# Kayak Fishing 2022



## stickman1978

It is warming up.


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## Tommy O

Nice Job! I'm jealous! Hoping to get out tonight, think Johnny O is out in the Hobie on Tawas bay right now. I'm stuck at work


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## Johnny O

Big skunk out of Tawas for me. Smooth as glass out there for the first few hours. Beautiful sunrise as well. Very quiet out there will trolling from my Hobie. To be honest, catching a fish would have been a bonus. That’s the beauty of kayak fishing ( for me).


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## Johnny O

Yesterday I again tried trolling for trout, salmon, and walleye off of Tawas Point. This time I had the pleasure of being joined by Fisheater (Bob) and his green Wenonah canoe. Once again wind and wave conditions were perfect for fishing the big lake; hardly a ripple at times. Bob and I launched before 6am. My fishfinder/GPS didn't fire up initially. That proved problematic as it was foggy and within minutes I wasn't sure where shore was even though I could still see bottom. I reached for the spare compass that I have in a pocket on my life vest only to find out the needle wasn't really rotating at all (it was an admittedly cheap flat compass; buying a more reliable compass is on my list for this week). Bob was still on shore so it was easy enough to radio him and have him give me a couple shouts so I could meet back up with him. I could have also used the compass and GPS on my phone (which I keep in a waterpoof case). 

We headed out together and initially the fog burned off with sunrise. Attached are a couple of pictures from the early morning. It was super pretty and peaceful.

Unfortunately, as is often the case, fishing on the big lakes often isn't that good when it is flat calm, especially when fishing relatively shallow (less than 50ft) in clear water. My fishfinder did eventually start working but other than marking some occasional fish on the bottom (likely lakers) we didn't mark much for fish or bait. We tried a little bit of everything (shallow runners, deep runners, 3-way rigs, and spoons off a downrigger) but didn't manage a single hit in the 5 hours of effort we put in.

Yet Bob's dog piper was glad to see us when we got back and, as always, the "ballast" was cold (and hoppy) which made for a nice conclusion to the trip.


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## Tommy O

Bob always has the best ballast!!
Gorgeous pics John!


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## 6thMichCav

Johnny O said:


> Yesterday I again tried trolling for trout, salmon, and walleye off of Tawas Point. This time I had the pleasure of being joined by Fisheater (Bob) and his green Wenonah canoe. Once again wind and wave conditions were perfect for fishing the big lake; hardly a ripple at times. Bob and I launched before 6am. My fishfinder/GPS didn't fire up initially. That proved problematic as it was foggy and within minutes I wasn't sure where shore was even though I could still see bottom. I reached for the spare compass that I have in a pocket on my life vest only to find out the needle wasn't really rotating at all (it was an admittedly cheap flat compass; buying a more reliable compass is on my list for this week). Bob was still on shore so it was easy enough to radio him and have him give me a couple shouts so I could meet back up with him. I could have also used the compass and GPS on my phone (which I keep in a waterpoof case).
> 
> We headed out together and initially the fog burned off with sunrise. Attached are a couple of pictures from the early morning. It was super pretty and peaceful.
> 
> Unfortunately, as is often the case, fishing on the big lakes often isn't that good when it is flat calm, especially when fishing relatively shallow (less than 50ft) in clear water. My fishfinder did eventually start working but other than marking some occasional fish on the bottom (likely lakers) we didn't mark much for fish or bait. We tried a little bit of everything (shallow runners, deep runners, 3-way rigs, and spoons off a downrigger) but didn't manage a single hit in the 5 hours of effort we put in.
> 
> Yet Bob's dog piper was glad to see us when we got back and, as always, the "ballast" was cold (and hoppy) which made for a nice conclusion to the trip.
> View attachment 832291
> 
> View attachment 832292
> 
> View attachment 832293


Great pictures and a beautiful day to paddle. Unfortunately, I agree; calm water in many occasions means no fish. Although I have paddled the big lake, I prefer a mild chop on a smaller body of water. Another issue with small craft in a fog is inability for powered craft to see you and change course in time—which of course, can happen anywhere. Keep paddling!


