie.  We had a great time and caught a ton of perch.  We had two 15 inchers and a bunch of 12-14 inchers.  He will be writing a article for In-Fisherman in the near future about perch fishing Lake Michigan in Illinois and Indiana.  Also below is a young man who caught a bunch of big perch!!

Perch 6-24-10 thru 6-26-10

Perch are still on fire.  We have been limiting out everyday with no problem at all.  I have had trips in morning and afternoon and both time periods have been great.  Getting bigger fish has been a bit tougher then most summers.  We have been getting jumbos but we have had to weed through alot of smaller fish to get our keepers.  All of our keepers have been between 10.5-15 inchs.  Most of the fish have been between 11-13 inchs.  Softshells are key to being successful.  Fresh bait makes a big difference.  Mik-Lurch spinners are still the best thing going.  Silver/chart. has been the best the last few days.  I have yet to have a trip this week with out catching at least a 3 man limit.  Below are a couple of cool photos from the last few days.  Good luck.

Perch 6-20-10 thru 6-23-10

When you can get out perch fishing has been great.  The bad side to all this is the terrible storms that have not left us alone all week.  Its disappointing when you get all the way out there get a hour to fish and due to severe storms must leave the lake.  I would rather be safe than sorry.  Yesterday I rescheduled my trips because I listened to the weather man.  Well by the afternoon he had a whole different forcast.  I went out in the afternoon yesterday and hammered them.  In about 5 hours we caught some where around 100.  We kept 45 nice fish between 11-14.5 inchs.  Lots of fun.  Not everyone out there was catching them.  The trick all week hase been having fresh softshells, mik-lurch spinners (gold/chart or firetiger), and NOT BEING LAZY.  Keep moving till you find a area that works for you.  Their not jumping in the boat right now but when you find a school that is biting you will catch them.  Sorry I didn't take any pictures.  Good luck.

Salmon and Perch 6-14-10 thru 6-19-10

Salmon fishing has remained very good.  Limits everyday.  Lots of big cohos, steelhead, and kings have been making up the catch.  Same baits as earlier this month.  65 ft of water seems to be the best. 

Perch fishing is starting to heat up.   Mik-lurch spinners and softshells have been the ticket.  Best spinner colors have been firetiger or gold.  With all the storms lately the fish have been a little bit tough but with a little work we have still been able to do pretty well.  No pictures of the perch but out keepers have been for 10-14 inches.  Good eaters.  Below is a "normal" salmon catch from this week.

Salmon Slayin'

Limits and limits of nice kings, cohos, and steelhead everyday.  Fishing is on fire.  It doesn't get much better than what it is right now.  Meat rigs are about as hot as they could ever be.   Action is so fast using the meat that you can't keep up with the bites!!  Best colors are blue/green mamba flasher with a Rapture fly meat rig (best color hypnotist glow) or Glow flasher with a Rapture fly meat rig (little bride).  Spoons are also working very good.  Stinger Green Bubble has been my best this week.  I also did very well on the Magnum Dreamweaver "Gin and Ralphie" for kings. 

I still have a few open dates in June for salmon.  This excellent fishing will continue thru August.  I have very limited dates open.  If you are interested give me a call.  Below is a "normal" catch this week.

Musky 6-3-10 and 6-4-10

Finally made it out for muskies and I couldn't have timed it any better.  Some of the best muskie fishing I have ever seen.  We fished for 2 day and had 14 muskies hooked.  We landed 7 of them.  I wish we could have made a few more bites count but thats fishing.  Lots of fun and lots of work but it all payed off.  Below are a fish from biggest to smallest.  45 inches, 44 in., 43 in., 42 in., 37.5 in., 36 in., 33 in,  Good luck.  For anyone interested in doing this type of fishing check out Webster Lake Guide Service they are top notch guides and a blast to fish with.  www.websterlakeguideservice.com

Salmon, Trout, and Smallies 6-1-10 thru 6-3-10

Salmon and Trout fishing has remained excellent.  Limits of kings, cohos, steelhead, and lakers have been no problem everyday.  Same baits as last week.  Meatrigs have been excellent for kings and cohos.  Green and blue mamba John King flasher and a Rapture fly teaser rig (green hypnotist) has been the go to rig for me.  Spin doctors have also been hot on 8 and 10 colors of lead.  Best combos have been Green Frog spin doctor and a green hypnotist Rapture fly and UV super glow spin doctor with a oceana Rapture fly.  Hopefully we get some nice weather this week.  Good Luck.

