Lake Michigan

[Havin' Fun]

Well, it's getting ever so close to Spring, and it has me thinking about Salmon, Rainbows and the like. I will be fishing Lake Michigan for my first time(in my own boat) So I could use a good list of things to ADD to my boat. I pretty much have very little. I fished lake Superior, so I have some planner boards, flys, spoons ect. But what do I really need? A good list of flies, spoons, dodgers, DOWNRIGGERS(which size?) I have app 17ft lund tiller. Line, stackers, ect. Hopefully you get the idea. And if there is anyone in the G. Bay area who would be willing to take out a Vikings fan sometime this summer to show me the ropes.....please nominate yourselfs now!!!!

All help, suggestions and perhaps a little ribbing welcome

[Smeds]

For a first-timer on Lake Michigan, I would consider a charter your first time out. This way you can check out first hand what works and what they are using to make it work. Just a suggestion. I also fish Lake Superior, but alot of the techniques used on Michigan I have not seen used on Gitchee! You might want to check out Great Lakes Angler's HSOforum if you are determined to take your own boat. There is a forum that is used fairly heavily there as well.

[Smeds]

By the way, you might get someone from G.B. to "show you the ropes" and take you out, but good luck making it back off the water! Hard to swim all tied up!

[can it be luck?]

Hammer em', It's not all that difficult to get started to fish Lake Michigan. Rod holders, rods and reels filled with 17-20# line, line counters are a plus, planer boards, spoons, flys, cranks, dipsys, snap weights, and gps are really all you need. Down riggers are nice, but not necessary. I usually run 2-4 lines on dipsys and 2 lines off boards. The dipsys will be baited with flasher/fly combos and spoons. The planer boards will either have a heavier spoon or a crank bait. Many times even in water as far as 500' deep, the fish will be caught in the top 50' of water. Steelhead are notorious for staying close to the top. Dipsys can be fished quite deep also. I normally have my deepest lines set at about 75'. Kewaunee is where I usually go out of, but anywhere along the coast you'll find launches that can be used. I'm only a "rookie" when it comes to fishing Lake Michigan's open water. I troll for walleyes so I figured, why not use the same equipment for trout and salmon? My walleye rods are big enough to handle the stress. My only additions needed were dipsys, spoons, flashers, dodgers, and flys. I was fortunate to recieve a tackle box from a friend which contained hundreds of spoons, so I never had to buy a single one. The only thing on my boat which could not handle this type of fishing was my rod holders. The stress from the dipsys are very strong. The rod holders I had on my boat were stripped and cracked from the dipsys. I run a 16' boat on lake Michigan. By watching the weather and picking your days, there's no reason why you can't enjoy Lake Michigan's fishing opportunities, safely. Heck I'm on the lake when the "big" boats are afraid to go out. I'm still here now to write about it! As we discussed earlier, we'll get together some time to do a little fishing. Are you all moved in? My puters down and I'm on a borrowed one now, hopefully I can resolve that soon! Take care, Mark/can it be luck?

[Havin' Fun]

Mark,

Yeah, I figured to run planners as we had our best luck on Salmon on Lake Superior with those on a dodger fly combo, also ran one dipsy, but know my rod holders would be destroyed as well. So will have to buy some good ones. Any ideas? Will probably put 4 or 6 in. I will likely get a set of riggers on. I have used them some on my buddies boat, and borrowed a set for Superior. We got lots of lakers that way. My boat can handle the lake decent enough, I'm more worried about me!

I will hopefully be moved in by June?? I would love to volunteer for your fishing trip to Erie, but I'm afraid the timing might be too close to the wedding and moving date.

We will keep in touch.

Anyone have a good recommendation for rod holders? I have a walleye boat.

[black max]

I fish Superior alot in the summer and can usually get salmon and lakers where ever I go out of. I have all the stuff you guys are talking about(spoons,flies,flashers,cranks dipsies,riggers, and boards); so is there anything else I would need that is regional to L.Michigan? One other ? is it better to go in June for salmon or later in the summer. I am guessing earlier in the summer since mmichigan is shallower than superior. I love fishing Superior and so do my buddies but I would like to give l. michigan a try , I heard it puts superior to shame.

