Fishing Michigan

The DNR is starting a trend here,  getting the opinions of those who know the most, the anglers.  They have an online page detailing the proposed changes in salmon bag limits.  You can look up the proposed changes here  Salmon Bag Limits , and see both sides of the discussion in a PDF file.

If you have an opinion,  you can go to your email, and write the department and tell them what you think.  DNR-FISH-Salmon-Limits@michigan.gov

Since the salmon have such a short lifespan, and with rising prices on everything, this might be an incentive for those anglers who seek salmon and trout to contribute to the economy on a greater scale.  I like this approach to increased revenue much better than jacking up license fees.

Ok, now that my bout with insomnia seems to be over, lets tackle salmon divers and attractors on a $300 budget from your tax return.  Originally,  I wanted to include this in with the lures and even though it was three am, things were clear to me….This jus’ ain’t gonna happen!  Although salmon fishing cannot touch the cost of muskie fishing per lure, by the time you add everything up on the end of the line,  it gets on par pretty quick!  Diver-10 bucks, flasher- 12 bucks and put a 7 dollar spoon at the end and it adds up quickly.

Sooooooooo, for the sake getting the most bang for  you buck; divers, flashers and dodgers ….oh my!  Divers come in two categories; the round disc and everything else shapes.  For years and years, Luhr Jensen ruled the market in both types with their Dipsey Diver and Jet Divers.  Today, there are lots of companies competing in the market, which can be a good thing for consumers.  Take Walker’s Deeper Divers, no more screwdrivers or adding extra rings (weights).

They actually have all sizes available from the 45mm which can be used for walleye fishing, way up to the desert plate sizes for getting those mid-summer, deep water salmon.

The “attractors” have also gone through change due to increasing competition in the market place.  Again, for years, the standard was the “dodger”  and Luhr Jensen again had a big chunk of that market.  The dodger type attractor has a unique side to side action.  Then came the “Hootchie Mamma” and it seemed liked the “flashers” took over the market.  They might not have been the first, but they certainly had a big chunk of the sales.  These like the Dreamweaver SpinDoctor below, go through the water in circles, maximizing the amount of flash that can be seen by the fish.  They also take your spoon or fly around in a circle teasing the fish into a bite.

next up: electronics

Well I gave it a shot,  I looked for new local shops that could help a guy out online for buying some  lures for salmon fishing.  It was a lot harder than what I anticipated it being.  Partly I think because I am not a dedicated salmon fisherman in the first place, but thanks to Google and a few key words, I was able to come up with some good items for loading the boat up.

So getting started with a $300 dollar rebate and concentrating on the lure aspect for fishing salmon what would a beginner or even a regular need for the boat?  I can already tell that $300 isn’t going to go far,  but it will give you a good start for a sampling of all you will need.

Keeping in mind, for this instance just fishing out of a boat, you will need some lures.  Spoons, bait rigs, flies and cranks are your choices.  For the lack of a specific category, I am going to throw the J-Plugs in with the crankbaits.  The bad part is that you could spend easily $300 on each of these categories.  The good news is that the flies are a very effective bait for trolling and they are the least expensive.  Usually they come in around $4.00,  even better, you can make them easily yourself .  Sounds like a topic for another blog down the road.  The Lake Michigan Angler site has a decent selection and would be a good place to start looking online.  One hint, something green is always a good choice.

Spoons,  where do you start with the spoons?  There are so many companies, so many choices and so many crazy names to remember.  Its hard to go wrong with something that glows, specially something with an ultra glow finish. Fishlander, Michigan Stinger, Silver Streaks, Northport Nailers, Moonshine and Dreamweaver  all make good spoons.  The Nailers probably have been around the longest, and the Moonshines have a great selection of glow patterns.

Bait rigs are relatively easy to fix up.  There are several types of rigs available.  Some will hold whole herring or smelt, while others will hold just strips of meat.  Lots of companies make this product, and you might remember that Church Tackle (from the interview) does as well.  Nice thing about the Shock Wave is what you see, is all you need.  No fooling around with toothpicks or other methods of securing the meat.