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## Johnny O

Tommy O said:


> Bob always has the best ballast!!
> Gorgeous pics John!


Thanks Tom. The ballast was a Mykiss IPA from Black Rocks Brewery in Marquette. It's a smooth crisp IPA and beautiful can alone is worth the purchase: Mykiss IPA — Blackrocks Brewery

It always seems an appropriate choice when fishing the great lakes.


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## Johnny O

6thMichCav said:


> Great pictures and a beautiful day to paddle. Unfortunately, I agree; calm water in many occasions means no fish. Although I have paddles the big lake, I prefer a mild chop on a smaller body of water. Another issues with small craft in a fog is inability for powered craft to see you and change course in time—which of course, can happen anywhere. Keep paddling!


Thanks. And I absolutely agree one needs to be careful on a big lake in fog with a small craft. I'll say the following for anyone reading this who is considering this style of fishing.

I have a bright colored Hobie kayak, a tall orange safety flag equipped with a solid and strobe light, front navigation lights which can also be set to strobe, a bright pfd, and an emergency whistle. I have at least 3 ways of navigating to shore (fishfinder/gps, phone with gps and electronic compass, and a manual compass). I ended up having a brief problem with 2 of those 3 which shows the importance of having multiple modalities. 

More importantly, I was fishing with a buddy who also had 3 ways of navigating from his canoe. We had handheld radios and Bob demonstrated he has a booming voice. Lastly, neither of us would venture out to a popular fishing location in fog for the reasons you mentioned (wouldn't trust other boats). Only once did we hear a boat when it was foggy. It perked up our ears but it never came close.

Of course despite all that, one could still end up staring down an oncoming boat and I still may be hard to see. That would suck. Yet I think I'd have about the same chance of evading it with a few quick well-timed peddle strokes as anyone else making a snap decision with a larger boat and motor. I hope I never find out .


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## Johnny O

Fisheater and I decided to chase some reports of nearshore kings at Ludington so we made the trek up from SE MI late Friday night, slept in the vehicles, and launched at daybreak. Thousands of alewives on the surface. Bob was reading them on his graph whereas my graph elected not to work (again; fixed the problems yesterday by opening it up and spraying it down with contact cleaner). 

Beautiful and calm morning to fish (pic 1). 








Ended up 2 for 3. The fish I lost might have been a king as it ripped the back hook off of the Bandit (pic 2). 








I haven't had a Bandit fail like that before but yesterday I cut it in half (pic 3) and confirmed they don't have a metal rod or wire running the length of them like many plugs do. I'll keep using them for walleye but not sure I'll use them again if kings are in play.









The 2 fish I caught included a nice brown trout and a nice coho. Brown hit a moonshine Orange Hulk spoon run off a 3 way rig (paired with a Bandit) and the coho hit a Blue Parrot Bandit (paired with a spoon on a 3 way rig). Brown was north of the harbor in 25 fow whereas coho was in the harbor in 18 fow. Fisheater apologizes for his finger in the picture (pic 4); it was super bright sunshine and he could hardly see the screen.









Fish may still be near/in the harbors a bit longer as long as bait is around and water temps are still cool (Bob was reading low 50s). So get em while you can (I'd advise to keep wearing the dry gear if water temps are in the 50s regardless of air temps).


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## motoscoota

Awesome report! Nice fish! Thanks for sharing!

May I ask: referring to the 3-way rig? Are we talking about a conventional rod/reel, Maybe with some braid, tied to a 3-way swivel, that splits to a short line down to a weight in one direction, then to a leader and lure in the other direction?

I've trolled in this manner before, but always was amazed at how difficult it was to hold a depth when underway... I think I was all the way up to a 10oz. ball sinker.

I tried banana sinkers too, which was maybe a little better at depth, but I liked that a 3-way had the option of breaking off if it snagged.

