4 Jul    Well, finally back on the water after other priorities were met and windy conditions avoided. Today was another day I had to be back early so I headed out shortly before 6a, to be greeted by a beautiful sunrise on relatively calm waters. I went a little further than last before setting lines but it still 140' of water. In half an hour the Johnson rod bent over and I felt the tug of a nice Laker as I reeled all that line in. Well, as I reached for the net, the Laker began thrashing wildly and it paid off, as away he or she swam, only about 2 feet out of reach. Shortly after my downrigger rang and that came up empty -  a miss. With lines set again, the downrigger hit as soon as it was down and that provided a fairly small Laker - off the stacker line. Then another shortly after setting it up, this time on the bottom lure. Then the Johnson rod hit and as I reeled that in, the other Johnson rod bounced. I released the Laker on the Johnson and kept the rigger Laker. Whew! All this took place within an hour. Several minutes before I saw a sailboat way off in the distance heading in my general direction but didn't think much about it. As I put lines away, I looked forward only to see a very large sailboat heading towards me on a collision course across my port bow. It was close. I thought WTF and immediately hit the steering hard to port and the sailboat passed within 50' of my bow. Without turning, I'd otherwise probably have been cut in half. There was no one on deck but I could see a person in the enclosed cabin. It was very obvious no one was on watch in the sailboat. I always yield to sailboats (under sail) but at the same time I was fishing with limited maneuverability.  We were the only two boats within several miles and I was shocked that with a slight course correction, that sailboat could have easily passed by without endangering us both.  That scared the hell out of me. Other than that, conditions were great with light seas, a south wind at 7 mph and sunny skies. And I easily got home in time.

22 Jun    This morning I decided to head out a little earlier, given it was quite calm and there were no signs of the forecasted isolated thundershowers in the area. So at 6:30a, I headed east and dropped lines at my usual spot of 140' and again caught nothing for the next mile. As I turned at my favorite waypoint and the bottom dropped from 155' to 180', two big marks showed up on the graph. Eternally optimistic that one would hit, nothing happened so I grabbed the Johnson rod thinking that would catch something. Then two minutes later the rigger rang and I caught a nearly 5# Laker. I continued along the ridge and I again marked a couple of fish on the bottom and the rigger again jumped with a fish, but then so did the Johnson rod. I left the rigger alone and started reeling the Johnson, knowing it'd be a long haul as I had probably 600' of line out. I felt the pull of the Laker until about 2/3 of the way up, then I felt a few head shakes and that one was gone, so I just put the line down again and caught the Laker on the rigger. I just got the equipment squared away and was making the turn to head back when a bat flew onto my boat and was all over the place. I was jumping and dodging the bat with a fear it would bite me, as it seemed to be acting funny (not that I know how bats normally act.) Anyway, I finally swatted the bat away and out of the boat where he flew a ways before falling to the water. I did pick up my third Laker on the return leg, another nice lean. I got lucky on the last fish as I netted it, the split ring on the ball bearing snap swivel opened up and left the lure in the fish in the net. I think perhaps I use too small of snap swivels but I like small as it doesn't dampen the action of the lure as much as bigger ones. In the interim, I think I'll solder my remaining split rings. It started to rain just as I put my gear away so that couldn't have worked any better. Conditions were super, with no wind it was most pleasant. even with the air 52 degrees, and surface water 49 degrees. Today's catch brings my fish per  hour rate up to a pathetic 1.02 fish per hour, so I've a lot of work to do to bring that figure up.

21 Jun    I felt like the lunch bunch heading out at 8:30a as I could see several boats already fishing to the east, in beautifully calm seas. I touched base with a few on the marine radio and got reports that action was pretty slow. Shrewd fishermen always say stuff like that. I set up at 140' thinking one of these days they'll be at that level. After about an hour I went by one of my fishing cronies while he was catching a nice Laker. Not to be deterred, I kept plodding on, thinking of another fishing friend's comments that when the fish are hard to find, don't look back - just keep going, so I did. I varied depths from 150' to 185' and finally caught a nice lean at 170'. Then  several minutes later the Johnson rod hit, very subtly as I had nearly all the line out in 185' of water. I thought my arm was going to fall off reeling in all that line with a fish on. In the interest of fuel economy I turned slowly, only to see the other rigger, which I was running suspended 20' - 40' from the bottom, start ringing the bell so I caught my third Laker in a little under 2 hours. I was glad to catch my limit fairly quickly, with much to do at home...well, maybe not that glad. What I was glad about was to be off the Laker when the NE winds started really kicking a couple hours later, with lots of whitecaps. Great day! Lucky timing!

