Fishing Michigan

Normally it would be hard to fish plastics vertically for perch on open water.  The lures are too light for the current,  or if you tried to jig effectively down to 30 ft, the jig would be so big that perch wouldn’t be interested…etc.  Dropping down the anchor will take care of some of these problems on a good day, and if you use the dropper rig mentioned a few days ago you accomplish the mission on the windier days.

I have been using Little Atomplastics through the ice for a few years now with really good results.  Before that, if you told me that a plastic bait would out-fish “live”, I would have said there is no way its possible.  I had tried the offerings from the BIG companies, and although would pick up a fish here and there,  the results didn’t come close to the real thing.  90% of the time they would sit in the tackle bag, just waiting for one of those days when I would run out of bait and I would have a back-up plan.

What sets LA plastics apart from the rest is the movement these extra soft baits produce.  The problem with most baits on the market is the lack of movement they produce while being jigged, even with the most aggressive approach.  Little Atom will wiggle with the softest tap of the rod tip, so even the least aggressive fish will be enticed into biting your offering.

Photobucket is down right now for maintenance, so I will provide pics later, but for now follow the links to see what I am talking about.

The “Wedgee” is a versatile bait that resembles the blood worm which is a dinner time favorite of perch.  It can be rigged with a vertical or horizontal jigging lure, or placed on a small hook on a dropper.  Wish it was possible to say (in the case of all LA baits) these two or three colors work best, but it wouldn’t be true.  I have landed fish with blue, bubblegum, blood red, motor oil, hot yellow and orange, and last year with the new Atomic Glow offerings.

The “Nuggies” has got to be my favorite all around bait from the Wisconsin based company.  It has caught bluegill, crappie and perch on a regular basis when I have walked out during the winter.  Because it resembles an egg sucking leech, it also works wonders while fishing the streams and rivers of Michigan for steelhead.  Last year the owner Rick DeBaere introduced the ” Micro Nuggie ” and the bait truly became a bait for the most finicky bluegill.  You can rig the original for perch with a horizontal presentation with a jig or hook, trailer it behind a small spoon and watch it wiggle on the downward drop.  This winter there should a larger version introduced,  I am already thinking of ways to rig this for walleye on Brest Bay and Saginaw Bay.

“Tease Tails“  are a new old bait, just reintroduced by Little Atom.  Offering a shorter thicker profile than the Wedgees, it gives the perch more of a minnow image to take in.

You can find more of what Little Atom has to offer by visiting  www.just-fish.com.

If you are running the old standard rigs like the horizontal and vertical spreaders, a nice moderately priced glass rod will do the trick.  You want something that will have some give if you plan on placing the rod in a holder while you jig with another rod.

If you plan on jigging with both hands, or only one while perch fishing, a good graphite rod is preferred.   Its no secret I like St. Croix Rods; made in the USA, and owned by an American company.  Who knew there was more to Wisconsin than just cheese? Actually lots more, including Little Atom plastic baits, but will stay focused on rods for now.

Actually the links to the website are clicking for me tonight…  www.stcroixrods.com

So let me describe what l like to use.  The ultra light and light action rods work really  well while anchored.  Smaller jigs offer more finesse opportunities.  Both the Premier and Avid series have this base covered.  Most of my rods are the Avids, and they offer better all around sensitivity due to their higher carbon density.  Thats graphite in generic terms.  Think of it as about a IM-10 rating.

Rig the rod with a good no stretch brait like Power Pro’s 5 or 8 lb test.  The deeper the water, the more the line plays a factor.  Mono’s will decrease your hook up percentages.  Tie in a 4 or five foot section of fluorocarbon for your stealth approach, and then tie in your bait or rig.

Rod lengths are a matter of preference first off, then consider the length and how you are fishing.  Shorter rods should be used for vertical jigging for greater control.  If you are drifting through a zone, then a longer rod is preferred, something like 6 and 1/2 or 7 foot in length.

Will have more on perch fishing as the week continues. good luck out there

Just about everybody is familiar with the different types of horizontal  wire spreaders, and the combination of vertical perch and crappie rigs.  With the really good perch fishing continuing throughout the 2008 summer so far, here are a couple of options that some folks just aren’t aware of.

Before getting to that, Matthew’s Bait and Tackle is considering having a perch derby in August.  They are looking for input, and trying to gauge what kind of turnout they could possibly have.  So if you like perch fishing, stop by the shop, and tell the guys what you think about it.  If its run anywhere  near the way they had their walleye tourney last weekend, you will enjoy the experience.