I have it in my mind that I want to try a the ol' 1lb ball on a sinker release. I had good luck using the Pit Bull Tackle (out of Cotati, CA) setup on a charter boat. I could see how a heavy sinker could have a person paddling in circles if it wasn't in-line with the boat.


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## Johnny O

motoscoota said:


> Awesome report! Nice fish! Thanks for sharing!
> 
> May I ask: referring to the 3-way rig? Are we talking about a conventional rod/reel, Maybe with some braid, tied to a 3-way swivel, that splits to a short line down to a weight in one direction, then to a leader and lure in the other direction?


You are correct that a three way rig can often imply a setup that involves a weight and a lure of choice.

The three way rig I'm referring to involves using a deep diving plug to help get a second lure, usually a spoon, down deeper than it would otherwise go. On my trolling setups, I generally run braid to fluoro leader (connected by a double uni knot), and then fluoro leader to a 3 way swivel. I'll tie a 4 ft lead to one end and attach that to a deep diving plug (typically a Bandit, Deep Thunderstick, or Deep Husky Jerk) and an 18 to 24 inch lead to a thin trolling spoon (often a slightly smaller size like a Michigan Stinger). Note that some fisherman like to use the short lead for the plug and the longer lead for the spoon. I'm not sure it matters other than if I'm trying to quickly hook my lure to my rod, I find it easier to secure the plug at the base of my rod and let a light spoon dangle.

From my perspective, the advantage of this setup is that it puts two lures in the water off of one rod. And depending on the deep diver, it allows me to get a spoon down 15 to 25 ft which is as good as a lot of options that involve using weight instead of a plug. Another advantage for the kayak fisherman is that, when you stop paddling/pedaling, your spoon and terminal tackle aren't going to sink to the bottom. The trick to using this rig is to let it out under tension so that the spoon doesn't sink and get hung up on the line leading to the plug.

If I need to get a spoon or other lure deeper than 20 to 25ft then I need to resort to a downrigger, leadcore, or some other method (torpedo diver, other types of divers, or a 3 way rig with weight as you suggested).

Hope this helps.


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## motoscoota

Thanks @Johnny O !

That actually all makes sense to me

I like the sound of that setup. It's a bit of a mind-shift for me as my SF Bay quarry had me targeting flat fish primarily with the odd striper secondary bonus here and there, thus I wanted to hold bottom, which has its own challenges.

So the rig you employed here, trolls a different section of the water column - more Salmonid as understand it. I like it and think I have the gear to tie it up! Woohoo!

No more Deep Six diving plane, which can be not so kayak friendly - like paddling with the brakes on😄.

Much better to double bait a single rod, and get depth by way of a big-lipped plug. I figure that the actions of the plug likely puts a little English on the spoon's action as well - the injured minnow look per say.

Cool beans!


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## fisheater

I can only offer one addition to what John has posted. If I was going this weekend I would be shooting to be on the water at 5 AM. I’m good for 4-5 hours, I think 5 AM makes more sense. I think I would target Frankfort, but Manistee would be a close second.


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## JasonCarp

Decided to stick closer to home and hit Reed's Lake in EGR. Slayed the pike and bass on trolling rapala's.


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## Johnny O

JasonCarp said:


> Decided to stick closer to home and hit Reed's Lake in EGR. Slayed the pike and bass on trolling rapala's.


Glad you made it out to wet a line. What type of rapala? I don't troll rapalas that often but can remember a Memorial Day Weekend years back when I had a great day just flat lining black and silver F11s and the bass kept hammering them.

Its been nice to see lots of reports in this kayak forum lately; keep em coming!


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## stickman1978

The closer I got I realized it wasn't nesting.


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## stickman1978




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## stickman1978

Heading to the UP for a week. Weather is warming up and looking forward to some good fishing and eating. Looking at Pike, Bass, Perch, Sunnies, and Rock Bass. Hope to land a MA Rock Bass them things hammer the baits.