Smallmouth fishing has been tough.  Most fish are done spawning and aren't too interested in eating right now.  I had a day last week where we worked to catch 8 fish but saw over a hundred fish suspended that just would not bite anything.  Very frustating.  Good luck.  Fall will be here before we know it.

Perch 5-27-10

Went out for perch for the first time in a while.  It wasn't bad but finding the jumbos was tough.  We caught lots of fish but ended up keeping 40 on the day.  We trew back about 50 on the day.  Double jig rig was the ticket.  Try this rig out.  Start by tying on a 1/16 oz. Northland jig in either orange or any color of your choice.  When you tie on the jig slide it up your line about 24 inchs then tie your knot.  Now you will be left with a long tag end of line then tie on a second jig below.  When you fish this rig tip each jig with a minnow.  Cast it out and work it slowly over the top of the weeds.  It works great every year.  We were using colors #8 and #10 Northland Gumball Jigs in 1/16 oz.

Salmon and trout 5-24-10 thru 5-26-10

Fishing remained excellent.  We had to work for our bites but we managed to get them everyday.  On the 24th we ended up with 5 cohos, 5 lakers, and 3 kings.  We lost about 8 or 9 on the day.  We should have ended up with about 3 more kings but due to all the cottonwood tring to reel in a big fish was just tough.  Once we got the planer board to us we have 20-30 mins. of picking cottonwood off the line.  Best baits were Stinger Green bubble, Dreamwever Gin and Ralphie (super slim), and  Rapture fly meat rigs in glow and grn hypnotist on wire dipsy.  The flasher color for the meat rigs were glow or blu/grn mamba.  Best depths of water were 65-75 ft.  On the 25th baits, depth, and fishing action were the same but cottonwood conditions were a little bit better which helped me out big time!  We ended up with 2 kings, 6 lakers, 1 steelhead, and 2 cohos.  On the 26th fishing was a bit tougher.  The lakers were biting like crazy but the kings were harder to find.  We still caught fish but not as many kings and cohos.

Kings, cohos, steelies, and lakers 5-22-10 and 5-23-10

Well summer has begun!!  Limits of nice salmon and trout in deep water.  We all had alot of fun the last two days. On the 22 we were 13-26.  Mostly kings in the 9-12lb range.  6 and 8 colors of leadcore we hot.  Silver and green and blue and silver spoons were the baits they seemed to want.  The simpler the better.  Meatrigs on wire dipsys were hot.  John king flashers in glo or blue mamba were great.  The meatrigs of choice were Rapture hypnotist and Rapture little bride(glow).  These rods were hot for nothing but kings.  On the 23rd baits were the same but meatrigs were the ticket to catching nice kings.  Lake trout were everywhere.  We had a hard time keeping them off!!  We ended up 13 for 21 today.  Both days we had a bunch of short strikes too.  Good luck.  Lots more to come.

Smallies 5-17-10 thru 5-21-10

Fishing has been tough to say the least.  The smallies are right in the middle of spawing and getting them to bite has been tricky.  Same baits as normal.  Hopefully thing pick up.  We still have been catching 10-13 fish each day but not all monsters.  We have caught a few nice ones this week.  Good Luck.

King Salmon 5-16-10

I decided to switch up to some salmon fishing today due to wave conditions and fishing wasn't bad.  From what it sounds like I did extreamly well compared to all the other boats out today.  We fished from 5:30 to 12:30 and ended up with 10 kings (6-11lbs) and 1 coho.  We lost about 6 other fish also had about 5 short strikes.  I wish we could have caught just a few more to fill our limits but thats fishing.  We fished from 55-65 ft of water.  The fish were shallow though anywhere from 25-35 down.  They were also very picky about what they would eat.  All bites came on spoons.  Green and sliver was the best color choice.  We also did well on the super slim "gin and ralphie" on a downrigger 35 down.  Leadcore was hot compared to everything else.  6,8,and 10 colors all worked very well.  Good luck.