20 Jun    What a magnificent day - only problem was I was unable to fish in the morning (I can hear your unsympathetic sounds from here) so I finally launched a little after noon. Seas were dead flat and there was virtually no wind. I broke my pattern of fishing (well somewhat) and headed east instead of north. I set up in 140' and fished religiously (I think that means you pray for a fish), following the bottom on one of my favorite runs. Well, nothing happened for nearly an hour and a half. Just about the time I was considering turning to head back, I caught a small, but nice Laker on the Johnson rod. That was at 170' and dropping. As an aside, with the price of gas I like to finish fishing as close to port as possible. Therefore, I usually look at how many fish I have, what time I want to quit, weather, and so on and try to end up where I started. Wishful thinking some of the time but part of the fun. Anyway, on my return leg, I finally picked up another Laker at 175'. In the meantime, I marked several huge marks around 50' down, but nothing on the bottom, so I cranked up one rigger to 50', mostly for grins. As I got fairly close to where I started, the Johnson rod bent over and it felt  like a good size fish. I could tell by the fight all the way up, especially on steel line that doesn't flex, it was a good size fish. That fish fought me hard all the way. Well, turns out it was a 5# Chinook salmon. What was a Chinook doing 160' down I don't know but I'm pretty lucky to get that one. Well folks, that's my salmon for the year so I won't have to worry about that the rest of the season.

19 Jun    Finally a break in the wind and cold, well, at least wind. I headed out early in nearly flat seas just north of white rocks. I kicked in the autopilot but auto didn't work but I immediately knew what the problem was. A clevis pin holding the piston came out. Never liked that design. Anyway, raising the kicker, I could get at the piston so I fashioned a temporary pin and in 15 minutes I was back in business. Apparently it wasn't the business of catching fish. For the first 2 and a half hours there was nary a hit or miss. I was trying to conjure up a good excuse if I got skunked but couldn't think of a good one. I could troll where I wanted at whatever speed I wanted. However, the current was the strongest I've seen this year. Anyway, nearing the 3 hour mark and thinking about wrapping it up, I got a dink ( small Laker) on the suspended rigger and shortly after another Laker, slightly bigger on the other rigger. I know of two boats that did better than I did but that's the way it goes. Still and all, it was beautifully calm and a nice day to be on the water.

14 Jun    I took an early morning ride to the launch as the trees where whipping around home at dark-o-clock. It wasn't bad at the launch so I picked up Reggie and out we went. It was beautifully calm. However we could only muster one Laker in the first hour and a half. We could see a wind line approaching from the south but we thought it wouldn't materialize too much so we decided to head several miles further north. We just got the first rod down when a Laker hit at 122'. Of course, we thought this was it, we're into 'um. Not true as we continued on hitless as the winds slowly built from the SW. For a while, winds were averaging 17 mph, pretty much pushing us  as we turned on my route to the north. Finally, a hit on the Johnson, then a rigger. Twenty minutes later, we hit a double on the riggers but by then, the wind was averaging 20 mph, with one gust to 36 mph. We considered fishing into the wind and waves in an effort to get the last one but decided it wasn't worth it. However, it was still a nice day, a little lumpy water returning, but catching 5 Lakers isn't  too bad.