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## Tommy O

@stickman 1978 where you going up there? My cabin is in Shingleton (between Munising and Seney) and Ive got a couple good pike lakes that are good for the kayak in that area.


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## stickman1978

Working on dinner.


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## stickman1978

Crappie are still biting also.


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## Tommy O

Thats a nice stringer full!


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## Johnny O

Beautiful string of crappie right there.

Back from vacation near Ludington. Fished numerous days in PM Lake, the harbor, and also beyond the pierheads when it wasn't too windy. The big lake had flipped the week prior to my arrival and moved a good number of salmon into PM lake. Yet while I was there south winds prevailed almost the entire time and water temps were in the mid 70s. I caught a really nice king jigging PM lake one of my first mornings and lost two others. After that, the fish had some serious lockjaw as water temps in the lake got up to 76 degrees and it seemed like only a few fish were caught each day by other anglers. I only had one king on while trolling. It seemed like a "miracle fish" as it hit midday in shallow water while my daughter was with me (I was fishing from my tandem Hobie). I handed the rod to her and unfortunately it got off after about 60 seconds of total chaos. Her quest for her first king continues. 

While targeting salmon, I did manage some nice pike and about a 5-6 pound smallmouth that hit a quickfish 30ft down on a rigger near the pierhead (some huge smallies in that harbor).


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## fisheater

It was a nice king John, I’m sure the guys wouldn’t mind a photo!


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## Johnny O

fisheater said:


> It was a nice king John, I’m sure the guys wouldn’t mind a photo!


Tom had already posted the pic on the salmon camp 2022 thread. It weighed in around 23# on my digital rapala scale. Fat and healthy.


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## stickman1978




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## Janehal

Muskegon is at its lowest......................a couple on a short run


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## Janehal

Have wondered why nobody has asked why I have SALLY sewn on my PFD...........................hint............I"m an old man


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## motoscoota

Janehal said:


> Have wondered why nobody has asked why I have SALLY sewn on my PFD...........................hint............I"m an old man


You look to be in great shape, tho!
Kayaks are a beauty secret


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## Janehal

Morning with the DOGS..................lots of fun if you like a good fight...........when you lip them, hang on tight or they will cut you.

Had to mark my PFD.................do a search for Wilson Pickett...........................still no winners???????????????????????


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## Lightfoot

I'll bite. Because you own a'65 mustang?


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## Fishfighter




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## Fishfighter




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## Fishfighter

Maiden voyage on the bay today in this kayak caught allot of perch with a few nice ones a big dogfish and a small walleye.


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## stickman1978

Janehal said:


> Morning with the DOGS..................lots of fun if you like a good fight...........when you lip them, hang on tight or they will cut you.
> 
> Had to mark my PFD.................do a search for Wilson Pickett...........................still no winners???????????????????????
> View attachment 849157


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## fisheater

I’ll hand it to you @Janehal, that dogfish would have had the outside the canoe release. I do the same with carp for a slimier reason!


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## stickman1978

Fishfighter said:


> View attachment 849185


Thats a nice Jumbo there!


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## Janehal

Song was Mustang Sally..................sung by Wilson Pickett......................also on the movie Miss Congenality with Sandra Bullack


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## Fishfighter

stickman1978 said:


> Thats a nice Jumbo there!


Thanks she was a fat one best one landed yesterday. About to head out after some more and hopefully find the big sunfish I was looking for yesterday too.


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## Lightfoot

Here is my problem with photos while kayak fishing. My phone and wallet go into a zip lock back and ride in a hatch inside the kayak. Hook a fish, land said fish, then dig out the phone to take a pic. Release fish, put camera back in the bag and the inside the kayak storage then start fishing again. It's nice to reflect back on pictures but awful tough to give up fishing to take pics.

btw stick...the little lake was epic the other evening.


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## Fishfighter

Well finally got skunked today after three trips in a row of fish paddled close to six miles between exploring some near shore areas then running out deeper to fish for perch and stray walleye. Being in a kayak I preemptively ran for shore when I saw a storm coming but I was in the area doing other things for about five hours and it never hit.


