Hello Everyone, I am trying to configure a Special Mate tackle box and another one for flies and other good baits for Lake Michigan fishing out of Ludington. I have purchased for the Special Mate a few Green Dolphins (both magnum and smaller size), same with Monkey Puke, Lemon Ice, Blue Dolphin, Glo Frog, Ludington Special, Kandy Corn, Watermelon, and PK Special. I also have some J Plugs, mainly Silver Bullets. I have some Dipsy's and Dodgers as well as Slashers and Hootchie Mama's and Spin Doctors. I just started getting into the salmon and trout thing last year, and TRUST ME, I am hooked (excuse the pun). I also purchased another boat last fall that I have not even put in the water yet. It is a Sportcraft 250 Fisherman. I started at 14 foot like everyone else and several boats later, I am here. The boat came with a Fish Hawk 800 and a Lowrance 350. It has 5 Walker electric downriggers on it and I have 2 poles set up for leadcore. Is there any other tackle (spoons that worked well for you) last year or flies? I kinda picked ones that worked "fair" for me last year but need to get a few more. My flies are green crinkle, dark seaweed, antifreeze, and the dolphins. The most my wife and I caught last year on any given day was 3. I need to learn a lot before May. Anything you could do to help my wife and kids catch more fish would be GREATLY appreciated. Ed aka Bait N Wait
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Welcome aboard Ed! If you stick it out this winter with us you will learn a thing or three that will put more fish in your boat for you. It tickles me to hear about people getting their kids involved in fishing. What could be better for them?
Even though you can never have enough lures, don't make the mistake of thinking that if you had this captain or that captain's hot lures that you will catch more fish. Sites like this one can really take a lot off of the learning curve for you but experience is still the best teacher. When you catch a fish, take note of every detail. Every fish gives you clues as to how you're going to catch the next one.
The best lures you have in your arsenal are the ones that you have confidence in. After the peices all start to come together for you, you'll find yourself catching 3 limits instead of 3 fish.
Jim...I Fish Therefore I Am
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We had the best luck last year with the dark seaweed and a Stinger Slasher that was green and yellow. I think I may need to concentrate on boat speed a bit more. Last year I had a hard time getting the speed consistent. The GPS might read 2.7 and the surface speed indicator 1.5. This year I am hoping the Fish Hawk will help me to get the speed down a little better. You do have an EXCELLENT idea about keeping notes on the fish caught. As well as that I bet weather conditions would be a logical addition as well. I think I will print a lot of the suggestions on these boards off to put into a binder to keep on the boat as well. I had thought about laminating them as well. I have never fished in Ludington until July so I am going to be VERY much a greenhorn this spring. The have confidence in the green flies and dolphins in the fall, but do they work as well in the spring? Maybe more orange for steelhead in the spring? Do you use magnum spoons only in the fall or all year long? What about Rapala stickbaits pulled behind the ball? I have never heard of anyone trying this but it makes sense that it may work as well. Any help for me on any choices for spring would be awesome. Ed Gillespie
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Jim is absolutely right, use what you have confidence in, I have a red and glow PK that always gets set deep, 72Fow and more, I like a little boy blue and white, "is it a fish scale "? flasher, on a dipsey set at 2 and back 150-175. then I experiment with my third rod depending on weather and wave conditions. what ever I stop with one day is what I normally start with the next. I have a friend that ALWAYS trolls a green/black ladder back J-plug deep, 60 foot or more. If my initial set up doesn't click, I will switch one at a time, also when bringing up your riggers, leave the bait on, and fish it all the way back up ! Also remember the faster you go, the longer your leads should be. thats the right way isn't it ? Greg, maybe this could make the hints list, don't leave your lures hanging in the sun, they fade.
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Ed Green dolphins and flies are good choices any time of the year. Especially in that part of Lake Michigan. There will be days that green won't do it for you but overall it's a consistent producer. I prefer Blue Dolphin over Green when targeting steelhead. You're right on with the orange for steel. The old saying is that any color is good for steelhead as long as it's orange. While not entirely true, orange is probably the top color for steelhead.
I've been using magnums all season long for about 4 years now. I used to mix them up to see what they prefer but with the declining forage base, the fish are eating increasingly bigger prey in Lake Huron where I fish the most. There's still plenty of alewives for now in Lake Michigan so mixing it up to see what works the best on a particular day is a good policy. Here's a tip for you. Use a magnum spoon on your rigger rod with a regular spoon as a fixed slider about 5' above it. You can reverse that as well. Just because your only allowed 3 rods doesn't mean you are stuck with only 3 lures. Sliders are a great way to add lures and also coverage to your spread.
