Fishing Michigan

Marine Corps branch of the Unites States military.  With Veteran’s Day fast approaching, tomorrow (November 10th)  celebrates the birth of the United States Marine Corps.  Since 1775 marines have been on guard and at the forefront of many of America’s battles.  To those who actively serve, and to those who have in the past, thank you.  Thank you for protecting and preserving our nation and the freedoms we enjoy today.  God Bless and Happy Birthday Marines!

MARINES’ HYMN

From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli,
We fight our country’s battles in the air, on land and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom, and to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title of United States Marine.

Our Flag’s unfurled to every breeze from dawn to setting sun.
We have fought in every clime and place, where we could take a gun.
In the snow of far off northern lands and in sunny tropic scenes,
You will find us always on the job, the United States Marines.

Here’s health to you and to our Corps, which we are proud to serve.
In many a strife we’ve fought for life and never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy ever look on heaven’s scenes,
they will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines.

Whether its open water or fishing through the ice, when it comes to spooling my reels I have one saying that I can live by.  I want to put on the biggest line on my reels that I can get away with.  I don’t care if I am fishing for muskie in the spring, or gills in the winter, give me MORE POWER.

The same can be said for fishing for walleye throughout the winter.  You go to Minnesota and those scandinavian nuts are using 4 lb mono in some cases on their walleye rods.  Do they catch some fish, you bet.  Do they lose some fish because of the line, definitely.  My thing is why not come up with an idea to get the size of that skinny mono, but the hooking power of something stronger.

In most cases and conditions, I can use a braid to accomplish this method of fishing.  When I use 8 lb Power Pro, I get the size of 1 lb monofilament, but the strength of 8.  When I use 10 lb braid, I get the size of 2 lb mono.  The thin diameter allows the jig at the end to cut through any current that might be moving around out there in Brest Bay, and keeps the jig straight and vertical.  That’s important for detecting nibblers and those light biting walleye.  When you see the line start to drift off in one direction or the other, you better give a tug to make sure there isn’t a walleye on the other end.

Although some braids have a tendency to freeze up during extreme cold weather, besides getting inside a shanty with a heater, you have another option in the line market to spool up with.

No matter what kind of line you use, all lines, both mono and braid will freeze up on the spool on really cold days.  Even though most braids do not absorb water, the material used in the production is not smooth, and thus will have a surface into which water can cling too.  In some extreme cases mono is the way to go because the water is more likely to shed off the smooth surface.

Again, I like to be able to go as big as I can get away with.  In recent years I have started to use Berkley’s Vanish Transition line.  While it practically glows gold (and now red) in the sunlight, but a few feet under the surface it comes back to its fluorocarbon properties.  So instead of 6 lb mono on my dead stick, I can use 8 or 10 lb test. Regular Trilene XL is also an excellent choice in a mono line option. 

You can leave the ice spools on the shelf when I go shopping for my winter lines.  With as many reels as I use, and with a lot of use I am changing lines out throughout the season, I want the bigger spools. Not only is it more economical, but you get the same quality line, just lots more of it. 

When I sit down in front of the tube watching the Pistons and Red Wings at night,  I will have my portable line winding station there with me.  During commercials I just start cranking and spooling line.  This is a lot easier on your equipment than those electric jobs they have in the stores for filling your spools.

So basic applications, for the braids you can choose 8, 10 or even 15 lb braid.  Mono, start off with 8, 10 or even 12 lb test.  When I get into the lures, it will become a lil more clear on why I use different sized lines on my rods ‘n’ reels with different jigs.

I’ve got to admit as these frosty mornings become more and more frequent, I am getting an itch to walk out onto the ice for the first time this year.  One of the nice things about writing this blog is that it makes me think, to analyze what I have been doing in years past, and build onto that for a successful new season.  I always thought writing a diary was for girls when I was a kid, but now when I am done fishing for the day, all the gear is put up and the fish are cleaned,  I sit down and write about the experience.

What was the weather like; was it windy, was it cloudy or was the sun shining bright?  What lures I used, what line tactics were rigged, and the bait being used, all this for looking back on, and to learn from.  When I was studying to be a teacher, the profs at EMU always said this, “No matter how far you go, you will always be a student.”  Back then all I could think of was, “Great, I’ll be going to school forever!”

I look at my lil’ composition books bought in the spring from Wal-mart a few years back, and realize, these are my new textbooks.  Broken down by species, open water or ice.  These 59 cent books are filled with maps that I taped in, pre-fish strategies and after action notes.  Rigging hooks or jigs, what was effective, and what was not.  Even though something might not have worked, you can still get something out of it by looking deeper in the situations.  Dang, that sounded a bit too complicated for fishing!

Anyhoo,  break it down, write it out, thrown in some GPS coordinates for future reference.  I really thought taking notes was a thing of the past, doh!