Smallmouth 5-15-10

This was a frustrating day!!  Everywhere we went we saw fish just getting them to bite was hard.  We fished all over the place covering miles and miles of water and it was the same everywhere.  Water temps. are just inbetween spawning and eating.  The fish don't know what to do right now.  They just swim around with no direction what so ever.  We tried everything.  Name a type of bait we tried it.  Either we need warmer water to get them in full spawning mode or we need cold water to get them back to feeding.  We still managed to catch 7 smallies and lost a few more.  A few fish were in the 3 lb plus  range. 

Smallmouth 5-14-10

Today was the first day weather allowed us out in a while.  Fishing was tough but we still managed to catch 10 smallmouth.  Water temps. drop a few degrees since the last time I was out and the fish seemed sluggish.  Saw alot of fish that were not interested in eating.  Poorboys worked best but we did catch a couple on drop-shot rigs with small tubes.  Good luck. 

Smallmouth 5-10-10

Fishing was very good today.  We only fished from 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.  We stopped early due to waves (just like normal.)  We ended up catching 1 largemouth and 14 smallies.  Biggest smallmouth was about 4lbs.  Most fish were over 3lbs.  Bad weather in the forcast hopefully it changes.  Poorboy's were the best.  Either Steiger's Ice or Globy.  The pic below was our first 2 casts of the day.

Smallmouth 5-6-10

Well just when you think you finally get something figured out Lake Michigan finds away to put you back in your place.  The weather man was calling for "less than 1 ft waves" and 5-10 mph North winds.  Well this forcast is managable but when we got out on the lake the winds were around 15 mph and waves were 3-5 ft.  Very very sloppy waves.  We tried to fish all the areas I wanted to but with those kind of waves it just wasn't safe.  So we went back torward the marina and fished more protected areas.  We fished a few hours and caught 2 smallmouths.  On was a little over 3lbs.  One of the guys on the boat set the hook and the line took off.  Well it looked like he had a brown trout than the fish jumped.  I had a puzzeled look.  It was a Northern Pike??  The fish was about 33 inches and very very healthy and fat.  What a bonus!!  Good luck.

Smallmouth 5-4-10 thru 5-5-10

Sometimes hard work pays off.  I started experimenting at different areas and it payed off big time.  On the 4th we landed 14 smallies.  Biggest fish was 5 lbs 5 oz.  The biggest one caught all year on my boat.  This fish was weighted on a digital scale that is checked often for accuracy.  A true toad of a smallmouth!!  Every fish we caught was over 3lbs.  It was like going back to early April!!  Best baits were Globy and Steiger's Ice.  It was about half and half.  On the 5th action was about the same.  We ended up catching 13 smallies and 2 largemouth.  Again a bunch of hawgs.  Two fish weighted over 4lbs.  All but 2 fish we under 3lbs.  The biggest fish of the day was caught by a very good fisherman who is only 10 years old.  His biggest smallie ever (4lbs.12 oz).  He also caught his biggest carp ever!!   These last two day made me feel very confident about May.  Check out these pics.

Ed with his 5lb 5 oz HAWG

A great young fisherman with his 4lb 12 oz smallmouth.  Caught with no help from us!!

Smallmouth 4-30-10 thru 5-3-10

Fishing has stayed about the same.  Tough but every where we go we catch a few fish.  WE HAVE BURNED ALOT OF GAS THIS WEEK.  Some fish are moving shallow but most are still in the 8-15 ft range but have been tough to get to bite.

On the 1st we caught 14 smallies, 3 carp, and a sheephead.  Biggest fish was about 3.5 lbs.  All on poorboys.  Steiger's Ice was the go to bait.  It seems to be working very very well with the clear water. 

On the 2nd we ended up catching 10 smallies and a few other species of fish.  Again Steiger's Ice was awsome.  We did catch some fish on Globy also.  Biggest fish was over 4lbs.

On he 3rd we worked very hard for our bites.  We did end up catching 15 smallies, 2 carp, and 1 sheephead but we worked hard.  Same baits as before.  Biggest fish was about 4lbs but we did have a few others about 3 lbs.   Below are a few pics.  More to come.