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## Janehal

I have a Olympus TG6 camera that I keep on a mounting stick............it stays in back deck........catch fish, grab it and put in front rod holder spot and set self timer ...............quick and easy


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## Lightfoot

I got to thinking about it. I have a bunch of old cell phones. I should be able to still take pictures with them and send or transfer photos to another device.


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## stickman1978

Lightfoot said:


> Here is my problem with photos while kayak fishing. My phone and wallet go into a zip lock back and ride in a hatch inside the kayak. Hook a fish, land said fish, then dig out the phone to take a pic. Release fish, put camera back in the bag and the inside the kayak storage then start fishing again. It's nice to reflect back on pictures but awful tough to give up fishing to take pics.
> 
> btw stick...the little lake was epic the other evening.


I get what you are saying about the phone/camera. I keep mine in a pocket that has a Velcro flap on my flotation vest. Everytime I take it out I tell myself not to drop it in the water.


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## stickman1978

Lightfoot said:


> I got to thinking about it. I have a bunch of old cell phones. I should be able to still take pictures with them and send or transfer photos to another device.


Most of the pics I took when we went out didn't turn out real well but here is one of you.

If you zoom in you can really see them white caps in the background


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## 6thMichCav

Lightfoot said:


> Here is my problem with photos while kayak fishing. My phone and wallet go into a zip lock back and ride in a hatch inside the kayak. Hook a fish, land said fish, then dig out the phone to take a pic. Release fish, put camera back in the bag and the inside the kayak storage then start fishing again. It's nice to reflect back on pictures but awful tough to give up fishing to take pics.
> 
> btw stick...the little lake was epic the other evening.


If you squeeze the air out of the bag, you can take pictures through it. Mine will also recognize my fingerprint through the bag for activation. I found both of these facts out by accident when I went to take a picture and forgot the bag was there. May not be Kodak quality, YMMV, test first, etc.


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## Lightfoot

stickman1978 said:


> Most of the pics I took when we went out didn't turn out real well but here is one of you.
> If you zoom in you can really see them white caps in the background


That was after we rode the swells from the north side of the lake into that little pocket of calm water. That spot a few days ago was absolutely loaded with tiny perch and sunfish. Get some different wheels next time you come this way and pray for less wind. It's fishing well right now.


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## stickman1978

Lightfoot said:


> That was after we rode the swells from the north side of the lake into that little pocket of calm water. That spot a few days ago was absolutely loaded with tiny perch and sunfish. Get some different wheels next time you come this way and pray for less wind. It's fishing well right now.


For sure I will have a better cart, 😆. Already have the cottage reserved for next Spring.


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## Tommy O

I fished with @bmoffit and @fisheater the other morn, and B caught his PB walleye, a gorgeous fish! After a couple pics he let her go, getting soaked as she gave him the %$*&off tail slap! 
Just thought I'd share as there has been some really cool pics posted on here, and I love the morning sun just peaking up in these. 
Tight lines fellas!


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## Lightfoot

Lots of cheaper stuff out there but I still think these are the best things out there (biased opinion). The high volume low pressure tires conform to trail bumps exceptionally well without throwing the yak around.









Wheeleez™ Kayak Cart Beach - Wheeleez, Inc. | Wheeleez™ low-pressure wheels


Wheeleez™ Kayak Cart Beach is equipped with 30 cm Polyurethane Beach Wheels to transport your canoe or kayak with ease over soft sand and other challenging surface terrains. Carries up to 80 kg (176 lbs). Strong marine grade anodized aluminum tubing (3 mm wall thickness) means it is built to...




wheeleez.com


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## fisheater

I have a C-Tug. I bought it because it was available close to home. It drags across Lake Erie beaches nicely with a fully loaded 16 foot canoe.
I’m not telling anyone not to buy a cart with pneumatic beach tires. I would say that is the standard. I am saying I am very impressed with the C-tug beach tires


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## Janehal

Large Mouth and Small Mouth....................................both on the Muskegon


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## JohnHolliday

My biggest learning curve with fishing from a canoe, was casting a conventional reel and not ending up under the water. I’m pretty sure the folks on shore got ppv levels of free entertainment at my expense. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Vicious Fishous

Spinner bait walleye from the Grand.


