Fall King Salmon Fishing Report

The mature King Salmon fishing on Lake Michigan and its many tributaries has been noticeably slower than normal over the past few weeks. This either means that there are less fish in the lake to return, or the run is later than usual.  Only time will tell, as anglers continue to spend many hours on the water for a few fish.

This was the story for Derek and I over the weekend as we made a trip to Sturgeon Bay in hopes of tangling with a few King Salmon on our Walleye gear!  Our trip started off with a bang, as Derek hooked into a beautiful Steelhead on his very first cast on a Jigging Rapala!  Yes, thats right a Jigging Rapala! When Derek said that he had one I rolled my eyes in disbelief, but I was quickly a believer as I heard his drag start to scream and within seconds a tank of a Steelhead was dancing on the surface!

After a solid 5 minute battle with several aerial displays, Derek was finally able to guide this beauty into the net!  The fish bit as the Jigging Rapala hit the bottom in 22 feet of water!  We were hoping to tangle with a couple Brown Trout, but honestly never expected to land a Steelhead!  Things certainly started off with a bang, so we continued jigging in hopes of landing some more fish but only had one other fish on briefly.

As the sun began to set, we couldn't help but enjoy the amazing sunset and peace and quiet as there were wasn't another boat in sight and the Salmon began jumping out of the water all around us!  We were unable to hook up with another fish until after the sun had set and the moon took over.

Derek and I tried fishing skein, Gulp, spoons, and even trolled Flicker Shads and J-Plugs without a bump for nearly 2 hours when we switched to casting Berkley Flicker Shads.  I had just casted out and gave the Flicker Shad a couple cranks when WHAM!  A big King Salmon absolutely crushed my lure and took off across the canal!  If you have never caught a large Trout or Salmon on spinning tackle then you need to give it a shot as it is a rush unlike any other! 

The fish had its way with me for the first five minutes, screaming line off my Pflueger President which was music to my ears and this bite had been a long time coming!  We eventually were forced into starting up the boat and chasing her down as she was headed for obstructions along shore!  After an intense 10+ minute fight in the dark, I was finally able to ease the fish into the Frabill.

This beauty of a hen King Salmon was easily in the 17-20 pound range, and had made the entire trip worthwhile as I had been on a mission to land a King Salmon that night!  After a few pictures, I bled the fish out and threw it on ice as this fish would die anyways in the coming weeks after spawning and the skein will be used to hopefully catch more Salmon down the road!

We continued casting at night, having a few fish on briefly before they managed to pull free.  It was almost 11:00 and we had both begun to tire from casting, when once again my crankbait got crushed!  "Fish On!"  I yelled to Derek as he spun around a attempted to get a video of the fight!  We quickly realized that we weren't setup for filming at night!  This fish tired a little quicker, but was still a great fight with quite the story!

As the fish surfaced by the boat it shot off like a rocket, right between the bowmount trolling motor and the transducer cord on the trolling motor!  I was now fighting the fish through that narrow space!  Derek and I somehow managed to get the rod through this opening and continue to fight and land this fish!  After that battle we were both wore out and decided to call it a night.

Even though we didn't catch a ton of fish, we still had a great time enjoying our time on the water!  Hopefully the action continues to improve over the next couple weeks as the fish will hopefully continue trickling in for the spawning run!  I will be switching gears back to Walleyes in the coming weeks, then eventually back over to Trout as we near Deer Season!  For those of you that take the time to read my posts and check out the site I want to thank you as well as apologize for the lack of posts this past summer.  Fishing time has been at a premium for me this season with a new job and growing family.  I hope to find more time to post in the coming months, so thanks again and if you ever have fishing questions feel free to post on here or send me an email at lance620@live.com and I will do my best to help you out!

Winnebago System Update 6-17-15

Summer is upon us as is the Walleye bite on the Winnebago System! The Mercury National Walleye Tournament was held out of Fond du lac this past weekend and there were plenty of nice Walleyes brought to the scales both days! The winning pattern is still a secret as many of the same anglers will be competing in the Battle on Bago - Summer Edition this coming weekend.

Walleyes continue to be caught in the upriver lakes, the river in Oshkosh, and on all parts of Lake Winnebago. Trolling has been the most common method used by anglers, with cranks working better than spinners for most. The reef bite has been hit or miss depending on wind conditions, as has the mud bite. Some anglers have put some really nice fish in the boat in short order when an active school is located, while others are struggling to find keeper size Walleyes.  There seems to be an abundance of 10-12" Walleyes in the system which are being caught by just about everybody!

I had the chance to get out last Friday for a few hours after work and it was worth my while! We trolled crank baits and were able to land some really nice fish including this 27" pig! Fire tiger #7 Flicker Shads did the trick for us trolling at 2.1-2.2mph.

If you are looking to get out and catch some Walleyes for dinner now is the time! Remember to use the wind to your advantage! The fish have been on the thin side this year with the lack of forage in the system, especially the Shad which will hopefully have a good spawn to give our Walleyes something to plump back up on!  On a positive note, the lack of forage should translate into good fishing all summer!

Lastly, I wanted to let everyone know of a great online site for cigars! Cigars are the perfect topper to a successful day on the water or any other activity as you can see in this photo of me and my buddies after a successful day on the water! Check out Famous Smoke Shop to find premium quality cigars at great prices! These cigars will be shipped to your door within days eliminating the hassle of finding a local cigar shop that carries your favorite cigar!