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Smallmouth 4-28-10 and 4-29-10

Fishing has been tough both days.  On the 28th we caught some fish but it was not good by any means.  We worked very hard for the fish we did catch.  The water was still murky from all the heavy northwinds we had earlier this week.  I think we caught about 9 or 10 all day.  Nothing huge.   On the 29th we had a little better success.  We fished till 12 due to heavy south winds and caught 9 smallmouth, 5 carp, and 4 sheephead.  Biggest smallie was 4lbs.  We also caught a few fish in the 3 lb range.  Same baits as always.  Poorboy Erie Darter Jrs. in Plenzer Melon or Steiger's Ice.  We did catch some fish on tubes this week also.  3.5 inch Gitzit tubes in olive/smoke was a good bait for us this week.  Good luck.

Largemouth 4-26-10

Had the oppertunity to go with a couple of freinds to a 200 acre lake in western Illinois today.  It was excellent excellent fishing.  Between the 3 of us we caught 60 and lost a bunch others.  We had 2 fish that weighed in at just over 5lbs.  We also had 18 more fish over 4lbs.  Lots and lots over 3lbs.  Spinnerbaits or flippin' jigs were the best.  Don't ask where I was fishing.  My freind will cut my head off if I tell!!  Start fishing your local lakes!!  Very shallow water 1-3 ft.  Lots of fun I don't get much of a chance to fish for largemouths.  Flippin' big jigs was a blast!!

Lake Michigan has been bad to me this week so far.  Heavy winds have not allowed me out.  Hopefully it gets better.

Smallmouth 4-19-10 thru 4-24-10

Its been a interesting week.  Lots of heavy Northwinds have made it tough to fish this week.  I can Salmon and Perch fish in 3-4 ft waves but not smallmouths.  Running a trolling motor and standing in the boat has been impossible.  In the last 6 days I have only been able to fish 3 of them.  Weather is out of my control.  I will not take someone out if it is dangourous.  Believe me I want to fish everyday but were on Lake Michigan and it just doesn't work that way.  The last 2 day I had a somewhat stable weather pattern and it showed.  On the 22nd we worked hard for our bites but we did still catch fish which is more than alot of people can say this week.  We ended up catching 9 or 10 smallies, a monster carp (over 20lbs), 15 rock bass, and 1 sheephead.  The water is warming up and all the fish are coming out to play.    Poorboys Eire darter Jrs. were the best as always.  Darker colors seemed to work better than anything.  On the 23rd action was much better we ended up catching 16 or 17 smallmouth, 2 sheephead, 1 brown trout, and 1 carp.  Same baits either Plenzer Melon or "Steiger's Ice".  I had that one made for me and now poorboy is selling it!!  Check out Mik-Lurch for some.  219-989-0575 

Salmon Slayin' 4-17-10 and 4-18-10

Limits and limits of cohos.  Very good action both days almost felt like work trying to keep up!  On the 17th you could do no wrong.  Just about everything we tried caught fish.  Best baits were red rattlin' thinfin or clown dodger-rapture poseidon, or org. dodger- rapture lil hypnotist fly.  Planer boards were the best.  There are some kings being caught also but I still haven't got one.  Others have though.  On the 18th winds were a bit stronger and fishing was a little bit tougher but not slow by any means.  We had action from start to finish.  We had a tougher time keeping them on today but we still got our 4 man limit by 12:30.  We lost about 15 fish today.  It was been a great couple of days.  Good luck

Perch and Smallmouth 4-13 thru 4-14-10

Perch fishing is still on fire!!  Limits everyday.  Most fish are in the 12-14 inch range with a bonus slob measuring 15+ inches.  Perch flys in org. or red seem to be the best.  Anywhere from 45-50 ft of water.  You have to keep moving till you find them but once you due it game on.  The groups of guys I have had the last few days have been a blast.  I hope to see you guys back out with me.

Smallmouth fishing has been tough the last few days.  On the 13th and 14th we struggled to even get bites.  A drastic change in wind direction and a huge jump in water temp. has not helped.  We did still catch some fish both days but not many and nothing huge.  On the 14th we fished the afternoon for smallmouth and the wind was almost unfishable.  30 mph gusts made casting hard and running a trolling motor even harder.  Hopefully we can get some stable weather and get back to catching fish.

