Click
here for my first Salmon I caught on Oct. 1, 1968
Archived
Daily Log
(Dating back to the year 2000)
1/12/21 Today's 3 in 1
photo starts off with a meat rig catch from 4/25/12
with Kings being caught down 155' in 35° water off
the Port of Manistee, MI.
These spring Kings were sluggish being only 4° away
from frozen that wanted a slow 1.5 mph presentation
to pry a bite.
Click 3 in 1 photo
Second is from 7/20/16 with Kings eager to bite in
60° to 62° water that wanted only spoons moving at
2.5 to 2.8 mph. This catch came from the UP's
Manistique, MI on the northern end of Lk. MI at 30'
to 60' down.
Wasted most of the morning trying to get dialed in
with not much to show for it. Evening fish was
another reel-story when we figured it out.
Last of the 3 pics in from Rogers City, from Lk.
Huron on 8/24/19 that will be carried over until
tomorrow when I try summate the neverending unknown
of fishing.
1/11/21 March 1, 2021 is
scheduled for Project 2021 release/debut date.
Worked long and hard on P21. There's still a
lot of loose ends for the big reveal 48 days from
now.
Been in the rocking chair with mild January weather.
This has been a godsend being spared big snows and
frigid temps. 20s and 30s is about as good as
it gets for this time of the year. Even had
one day last week that got into the 40s. We've only
had 16 inches of total snowfall accumulation for
winter 2020/2021.
Tomorrow's topic will be
trying to explain the mystery photo.
Click for this pic
1/10/21 Computer is off today
and so am I.
10/9/21 Just a quick
heads up that a play on words too. Our Magnum
Meat Heads will be on limited supply until we get
Project 2021 off the ground. Do have a good
supply for now, but not enough to last thru the
season. Hope to have all shortages fixed by
summer.
1/8/21 Going to skip
today's chat for the most part. It's not been
a good week for our nation that I'm at a loss of
words to explain. God bless America.
Be back
Monday with a fishing mystery when I was surfing
past photos.
1/7/21 Since the FireDot
pattern was 1st introduced to the Lk. MI fleet back
in the late 1960s, history says this is a
reel-summer Salmon slayer. In my charter days
(1983-2003) this color produced 20 to 30 fish limit
catches for my guests.
Click FireDot August Kings
It's
wrong to think this is just a Coho killer.
August Kings jump on this like stink on dog poo.
Clown suit school bus yellow and red dots are Bozo
colors that the fish love for some reason.
When I know, I have to absolutely catch August fish?
There's at least 2 FireDot combos swimming in my
spread. Old school is better than no school.
1/6/21 Next Monday will
be announcing the reveal date for the ground
breaking secret Project 2021. This had been in
the works since the early part last July.
Keeping it under wraps has been a challenge by
limiting what I can share with you, in the here and
now.
There's only
4 people in the world that know what we've been up
to, counting my wife and I. Turning P21 loose
when the time is right is crucial.
For
2021 we'll have a new 3 page article. Along
with 3 new You Tube videos that will debut well
before spring. Have great plans in the works
for 2021!
Tomorrow? ...cost effective piece of tackle my
boat would never leave the dock without.
1/5/21 Making plans for
2021 is a happy place for yours truly.
Tentative trips to new ports are on the agenda.
If, and when the dark covid cloud has lifted.
New places and returning to old ports like South
Haven is a good bet for spring Kings in May.
Project
2021 is done for the most part. Have an idea
for Project 2022 in the planning stage once we
introduce the new game changing tackle for 2021.
Having to stay close to home does have it benefits,
when the time is budgeted wisely.
For the time being just going to
enjoy the mild January weather while it lasts!
1/4/21 Reel great news
keeps coming! It's only 86 days until my 1st
Lk. MI trip out of Manistee, MI. for my target date
of 4/1/21. Possibly, sooner if the weather
breaks early.
Know we
will have some tough winter days ahead that will
become a distant memory when my boat is no longer on
the trailer.
My vintage
1979 22' Sea Ray is set up for cold weather fishing.
A complete enclosure with a heater and defrosters
keeps the cabin cozy for a couple of fishermen.