In the last few years, a new trend has started to develop to landing more perch into the boat.  Use that ice gear, bring it out of its summer storage, and take advantage of a better way to catch these tasty cousins of the walleye.  Really its not something totally new, but it is catching more every year.  It all started with the Hali Jig, which really isn’t a jig.  Its more of a spoon, with a short length of gold chain with a hook at the end.

You have probably noticed by now, I like to tinker and make my own lures.  Some of the next few items are things you can buy off the shelf (if you can find ice gear this time of year), while others require some tweaking.  Either way, you will catch more fish than those older types of spreaders and rigs, even with a lesser of hooks in the water.

In this application, I use jigs and spoons available from Northland Tackle .  They offer styles and colors not available from other manufactures,  and the sizes are perfect for perch fishing on Lake Erie.

They already make a walleye type bait that can be called a hybrid,  the Buck-Shot Rattle Spoon Dropper.

I like a slightly smaller hook for perch fishing, so I would replace the dropper section with a hook in a size 8 or 6.  If you like, you can just buy the Buck Shot Spoon, and make your own dropper with the hook of your choosing.  There are a few more color choices this way. Just remove the treble.

Now,  if you are crazy about rattles, you can also use the Forage Minnow Spoon.

You might not like droppers, and that’s fine.  Both the Buck-Shot and Forage Minnow Spoons come in sizes small enough to entice any perch into biting.  You can also use this Doodle Bug Spoon in one of the effective Super-Glo colors they come in.  I like Bubblegum and Lemon.

If you like to have some weight to your dropper, that can be achieved too.  Instead of using a hook at the end of the dropper line, use a jig.  The Forage Minnow Fry, Bro Bug and Spider Ant jigs work very well at the bottom of the rig.

If you want to skip the whole spoon experience, that’s ok too.  Northland makes jigs small enough to catch perch, but heavy enough to reach Erie’s Bottom.  The Fire-Eye Minnow is a favorite of mine,  and for a lil’ more pizazz tie on a Forage Minnow Jig,  and for bright glows, try the Doodle Bug Jig.

All these rigs can be used with shiners, minnow heads, spikes or wax worms as bait.  Most of the time, you will not even need bait if you are rigging with the Spider Ants.  Some of the plastics available from Little Atom are perfect for this application.

Will talk more about perch fishing as the week progresses.

It was a rough start to a great day that ended with a full stomach and some stormy weather.

The morning started out overcast and a bit choppy with 4 footers on the lake.  When we got to our spot, the first fish came in at 5 lbs.  Then it was one thing going wrong, then one more headache.  First the kicker quit running, then all the lines got tangled…ugh

So, we replaced the plugs on the water, got the lines untangled and started fishing again.  The top two producing harnesses were Northland’s Baitfish Image chartruse and orange blade, and Silver Streak’s Moldy Muffin, copper with green and yellow spots.  Monica from Fishlander (which was my new girlfriend, before I dumped her mid-morning, let me down, but Fishlander’s Confusion blade pulled in the third most fish.  Also did well on Silver Streak’s Purple Parrot.

Here is a pick of our neighbor Cliff, who couldn’t have a beer until things finally settled down.  The first couple of hours were a bit hairy, with the motor, the lines, and the fish finally coming in.  You can also see that the water really settled down and that the sun was out at one point yesterday!

Both he and dad manned the front of the boat, and those were the bottom bouncer set-ups.  One nice thing about being in the back,  I can honestly say,  I never lost one fish all day.  I would just had off the St Croix’s that I had the boards running on to those guys to reel, while I released the boards and netted the fish.

We got in right before the rain came.  Overall we took sixth place, and had the fourth or fifth largest fish with that first 5 lber.  That was fun, but not as good as after the weigh-ins were complete.  The best part was the fish fry, and it was excellent.  The fries, the slaw and the fish were some of the best I have ever had.  I tried to make a dent in it, but there was still more fish than there were empty stomachs, so not all of it got cooked.  There were door prizes, spoons packages, life vests and tackle gear given away.  Then after that was completed,  everyone who fished the tourney received 20% off the products in the store!

Jason and Mike, the owners of Matthew’s  ran a first class operation all the way around.  It was fun, friendly and ummm….fulfilling.  Cannot wait for next years event.  Ooh, and I had more fish to clean for a second straight day.

Here are the pictures I promised from prefishing today with my dad.  Fishing was good, but how can you pass up spending time with your father?!

the rod of choice, St Croix Premier 8′ Glass

This pic was sweet, I was just taking a picture of one of the boards running and it started to go under! You can notice the mayflies coming up.

The shot above from the boat, always like putting the fish on ice right away, keeps the meat firm. The pic below is the limit amount from the day, all caught in less than 2 hours.  Had two come off, and for the most part the junk stayed off the lines.

…..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.