[This message has been edited by black max (edited 02-09-2004).]

[This message has been edited by black max (edited 02-09-2004).]

[KJB]

I fish Lake Michigan, out of Milwaukee pretty regularly starting around the end of June up till I put the boat away. A few general comments-

1. Each port is most definitely different in terms of lures. What works in Milwaukee is not always what works as close by as Port Washington (about 20 miles). There are some standards that will work, but there are some specifics you need to find out about. I would go to the GLSF site as well as HotSpotOutdoors and review postings from the summer- there is a wealth of info and most are very open about sharing it.

2. Set-up- I usually run two riggers with four lines (two stacked) adn then two dipseys. Last year I stacked less and ran lead core off the boards and that was very productive. It is all about water temp- if you have winds blowing out, the fish are generally closer, shallower and higher in the water column, if the wind blows in, the exact opposite is USUALLY the case.

3. I fish out of a 19' Yarcraft and mounted a 2X10 across the back, used U-bolts to attach to the cleats and have the two riggers and four rod holders off that. That may work on your boat as well if you are getting riggers- makes it easier to get them out of the way when fishing other stuff.

4. Depending on the harbor, the best fishing starts after the fourth of July. Down here, we get a run of coho's in May and early June, and you can have good days, but for consistency and size, I fish walleyes, etc. till the fourth and then fish salmon.

5. You can catch these fish on walleye gear, no question, but if you are going to do it alot, I would upscale the equipment- bigger capacity reels are a must- it is not uncommon for a 15# king to peel off 400-500 feet of line in one run- then you have your amount of line out to start with and you see my point- then imagine a 25-30# fish going. I actually use my salmon gear for walleyes, it works fine for me and then I am covered for both, in my opinion, better. Plus, I only troll for walleyes for a few weeks in the summer so makes more sense that way.

This topic is one you could go on about for weeks, but just some quick thoughts. I would again emphasize going to those websites and reading reports- I am not familiar with Green Bay, but for a little more driving, the Algoma area is fantastic.

Good Luck

[Havin' Fun]

I'm getting excited.
Thanks KJB.

How do you run lead core so that you can have some serious line left over for a fish run? How much leadcore do you spool? 50 yards? More? Less? Do you just run enough lead core to get to your desired depth, or can you have some extra running back to the rod? How easily does the lead core stay in the clip?
How are you attaching your lead core to you mono? Obviously I have never fished with lead core, and certainly not boarded with them.

Thanks

[KJB]

On the leadcore, I will try and respond to all your questions, from my perspective, but there may be better ways from guys who do it more.

1. I usually run mono backing or else powerpro, then a full core of leadcore and then about 50 feet of mono leader. Large capacity reels are important, obviously.

2.When attaching line to lead core, pull back the sleeve, clip off the lead and then let the sleeve back down. What you have is just the fabric sheath and to this I just tie any knot you are comfortable with that works- I think I tie a nail not (the one used when flyfishing and attach leaders to fly line). But you could just tie any way that sticks.

3. Amount of line needed- what I have found is that with a 5-10 colors out, the amount of drag, weight on the line adn then the board- it takes alot of kick out of the fish so they do not go on the massive runs as they would with a regular setup. As such, you get by with less capacity than normal.

4. Boards, I use off-shore and replace the black clip with the red, like everyone does, and then I go through the clip, make a complete loop over the clip into the groove just behind the pad, and then back through the pad again. This works as long as you are attaching leadcore to the release, otherwise, if in the backing , attach as normal. Some attach so the board releases adn slides down to a stop above the lure a fair distance, but again, I did ok as is so did not change. I think that the clips with the screw down tightening system would be better, just do not have any and these work fine for me to date.

Ok, hope I hit it all. Again, some probably have some better ways of doing some of this- but these worked fine for me so hey, if it ain;t broke.....!