Cranks are used early in the year, or later when fall approaches and the salmon and trout are staging for their spawning runs upriver in shallower water.  Are there exceptions to this rule, absolutely, but these times will produce the most success with cranks.  Storm, Bombers, Rapala’s, J-Plugs and probably a few more that I am not familiar with are the most common.  Run some deep models, or shallow models on wire, leadcore or your downriggers.

Next up: Divers and Attractors

Are you are one of those types who likes to run spoons with your cranks and harnesses for walleye?  Are you just running spoons because you do not want to get your precious boat dirty while dealing with crawlers?  Well it doesn’t matter if you like to maximumize your trolling experience with different tactics or if you just don’t like drowing worms to get your limit.  Either way you are going to have to tie up some leads from your weight or diver to the spoon.

You can either do that on the boat on the fly, or you can tie up one  before the morning trip and leave it on the rod over night, or you can make up quite a few and have them ready on the fly.  Tying on the boat can be difficult at worse considering the conditions on the water, at best you could be wasting valuable time while on a hot bite.  Doing your homework the night before is ok, you save on time while on the water,  but you still get limited by that one leader being on the rod. 

Now  take a half hour or so out of a precious night where there is nothing on the tube worth watching, you know the shows I am talking about,  brain dead reality TV.  Ugh!  Gather these few items (15 or 20 lb Trilene Big Game or Vanish FC, some barrel swivels,  30 lb snaps, some toothpicks and line snips) and while the wife and kids are busy dialing in to vote for some off-key knucklehead, get to work.

Forgot one key thing up above.  If you remember some of last year’s posts, I used those long foam pool noodles that I cut into sections to store my crawler harnesses.  This really is the same concept.  Fill up a 12 or 15 inch or so section of foam noodle, by taking roughly a 3 or 4 ft section of line, then attaching a swivel and snap at the opposite ends.  Then run a toothpick through the swivel end, wrap around the noodle, and then finally finish up by running another toothpick through the snap to secure to the noodle.  You can use a whole toothpick or just break them in half,  it really matters only when looking at the size of the noodle.  For your four and five inch noodles use a whole one.  For those about the size of pipe insulation, use the halves.

You can use an improved clinch knot or in my case, a double loop knot to secure the swivel and snap at the ends.  Why not just run a loop knot at one end, and use a snap-n-swivel at the other?  You can, and it will prevent line twist too.  But my goal was to minimize the sight distraction at the top of the spoon,  walleyes have great vision, and sometimes they do get a little bit spooky.  My snaps are Berkley Cross-Loks, and while they are tested out to 30 lb break strength, they offer an extremely small profile.

The reason I like to have many of them made up,  is the same as why I like to tie up my own harnesses.  Both rigs are throw aways, by this meaning after a good day on the water, one good fish, several fish in a short time, or just a slip of the pliers that nicks the line, that rig is done, never to be used again.  Rather than lose a fish that day, or the next time out, take the time to get it done ahead of time, you lose nothing but a reality show induced headache and a little time.

SALMON NOTE

The same concept can be applied to salmon fishing with flies and spoons behind flashers.  Crank up the line weight to somewhere in the 30 to 50 lb range though.  You want the line to be fairly stiff so that the action of the flasher is transferred back to the bait, using a limper line does not work near as well, besides risking losing a big fish.

Want to learn more about casting crankbaits, or throwing bugs (flies) for the river salmon?  I’ve got to save some topics for next year/season to write about.  Not crazy about leaving comments for others to see?  Thats ok,  because the internet is full of useful information literally at your fingertips.  Google (any search engine will do) ” michigan salmon” and start opening up pages to explore.  Just type in the word salmon, by itself, and look at how the folks in Maine, Alaska, Washington and Oregon fish for salmon.