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## Johnny O

Looks like everyone is getting out and enjoying some time on the water. That's fantastic. A few of us ventured out on Platte Bay Saturday morning. Weather was perfect, wind and waves were light, and at first light there were fish on the fish finder. Sunrise pic of Tommy O turned our pretty good (below). Unfortunately, it was challenging to get them to hit and we managed just one small coho amongst our group. Saw only a few others caught. We all decided to make the drive down to Ludington to fish the harbor and PM lake. Wow! What a scene! If you use your kayak to "get away from it all" this wasn't the place for you. Upwards of a hundred or more boats of all shapes and sizes all the way from the harbor to the back part of the lake. More then a few kayak fisherman as well. Tremendous numbers of salmon all over. Yet they too had lockjaw with very (very) few nets in the water. Our group took some hits Saturday night but no fish in the net. Two of us stayed until yesterday morning and I finally managed to get one in the net. It was about a 12-14 pound king. A little dark but meat was still in great shape. Coho tasted delicious last night on the grill. Here's the sunrise pic.


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## Tommy O

Another one of the group jigging Platte Bay just after the sun was up a bit.


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## motoscoota

"O" Boyz, you definitely know how to jig up some excitement! Thanks for the report! Seeing those boomerangs on the FF is good scouting for the coming weeks - the lock jaw won't be every day.

I've watched an hour or two of PooTube videos about jigging for salmon and I learned very little.

Lot's of titles Like, "how to jig for salmon - everything you need to know." But the real title should be, "watch me net a salmon, repeatedly, ask you to subscribe to my channel, and buy something from my sponsor..."

The jigging technique for salmon is foreign to me. On the west coast it's either trolling or mooching and I think mooching means something different here!

My main question: is it practicle to use an open face conventional reel, sans levelwind?

Also: Is a diamond jig or a bucktail worth chucking?

I only saw like 30 seconds of footage about rod handling, ie. the movements. This guy was snapping his pole back super hard and fast. Is that jigging?


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## stickman1978

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
[/QUOTE]


motoscoota said:


> "O" Boyz, you definitely know how to jig up some excitement! Thanks for the report! Seeing those boomerangs on the FF is good scouting for the coming weeks - the lock jaw won't be every day.
> 
> I've watched an hour or two of PooTube videos about jigging for salmon and I learned very little.
> 
> Lot's of titles Like, "how to jig for salmon - everything you need to know." But the real title should be, "watch me net a salmon, repeatedly, ask you to subscribe to my channel, and buy something from my sponsor..."
> 
> The jigging technique for salmon is foreign to me. On the west coast it's either trolling or mooching and I think mooching means something different here!
> 
> My main question: is it practicle to use an open face conventional reel, sans levelwind?
> 
> Also: Is a diamond jig or a bucktail worth chucking?
> 
> I only saw like 30 seconds of footage about rod handling, ie. the movements. This guy was snapping his pole back super hard and fast. Is that jigging?


Sounds like snagging to me


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## Tommy O

Funny Stickman, the way some people do it you'd think that was the goal! For me I go quick up, and a bit slower down than most. I like to catch up to the spoon about 3/4 of the way back down as most of the fish I have caught jigging actually rip it on the drop. That said both Johnny O and I troll way more than we jig, as even in the lake we seem to get a lot more rips than the jiggers. But jigging is a fun way to fish with a group and shoot the breeze, and nice break from trolling. Also when the wind is crazy bad you can usually find someplace protected enough to jig. My best fish last year came on a jigging spoon. Moto I can't speak to the other types of lures, I only jig 2 oz P-line lazer minnow spoons or Jonah jigs when stationary. 
To answer your other question I troll with line counters, but I'd much rather jig with a good spinning reel set up as for me its much easier on my arm and shoulder when jigging heavy spoons over a long period of time. But really it comes down to personnel preference as Ive seen everything out there. It's definitely fun, as theres nothing like holding the rod when a 20 plus pound fish tries to rip you right out of the boat!


