Fishing Reports, Tips & Discussions

Brown Trout 1-26-12

It was a great day to get out the lake conditions were great, the water was calm, water clarity was great but for whatever reason fishing was slow.  We still caught a handfull of browns but we worked for them.  Best baits were Rapala Shad Raps and jig and squid.  It was alot of fun to get out and I think it was just a slow day.  The upcomming weather looks great.  If your tired of being inside and not fishing give me a call for a trip this week. 

Heres a pic of couple of nice browns.  Spring dates are almost gone if you are interested call asap.

Ice Fishing Indiana and  Northern Illinois 1-20-12 thru 1-23-12

With ice conditions finally feeling safe I was able to get out on more local waters.  On Friday me and a friend did very well.  The catch was made up of big gills and some nice crappies along with a few small bass.  Even in the blizzard we were still catching fish pretty good.  Best jigs were Fiska jigs in Chart tipped with maggots.   

Saturday was different story, same lake very few fish.  With all the snow cover fishing just died.

Sunday I headed up to Northern Illinois in hopes of crappies and white bass.  Fishing wasn't easy but we did still manage to have a pretty good day.  The catch was made up of 3 walleyes (2 were 16-17 inchs, 1 was 12 inches), some nice crappies, a few nice white bass, a channel cat, some small perch, alot of small gills, and 5 whopper flathead catfish.  The flatheads were from 15 lbs all the way up to 30-35lbs.  That was a very hard fighting fish thru the ice.  I can't take all the credit for the big cats a friend showed me the spot and the set-up. 

Hopefully the rain doesn't screw up the ice.  With the warm up coming Lake Michigan fishing should be great.  If anyone is interested in a trip give me a call asap. 

Below are some pics from this weekend.  I didn't get a pic of the two biggest cats.  I was all alone.  All the fish were properly released.  Don't keep those big cats they are old and fun to catch.

Ice Fishing Central Wisconsin 1-5-2012 thru 1-8-2012

I got invited to go up ice fishing in the Wausa area of Wisconsin last week.  The ice was great, the trip was fun, fishing was terrible.  Everything about the trip went smooth but the fishing.  We struggled to catch anything.  We fished four different lakes with the same results.  It wasn't just us the local guys were doing just as bad if not worse.  We did catch some fish but nothing of much size.  Best part of the trip was driving the truck all over the ice. 

Get ready to start ice fishing around here.  It's coming!

Browns 12-26-11

Even in the windy conditions we made it out yesterday for the first time in a while.  The condidtions on the lake weren't great.  The water was choppy and very very muddy.  Even with things not on our side we still had a very good time.  We didn't catch a ton of fish, just a handful of browns, 1 steelie, and a couple of odd species we weren't fishing for.  The bonus of the day was a 14 plus pound brown trout.  It was a great looking and alot of fun to catch.  Best baits were jig/squid combos. 

All and all we had fun and got to catch some fish.  I will keep fishing till the weather won't let me out.  If you are interested in a trip just give me a call.  Don't wait to long winter will come eventually.

Browns and Carp 12-10-11 thru 12-15-11

We made it out fishing a couple of days this week and fishing was good.  The weather was nice but the water clarity was still very cloudy.  Even with these conditions we still did ok.  We caught some nice browns and some huge carp.  Biggest brown was about 14lbs.  All our fish were caught on jig/squid or little cleo spoons.  All and all we had fun.  I didn't make it out this weekend but this up coming week looks pretty nice.

A better report 11-19-11 thru 11-28-11

Fishing is getting better.  At least this week I got out a few days and caught a bunch of fish.  Lake Trout fishing picked up and we had some very good days.  The weather has still been a huge factor but we made it work.  Best baits have been Clown Dodgers with clown spin-n-glos.  We caught some hawgs this last week!  The other weird part of this year is that smallmouth fishing is still good.  With the water temps staying warmer fishing is still good.  Today we caught 10 smallies.  All the fish were between 2.75lbs and 4lbs.   We fished in some nasty conditions and still caught all those fish!  Best baits have been white or shad colored grubs.  Best depths have been 18-22 ft. of water.  The bad news is another bad weather forcast is coming.  Good Luck.  Spring dates fill up very fast.  Don't wait to call.

Still tough but I won't give up! 11-4-11 thru 11-18-11

I haven't been posting cause I haven't had alot to say.  I have been getting out everyday the weather lets me (which isn't much) but due to dirty water fishing has been very slow.  At this point in November I should be killing the trout but the water is way warmer than normal and very dirty.  This is a bad combo.   We are catching 3-6 fish a trip but it should be much better.  I still believe that things are going to get better once the weather and wind calm down.  The best trout fishing is yet to come.

