Today's Update & Fishing Report

5/9/08  Let's look at the timely subject making first contact with your quarry, Mr. Fish.  You've probably heard you only get one chance to make a first impression and that does holds true with ultra-sticky sharp hooks.  Sharp digs in, while dull causes missed fish!
Going to defer the rest of this topic along with metallurgy of hooks till next week.
      Recent St. Joe report from our message board was talking deep fish, a few Coho and Lakers, while the Kings are very scarce.  According to a top charter skipper who charters out of St. Joe, Chinook fishing in 2007 never stabilized until into June.  Southern Lk. MI is a watch point, and let's hope more Kings show up for this weekend's big tournament.

5/8/08   Let's go with an important safety announcement for the MI ports of Manistee and Whitehall.  Both of these ports are suffering from abandoned nets, never pulled last winter.  Trap nets come up off the bottom 40' and are hazards to fishermen with trolling gear down, or navigation in general.  Tribal fish cops are working to remedy the situation, along with the USCG.  The 1st of June is the target date to have everything cleaned up.
      Safety is my primary concern and when I know more, so will you!  The simple facts in the LRB experiment into commercial fishing was a bust.  Two sunken LRB tugs, one in Manistee and one in Ludington are just a couple of examples that gave this tribe a public relations nightmare.  Not to mention the abandoned gear laying on the bottom!
      Thanks to the Bob J from the Detroit Steelheaders we did find out there were a few Kings taken in the range of 12 to 14 pounds last weekend during their St. Joe tourney.

5/7/08  The ancient fish tug Mercury was re-floated on 5/5/08 after it's sinking weeks ago.  The Mercury is an old tub dating back to a bygone era of the 1930s gill net boats.  Not sure of how old this vessel is, but it was an unsafe boat that leaked like a sieve in the first place.  This boat was sunk from inattention and not having automatic bilge pump switches.  Vandalism, or conspiracy as originally claimed was not part of the equation.
      The Little River tribe gave Larry Smith $50,000.00 to buy this old wreck and additional monies totaling to the grand sum of $84,896.00, as proven in today's posted ledger sheet off a whistle blower website. documented proof  Mercury salvage
      As more of the story unfolds from last weekend, it was a "tough go" for those fishing out of St. Joe, MI.  Not many Kings were caught.  Catches were mostly Lakers, along with some Coho.  The marks the second year in a row, where the south end is a long ways from normal, if there is such a thing as normal when it comes to fishing. 
      Biggest King caught thus far (plus 13 pounds) by our message board members came from Lk. Huron's Port Sanilac.  Second is plus 12 pounds from Ludington, MI.
       As Paul Harvey might say, ........."click here for the rest of the stories"