Perch 4-12-10

First day I went out perching fishing in quite a while but its hard to pass up JUMBOS!!  Very good fishing.  Limits out in just a few hours.  All the fish were between 11-15.25 inchs.  Lots of 13 inchers.  Best depth was 45-50 ft of water.  Minnows on the bottom with org. or grn perch flys were the trick.  Smallmouth fishing was tough due to wind and big waves.

Smallmouth 4-4-10 thru 4-11-10

4-4-10   This was the first day of spring that I focused on smallies and it was great.  Weather was nice and the fish were biting.  We fished from 8 AM to 2 PM and landed 21 and lost a bunch more.  Most fish were between 2.5 and 3.5 lbs but we did get a couple pushing 4lbs.  Best baits were Poorboy Eire Dater Jrs.  Globy and Mango Magic were the best colors.  We caught fish as shallow as 4 ft and as deep at 26 ft of water.  As always all fish were released.

4-5-10   Was back out smallmouth fishing with the same success.  Landed about the same amount as the day before.  Same baits, same depths, same colors.  One bonus to the day was a 5.3 oz smallmouth!  On a certified scale.  We also had 4 other fish over 4lbs.  It was a great day of fishing. 

4-6 thru 4-8 Winds and storms made me cancel.

4-9-10 thru 4-10-10   Fishing was much tougher thru these days.  Unpredictable weather and dirty water didn't help.  Don't get me wrong we are still catching fish everyday but we have had to work.  We still have been landing about 10 fish each day.  Same baits but we did have to change the color due to the dirty water.  Plenzer Melon has been the best. 

4-11-10   Today was tough.  Big waves made getting around very tough and running the trolling motor next to impossible.  We did still find away to land 9 fish.  One fish was 4lbs.  Same baits.  Hopefully we can get some decent weather again.  Below are some pics from this week.  More to come soon.

PLEASE LET EVERY SMALLMOUTH GO.  THEY ARE NOT GOOD TO EAT AND ARE OLD, SLOW GROWING FISH.  I HAVE SEEN ALMOST 30 TAKEN OUT OF THE LAKE THIS WEEK BY SHORE FISHERMAN.  WE HAVE PERCH AND SALMON TO EAT NOT SMALLMOUTHS.  THERE IS NO STOCKING OF THESE FISH.  IF YOU LIKE CATCHING THESE FISH EVERY YEAR YOU HAVE TO LET THEM GO.

Below is Curt with a 5lb 3 oz. Smallmouth

Cohos in the rain 4-3-10

Fishing was a bit tougher today.  The rain along with the wind and waves made fishing tough.  We still ended up with 11 cohos and we lost a handful more.  Same baits as before.  The dodger fly combo was very good today for me.  More fish today came on that then anything else.  Good luck.

Coho Bonanza!! 4-2-10

Fishing was excellent.  In the morning we ended up with 20 cohos and lost about 10 others.  That was all by noon.  Same baits as before.  Bright colors are key.  We also started catching fish on dodger and fly.  Clown dodger and a Rapture Hypnotist fly was the best.  I have been taking the larger fly and triming it down to about 2 inchs.  The visiblitiy is still bad so having a little bigger fly seemed to help.

In the afternoon winds cranked up to 40 mph!!  It was amazing to think we even fished in that.  Belive it or not even with the winds and waves we killed the fish.  Same baits as morning.  It was a adventure for sure!  Below are some pics.

Cohos, Browns, and the lone Smallie plus a bonus WHITEFISH!! 4-1-10

Fishing was good again today.  The wind was terrible!!  I trolled this morning and ended up with 10 cohos.  We lost about 15 fish today.  I don't know what the deal was we just couldn't keep them on.  Same baits as yesterday.  Bright colors we key. 

This afternoon we casted.  Fishing was still slow but we did get a few very nice fish.  We ended up catching about 4 cohos, 2 browns, 1 smallmouth, 1 whitefish.  All on jig and squid.  This was the first whitefish every caught on my boat!!  The big brown was 13lbs.  The smallmouth was 4lbs 9 oz.  It was tough but we made it work good luck.