On a positive note I went out smallmouth fishing on the 16th and did great.  We fished from 9 to 3 and landed 20 smallies.  All but 2 of them were over 3 lbs but nothing over 4lbs.  Still great fishing for this late in the year.  All fish were caught on Poorboy Eire Darter Jrs. in Plenzer melon.  Fishing slow and in 25-30 ft of water was the key.

Dirty water and Terrible fishing 10-20-11 thru 11-3-11

I haven't been posting anything cause I don't have much to say.  Since the last big wind storm in late October the lake has been trashed.  The water clarity has been about 1 inch for weeks.  This made fishing terrible at best.  I have been fishing everyday I can but I haven't been catching a whole lot.  The weather finally started to get better this week and the water cleared up alot and fishing got much better.  I ran my last smallmouth trip of the year on October 31st and fishing was very good.  We landed 17 smallies and 1 coho.  The quality of the fish was very good.  All but 2 of the smallmouths were over 3lbs.  The biggest was 4lbs 4 oz.  I should have taken some pics but we were all way to into fishing to slow down to do that.  All were caught on Poorboy Erie Darter Jrs. in Plenzer Melon.  Best depths were 20-25 ft. of water.  The next day I went out for lakers and did well.  Fishing for lakers is still very very slow.  Most guys are catching nothing. 

Right now the lake is trashed with 7-10 ft waves AGAIN.  I am sure the water will be trashed once again.  The weekend looks terrible too.  If you have a inland lake to fish that would be a good idea. 

Big waves, lots of rain, wind, and tougher fishing 10-10-11 thru 10-19-11

Fishing got tough!  After a great couple of weeks the weather finally got nasty.  Its been a struggle this week both with getting out and with getting fish to bite.  I think the weather played a huge part in the tougher fishing.  The water temps drop nearly 10 degs. in 3 days and the air temps dropped 20 degs.  This is a bad combo no matter what time of year.  I will say it has not been all bad.  We have still been catching fish just not as many as the last few weeks.  Most days we were catching 6-13 smallies plus some other "bonus" species.  Including a monster channel cat!  It could have been worse.  I had great groups of guys on the boat that work very hard and never gave up on me.  Thats always a big bonus to me.  We did the best we could under the conditions we had. 

I just got back from the lake 12-16 foot waves right now.  Hopefully it calms down quick.

Smallmouth fishing at it's best 9-27-11 thru 10-9-11

Fishing has been great.  We have been catching 15-30 fish everyday.  The bonus has been 1/2 of the smallies have been over 3lbs.  We have caught quite a few fish over 4lbs.  The biggest I have weighted was a 4lb 10 oz. fish today.  The trick is to slow down and take your time.  There has been a ton of fishing pressure from other bass fisherman.  Most guys aren't doing very good.  The water is still dirty and fishing slow is a must.  Every fish this week was caught on Poorboy Eire Dater Jrs. in Plenzer Melon or Copper Candy.  Dark baits work better in muddy water.  Good Luck.  I still have a few fall days open.  Call me for more info.

Casting for kings, wind, rain, and some smallies 9-22-11 thru 9-26-11

Fishing has still been going very good.  Casting for king salmon early in the morning and after dark has been great.  We have been catching about the same amount of fish as last week.  Best baits have been Lucky Craft Staysees in Pearl Ayu or Chart. Shad.  REELING SLOW IS KEY.

Smallmouth fishing is still going good but everyone starts catching salmon on light line and seems to forget about the bass.  So I haven't fished for them as much this week.  Plus the weather and wind has made getting from spot to spot alot tougher.  Hopefully we get some good weather.

HAWG HUNTING and LOTS OF SMALLIES!!  9-19-11 thru 9-21-11

Fishing has been great the last few days and nights.  We have been catching lots of kings casting in the night and early morning.  Every trip we are landing 5-10 and losing just as many in about 4 hrs of fishing.  The bonus has been the size lots and lots of fish in the high teens.  Just today alone we landed a 20lb 8oz, 20lb 5 oz., 19lb 4 oz., and one just under 19 lbs!!  All the fish have been caught casting crankbaits on 8lb test line.  It has been a blast.

I still have night trips avalible.

Smallmouth fishing has been very good also.  We have had lots of action.  The fish have been on the smaller size but still alot of fun.  We have been catching 15-20 everyday in about 3-4 hrs of fishing.  All on Poorboy Erie Dater Jrs.  Best colors have been Copper Candy or Steiger's Ice.  Today we did get some bigger fish.  We had one get off that was over 4 lbs and landed some 2-3 lbers.  Its only going to get better.