The one thing I  have learned over the years from fishing for many different species, is that if it works in one place, pretty good chance it will work in another.  If it works for bass, pretty good chance it will work for pike.  Same can be true for the salmon and steelhead relationship.  Sometimes you have to monkey around with a technique to “groove” it to your application.  Change the size of the line, the hook or even the rod and reel itself.

So just for grins,  I did a little searching this morning with my coffee.  Had the pups out already, so it was time to relax a little and look around.  Here are some of the websites I found to be the most interesting, but there were many more pages filled with results still to be explored.

Salmon University : Recipe’s and even online courses for salmon and steelhead

Muskegon Flyfishing:  Something useful on using crankbaits.

Lake Michigan Angler:  Tips, techniques and whole lot more

Michigan Sportsman Magazine:  Online articles are a good source of information

Fishing Rivers:  Some have amusing stories and tales.

Tips for Catching Salmon:  More information on trolling techniques on the big water.

Have you ever ate something out of the freezer that hours later you wish you hadn’t?  Ok, so the hot wings I had at eight o’clock last night are the reason I am up at 4 something AM!  With the pups it was not such a bad idea to get them out and about a little earlier than normal.   Had to look for that silver lining.  UGH.

So since I am up, thought I would put out one of the last issues on river salmon fishing.  The use of spawn is one of the most effective methods of fishing for salmon,  and brown trout as well.  Just as in a recent lesson learned, fresh is always better.

Spawn, which is also referred to as roe,  does work best when fresh.  Second best is preserved at home.  Third best is from a jar.  I would suggest leaving the plastics at home,  but once in a while the stuff just plain works.

Best way to get fresh is from a recent catch,  and lots of anglers look to get their first fish with a spoon, take the roe and start using it right away.  Most will fish with the spawn inside a small mesh bag,  this is available at most sporting good shops and even your local Meijer’s.  Atlas Mike’s is a name brand most commonly seen on the shelves.  The mesh material will come in pink, orange or red.  You can either purchase these in pre-cut squares, or in small rolls.  They also have kits available, as well as little foam dots (will get to this later).  Place four or five eggs in each bag,  take the corners tight, give a small twist, and finish off by tieing the end with like colored thread.

There are actually hooks out there from most of the big brands like Mustad, Gamakatsu, and Eagle Claw already labeled “salmon hook, or egg” on the package.  Some people swear by the gold hook, others have started using red, or you can stick the black nickel.  All will catch fish.  Place the hook inside the mesh bag,  I prefer not to break an egg,  so place the hook in through one spot in the bag, and lightly out another.  You can also leave the hook inside.  You will know when one of these monsters is on the other end, and the hook comes through the mesh easily on the hookset.

Presentation is simple,  cast up river, and allow the spawn to come down current at a natural speed.  There are variations on this, that work best in certain situations.  Low water conditions, try using a float (bobber).  Thill makes some designed specifically for this.  There are also the Wing-It casting bobbers.  I strongly suggest you dispose of the spring, and treat it like a slip bobber.  Have lost too many of these to trust the spring to hold the line in place.

High water or fast moving current require weight,  this method will allow the roe sack to bounce along the bottom where the fish hang out.  A simple method to accomplish this is to tie a barrel swivel from your main line from the reel, to  your clear leader line.  In the eye where you tied the main line,  use some 4 or 6 lb test mono and create a short dropper about five or six inches in length.  On the dropper place a number of split shot on to keep the rig down.  How many is determined by speed of current and depth of the river.  Nice thing about this rig is that if you get snagged up, the shot will peel away, freeing your line.  If for some reason that doesnt occur,  the light test line will break before your main or leader line does.  If you want to get the baits down deeper, but still want to have roe sack slightly off the bottom,  there is a way.  Take those small foam dots I mentioned from Atlas Mike’s,  and place them in the sack before you tie the spawn into place. 