10 Jun   Last night it was kind of an iffy forecast but this morning, things looked fairly calm so I headed out, only to run into heavy fog a little way out The seas were fairly calm, just rolling, and the wind was flat. I set the Johnson rod up, then my rigger. As soon as the rigger touched bottom, bang, a nice Laker hit it. Of course, the net wasn't ready and a few other things had to be done before reeling it in.  I sent the rigger back down and at about half way, the Johnson rod was bouncing so I reeled in that Laker. This was within the first 10 minutes. Two things come to mind here. First, I wore my gray hat instead of the blue one I wore yesterday, when I couldn't catch my third Laker. Fisherman reading this can appreciated how important it is to chose the right hat. Secondly, I mentally considered my second fish to be my third fish and would then continue to fish for my second fish. The reason for that is it's often really hard to catch the last fish so if that's already done, catching the second is easier. With the radar spinning in the fog I started wondering why I didn't turn and go back through that area so I did. Shortly after turning, my rigger rang with a nice Laker but it didn't stay on for long. Meantime, the temperature dropped to 41.7 degrees but it was nice because there was no wind. Shortly after missing that Laker, the suspended rigger hit and I had my second (final) Laker in the box. I worked the depths of 145' to 165', with the suspended rigger about 25' from the bottom. About an hour after getting home, the north winds picked up and my guess is it got lumpy out there. Lucky day!

9 Jun    It was a mixed forecast, supposedly to clear up and decent winds. When I launched, the fog was so heavy I could barely see the marina opening and it was misting. Not to be deterred, I headed out around the breakwater in soup, with my radar on. Seas were confused and so it was very bouncy as I set up, but no white caps. I just got the Johnson rod down and was setting the first rigger when the Johnson rod bent way over. Well, I wasn't prepared for that, no net, things left undone and by the time I got ready, the fish was gone. It wasn't a half hour later I caught a Laker on the rigger in 167' of water and I thought action was going to be good. Well, I only got one Laker after that. It was a weird day with the air temperature at 48, slowly creeping to 59. The fog eventually lifted and mist stopped. Then, I could see the wind line and quickly winds were 25 mph. That didn't last long but quickly backed down to around 15mph, still a hassle I didn't need so I pulled my gear and went home. Couldn't get the third Laker.

8 Jun    The radar showed a lot of green to the south but the air was calm and I thought, why not go for it. I launched at 6:30a, the 3rd boat to launch. I didn't want to go far with the threat of rain and thundershowers. After about half an hour of setting lines I hit a nice Laker at 145', on the upslope. I continued on my run, usually at depths of around 160' but where I turn, it's over 180' so during the turn, I lowered my rigger and while going down,  bang, another nice Laker. On the return leg, the graph showed a very big fish mark about 6' up from the bottom so I ran my rigger up and down near the bottom (a little desperate wouldn't you say?) and while I'm doing that, the other rigger bell rang, and I know that lure was at least 20' above. It was a nice 5# Laker and 2' from the net, away it swam. It was on the stacker line and so it's a mystery if that was even the same fish I marked. I had one other quick hit on the suspended line but it was off immediately. I finished with my last Laker at 165'. Waters remained calm and it started to sprinkle just as I got home. Great morning.

4 Jun    The forecast said SE winds so I didn't plan on fishing. Looked out the window and nothing was moving so I thought, what the heck and out I went at 9a. Seas were flat and winds averaged 3.4mph. I can handle that. Ran the same run (like a security blanket I guess) but it was calm and nice. My hands got a little cold and I looked at the thermometer, which showed the air temperature at 41.9 degrees. Hellllllllooo! It's the 4th of June. Ok, it went up to a heat wave of 48 shortly afterwards. I plied the waters for 2 hours before the first hit. Ironically, I marked one of the first fish near the bottom at 165" of water, only to have a fish hit the "no-brainer rigger" which set at 136 clicks (rigger counter). Meantime, I'm working the downrigger and Johnson rod to follow the bottom. Then, another Laker hit the no-brainer" rigger so I caught and boxed that one. That was it in 3 hours. Very slow indeed.

3 Jun    I really didn't plan to go as the forecast was for NE winds, not all that strong, but that's usually a rough direction. Obviously, I went and was the only boat to launch. The air was a cold 43.5 degrees and surface water 39.5 degrees with a NNW wind at 8 mph, making me glad I dressed warmly. Slowly with wind died and it was near calm and very comfortable. I was holding a perfect course at the perfect depth at the perfect speed with the perfect lures. Unfortunately, the Lakers didn't know or appreciate that so for nearly 2 hours, none were interested in what I had to offer. Then I dropped off a 145' ledge to 162' and bang, a Laker hit, followed by a bell ringer on the other riggers. I was reaching for the net when the first Laker got off so I started reeling the second Laker when it gave a good tug and got off. Gee! I reset the second rigger first (I was running it about 30 off the bottom) and swung back to where I missed those two (I marked the spot with the GPS) and got another bell ringer on the suspended rigger and managed to lose that one. Finally I made a long run, turned with plans to go through the action spot when just minutes before quitting, I caught a 4# Laker on the stacker line.  The Lake was still calm on my run in and my vehicle the only one at the launch. Go figure.