Casting for KINGS and smallies 9-13-11 thru 9-18-11

Fishing has been good.  The weather not so good but we have been dealing with it.  Casting for king salmon has been alot of fun.  Everyday last week started out casting for salmon in the morning and weather permitting than went smallie fishing.  We were catching about 6 kings and losing that many every morning in about 4 hours of fishing.  Best baits have been Lucky Craft Staysee or Berkley Frenzy's.  Smallmouth fishing hasn't been bad either.  We have been catching 12-15 fish every afternoon.  Best baits have been Poorboy Eire Darter Jrs. in Steiger's Ice or Plenzer Melon.

I still have 1/2 day casting trips for king salmon.  This is all afternoon into night trips.  Night fishing is fun!  The day starts at 6 PM and goes till 11 PM or later.

Trolling in close 9-12-11

The weather was great for a change!  We started out trolling in our first location and things were slow.  We ended up going 1 for 3 in that spot.  After hearing better reports from a different area we decided to move.  Now looking back on it I should have stayed patient and never left the first area.  We never caught a fish at the supposed better area.  After not catching any fish there we decided to go back to where we started.  This was a very good move.  We started getting bites right away.  We ended up 6 for 11 on the day.  I think we could have caught a bunch more but everyone was getting tired.  It was a long day of fishing.  Best baits were Dreamweaver Mag Yellowtail spoon, Glow Pro King spoon, and Rebel Fastracks in Glow or Silver/black.  All and all it was great day, good weather and big fish.  Also had a young guy on the boat that got to catch his first big salmon.  He is hooked now!  You know you’re hooked on fishing when you say it was the best day of your life!

Casting for KINGS and smallies 9-6-11 thru 9-11-11

Even with the nasty water conditions and clarity fishing has still been good.  We have been out a few days casting for the fall kings with good success.  One morning me and my buddy were 9 for 14.  Biggest fish was about 15lbs.  A couple days later we were 6 for 7.  Best baits have been chart/white Berkley Frenzys or Lucky Craft Staysee in Table Rock shad.  We have also been smallmouth fishing a couple days and ended up catching 11 in a few hours.  Nothing huge but a few in the 2.5lb range.  All on Poorboy Eire dater Jrs.  Best colors were Plenzer Melon and Steiger's Ice.

Night casting trips for king salmon are avalible.  Call for more info.

Salmon and the wind 8-30-11 thru 9-5-11

When we can get out salmon fishing is as good as it has been all year.  The action has been outstanding, lots and lots of hook ups.  Most of our catch has been kings and cohos but we have caught a few lakers and steelhead.  Best baits have been Stinger Green Bubble spoons, Dreamweaver Magnum Gin and Ralphie, and a Dreamweaver UV Spindoctor with a Rapture UV Zeinth fly or a Dreamweaver Bloody Nose Spindoctor with a Rapture Little Bride fly.  Meat rigs have also been very good.  Best rigs have been UV John KIng flasher with UV Rapture teasers and a blue/green dolphin flasher with Rapture Green Hypnotist teasers.  Best depth of water was 80-100 ft.  There are lots of big waves right now.  Good Luck.

Salmon and smallmouths 8-23-11 thru 8-29-11

Salmon fishing is still going strong.  If the weather would allow me out everyday I think this could be some of the best fishing of the year.  Due to strong winds we have only been able to get out a few days a week.  On Friday we caught a 4 man limit of 11 king salmon, 7 lake trout, 1 coho salmon, and 1 steelhead trout.  The highlights of the day were the big king salmon.  On fish weighted just under 22lbs, we also had 1 just over 18lbs.  Best depth of water was 100-110 ft.  Best baits were UV Spindoctor with a UV Zenith Rapture fly, small stinger green bubble, and a small Gin and Ralphie dreamweaver spoon.  I did get out one day for smallies and things were a bit slower we still caught about 12 fish.  Best baits were Poorboy Darters in Steiger's Ice or Mango Magic.  Good Luck.

Better than last week!!  Salmon 8-20-11 thru 8-22-11 Plus a bonus smallmouth trip

Well things are starting to look up again after a terrible last week.  Fishing has been very good again.  On the 29th I was out smallmouth fishing and we caught 30 smallmouth from 12 inches to 3.5lbs.  The action was great.  It made me really look forward to September.  All fish were caught on Poorboy Erie Dater Jrs. in the Copper Candy color of Steiger's Ice.  We fished anywhere from 8-20 ft of water.  Can't wait for Fall.