Fishing in
not supposed to be an extreme sport when you have to
suffer the blustery wind that drives cold to the
bone. Hard to have a good time if you're
freezing.
1/3/21 Great news again!
Since official winter started back in December, we
gained about 7 minutes of daylight. By
January's end? ...we're looking at better then a 1/2
hour.
Gaining
daylight is what brings spring ever closer.
There will be a 2021 season soon. My target
date is 4/1/21 for my 1st Lk. MI trip out of
Manistee, MI.
We all need
something to look forward to. Mine is getting
back in the boat again!
1/2/20 Great news!
Mr. Winter is opening the new year with temps 10°
above normal that should last into next weekend.
Having temps in the mid 30s at this time of the year
is a godsend. Thus far, this winter has been
mild. Only had to plow snow once a couple of
days ago that was mostly for the UPS driver.
2" of wet snow last night was no big deal.
My 2020/2021 winter season snowometer stands at only
16" for now
1/1/21 Happy New Year!
Health, wealth and wisdom for 2021.
12/31/20 Happy New
Year's Eve Day. In a short while, the terrible
year of 2020 that inflicted great hardships in our
country will be a goner. 2021 will be a lot
better. Looking for to next year and the
renewed promise it brings. Have a happy, safe,
and great 2021!
12/30/20 Fast forwarding
a day to point out the mussels in the stomach of a
King caught back in 2008 just after the 4th of July.
This was well before the King Salmon numbers
dwindled when the MDNR made stocking cuts.
Click
mussels in stomach
Didn't notice these tiny shells when I took the
photo. If I did? ...sure would have focused
with more photos. This is a rarity for sure.
Can only speculate on how they got there with 2
choices. 1. Alewives had mussels in their
belly that were dissolving. 2. This
mid-size King was into oysters on the half shell.
Guess, it's meant to be a mystery?
12/29/20 Year end
computer maintenance means all machines need
attention. Use 3 boxes and a laptop for
mobile. Started yesterday with all recent
updates.
Passed my yearly verification known as, PCI
compliance for credit card security that was a
chore. This where
www.michiganangler.com gets it's fancy security
seal of approval. So, customers know their
credit card info is well protected.
There's always some kind of issues when dealing with
computers that are tasked with complicated jobs.
Taking care of a network is a lot to bite off.
It's a job I dread and why I'm not big on smart
phones. Already spend a lot of time at my
computer work station. Why would I want to
carry another one around in my pocket?
My view of cell phones? ...it's electronic slavery
that turns into an addiction for a large segment of
the population. See Detroit Tiger fans behind
home plate in the high dollar seats. Instead
of watching the game? ...they're fiddling with
their phones.
12/28/20 Video update
that's about eliminating quagga mussels comes from
the Port of Leland, MI. You'll see why Leland
is one of my most favorite ports. This also
goes with the mussels I found in a Salmon stomach
that will be expanded upon tomorrow.
Click for
this video
12/27/20 Report on the
early March-April fishing from Manistee, MI
continues with 2019 results. April was all
Lake Trout. A mixed size of 5 to 12 pounder
and not that many of them. There were zones
lure clogging weeds inshore in early April that made
trolling impossible, unless we cleaned our 6 rod
spread continuously.
Click 2019 Lake Trout
End of May going into early June did catch a few
Kings pushing 20 in 2019. Fish per hour was
downright pitiful. Struggled to find fish on a
confined schedule.
My 2020 early season was a wash with no
fishing till July.
12/26/20 Didn't clean
sat dish until 2pm. Decided to save today's
effort and expand it for tomorrow. Then, wrap
it up on Monday with a useful tip from my area.
12/25/20 Merry Christmas
to all. Tomorrow's chat might be delayed about
what to expect about early spring (Mar-Apr-May)
fishing at central Lk. MI ports.
Seems Mr. Winter has woke up with a bad attitude and
is predicted 15" of lake effect snow in Manistee,
MI. This will render the sat internet useless
until I clear the white stuff off the sat dish in
sub 20° temps. This will be done later in the
day. So, it might be delayed until Sat. when I
can wrap up this fascinating subject.
12/24/20 Merry Christmas
Eve Day to you and yours. Donated our
Christmas spending to help feed those in need.
Seen 400 cars in-line waiting for food in my home
town.