2 Jun    Today, with my guest was Mike Paluda, we headed out in near calm seas, in denial of the forecast for northerly winds of 10 - 15 mph. We set lines and before long and a double, one on the Johnson, one on the rigger. Unfortunately, the Johnson Laker got off, but was a pretty good sized Laker. Buy the time we neared the northern leg of our run, winds on the anemometer were kissing 20 mph and waves had built to 3'. We turned and fished part way back but it was too hard to hold course and speed so we wisely quit after about an hour and a half.

1 Jun    Admittedly, I was fooled by the wind in the trees during the night and when I awoke. Having been fooled so many times before, I recalled (and double checked in the morning)  that generally the forecast was good so I headed out in near-calm seas. Same ole run - hey, it worked the last few trips! It was beautiful on the water and after about 45 minutes, the bottom came up from 165' to around 145' and the Johnson rod bent with a Laker. I could see a couple of miles to the NW a change in the water indicated some wind was enroute. However, I didn't see any white so that was good.  After about 30 minutes, the wind picked up from near calm to around 10 mph, very manageable, and it later slowly backed down. It was a mild cold front rolling in and the temperature quickly dropped from 52 degrees to 46. I slowly picked up a couple of Lakers on the stacker lines, the last was in the box and once again, before I could get the last rigger up, I caught another Laker. I lifted it up without netting, and released it. It was a fairly small Laker and didn't look boated but it had trouble diving down. As I motored one, I think it shed the bladder air and was fine. I hope so. That's why I don't think much of catch and release of Lakers.  Enough serious talk. I was a beautiful day on the water. As I approached the launch with my layered-clothing look, it was a lot warmer on land.

29 May    Another beautiful day, a little warmer, sunny, and calm. Guest Josh and I set lines same as yesterday and pretty much stuck to the 160' depths. Josh hit the first Laker, his rigger set on 142 clicks, fairly close to the bottom but the Laker his the stacker line. I worked my side to follow the bottom. The Johnson rod hit and at the same time, Josh's rigger bell rang - a double. We ended with 5 Lakers in 3 hours, couldn't get the 6th.

28 May    Today my guests were Greg Gustafson and his son Josh. Greg last  fished with me in 1996 but Josh was out two years ago. We headed out in crisp but calm air, heading north. Same run as my last trip. The sun felt good. Our first Laker came off the downrigger that wasn't running real close to the bottom. The next two were on the Johnson rod, and our fourth and final was on my downrigger. All the Lakers were nice leans, two over 5#. It took 3 hours but the time flew as we had some good reminiscing and story telling between fish. We could see the Indians setting nets a little south of White Rocks and then heading up north a couple of miles. The DNR was also setting up two nets, but out in the sand hole where they'll remain until Friday.

23 May    Finally a decent day to hit the Big Pond. After doing a few early morning chores (I didn't mind waiting for it to warm as it was still 38 degrees early morning), I launched around 8:30a and headed north. I set up in 120' but quickly went to 170' and back to 150' The Johnson rod finally went into action and I reeled in a nice 7# lean Laker that fought me all the way. Before long, a Laker hit my downrigger at 157' and that too was a nice Laker. I got the Johnson rod down again and caught another nice Laker. With 3 nice Lakers in the box I was ready to head home when before I could get the downriggers up, I caught another Laker which I released. What a turnaround in action after the prior trips, doing the same thing, were so unproductive. All the fish were near the bottom, with the stackers and one rigger I leave up a ways, not doing anything. So in 45 minutes, I got a 7#, and two 5# Lakers, now destined for supper. Conditions were wonderful, calm and sunny and when you're catching fish, temperature usually isn't a big factor.