Salmon fishing was struggle on the 21st.  Conditions were calling for 5 mph winds and "waves less than 1 ft".  Here’s what it was really like, lots of wind with 3-4 ft waves.  Even with all this we managed to continue on.  We landed 11 fish by 12 PM but we did cut our trip a little short due to the tangle of all tangles.  My outside planner board managed to catch a huge bag that was attached to a bundle of balloons.  When this happened it tangles up an 8 color, 10 color, 300 ft of copper, 300 ft of 45lbs copper, and a dipsy with a meat rig.  Now this was a real tangle.  I can't make this stuff up!  It wiped out 1/2 of my rods and cost me hundreds of dollars in line.  I have never seen anything like it.  We did the best we could with the conditions we were given.

On the 22nd things went much smoother.  We had great weather and great fishing.  We landed 19 fish and lost a bunch other.  King salmon made up most of our catch.  The highlight of the day was landing a 24 lb 1 oz. King Salmon.  This was the 2nd largest salmon caught on my boat ever.  Best baits were stinger green bubble spoons, Dreamweaver Magnum Gin and Ralphie (Mik-Lurch custom color) , UV Spin doctor with a Rapture Zeinth UV fly.  These baits were super hot!  The fish were very picky.  Best depth of water was 100-120 ft. 

Good fishing should continue.  Get ready for a good week of fishing.  Check out the pictures below.  I even have a picture of the tangle.

Salmon 8-13-11 thru 8-19-11

What a bad week!  The waves were terrrible Monday thru Wed. making it impossible to fish.  Than on Thursday and Friday do to a few problem we hardly fished.  We did fish for two hours today and went 4 for 7.  We fished 100-135 ft of water.  The good news is fishing out of East Chicago and Portage sounds like its on fire.  I will be out everyday next week for Salmon. 

Good Luck.

Perch are gone! Salmon on fire 8-8-1 thru 8-12 -11

Perch fishing has been terrible.  My last perch trips were terrible at best.  I am done perchin' till I hear better news.  I will leave you with one nice pic to remind you that they will be back (sometime?)  Salmon report below pic.

Salmon fishing on the other had is great.  Lots of kings and lots of action.  Same baits as before but meatrigs are really doing great now.  Best colors have been Rapture UV teasers with the 12 inch UV John King flasher or Krystal Killer Flasher with a Rapture Oceana Teaser rig.  Today we ended up with 13 fish even in some big waves and terrible conditions.  Biggest fish were a 17 lb Brown Trout and a 17 lb King.  The big brown came on a Dreamweaver Gin and Ralphie, the big king on MEAT.  Great fishing.  I am looking forward to the rest of August and September.  Below are some pics from today.   

Salmon and Perch 8-3-11 thru 8-7-11

Salmon fishing has been very good for me the last 3 days in a row.  On Friday we had about 30 fish on and landed 15 nice fish.  Best depths have been 95-115 ft of water.  Its a long way out to 115 ft of water but worth it!  Best baits were dipsy divers with meatrigs.  The best combos were UV John King 12 inch flasher with a Rapture UV teasers rig and a blue green dolphin flasher with a Rapture Green Hypnotist teaser rig.  On 300ft of copper, 10, and 8 color of  leadcore were good with spoons.  Best baits were Dreamweaver Gin and Ralphie and Pro King Double Crush glow.  Steelhead were biting very good on Magnum Dreamweaver Bubble Bee spoons.  Good fish should continue.

Perch fishing was very good on the 3rd and the 4th (limited out morning and afternoon both days) but we struggled on the 5th.  Nothing changed we just couldn't get the perch to open their mouths.  Best baist have been Mik-Lurch spinners with pieces of softshell crab.  Best colors have been silver/chart or rootbeer.  I will be out all week perchin'.  Good luck.

King Salmon, steelies and Perchin' on fire 7-23-11 thru 8-2-11

Steelhead fishing continues to be very good.  Same baits as before.  Dreamweaver magnum spoons have been the best.  Best colors have been Bumble Bee, Candy Apple red glow, Fireball, and Red Crush.  Best depth is still 40-50 ft.  Troll fast!! 

Deep water salmon fishing is on fire right now.  Big, Big kings and lots of them.  This weekend was great.  Lots of fish over 15 lbs.  Best depth was 90-105 ft of water.  Best baits were Spin Doctors or magnum spoons.  Meat rigs were also very good on dipsys.  Best colors were UV Spin Doctor with a UV rapture fly was hot, Chrome Gator with a Rapture Green Dude fly.  Best sppons were Mag Dreamweaver Blue Icicle, Stinger Green bubble, Dreamweaver Mag NBK.  Great fishing.