Your leader line should be made with fluorocarbon, at least 10 lb test would be reccomended,  not exceeding 17 lb.  Length of leader from the swivel to spawn, roughly five foot.  You will be using a long rod in most circumstances, so don’t be afraid to make it slightly longer if you are  confident in your casting ability.

There you go,  cast up river, allow the current to take it downstream, and repeat the process.  Somewhere in your drift, try to have the baits go around bends or holes in the river bed.  Salmon will use these areas as breaks or rest areas, before making their final push upstream to spawn.

One of my favorite casting lures for salmon is the KO Wobbler, followed by the Little Cleo, both made by Acme.  Click on the site and look around at some of the classic lures that they have to offer.

Glow colors have been highly productive, as well as some of the metallics like the Perch pattern.  Nickel and Blue is another proven producer over the years.  Sizes vary,  but stick with the 1/2  and 3/4 oz for best results.  I have always liked the Cleo for its great action, with the Wobbler it gets even better.  If salmon isn’t quite your bag, try these lures for pike and muskie fishing.  Springtime has been the right time for spooning toothy critters,  but catch fish most times of the year.

Cover as much water as you can when casting,  just don’t throw upstream and treat them  like spawn or flies and try to drift it.  Cast across or slightly downriver and keep the retrieve steady,  speed is determined by the flow/current in the river.  You want the spoon to be down, but not dragging the river bottom.

With all the lines available to salmon fisherman these days,  what are your options before heading north?  Quite a few actually,  and very few of them are a wrong answer.  Some will have their time and place, while others will be used in a combination.

When fishing spoons your best choices probably are still monofilaments.  In most cases when using a spinning reel, I would go with a limp line like Trilene XL.  It just comes off the spool nicer all the way around.  When it comes to river fishing,  you almost have to bulk up and go with a line that will resist abrasions and trees.  You can still use the XL,  but for spoons, 17 and 20 lb test will be the best bet. Maxima makes a good line, and you could get away with 12 lb, but 14 lb would be better.

For flies and spawn, you can still go with the heavy stuff, but you will need to drop down to a 10,12 or 14 fc line for a leader to the bait.  Not only for the fish, but for your benefit as well.  You can snag up with this rig a little easier, so its good to have a little less poundage down there.  Better to break off the fly than your rod snapping.  Another good way to rig this is make  a short dropper line with weight on it.  When the weight snags, the split shot normally will just peel off the line and come free.

You can also use the super lines for spawn and flies,  15 lb Power Pro, or 14 lb Fireline are good choices.  Rig the same way with the fc lead.  Going with different hi-vis colors helps to watch the line as the rig is carried downstream by the current.  There are lots of hi-vis mono’s available too.  Pink Maxima is a crowd favorite as well.

When wading and river fishing for salmon, this is not the time to go cheap on your reels.  Depending on how you plan on fishing for the salmon,  you can choose between a casting and spinning reel.  The rod manufactures will make models for both reels.

When do you use one reel or the other?  First of all be confident in your ability to use a casting reel.  This isn’t the pros you see on TV,  if you haven’t used a casting reel, give yourself some time to practice first before heading out.  Its easy to get a casting reel to start to spin with the line going out,  but very important to have the weight at the end of the line to carry it across the expanse of water.  For the most part casting reels should be used when spoons are your lure of choice.  They have the weight to keep the line moving off the spool of the reel until the end of the cast.  Some of your bigger crankbaits will work in this application as well.  Be wary of windy days,  a lot of these baits are made of balsa wood and are light weight.  They can get caught in the wind, and you have to be prepared to stop the spool with your thumb if its progress has been held up.

Spinning reels are your versitle option for hitting the rivers this fall.  They will perform well in all kinds of conditions and with lure options.  Besides the spoons and cranks,  for the dedicated salmon fisherman,  flies and spawn bags are a favorite bait of choice.

