Fishing Michigan

The bottom bouncers I ordered showed up today via UPS.  One dozen, unpainted….inexpensive, and had the twist eye on top just how I like it.

You really don’t have to paint them, lots of folks don’t.  I do,  and in all honesty its for something to tinker with more than anything else.  If you do decide to go that route, it is best to give them a white primer coat.

Once that was done with 2 coats, where they had dried enough, and were ready for the next coat.  I did three in a forest green, three in black, 3 with cherry red, and the last three got the traditional black coat.  It really doesn’t matter what type of paint you use.  These were done with spray cans, and I have done them up with jig paint before.  I prefer the sprays just because they can take up a lot of jig paint, and it saves on the coast.  If you want them to glow though, go with the jig paint.  I kind of rushed this job, in order to have pics ready for this piece, so I have some white popping through, if it doesn’t rain tomorrow, they get another coat or two.

Its hard to find a mold for 4 oz BB’s, so getting the unpainted saves a lil’ money, plus you have the fun of painting them yourself, to your own specs.

Here is the latest from the guys at Matthew’s Bait and Tackle.  When I write that, it reminds me of “Tool Time”, when Tim Allen would say, “The guys from K&B Construction; Rock, Dwayne and Pete from Bay City”.  I don’t know why,  IT JUST DOES.

Will be interesting to see what happend with Captain Mike this afternoon, but I went out and took a chance myself.  These were all caught dragging harnesses in 22 foot of water out in front of Stoney Point.

This just in from the guys @ the bait shop.  After reading it,  it made a lot of sense with the number of perch we had hitting on the harnesses and tots the other day.

Walleye fishing was great until around noon on Sunday and has remained on the slow side since.

We fished long and hard on Monday and brought 14 fish back in the cooler!

The Walleye’s are still out near E bouy and around the dumping grounds but have been in a negative feeding mood since midday Sunday.

Crawler Harnesses with crawlers and Leeches are taking a good majority of the fish with spoons and hot’ n’tots taking the rest.

PERCH FISHING HAS BEEN REALLY GOOD FOR THOSE TARGETING THEM!!

There is a good school of Perch straight out from Brest Bay in 26′ of water. We have had several baskets around 15lbs brought in for cleaning over the weekend.

We will be fishing for Walleye this evening and hope to have a better report for you tomorrow!

Good Luck & Tight Lines,

Capt. Mike

When I wrote this up last night, I forgot to include WTP’s new updated website with it’s store.  You can go to www.wtp-inc.com and click the “shop now”  option.

There are some of the ” ladderback ” cutouts that I used for the earlier piece, and even if you aren’t just walleye fishing, they can of course be used on your favorite salmon spoons.  Also, out for the salmon fisherman are the ” flasher cuts“.  These pre-cut pieces are perfect for the dodgers and flodgers.

I know I mentioned the 3-D molded eyes   yesterday.  These are really versatile.  Not only do I put them on some of the colorado blades I use,  but they work really well touching up some of my better walleye, pike and muskie  crankbaits.  They can add an life-like appearance to just about any bait.

That should help anyone that is interested.  You can also find many of their products down the road in Dundee, up at the walleye store, Frank’s Great Outdoors,  D&R Sports out in K-zoo, and many, many tackle shops along Michigan’s west coast that cater to the salmon fisherman.

This really isn’t anything new for some, but for some others might get something out of it.  For years guys have been putting Witch Tape (WTP) on their salmon spoons, but its also a great way to touch up some of your favorite walleye blades.

These deep cup #5 colorado blades are from Northland, and I used a salmon favorite to spruce them up, the ladderback tape pattern.  I used chartruse/green which is the same color as the tape used on the Swedish Pimple that works so well during the ice season.  I have also barely touched them up by simply putting on a 3-D molded eye on the blades.

These are #3 colorado blades with premium copper and gold finishes.  Some are the same green/chartruse as the ladderbacks, some crushed ice glow, orange and green,  and really popular here on Erie is the purple scale.  I cut the curve into the tape, then place on the blade and trim around the edges.

Lastily are the Smile Blades from Mack’s Lures.  If you haven’t tried these yet, they really are worth having in your arsenal.  Bar none, they are the most effective blades I have found for trolling at slower speeds.  They claim to spin at 1/4 of a mph,  its hard to tell unless the boat is barely moving on a drift.  Very effective while trying to stay in a strike zone as long as possible.  The Witch Tape comes in handy when the original tape on the blades begin to peel or become discolored.  I used the crushed ice green and orange on these, with the standard purple mirror in the back that comes from the factory.  Just tape a retangular piece over the blade and trim.

I was looking up the dates for the free fishing weekend this summer, and saw this.  It doesn’t happen often, but if you are harrassed while in the lawful act of fishing, you do have rights.  This is from the DNR’s website, read it, check out the links.

If that lil bit of rain didn’t dampen your enthusiasm for hitting the lake today, here is the latest report from the guys @ Matthew’s B&T.

Michigan’s second free fishing weekend is just around the corner folks.  Mark June 7th and 8th on your calenders for this summer’s free fishing weekend.  This is a great chance for parents who do not normally fish to go out and take their kids out for a weekend of fun in the sun.

Then fish for a buck all season long.  The cost is $1.00 to those men and women serving in the military in their home state of Michigan.

See page 6 of the Fishing handbook for more details.  Here is the link for the online version.

Fishing Handbook: Rules and Regs

Click on:  PDF page