Cohos and Browns 3-31-10

It was another very good day on the water.  Very windy!!  Casting was still slow.  We did get about 6 casting on jig and sqiud but it was very tough and crowded.  The trolling bite was still very good.  Bright crankbaits were the best.   Rapala j-11 in orange was the best bait.  The water is still very very dirty.  We ended the day with our 4 man limit of cohos and browns.  We were 14-24 trolling.  Sorry no pic today.

Cohos 3-30-10

Fishing was much better today.  Casting was still tough though.  We did catch a few on jig and squid but with the dirty water it was slow.  The trolling bite was on fire.  We trolled about 2 hrs and landed 11.  We lost a handfull more.  If we wanted to continue trolling we easily could have got the rest of our fish to fill our limits.  All and all it was a very nice day and fishing was good.

Cohos and Browns 3-27-10

Fishing was tough.  We casted for a few hours with no results then went trolling and still had a hard time catching fish.  Alot of my casting spots are still locked in with ice.  This is starting to get frustrating.  The weather has just not be cooperative.  The water clartity was about 6 inches which didn't help matters.  Did end up catching 2 browns and 2 cohos trolling.  One brown was over 10lbs so that was a bonus but all and all a tough day. 

Cohos and Browns 3-23 and 3-24-10

Sorry I have been slacking on posting reports but I have been out quite a bit lately.  On the 23rd fishing was tough.  I went about 8 miles in 4-5 waves in hopes of casting for salmon and trout only to find that ice had blown into one of my favorite spots.  Well the ice put an end to that idea.  So I drove all the way back to the harbor put the boat back on the trailer and went to Cal Park in hopes of some perch.  This idea didn't really work out either.  Perch fishing was slow to say the least.  So we switched up our game plan one more time.  The trolling bite wasn't bad we spent a little over 1 hr trolling and caught a 9lb brown and a 6lb brown.  This was tough day though.  The water was cold and very dirty. 

On the 24th fishing was much much better.  We fished in the afternoon rather than morning.  We started out casting with no success.  We started trolling at 2:30 and fished till 7.  We ended up with 12 cohos and 2 browns.  We lost about 8-10 other fish.  Best baits were j-ll Rapalas and Thinfins.  Bright colors were a must the water is still dirty.  The biggest brown was just over 7lbs.  We also had a bonus monster coho.  I weighted the coho at the dock at just over 6.8lbs.  This was the biggest march coho I have ever seen caught.  Good luck.

Browns, Lakers, Cohos, and the lone King

Fishing was tough today but we did manage to get some good quality fish.  We trolled all day and ended up 9 for about 16.   5 browns, 1 coho, 2 lakers, 1 king salmon.  It was a great day to be on the lake.  The morning started out dead calm but by mid afternoon the lake was very choppy.  We worked very hard for our bites but with a boat filled with positive people we made it work.   Biggest laker was just under 15lbs.  Biggest brown was about 9lbs.   All and all it was a great day.  Watch for the ice it was blowing in as we left.  Very dangerous!  Check out a few pics.

Perch and lake report 3-7-10

I'am back!!  The lake is open enough to at least get out and catch some fish.  Most of our salmon and trout "hotspots" are still locked up with ice but that has not stopped me from perch fishing all week.  Limits everyday!! Lots and lots of fish.  Normal winter fish 10-12 inch keepers but non-stop action.  We did have a few fish over 13 inchs this week but most are just average good eating fish.  The best rigs have been perch rigs with minnows.  We did catch some of our bigger fish on 2 inch Northland Slurp grubs instead of minnows.  The best colors were white or green.  Hopefully the lake will open up completely and we can get started this year.  Sorry no pics. 

Browns 1-17-10

I found away out today on the lake and had high hopes for action packed day.  I will say it was an adventure.  I hit some of the popular discharges and spots on the south end of the lake.  One thing that really slowed me down was the 1/4 inch of skim ice that coated the entire lake.  It was like driving a boat on a frozen lake instead of water.  I have never seen the whole lake like this.  No wind and cold temps made for a icy ride.  On top of the ice we had a unbeliveable amount of fog.  Even with these unfavorable conditions we put safety first and took our time everywhere we went.  The fishing was a bit of a disapointment.  We did catch a handful of nice fish.  All casting.  The discharges just aren't pumping any hot water.  No warm water means little or no browns.  That's fishing though sometimes its not in our control.  Good luck please be careful.  It was tense driving the boat today.