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## Tommy O

This fish hammered a 2 oz black and chrome lazer minnow on the drop last year and ripped it straight down so hard my reel hit the water! Forgot to mention fish away from "the pack", by moving around away from the group you can sometimes find way more fish, and they seem way more willing to hit. Just my two cents


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## Salmonous Maximus

We always beat the boat guys Bob, lol
I'm still out here trying to improve my C- to a C....getting schooled by Jack all time isn't helping! 

Get one Mr. Grinnell!

Sent from my moto z4 using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## Tommy O

I love the orange papaya color of Bob's new rig, its actually the color I wanted when I got mine, which is definitely more yellow then orange. But I saved about $800 by getting the new but leftover year old model, thanks to a tip from Salmax. I too think you'd dig it Grinnell, and think you should take John up on his offer if you get the chance. Probably get a group of us to join ya if the opportunity for an outing pops up.


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## motoscoota

More questions...

After Salmon Camp, I've been thinking a lot about kayaks!

It's no doubt the Hobie folks killed it... not so much the Tarpon guy. Since I came from the salt I used to debate in my own head; is the action from a paddle-style, be it irregular, more enticing to fish, or... is the steady troll speed of the peddle drive the ticket? Theories? I feel fish behavior is different between the two quarries.

I wound up on the Tarpon for two reasons: It seemed more "surf" friendly, and on the the west-west coast we were theorizing the mirage drive was attracting the landlord aka great white... after multiple chilling encounters.

Other question is: please, please, please tell us some more about the tackle set-up y'all used on these Lakers and walleye. @Johnny O , you know I'm fascinated by lead core and wire setups - basically because I had so much challenge in tidal scenarios and have never had a chance to troll without 1 & 2# leads.

We're these Lakers coming from 25' or less???

@fisheater : thanks for the comments on the greaser table fair! I've never eaten lake trout, and I've been truly wondering. There's some negative comments about them, but I knew deep down it's variable... at one time they were THE target at Lake Tahoe... probably good there since the entire bottom is teaming with crayfish! Of course a couple generations ago, they wiped out the lakers so I never had the chance to try.


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## Johnny O

@moto: I fished from a Tarpon and OK Prowler before getting a Hobie. I do think you get a little more erratic, fish-triggering action when paddling vs pedaling, especially when using plugs that float or suspend (which I use 90% of the time). Yet IMHO, that small advantage gets overshadowed by the many advantages of the pedal drive and the ability to keep moving while setting multiple lines or fighting a fish. I will often pause/vary my cadence while pedaling and/or incorporate some S-turns to get a little extra action. I've had numerous hits when at a full stop when the plug just starts wobbling slowly up towards the surface. 

Thankfully, we don't have sharks to worry about and the only thing attracted to the pedal drive fins are paddling anglers with sore shoulders (i.e. me about 8 years ago). 

As far as techniques for walleye and lake trout this time of year (or any other species for that matter), it's a shallow water game in depths of 30 fow or less. So I embrace the KISS mantra, and simply flat-line diving plugs. Walleye came on a blue/orange/white ("peacock") deep diving Bandit plug 60 to 100 ft back in 20 to 24 FOW inside the harbor. Lakers came on a magnum silver/black hot-n-tot 65 ft back in 15 to 20 FOW outside the harbor. I only mess with my downrigger or leadcore setup when fish are deeper than 30 FOW and I can't get anything to go on my deep diving plugs. That said, I know other anglers (with higher frustration tolerance than me) who frequently use leadcore, torpedo divers, dipseys, etc with good results.


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## Grinnell

I’ve pulled a couple of short cores while paddling my yak. Crystal ghost DDHJ. Killer sheepshead pattern lol


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