It was a foggy start on Friday morning and I heard the cold water and fish had come into the shallow water the night prior. I wasn`t really set up to fish in the 25`-30` range without a mate adjusting the `rigger and dipsey depths (keeping them off bottom), while also watching for other boats from the helm. I dropped in just North of the line in 60` and trolled Northeast to the 80`s without marking a single fish. The surface temp was 71° and it was 49° 15 feet down, very cold water had moved in. I trolled back in as I noted on the radar very few boats fishing in my area. We took a few Kings as we passed thru the 50`s hitting both #3 super line dipseys `Lil boy blue/ Smoke, White/ White 110` out. I continued all the way into 30` where I turned and found a couple of dinks in tow as I checked the lead for weeds and zebra mussels. The water here was now 64° at the surface and still 49° 15 feet down. I brought it back out and the same dipseys took some more hits as we passed the 50` mark. I leveled off and took it North with an occasional poke. I continued to basically wander around never really marking any fish and absolutely no bait. Despite the fact the fish had cold water wherever they wanted to be, we managed to get 14 in the box, a few we were draggin` and won`t make a taxidermist happy, but they didn`t make the gulls happy either.
For the afternoon I had these four knuckle heads show up wearing "Bootleg" Lucky Dog T -shirts, I thought the black market had really sunk to a new low. I then found out that one of the guys had his own silk screening business and made them up for the outing.
I heard the water was a little warmer on the Illinois side and we ventured to 42° 28` setting up in 30` with haze, but no fog. We took a 4 yr. old after about trolling South for about 1/2 hour. The water was still cold, but I figured the brighter conditions made the fish slide out, when I reached 42° 27` I turned East and we found the fish had done just that. I trolled East/ West between 50`-80` taking plenty of hits in both directions. The studs were all Magnum Silver Streak`s, Hot Lobster, Smurf, and Black Fin Tuna, down 35`-45` on the `riggers. The action continued for the next few hours, there was a strong current blowing warmer water in and then the school had moved. I brought it out to the 90`s and headed North, here the same dipseys as I had out in the morning earned their keep, taking a few more Chinook. Now the clock was ticking and we need a few to fill their 4 man limit, we were getting into shallower water as we were coming up on the edge of the hill from the South. I noticed the speed on my "Depth Raider" was at 0.0 MPH. I looked at the `rigger cables and sure enough, they were straight down despite my GPS speed being 2.2 kts. There was a serious current and temp break as the probe showed a 15° difference and the speed picked up 100 yards later as well. This is where we picked up our last fish and as I pulled lines I had baits wrapped around themselves from being blown back over from the current.
The strong winds on Saturday prevented a couple of trips from going out but on Sunday morning it was once again a very comfortable Lake.
I had a father and son out listening to their
tales of other outings they had encountered on guided trips on smaller Lakes. We set up North of the Line in 60` and headed Northeast avoiding all the boats on the South side. We had good action from the start but had a bad case of the "Dropsies" loosing plenty of fish which was no fault of their own. A prime example is that we had a triple going and lost all three. The fish were aggressive after the strong blow on Saturday and once again the Magnum Silver Streaks were the ticket for the morning. We kept on a reciprocal course between 60` and 90` pulling lines by 9:30 going 13 for 25. The said they had more action and fish than their cooler could hold.
I had a two boat trip in the afternoon and stayed South of the border setting up along the line in 90 feet, trolling out to 140` before turning Southwest. It was a tough afternoon with winds shifting and a strong current moving the fish around. It seemed whenever the winds diminished so did the action. I was changing baits all afternoon as we marked plenty of fish in the 120`-140` range, with only the occasional bite. I switched out some of the Magnums to the regular size patterns and they seemed to be the preferred bait to strike. We ended up 13 for 20 or so, one Steelie the rest Chinook.
On Monday morning I set up just North of the line in 60` at the edge of the last hill. I had all the rods in with no action, noting the Full Moon, I started thinking it was going to be a tough morning. We didn`t mark any fish but as we reached 90` we had three quick hits. Chrome/white, Smoke/ `lil boy blue down 35` and 45`, and a #3 Super line dipsey out 140 with chrome/ green. All three made it to the box and I thought we had lost the hex we found the morning prior, which later proved to still be around. I leveled off in the 90`s taking it North/ South with a few more pokes, but now we were loosing fish. After the "Brief" morning bite we had a handful in the cooler and I took it out to deeper water. I was 1 Mile North of the line and turned at 130` taking quite a few hits on the slide back in. With a mix of spoons in purple patterns from the Stinger Kevorkian to the Purple People eater, Grape was the flavor of the day. The chrome/ white , Smoke 'Lil Boy Blue combos did some damage as well. The `riggers were all in the top 50` despite temps in the mid 60`s. The # 3 super line dipseys were out 140` and 180` all seeing their share of the action. I continued the East / West troll, and so did the fish, for the length of the trip. Despite the lost fish we ended up with their 4 man limit and mine going 25 for at least 37.
With the strong blow on Saturday the water has been moving around. This is why I pulled my wire dipseys in an attempt to avoid break offs due to the current. There are plenty of fish in the area, most Chinook seem to be a bit smaller than the earlier ones we were seeing weighing in between 12-15 pounds.
Speed is very critical in these conditions as I had the engine all back with a bag out in one direction and showing 2.6 knots GPS in the other. The colors and presentations are also changing day by day.
Good Luck as the next couple of days seem favorable for anyone to head out.
"Wet Nets"
Captain Jim
North Point 7/27-30 Decent Start...Great Finish!
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