It's one thing to see this from a distance on TV.
But when you see it in person, in your home area it
punches home how bad things are for some folks.
If you're in the grateful position of being able to
donate? Please support your local food bank
and help the needy. Together can fight our way thru
the covid crisis.
12/23/20 What
to expect in Manistee, MI's early season continues.
The 2017 early season April fishing was OK.
There were some Browns in early April, if you got
lucky and hit the right spots. By around the
1st of May, Kings were being caught off the harbor
areas of Ludington and Manistee. No big
numbers for my efforts. But 3-4 fish in the 10
to 20 pound class for a morning fish is a heck of a
good time.
2018 my April fishing was a bust. May was
another story with a fair number of Kings off
Ludington's harbor to pockets south of the project.
There were a few Browns and Lake Trout mixed in for
the locals. My boat only caught Kings.
No big numbers, but don't need that many spring
Kings pushing 20 pounds to call it a happy-happy
trip.
12/22/20 What to expect
in Manistee, MI's early season? The total
unknown for sure. Can give you a replay from
2015 to 2020. Looked back in my yearly photo
folders for info.
2015 Manistee had some Browns in early April.
Around the 1st of May Ludington was seeing some
Kings caught. This was the year I went to
Wilson, NY in May and did decent on spring Kings to
20 some pounds on Salmon Buster spoons™.
2016 early inshore April fishing off Manistee was
choked with weeds that made trolling an exercise in
futility. This was the year I installed
enclosed cooling on my 1979 22' Sea Ray. So, I
could put a heater/window defroster for chilly
mornings.
2017 Manistee's early season will be
tomorrow's headline and focus.
12/21/20 First day of
the official winter season. It's also our
shortest day of the year too. Gradually, our
days will become longer. Spring 2021 is
only about 90 days away.
The weather in Manistee, MI has been mild compared
to years past. Haven't had to plow snow and
that a rarity for the north country. Know
there's storms and snow in the future. We'll
get thru it and crush the China virus in the new
year.
Tomorrow? ....what to expect from Manistee's early
March-April inshore fishery.
12/19-20/20 Computer is
off for the weekend and so am I.
12/18/20 In less then 2
weeks we can say good riddance to the terrible year
of 2020. That can't come fastest enough for
me. 2020 sucked for everybody!
I'm looking forward to having shop help in 2021 to
build and expedite orders. This is a huge task
that I did solo. This prevented me from
getting out on the Great Lakes this year until the
4th of July and only a few times in August.
This was the 1st season out of the past 50 missed
the early season March/April fishery.
Having a good conversation going when you're working
helps the time fly by. Extra help adds order
speed and accuracy. By keeping track of each
other's work.
Offline weekend for me. Shop construction
needs my full attention.
Monday's topic will be about
Manistee, MI's early season and what to expect.
12/17/20 Timing is
everything when it comes to new product roll out.
The mood our country is in right now (from the China
virus), it's my firm belief you could introduce
sliced bread for the first time and it would be a
historic flop.
That's one of the reasons I'm holding back the debut
of P15. Knowing better days are ahead and a
bright future for our country as our population gets
vaccinated.
12/16/20 Snowometer is
back again this year. It's a rough gauge
what's shoveled, or plowed. November was very
mild and not much snow in a departure from the past.
Cold temps in the teens are here. Official
winter only days away. Cold makes heating my
house with wood easier with a hotter burn.
Resulting in less creosote buildup.
My 2020/2021 winter season snowometer
stands at only 10" for now.
12/15/20 Checked the
size of the Chinooks/King Salmon planted by the MDNR
in 2005 and 2010 in Manistee County, MI. Size
is about the same as what the DNR is stocking now.
Numbers of Kings planted is not that far off, down
about 30% from 2005 and 2010.
Survival rate is where the big crash is. Don't
think anyone has the answer. Least of all
...me. Do know, in the past 3 seasons, I've
caught very few adipose clipped fish in the central
Lk. MI ports of Ludington, Manistee and Frankfort.
Exception is in 2019. Fished Lk Huron's Port
of Rogers City, MI. Here, 3 out of 4 Kings
were adipose clipped, or stocked Kings.