Perchin' is on fire right now.  In 2 days we caught 500 perch.  All on Mik-Lurch spinners tipped with pieces of softshell crabs.  Best colors were Rootbeer and Gold and Chart.  Lots of small fish but all out keepers have been 11-14 inchers.  Great fishing.  Take advantage of it.

Fall smallmouth trips are filling up fast don't wait to call.  Good Luck.

Steelhead on fire! 7-18-11 thru 7-22-11

I though it couldn't get better but it did.  We have been averaging 17-18 fish a trip even in the horrible heat wave.  If we have caught 18 we lost another 18 everyday.  Every fish jumps 4-6 time and takes monster runs making them very hard to land.  Most have been steelhead but we have been getting a few kings, cohos, and even a brown trout.  The biggest king was 18lb 4ozs.  We had multiple steelhead over 14 lbs.  Best baits have been Dreamweaver Magnum spoons in Bumble Bee, Double Orange Crush, Fireball, UV Mixed Veggie.  All the rods have been working but dipsy diver have been the best.  Hopefully this week continues the same way.  Good Luck

Best Steelhead fishing ever, salmon slammin', plus some smallies 7-7-11 thru 7-17-11

Deep water salmon fishing remains very good.  The weather became a little bit of a problem due to waves but all and all it’s been another very good week.  Fishing location is all over the place.  Some guys are fishing 45-60 ft others are fishing 100-125.  It’s been a mixed bag of cohos, kings, steelies, and lakers.  Same baits as earlier in the year.  Meatrigs have been good for the kings and lakers. 

The real story was the unbelievable steelhead fishing that happened this week.  The best I have ever seen.  I can't take credit for finding these fish.  Two other very good fisherman did the work they just let me in on their "secret spot".  It was awesome to say the least.  From 5 AM to 12 PM we went 10 for 26.  Best baits were Magnum Dreamweaver spoons in bright org.  Everything worked dipsy divers, riggers, and boards.  In the afternoon we went back out for 2 hours and went 6 for 13.  It might be a while till I see it like that again.  The best part was the size of the fish.  In one day we weighted 3 steelhead over 15lbs.  I have never seen that before.

Smallmouth fishing hasn't been too bad.  You have to work at it but there are fish out there to be caught.  Same baits as normal.  Poorboy daters still seem to be producing bigger fish.  Crank baits in natural colors have also been good but I have struggled to get bigger fish to bite them.  We have been catching good numbers of fish but quality has been a problem for us.

Also one smallmouth was tagged.  First one I have ever seen. Check out the picture below.

Below is a tagged smallmouth out of Illinois.  First one I have ever seen  If anyone has info please contact me.

Still Slammin' 7-6-11

Fishing is still on fire.  Same baits and locations.  The pictures tell the story.  I still have a couple dates open in July.  I also have perch dates in early August and salmon dates in August open as of now.

Salmon Slammin' plus a couple of bonus smallies 7-1-11 thru 7-5-11

Salmon fishing is on fire once again.  The last four days have been great.  We have limited out every trip with big coho salmon.  The weather has also been very cooperative for a change.  Best baits have been org. dodger with a green crinkle fly or clown dodger with a aqua crinkle fly.  Meatrigs have also been very good on dipsy divers.  Best combos have been UV John King flashers with Rapture UV teasers or Glow flasher with Rapture Little Bride teasers.  Best depths have been 45-50 ft of water.  Fishing should be great the rest of the summer.

One afternoon this week we went smallie fishing for a couple of hours and did very well.  We caught 5 smallmouth and 3 sheephead.  Three of the smallmouth were really nice.  The bonus was one smallie was true hawg!  It was 4.5 lbs and the young fishermans first smallmouth ever.  The best part was it was caught on his rod, reel, and lure.  A perch colored Rapala Countdown?  Not the normal bait of choice but it produced big time.  The rest of the fish were caught on crankbaits or Poorboy Eire darter jrs.

Good Luck.

Chicago Perchin' 6-27-11 thru 6-30-11

Well it was a tougher week but we still did very well each trip.  The fish were much smaller on average but we still ended up catching lots of fish and some big jumbos mixed in.  It was alot of work nothing was easy.  On average we ended each 1/2 day trip with 20-30 keepers and thru back alot more.  We all had a good time and enjoyed a week of very good weather for the most part.  I will be booking morning and afternoon trips for Navy Pier perch trips the first 10 days of August.  I am about 1/2 filled as of now.

