Fishing Michigan

…..and that is the only hint I am going to give as to what was the best lure today out on Erie.  Just for all the smart …um…alecs out there, no it wasn’t “Trailer Trash Pink”, by Reef Runner.  I will spill all the details after the tournament tomorrow.  Won’t be writing anything tomorrow, but will  have all the details and pics from Saturday ready for Sunday.

I’ll have some pics from today later, I just got done cleaning the 2 man limit of walleye that I took with dad today.  Call it a belated “Father’s Day” outing.  It was a really good day to be on the water, and the fish just kept cooperating.  From what I heard at the landing, a lot of folks were picking up fish, but not all getting their limits.  One good sign was that we only caught one sheepshead, and one silver bass.  The mayflies were loving today also,  they really came up as the morning turned towards 11 am.

Nope, not an outbreak of some type out at MIS, but the current  top producers for catching walleyes.

From Saginaw Bay down to Lake Erie, these blades and spoons have been replacing the standard norms of Confusion, Watermelon and Bumble Bee as top producers.

So much so that it looks like Frank’s Great Outdoors will be offering “pink panties” in a custom Hot n Tot next year.  Measles have been a fav of mine for a while, mostly because of the chartruse body.  NASCAR, by any other name is “Cheap Sunglasses”, and this hodge podge of colors on a copper blade that I paint has been one of my favorites for years.  Look for it to come out by the big boys (mfg’s) in a year or so.  In the meantime, the spoons are out there.

These are just some of the hottest colors floating around this year for walleye fishing.

…..well caffeine really. 

I am really swamped this week, so this is my first chance at getting online and taking a look at the blog site.

If you are drifting for eyes or any type of fish that will inhale a crawler or even panfish worm, there is one way to entice a quick strike.  This method is good for fishing from the bank, or from a boat.  Here’s what  you do…….

Buy your bait the day before you go fishing, and bring it back home with you.  Once there, throw some coffee grounds into the worm bedding.  The bait will absorb the caffeine from the coffee grounds and really come alive.  So much so, that at times it can be hard to get a hook into the lil’ buggers.

Give it a try, it works!!!

Some of the big salmon flasher and dodger type companies have been marketing a 6″ flasher that could be used for walleye fishing.  They might work, but to be honest I have never used one before.  That said, I have been using flashers/attractors in one form or another for a long time in  fishing for walleye.

My first attempt was a “double” harness of sorts.  I would take a 9 foot length of line and and tie a single hook snell at the end.  Add my beads and blades and then take the line and snell two more hooks roughly four foot from there.  Again, I added my beads and blade and then double looped my line at the end.  It worked pretty good, almost too well in fact.  A cardinal rule is to check your line on the harnesses after every fish,  I would get a lot of hits on the two hook section, and it rarely nicked the line, but when  a double hit would happen, then I would get the nicks.  Would have to scrap that harness and break out another one.

My second “homemade” flasher is a bit more conventional and I won’t call it copied, but there are a lot of folks using these.  Sometimes you come up with an idea, and somewhere a hundred miles away someone else who contemplates walleye fishing as much as  you do from every angle comes up with the same ideas.  This happened with the spoon concept, and to be honest I don’t know who came up with it first, but it does work.  You connect your spoon to a 4 or 5 foot lead, with the treble hook removed, take a 3 or 4 foot harness and attach to the rear of the spoon. I do think one difference between the different methods of doing this is in that I use a 3 and 4 inch spoon, while the others I have seen use the 2+ inch model walleye spoons.  A strong belief that I have when it comes to walleye fishing is to the use the biggest items I can get a way with.  It also applies to line and lures.

The last type of flasher that I have been using for about the past five years has been these things from Mack’s Lures called “Hot Wings”.  I didn’t come up with this on my own, and give full credit to a husband and wife walleye fishing team that I met while working seminars.  Bill and Bernadine Ayers are truly the nicest two people you could hope to meet and are on Mack’s Lures Pro Staff.  Here is a pic of the couple, and again, the best thing I can say about them, they are good people.

The unique thing about the “Hot Wings” themselves, is that there are two sets of wings.  They actually spin in separate directions creating quite a stir in the water.

Rig them the same way as what I did with the spoons, and you will catch fish, good luck.

Not sure how far back to let your spoons or harnesses out while trolling?  Don’t feel like paying 30 bucks for the trolling guide?  That’s ok, you have the internet.

Dive Chart for Jets and Dipseys

Today was swamped, it was just one thing after another, but I did make a call to Matthew’s B&T to answer a few of the emails I had gotten about their tournament on the 21st of this month.

Canadian waters will be out of bounds for the tourney.  All you will need is your Michigan, and/or Ohio license for this event.

After talking to Jason at the shop, despite the weather forecasts to date, the fishing has been fantastic.  For those not into walleye fishing, the perch fishing has been great too.  Several key spots to hit, and they have them all at Matthew’s Bait.  Just ask for coordinates when you pick up your shinners.

As for me, Bi-State Marine will have my kicker up and running in no time.  They had the part for my older Johnson, and got me in.

Will be doing some running tomorrow to get the motor dropped off, stop off at Matthew’s to get some crawlers, look through the big selection of new blades from Fishlander and Wolverine (Silver Streak), get my hair chopped at Danny’s on 7th St,  and finally getting some chinese in town.

Here’s  some new infor about the lake situation, as well as some new dock space available from Matthew’s Bait and Tackle in Bolles Harbour.

You can call the store about dock space, the number can be found on their website   www.matthewsbait.com

If you plan on taking part in the Matthew’s 1st Annual Tournament, what do you do first?

A good place to start is by making a list of things to get done before you go.

Check engines and batteries

List what rods you want to use, or have ready.

Respool reels if necessary, definitely check your knots.

Secure your bait, if you are using crawlers, there is no such thing as too many.

Ice, not only to keep the water to drink cool, but for keeping fish alive.  Ice is also another good source of oxygen that will go into the water as it melts.

Check your safety gear, flares, horns…etc

Make a prefishing plan, adopt while fishing, and try to keep a couple of back-up locations to go to during the tourney.

These are just the simple things that are easy to get out of the way.  Like tonight, it looks like I might need a new water pump for the kicker.  Way better to find out now, instead of burning up the lower end when it counts.

I have also looked at the weather forecast,  ordered some new baits,  some more beads, will tie up some additional harnesses, and have some spares rigs tied where I can add beads and blades if I need them.  It also looks like I may need another 650 yd spool of Big Game for the harnesses, so its off to Monroe I go in the morning.

These are simple things you can do, talk with the folks who will be fishing with you, find their strengths and what they feel comfortable doing.  Some will just want to reel, others feel good about netting, while one may just control the boat.

I like competition, specially friendly events where sportsmanship really comes through, and I think this tourney shows a lot of potential.  Notice how I didn’t mention what baits I ordered?  Would be foolish to give away all the secrets,  but you can get them at Frank’s Great Outdoors, my favorite walleye store in Michigan!

Sidenote:  If you do order something from Frank’s they offer webtracking through UPS.  On my order which was standard ground shipping, it shows it will be here tomorrow.  I placed my order roughly at 9:30 this yesterday morning (6/11).  Not bad turnaround time.