Click Rogers City King Salmon
12/14/20 Plans for the
2021 season are full underway. Construction
projects expanding storage in my tackle shop should be
done by the end of this week.
Keeping a positive outlook and looking forward to
better days ahead in the new year is front and
center. This is helped along by planning trips
in 2021 for the early season. Missed out on
the early S Lk. MI action this year due to stay at
home orders right when our season was beginning.
There's light at the end of the tunnel with China
virus vaccines that should have our country moving
back to normal.
12/13/20 Day off to work
on projects in my shop. Running out of room
and need to be creative to find more storage for
tackle. This looks like a 2 day job to hang
peg board around the pain booth. Need to do
this while there's time available.
See being a solo work act until more vaccinations
make our world safe again. Manistee, MI had
30-40 cases of covid around Labor day. Now
it's pushing 500. In a county of 20,000 plus,
that's a lot. Plus, those spreading it with no
symptoms.
12/12/20 Great Lakes big
water trolling boats are highly complex machines.
Listing all the electric motors in today's chat
about my vintage 1979 22' Sea Ray. Odds are
having them all work 100% of the time? ...is a not.
Downriggers
Bilge pumps
Hydraulic Mercruiser trim pump
CD player
Heater fan
Defroster fan
TR1 Garmin auto pilot
Bilge exhaust fan
Wipers
Starter motors (Merc. & Suzuki)
Radar array
Trim tab pump
Total |
3
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
1
18 |
That's 18 twelve volt DC electric
motors and counting. Gremlins are bound to pop up.
Factor in, 2 sonar/GPS units, a marine radio and a Fish Hawk down
rigger read out and there's all kinds of issues waiting to happen.
12/11/20 It's approx 100
an some days to April 1, 2021. This is my
target date for early season Manistee, MI shoreline
trolling. Possibly, earlier if I chose to head
to the S end of Lk. MI for March Coho. It's
reel-nice to see a window to hit Lk MI again.
Buttoning up my boat for the 100 day nap, noticed
water levels in my batteries were low. Today,
will be adding distilled water to the correct level.
Trickle chargers keep my batteries in tip top shape
for several seasons. Prior to low amp trickle
chargers only got a couple of seasons.
Batteries are expensive. Take care of them.
Continued below back to the year 2000:
2020 Results
January, February
& March
April, May & June
July, August &
September
October, November &
December
2019 Results
January, February & March
April, May & June
July, August &
September
October, November &
December
2018 Results
January, February & March
April, May, & June
July, August &
September
October, November & December
2017 Results
January,
February & March
April, June &
June
July,
August, & September
October, November &
December
2016 Results
January,
February & March
April, May & June
July, August &
September
October, November &
December
2015 Results
January, February
& March
April, May & June
July, August &
September
2014 Results
October,
November, & December
January, February,
& March
April, May, & June
July,
August, & September
2013 Results
January,
February, & March
April, May, & June
July, August &
September
October, November &
December
2012 Results
January,
February, & March
April, May & June
July, August &
September
October, November &
December
2011 Results
January,
February, & March
April, May, & June
July, August &
September
October,
November, & December
2010 Results
January,
February, & March
April, May & June
July,
August & September
October, November & December
|
2009 Results
January,
February & March
April, May & June
July, August, &
September
October, November, &
December
2008 Results
October,
November & December
July, August, &
September
April, May & June
January,
February & March
2007 Results
October
November & December
July, August & September
April,
May & June
January,
February & March
2006 Results
October,
November & December
July, August &
September
April, May &
June
January,
February & March
2005
Results
October, November & December
July August & September
April May & June
January February & March
2004 Results
October, November &
December
August & September
June & July
April & May
January, February & March
2003
Results
Jan
Feb Mar April
& May
June & July
Aug & Sept
October
Nov &
Dec
2002
Results
Nov & Dec
Oct
Sept
Aug July
June
May
April March
Feb
Jan
2001 Results
April Brown Trout
May & June
July Salmon
Aug. Tuna Time
2000 Results
Dec. Nov.
Oct.
Sept.
Aug. July
June
May
March & April
January February |
For complete results of all fishing trips, fishing reports & general info
and a peek into my archived log for the past seasons,
click the below link:
Past Results
|