Stickbaits behind the ball? Sure! Back in the day when guys were making homemade downriggers and using bass tackle just to get into the fun, lots of guys used stickbaits. I still do, mostly early and late in the season when the fish are hanging in the shallows. In the spring I pull a lot of Rapalas and Bomber Long A's behind inline planer boards. I will be adding Shad Raps to my arsenal for this year after seeing how much the browns love them over in Wisconsin. My favorite sticks are Silver/black back, silver/blue back, gold/orange back, purple/black back and wonderbread with red or black head. Have a few natural colors for bright calm days and a few louder colors for choppy, muddy days.
You said a mouthful when you said that speed control is a big factor in catching fish! What's the best speed? I don't know, ask the fish. Try different speeds until you hit the right one. I believe that speed is a much bigger factor than color. Your GPS speed is much more accurate than your surface speed indicater which is easily affected by waves. GPS will give you SOG or speed over ground (water). What it doesn't tell you is what the currents are doing below you. You might be going 2.4 mph SOG and have a current down at your cannonball following you at 2.2 mph. The net result is that your lures are acting like you are only going .2 mph. They're hanging limp. The opposite when you go against the current. Using the numbers above your lures will act like you are going 4.6 mph, spinning out like crazy. Your Fish Hawk is a handy tool to determine what the current is doing.
Trolling bags are a huge help in maintaining speed control! A pair of bags will also help you by running at a little higher RPM to keep from carboning up.
Direction of troll is also a big factor at times. On any given day a certain direction will box the lion's share of fish for you. Underwater currents are likely the reason for this.
Keep a detailed log. Be flexible. Look for patterns to emerge. Once you start tying the color/weather/speed/lure/direction/depth of water/and depth of lure all together in your log and in your mind you WILL see results.
Post edited by: WingNut, at: 2005/01/12 22:31
Jim...I Fish Therefore I Am
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To help you wife and kids catch more fish, met, fish and hang out with other fishing familes. Every time I've gone out with fishing with others we have each learned something. Get your wife to sign up here, too.
In Ludington, stop by Harbor View Maria, B Dock and you'll find Team Experience Outdoors. We are more than willing to share everything we know.
Post edited by: h2ohazard, at: 2005/01/14 15:16
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You guys and gals are great!! where else you gonna get advice like this and not have to leave a tip at the end of the visit?? Ed, you will like it here, glad you found the site. Now, can anybody do anything about the fact that our hearts are on the lake and our butts are in the house?? (at least for a couple more months!!) Best,
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Jen, Teresa and I (Ed) may take you up on that this spring. We are going to be at Tamarac Marina for the year. I am looking forward to our trip up to put the boat in. I can just tell by what I read on here that you are all a bunch of nice people. That is the important thing. Remember our boat name of Bait N Wait. We always trailored our other boat to Copeyon Park and put in there. We stayed at Dan's place next door when we could spend weekends. We can now spend more weekends. I love it and so does my wife. I need to put a sign under the bridge though, that says "Hey Dummy, Pull The Rods Down" as I think I may forget at times. I hope not. Forgot once in my life at Insta Launch in Manistee when we trailored. Railroad bridge. Cost me $150. I HOPE I learned a lesson. Anyway, look forward to meeting you! Tight lines, Ed, Teresa, Bill and Nikolas Gillespie
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Chip (and all), I am already glad that I found this sight. It is awesome and I am a greenhorn. I know a little about salmon and trout fishing. About enough to get me in trouble. I really think this is the sight I have been looking for on the web. I fished walleyes out of Monroe and Maumee Bay State Park for a number of years (although it has been 10 years ago). We went to a marina in Oregon, Ohio one time around the 4th of July and the guy that owned the marina told me that I was wasting my time even fishing Erie because of the June bug hatch. He told me that the most any charter had caught was 14. We drifted through the first pack of boats and hooked nothing. Never marked a fish. We headed toward West Sister and about half way my graph lit up like a firecracker. We fished for a couple of hours and ran out of crawlers. I saved the spot on the GPS. There was not a boat within 3 miles of us. We ran back in and got some more crawlers and immediately returned. We caught fish. When we got back in to the marina, the guy that owned it said "I don't hear you bragging"! I said we did O.K. Between my wife and I and our 2 kids, we had 39. My wife miscounted (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). One of them was 10lbs plus. It depends on your confidence for sure. I felt comfortable in Erie. Greenhorn in Lake Michigan though. Ed
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Chip, And by the way, it was chartreuse <sp> and hammered nickel rigs. #3 Colorado's, 3 foot snell, floaters along with walking sinkers. Crawlers on the end. My wife caught the 10 pounder. Don't tell anyone. Ed
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While not entirely true, orange is probably the top color for steelhead.