Browns 12-30-09

The weather allowed me back on the lake.  The harbors were filled with ice but we did manage to make it out after a little ice breaking.  It payed off big time!  We fished the main discharges on the Southern end of the lake and did very well.  We caught 17 browns and steelhead.  We also lost about 12 more.  All were caught casting jekbaits or jig and squid.  Lots of fun and lots of action.  All nice fish no monsters but a great average fish (about 5lbs).  It started to snow hard and we got off the lake quickly.  All and all a great day of fishing.  I can wait to get back out.

Browns 12-17-09 and 12-18-09

Made it back out the last two days and didn't do as well as planned.  We did catch a few browns both days but no big numbers or big fish.  The discharges aren't pumping much hot water which makes fishing tough.  Hopefully things will be better this up coming week.  Good luck and be safe.  Sorry no pics.

Lakers and the wind 11-24-09 thru 12-4-09

I took a break for our end of the lake and went up to Green Bay for some muskie action.  The weather killed us.  Fishing was terrible and conditions were even worse.  All and all we had a great time and never caught a fish in 3 day!!  Ohh well thats fishing.  Nothing like musky fish to put you back in your place!!  Before I left the lakers were on fire.  The best bite of the year but since Dec. 1st I haven't been able to get on the lake due to the winds.  The browns should be here very soon. 

Good Luck

Laker Mania and a Perch Slay 11-21-09 thru 11-24-09

Its was awsome!!  Everyday was was great fishing.  World Class Perch and Laker Fishing.  Lakers were just on fire non-stop action and lots of big fish.  When I say non-stop action I mean it.  We boated and relesed almost 100 Lake Trout in 4 trips.  All the fish were handled properly and NOT NETTED.  They were all happy to swim away.  Had 2 fish over 20lbs and lots and lots of fish in the teens.  Same baits as before.  The perch were also on fire.  Non-stop action.  All keppers were between 11-15.5 inches.  I have so many pictures I don't no what to post.  Good luck and have fun.

Lakers 11-20-09

Made it back out today and it was rough!!  Waves were between 3-4ft.  We did fish but only for about 3 hrs.  We landed 9 or 10 Lake Trout.  Biggest fish was between 16-17lbs.  Same baits as before.

Lakers 11-19-09

The last few days the lake has just been too rough to fish.  Today was the first day I was able to fish in  a while and it was great!!  Fishing was very good.  I had the pleasure to fish with Dave Mull from Great Lakes Angler and some other good friends.  We trolled for about 4 hours and landed 14 Lakers.  We tried casting with no success.  Spin and Glos were the best.  Biggest fish was about 16 lbs.  All and all a great day I will have some pics soon.

Lakers 11-14-09

Fishing was a little slower today.  We started at about 6:30 and fished till 10:30.  We landed 6 lakers and 1 steelhead.  We also had about 6 other good bites.  Went back out in the afternoon and fishing was tough.  Same baits as all week.  Below are a few pics. 

Lakers 11-10-09 thru 11-13-09

Fishing had remained very good.  My numbers are picking up and the water temps are starting to drop.  In the last 3 days (4-5hrs of fishing a day) we have boated 30 and lost about 15 more.  Most fish are from 10-15lbs with a bigger one mixed in here and there.  Dodger and spin n glos are the ticket but speed is the difference between no fish and a alot of fish.  You must go very slow.  Good luck.

Smallies 11-9-09

It was a awsome morning with lots of big fish and great numbers.  Fished with my cousin for 5 hours and landed 18.  Biggest was 4 lbs 14oz.  We also had a 4 lb 9 oz. and a 4 lb 8 oz.  Lots of fish over 3.5lbs.  Average was about 3lbs mabey a little bigger.  All on PoorBoy Eire Darter Jrs.  I can't believe I am still catching smallies this late in the year!!  Today was awsome no other words can describe it.  The lake did get very rough in the early afternoon.  Becareful.  Perch are also biting.  Below are a fish from today the first 3 are in order from largest to smallest.

Lakers 11-8-09

Laker fish still was about the same.  Ene

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