Perch, smallmouth, and salmon on fire!!! 6-20-11 thru 6-26-11

Perch fishing has been on fire.  This might have been the most consistant week of good perch fishing I have ever seen.  I had morning and afternoon trips all week and limited out everytime but 1.  We were taking 3 man limits every trip plus my daily limit.  Just excellent fishing.  The other bonus was the size.  We measured two 15 inch fish on one trip!  Most keepers were between 11-14 inchs.  Most days the average keepers were 12 inchers.  Huge perch and lots of action.  Best baits were Mik-Lurch spinners tipped with fresh softshells.  Best spinners colors were gold/chart, rootbeer, and firetiger. 

On Monday morning we went bass fishing in the early morning.  We ended up catching 80 rock bass, 16 smallmouth, 2 sheephead, 2 perch, AND 1 BIG PIKE!!  All fish were caught on small cranknaits in bright colors.  The pike measured just under 36 inchs and was FAT!  I caught it on my first cast of the day on a small crankbait on 8 lb test.  It was a great fight and my first every Lake Michigan pike. 

I salmon fished on Sat. morning and did very well we spent 3 hours fishing for cohos and ended up with 11.  After that everyone wanted to catch a big trout.  We spent the next 3 hours without a bite.  Cohos were biting on org/dodger with green flys or a Firedot Warrior spoon.  45-50 ft of water was the best.

Below is a "normal catch" every 1/2 day trip this week.

Perch time plus great Salmon fishing!  6-15-11 thru 6-19-11

Salmon fishing is still going very well.  Same baits as earlier in the week but in shallower water.  Best depths have been 40-60 feet.  Fishing closer to Indiana has really picked up over the last few days. 

The best news I have is that the perch have begun.  On Friday we worked hard for them but ended up catching about 80.  We kept 33 nice ones.  All the fish came on minnows near the weeds.  The last few days it has really picked up and the fish have been hitting Mik-Lurch spinners tiped with softshell crabs.  This should be a great week if the weather allows us out.

Back to Slammin' Salmon 6-13-11 and 6-14-11

Salmon fishing was great once again.  By 12:30 we had 20 fish in the boat!  Our catch ended up being 12 cohos, 2 lakers, and 6 kings.  We also lost about 15 more fish on the day including a few big ones.  We fished from 70-90 ft of water out of Illinois.  Just about every rod worked but the best combos were wire dipsys with meatrigs.  Best colors were Glow John King Flasher with Little Bride Rapture fly teasers or the new UV John King flasher with UV Rapture fly teasers.  Sppons on downriggers also did very well.  Stinger Green Bubble and a Dreamweaver Gin and Ralphie both took nice kings.  Leadcore and copper were slow compared to dipsys and downriggers.  Most fish were caught 10-20 off the bottom.  We should have a great summer once again.

I was out smallmouth fishing to day with mixed results.  We caught alot of fish just not what we were after.  We ended up catching 4 smallmouth, 11 sheephead, 1 carp, 50 rock bass, 1 perch, and 3 channel cats.  All on crankbaits or Poorboy Erie Dater Jrs.  We had alot of action so I won't complain to much.  The channel cats were the shocker on the day.  They aren't that common out on the lake and these were nice ones.  They were all from 6-8lbs.  All and all we had a good time.

Smallmouth and Salmon plus a very slow muskie trip 5-26-11 thru 6-9-11

Smallmouth fishing wasn't easy but we still caught fish everyday we were out.  The fish are finally spawning and are locked on beds which should make for more consistant smallie fishing.  Same baits as normal.  We also caught about 50 sheephead, 100 rock bass, a couple of largemouth, a bunch of carp, and a handful of other fish in a weeks time.  At least we had some action!

Salmon fishing has been hit or miss mostly due to weather and wind direction.  The salmon have been scattered out from 50-100 ft of water.  We are sill using our normal baits but meatrigs are really starting to work for kings.  The lake trout action has been on fire.  Catching lakers everyday has been easy.  Downriggers on the bottom with smoke dodger and a Rapture lilttle bride fly or a glow spin-n-glow.

Than I took a few days to go muskie fishing in eastern Indiana and it was slow to say the least.  Never had a fish in 3 days.  Normally I do very well thru this time period but not this year.

Smallmouth and Salmon 5-13-11 thru 5-25-11

Weather has been killing me once again  I did get some trips in.  Some went great others not so great.  Salmon fishing remained very good earlier in the week but as the weather changed so did the fishing.  The salmon have thinned out and have been harder to find.  Lake Trout on the other hand have been on fire.  As fast as I get the bait down one is on the line.  It looks like a great week of weather coming up salmon fishing should get back on track very quickly.  Smallmouth fishing has still been hit or miss but a major change has occured over the last few days.  They have began to spawn in many locations, this should help fishing big time.  Same baits as normal for the salmon and smallies.  Did catch a few nice smallmouth this week but no numbers.