15 May    Should have gone walleye fishing. We left the launch at 6a and headed east, plying waters from 10' to 190' and got one Laker at 182' deep, and it took over 4 hours to do that. Reggie and I worked at it, even changing lures several times. We really had no excuses other than we didn't know where the Lakers were. The water was nearly calm, but the air remained crisp. We marked almost nothing. On our return, we noted 2 long Indian nets, apparently illegally placed in non-treaty waters. I recorded their locations on my GPS and gave the coordinates to the DNR. Note that on 30 Apr when I contacted the DNR, then tribal officials that nets were still in roughly the same location.

5 May    The cold weather just hangs in there. Reggie and I headed north in a pretty steady 10mph north wind and 2-3' seas, a little bouncier than expected. We pretty much plied the 160' depths and finally caught a 3# Laker at 170'. That was it for 2 hours and we finally bunched it. The air stayed at 36 degrees and surface water at 37 degrees. One of these days we're going to find those Lakers.

30 Apr    It was a touch nippy, 37 degrees to be exact, when Reggie and I left the launch to head east, still in search of Lakers. Enroute, we saw an Indian net set in .6 of a mile into non-treaty waters, where it doesn't belong. We contacted the DNR who told us to call the Tribe in Wisconsin, which we did. The water was great for traveling and that we did. We tried from 140' to 180' with nary a hit. We then tried 70' for quite a while, working into 40' and still nothing. After nearly 4 hours, we pulled our gear and wrote off the day as a skunk. All was not lost as it was sunny day and quite comfortable, until the NE wind came up. Surface water was 39 degrees and the air temperature stayed steady at 37.

23 Apr     Weather forecasts were pretty good, despite waking to 38 degree temperatures. My guest today was Reggie Gebo, a man of many lures (and I tell him that). We headed north in a slight chop. It was too nice not to run a few miles to a successful area last fall (like it's still going to be good fishing there?). I first set the Johnson rod and then my rigger and it wasn't a minute before the downrigger bell rang and you could tell it was a nice Laker. Well, that nice Laker got to the net and decided to go the other way. However, we then had high hopes it was going to be a good day fishing. Well it was - for enjoying the beautiful, calm water and sunshine. We went two hours with nary a hit, then a double at 153'. We turned, went back through that area and nothing. We decided to fish back to where the first one got off and within a 100' of my GPS mark I had placed there, we got a nice 3# Laker. What's the message there? In short, we caught 3 Lakers, all a little over 3#, missed two others, one of which Reggie swears what substantial, and best of all, enjoyed a calm and relaxing 4 hours fishing.

22 Apr 08    With guest Gary Gibbs, we headed out at 8a into a 10mph SE wind in hazy conditions. It was a good test for the radar which checked out fine but really wasn't needed. The radar did show an Indian net flag due east, the other end was nearly impossible to see, they were milk jugs, that flag laying flat on the water. It took a few minutes longer to set up than usual but it wasn't long before we had 5 lures near the bottom in 145' of water. We mostly stayed in roughly 155' but with nothing happening, we ventured out to 180' where still more nothing happened.  It was a little chilly with 46 degree air in a wind out of the SE that slowly clocked around to the SW. The surface water was 36 degrees. In a little over 3 hours we caught one Laker, a nice 3.5# Lean. We probably marked only 3 fish the whole time. Well, at least we didn't get skunked and everything worked fine. And now we know where not to go on the next trip. I'm always learning something.

21 Apr 08    Well, it took a while but I'm back. It was a lousy Spring, with one snow storm after another, and it never seemed to warm up.  A week ago I decided to remove the outdrive, check the alignment, and replace the water pump impeller, all as a part of routine and preventative maintenance. Doing that job isn't pleasant, especially when the temperature is under 40 degrees so I didn't rush it. Fired both engines right away and took a test spin in the harbor, no fishing.

13 Mar 08    Thanks for stopping by but I don't think I'll have any fishing to report for a while as I look out the window and see all the snow we've got. And the Big Pond has a lot of ice cover too, the most in several years. I'm just getting my web site set up for the coming year. Good news it the Lake level should be up considerably from last year's record low.

Reminisce with me in last year's  2007 Lake Superior fishing log.

Visit other prior year fishing reports