Ok , I just checked . In 2021 as I remember we had an awfully lot of rain in the fall . The kings that usually stack up in front of my cottage till they get a flow and run the creek got sucked up in the system . The skien fishing that year wasn't great so I went upstream fly fishing , because there was good flow and I don't go when there is low water . It was lights out and was all fall till mid Dec. I'm sure all the South shore streams experienced the same .
And 3 years later we have great king fishing . Coincidence ?
Very few skips ,which is a bad sign .
If Lake Michigan kings have rebounded , it has to be bait .
The optimism for next year may be suspect . Many years we have had great fishing , been excited for the following year and it was a dud . This has happened before . So enjoy what you have now .
According to the correspondence I had with a high ranking DEC official who asked me not to post our back and forth on here for obvious reasons, Lake Michigan kings are the same as LO kings . We have all caught a bunch of kings this year . What I noticed about the 2 board king we caught were they had shoulders , girth , whatever you want to call it . A lot of the ones we catch look like Skamania steelhead . Long And skinny . Maybe it's just me .
Don't complicate things . Proven spoons and flasher / fly or meat rigs.
Watch Yankees reports and use what he does .
If that doesn't work it your location or presentation
I have learned , you really need to have patience .Sometimes the fish arnt hitting . If you put down proven go to / confidence lures a lot of times it's just a matter of adjustment . Doing wholesale changes is huge mistake IMO. You wind up with a mess no self respecting salmon would hit Look at Yankees reports . He uses the same 10 lures pretty much all year . And he is as good as it gets .
If I'm marking and not hooking up I change 1 lure . I keep my provens down . I have one carbon 14 that has been down every minute I have been out there since early July .
Location depth and speed .
My depth finder was experiencing this same thing . Also my depth raider was squirrely also . I put a nose filter on my gas kicker and it all went away .
Maybe you could put one on your negative an positive leads on you depth finder or trolling motor .
Looks like they got her out and it's sitting on the trailer by Tommy's . And that's a good thing .
Let's Hope it's not to big of a job drying it out and getting it back up and running .
Aw man , that sucks . Seen him drive by the cottage a bunch of times .
Hopfully they can float her back up dry her out , and be back at it very soon .
Good luck
Not as good this morning as yesterday afternoon but really how could it.
Still did very well from 100 to 190 down 60 to 95 ft . Spoons and flashers both worked .
The D- rig managed another board king and I beat my son out by a few oz . Probably won't last till the end as fish get bigger every day .
It's no longer fishing , it's catching .
Out for 2 hrs . Boated 11 and lost a few more . Kings and a laker .
Ended the day with a triple . Asked my brother if he had enough and he said yes , thankfully .
Just a few days ago I was at my bench and had a meat rig I was messing with . I took the treble upside down and put a few drops of the clear finger nail polish I use on my jig heads on it where the hooks come together . It dries fast so I repeated it a few times . Looks good. And it's not bulky.
It's no secret the bite has been great. Really ,what more could you ask for?
We have been going out mornings and doing well . Sone days better than others . 15 to 20 bites are common . With great screens .
Our best lures have been Carbon 14 mag , black glo green and the like .
Gary D rig has been very good also .
80 to 150 seems to be the best 50 to 90 down . Our best was a 24 # 8 oz board king ( which actually was 24 # 12 oz , but that's a story in itself ). Sat, I believe, we boated 4 Steelheads in the total .
Yesterday afternoon I took my brother and niece out. Boated 7 salmon and lost some more in a few hrs . I wore her out .
Hope things continue .
I feel your pain bro . And these ladderbacks and die cuts are not cheap anymore . And tackle shops don't carry them much anymore . At least the colors and styles I want .
So I have been having trouble with my depth raider , loosing signal , false readings etc. I did the wet towel thing and it helped. I thought maybe I had nicks in the coated cable coating .
Then I get a new depth finder and see those tell take lines on the screen you know is interference .
I reaserched a little and finally installed a noise filter on my kicker which apparently some are know to create interference .
I have not lost signal once . My depth finder is clear as a bell .
Got mine from Kell Outdoors where I got my Depth Raider . 40$ total .
Very easy I stall.
I read articles on this where some feel the warmer water is a contributing factor . But the salmon in LO seek out the water temp that is desirable to them .
If 50 degree water is down 150 ft , that's where we fish . And where we see the fish on our depth finders .
Seems like the only time they spend any amount of time in warm water is when they stage or run the streams
So I wonder about that .
My favorite treble hook is an Eagle Claw LS 374 . Bronze or Chrome. They were the original equipment on NKs and Pirates . 1/0 on 28 ,and 2/0 on Mags . They are 2 x strong . I see no need for 4 x . Never once have I straightened one out . The finer wire penetrates better IMO . Also lighter weight helps action of spoon . The beak style point is sharp and easy to touch up . And they are cheap enough to replace. I have used a lot of different trebles on my spoons and my rigs and always seem to come back to these .
Ain't no way I am spending 2$ on a treble hook . They might be a little better but not much .
If they are sharp and your release is tight , they hook themselves in the hit.
I sure would like to know exactly what happened a few years back to give us the fishing we are now experiencing . There must have been a very successful natural reproduction season. Combined with the increase in stocking and bait. Maybe the stocking class was very strong that year . Because it sure is great .
Kudos to DEC . Keep up the good work .