I still have a couple of dates open for June Perch and Salmon, I am starting to fill up in July also.  July is my favorite Salmon month don't wait till the last second to book a date nothing will be open.  Call now!!

Slammin' Salmon 5-4-11 thru 5-12-11

Salmon fishing is on fire.  Easy limits everyday of cohos and big kings.  The king action has been great.  On average we have been catching 5-9 everyday and losing a bunch more.  Best depth of water has been 40-50 ft.  Best baits have been Spindoctor and flys.  I have not had a trip this week where everyone has not limited out!

Best color combos have been:

No see Um Blue Bubble (mik-lurch tackle exclusive)- Blue bubble Rapture fly

Blue Fish Net Spindoctor- Sliver Hypnotist Rapture fly

UV Crush Spindoctor- Zenith Rapture Fly

Chrome Froggy Spindoctor- Dew Hypnotist Rapture fly

Blue Icicle Spindoctor (mik-lurch tackle exclusive) - Blue Bubble Rapture Fly.  This has been red hot!

Spoons have also been working.  Best colors have been Dreamweaver Mag Gin and Ralphie, Dreamweaver Mag Blue Icicle, Dreamweaver Mag Natural Born Killer, Pro King Mag Double Glow Chrush.

Smallmouth fishing has still be hit or miss we have been catching some but it hasn't been easy.  Hopefully it get going better with the warmer weather.  The best baits have been Poorboy Erie Darter Jrs. in Steiger's Ice or Globy colors.  We also have caught some fish on Lucky Craft Staysee Jerk baits the best colors have been MS MJ Herring or Sexy Shad.

This Carp was 38 inchs long with a 28 inch girth, weight unknown?

Smallmouth and Salmon 4-30-11 thru 5-3-11

Smallmouth fishing has been tough to say the least.  I don't know why they have slowed down but they have.  We fished hard for two days and only manged to catch a few fish each day.  The water tempature are very good,time of year is perfect and we can't seem to get them to bite.  Hopefully everything picks up this week.  We did catch a wide range of fish this week including carp, buffalo, sheephead!!  Not what we were looking for.

On the positive side salmon fishing remains great.  Limits of nice cohos and big kings have still been common.  On the 3rd we fished for salmon and ended up with 4 kings(15.5lbs,13lbs,11lbs,6lbs) 1 steelie, and 8 cohos.  We were 13 for 20 on the day.  We fished in big waves and lots of wind.  It was not a easy day by any means.  I was very proud of this catch, this was the kind of day where you had to earn them.  Best baits were org. dodger with a Rapture Posiden fly or Clown dodger with a Rapture Riptide fly for cohos.  Best baits for kings were Chrome Frog Spindoctor with a Dew Hypnotist Rapture fly or Mountain Dew Spindoctor with a Catalist Rapture fly.  We also had 2 king bites on a double crush glow Mag. Pro King spoon.  Dipsys were hot and 4 or 6 colors of leadcore.

King Salmon 4-29-11

It was finally a nice day for a change.  The sun was out and the winds were light.  We decided that we wanted to salmon fish today and we made the right choice.  Fishing was on fire.  Spring kings and nice cohos were all over the place.  We fished for about 4-5 hrs and ended up with 4 kings (16.5lbs,15.5lb,15lbs,9.5lbs) and 16 cohos.  Best depth of water was 30-35 ft, best baits for cohos were Clown dodgers/Posiden Rapture fly or Orange dodger/Lil Hypnotist Rapture fly.  Best baits for the kings hands down were Dreamweaver Spin Doctors.  Best colors were the new UV Spindoctor with a Rapture Zenith UV fly.  I wasn't a big believer in UV stuff untill today.  It worked great.  We also caught kings on Chrome Frog Spindoctor with a Rapture Dew Hypnotist fly and Chrome Mixed Veggies Spindoctor with a Rapture Farmer's Market fly.  Running the spindoctors on dipsy divers were the most productive.  We also ran them on leadcore and caught a king on that setup also.  Trolling a little fast seemed to help also, anywhere from 2.5-2.7 mph. Good Luck

Mik-Lurch Tackle in Hammond has everything I talked about above.  Give them a call 219-989-0575.

