Fishing Michigan

After an agonizing week of waiting to leave for Minnesota while my partner recovered from pneumonia, we finally left late last Thursday night.  Only managed an hour of prefishing on Friday before the tourney days on Saturday and Sunday.  Just got back in yesterday morning.  Another long drive since we had got up about 5 am, fished till 2 pm, ate, packed and drove home Sunday night.  Pretty sure I slept through the whole state of Wisconsin.

Will have more on the event in the next couple of days, including some pictures taken by good friend and tournament observer, Kevin Winkler of Minnesota.  Not looking forward to the unpacking and putting the gear away since it looks like the recent snows back home might have sunk whatever ice was made before the last storm hit.  Will make some calls to those in the know, and report back on conditions as a priority before the weekend.

Have to plow some snow now to get the trailer back where it belongs, wipe the salt off the quad,

Doesnt matter if its your hand or power auger.  I had started my power auger up a few days ago and was packing it up tonight.  The shaft/lower unit/auger was really loose.  Picked up the allen wrench and tightend it down, and did the same with the blades.

Hasnt happend to me yet, but I have heard of people losing their gear down the hole.  Also, loose blades cause stress and will result in cracking, if not those falling down to the bottom of the lake.

I will try to get some pics of the pups up before I leave,  but this could be my last post before leaving for Minnesota

All the rods are spooled, jigs tied on already and packed away in their Ready Rig rod cases.  Have enough for sight fishing if the water is clear, and those for tightlining if its cloudy. Bringing some extras for having a little fun in the evenings.

Give me 8 good crappie, and 8 good gills each day (camera phone from last championship trip) and if the scales show enough weight my partner and I will be in line for another check.  I like that part,  but I like the competition even better.  Even though you have a partner, and there will be 74 other teams going for the cash and championship ring, it still boils down to you and the fish.

Should have enough time from prefishing to catch some of these in the evenings.  I try to bring some rods set up for pike, walleye and perch.  Since the tournies are over @ 2pm.  A lot of times we will head out after an early dinner and fish until 10 pm or so on another lake.

Take your basic tip-up, and there are several brands out there available for less than $14.00.  There are also several styles available.  One company with the most available is HT Enterprise.  Ranging anywhere from $7 to 12 something.

The next step is to put line on the spool.  I take leftover Power Pro from my muskie reels.  Its not enough to repool one of my casting reels, but more than enough to get 30 or so yards on the tip-up.  Mason (no relation), a fine Michigan company has black dacron and vinyl coated line available. Choose a line with a thick enough diameter so that it won’t tangle easily when you bring a fish in through the hole.  If you go with a super braid, I would go with at least 40 lb test, and 12 lb diameter.  With a dacron line, 25 or 30 lb test is the way to go.

At the end of your line, attach a snap. Rated at either 30 or 60 lb works, and they arent too large.  From there you can attach mono or fluorocarbon if you want to try fishing for walleye.  You can do the jig and minnow, jig and sinker, hook and sinker or spoon and dropper presentation at the end.  Depends on the movement of the minnow and the attitude of the walleye.

If pike are what you are chasing, then a steel leader or some type of quick strike rig is preferred.