The first characteristic of a good reel for salmon fishing is the drag.  This is a key because you can expect a long run once the fish has taken the bait.  Line will peel off as you try to head the fish off before they make a run for downed trees and other types of debris in waterway.  You will want a reel with instant anti-reverse,  on the hookset you do not want a reel that has that little bit of play.  Reels with the fast cast or little lever that lifts the bail for you can lead to many missed fish.  Most often when drifting baits down the stream or river.  Smoothness is important as well,  while 10 and 12 bearings in a reel sounds pretty darn good, 3 or 4 from a good manufacturer is plenty.  More bearings is a good thing, but the quality of the bearing is actually more important in the long run.  A good starting price for a quality reel (spinning) should be about $60.00.  For a casting reel, right around $80 for an Ambassadeur, or  $150 for a Shimano or Daiwa will put you into a good quality range.

Line capacity is important because of those long runs salmon are capable of.   Its a good thing to actually purchase the reel at the same time as the rod, to get a good balance between the two of them.  Often you can get a combo price as well,  a hundred dollars is a decent starting range, maybe a buck 20.  Remember if you are using a lighter rod, you have to match the line to it.   If you get snagged up on rocks or limbs with 20 lb line, and the rod is rated for only 12 or 14 lb test,  there is a good chance the rod will give (break) before the line does. 

Line capacity will range from 200 yards of 10 lb mono, to 200 yards of 20 lb monofilament line.  Starting sizes for your reel in a Shimano should be in the 4000 size,  Some Daiwa reels offer a 3500 with the ability to hold the right amount of line, the 4000 definitely will.  Cardinals from Abu Garcia, look at the 504 or the 304 models.  Penns are legendary for their drags and a 4300 might get the right amount of line on,  but the SS 4400 will definitely do it for you.

Next up:  Line options.

Have you been thinking about joining the thousands of anglers who migrate north each year to search for salmon in the streams and rivers of Upper Michigan?  What kind of rod do you need to use, and better yet where can you find one that will get the job done?  This is going to be a three or four part blog on getting prepped for the annual fall trek.

Starting with rods,  what do you need to look for?  When fighting a fish that can strip 300 yards off a trolling reel in open water, you will need a little leverage.  You can get that to a point by picking the appropriate length in the rod you will be taking north with you.  Starting out at least eight foot,  and depending on your ability to around 10′6″.  The eight foot rods are a little harder to find, 8′6″ and 9 footers are most common.  Think of the length with types of lures you want to use.  Eight to nine foot for spoons and cranks, 9 foot plus for flies and spawn.

What action are you going to look for?  All depends on your technique,  and types of lures you want use to catch salmon.  If you plan on using spoons or crankbaits to land your quarry, then moderate to moderate fast is the action you want in the tip of your rod.  If using flies are spawn sacks are your means to landing these monsters, the rod will require a fast or extra fast tip.

To steal a term from the guys who fling bugs (you fly fishing guys know what I mean), what weight should the rod be?  In general terms,  you have to match it up with the lures and  sizes you plan to use.  Cranks and spoons, then medium to medium heavy.  Nine foot to 10 ft,  med heavy to heavy.  If you want to try and finesse these fish, give them that ol’ fighting chance so to speak, then go with a longer rod (ten foot plus) in a medium weight.

There are the basics,  now go and pick out a rod and price that suits you, and your budget.  Shakespeare makes a 9′ Ugly Stik that will get the job done for the guys who occasionally make the trip north,  moderately priced around $40 or 50 bucks.  You can choose a Cabela’s or Bass Pro house brand from $40 to 90 dollars.  Personal experience leans towards the Cabela’s Fish Eagle II models for $79.00.  Lamiglass, G. Loomis and St. Croix all make good river rods.  Look at the St. Croix Wild River Series or something in the Avid line of rods for your better graphite rods.

Next up will be the selection of reels, then line and to wrap it up with the types of lures to use.  As the water grows cooler, these fish are staging now outside the mouths of the rivers, some may be sneaking in now, but it will not take long before the runs are in full force.