Smallmouth in the wind 4-28-11

The last few days we didn't get out due to wind, waves, and storms but today we gave it a try.  Conditions were very tough.  Heavy West winds made fishing very tough.  Casting and feeling your jig was very very hard but we stuck with it and managed to catch some fish.  It was a mixed bag today.  We fished hard and ended up catching 8 smallies, 6 carp, 2 browns, 1 sheephead, and one ROCK BASS!!  We also lots a few more fish and missed a bunch more bites but fishing was deffinetly tough.  We did the best we could for the conditions we had.  Best baits were Poorboy Erie Darter Jrs. in Globy or Steiger's Ice both were good. 

Smallmouth Hero to Zero 4-22-11 thru 4-26-11

On the 23rd we killed them.  All big fish and very good action.  We caught 14 smallies by noon and lost about 5 others.  Afternoon the wind picked up and we struggeled to even get a bite.  Its hard to fish in 30 mph winds out of the South.  On the day we ended up catching 16 smallies and a coho.  The big bonus was the quality of the fish.  We only had 2 fish that were under 3lbs.  We also had 3 fish at 4lbs or better.  It was a great day.  All on Poorboy Eire Darter Jrs.  Best colors were Mango Magic or Steiger's Ice.

On the 24th we did terrible.  There was change in wind direction and weather and they just wouldn't bite.  We fished very hard.  I can't blame anyone on the boat for anything, they just wouldn't open their mouths.  We ended up catching a couple of smallies and a brown trout.  We did lose or miss a handful of fish but either way it was slow.  Thats fishing one day your the best the next they put you back in your place.

The last two days just have been to windy to get out.  Between the storms, heavy rain, and wind its been a tough spring.  Hopefully we get a break in the nasty weather.

Smallmouth and dirty water 4-18-11 thru 4-21-11

The weather has still been terrible.  Lots of wind and waves means dirty water.  The last time I made it was on the 21st.  The morning started out great.  There was no wind and it was enjoyable to fish by the afternoon it was a different story.  In the morning we started out great.  By noon even with the dirty water we had caught 8 smallies, a sheephead, a couple of carp and lost some other fish.  All on Poorboys datrter jrs. fished very very slowly.  Best color was Plenzer Melon. In the afternoon the wind switched out of the Northeast at 20 mph and fishing slowed down big time.  Fishing became hard and we never boated a fish. 

On a positive note the upcomming week looks much better.  Fishing should improve big time.

Smallmouth, mud water, and wind 4-11-11 thru 4-17-11

This has not been a easy week by any means.  The wind has been terrible and the water has been very rough.  So rough that we haven't really been able to fish.  On the 11th we didn't fish to due to the wind.  On the 12 we attempted to fish for a few hours and managed somehow to catch 6 nice smallies.  Wind was a huge problem again.  The weather man was calling for North winds 5-10 mph but it turned out to be Northwest at 20 mph and 3-5 ft waves.  

On the 13th we salmon fished and killed them.  Easy limits of nice cohos, we also lost 2 nice kings and 1 steelhead.  Best baits were clown dodgers with Rapture Atlantis flies or Orange dodger with a Rapture Posiden fly.  It's a dodger and fly bite big time guys who ran body baits didn't due very well.  There are some kings being caught out of Pastrick on J-Plugs or Spindoctor/fly combos.

On the 14th,15th,16th the wind was blowing at 20-30 mph non-stop.  No fishing.

On the 17th we had high hopes and great attitudes.  We hoped to beat the wind and catch some fish.  We did one of these things at least.  We caught fish but the wind beat us once again.  Ended up fishing in 20+ mph West winds but we did catch 12 smallies and lost 5 others by noon.  The bonus was the quality of fish we caught.  The smallest fish was 2.5lbs and the biggest was 4.75lbs.  We has 3 fish at 4lbs or better today.  We only had one fish under 3lbs.  Very nice fish.  Feeling bites was very very difficult but we did the best we could.  The best baits by far were Poorboy Eire darter jrs.  Best colors were Steiger's Ice and Plenzer Melon.  Weather looks terrible again this week.  Good Luck. 

Smallmouth and Perch!!  4-5-11 thru 4-10-11

Fishing has been very very good.  On the 5th we ended up catching 11 smallies, 2 browns, 8 cohos.  We caught them all on Poorboy Eire Darter Jr.  Best colors were Plenzer Melon or Steiger's Ice.  We also did very well swimming grubs.  Best combos were 4 inch Northland Slurpies Grub with a 1/4 oz. White or Orange Jig.  We had some dirty water but we slowed down and worked for our fish. 

On the 6th we rocked them hard.  On the day we caught 23 smallies, 2 browns, 1 steelie, a big carp and 10 cohos.   Bigg

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