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8611 Tindall Rd
Mes salutations à tous les francophones!
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You can pay by credit card Checks and Money Orders gladly accepted also. Placing a phone order? 877-455-7096 |
Come Visit Tom Hicks at Wilson Marine for some Great Deals!
News
Port Clinton Ohio has a pretty unique New Year celebration
12-31-2008 Happy New Year! For obvious reasons I am glad to see the back of 2008, here's to a happy, prosperous, healthy New Year for all of us.
12-30-2008 This goes in the same category as the elk below. Having stood next to a dead one in a pickup truck, I am not sure I would want to be that close to a mother with a calf, one good kick and you are dead.
A happy Customer from August of 2003
12-28-2008 If you are wondering about "Frosty" below, 50+ degree rain pretty much did him in last night.
You can find closeout prices on Opti-Tackle 12" Black Snubbers and 18" Clear Snubbers while they last.
I know this isn't a fishing picture, but the Raider Spoons Crew built a cool snowman today
12-27-2008 63 degree weather has me hankering to take the boat out. I remember busting ice in the Ludington Harbor in March 2001 I was so anxious to get my new boat out. First of April is only 3 months away.
My partner, "Saint Jerry", is so named because he not only stores my boat in his heated garage, he has been meticulously refinishing the hull for me. A much prettier "Sarah Ann" is waiting for Spring.
12-26-2008 By the way, those who signed up for my newsletter above got a pretty significant "bonus" with the Christmas sale. One customer saved $63 on his order, in addition to his 10% discount, and the Christmas sale price he saved almost 50% on his order, for a total of almost $300 savings. Sorry, that offer expired at Midnight Christmas.
I send out emails a few times a years, only when I have something significant to say. A note to any who signed up and did not receive the newsletter, you MUST set your spam filter to accept emails from bobsoutdoors.com
A couple of notes about the emails: First, my customers have judged their value. A typical email list gets about 10% "rejects" or people who sign off of the list when they get the email. My list gets way less than 1%, usually only one or two.
Second, if you sign up for the newsletter, it is absolutely no risk of being "spammed" forever. You can have your email removed instantly with a link in the email. None of this "it might take 30 days stuff, if you want off, you are off.
12-25-2008 The Christmas sale was very successful, but all remaining Twinkies and Walker Deeper Divers will remain at the sale prices until they are gone. In our
Bargains & Closeouts section, you can pick up remaining spools of ANDE line and Heartland Wire Rods for deep discounts.
A 40 lb Halibut taken in Alaska this year. Notice what he is holding it with.
You can check out Captain Sam's Adventures here
A Nice brown I took 4-22-2001
12-18-2008 Above is my 2009 Show schedule. You will notice a bunch of one day swap meets and no "big" shows, well its just plain a money thing. The biggest show I will do is the Flint Steelheaders Show. All the great work they do, I will probably always support them and their show.
I will be at these shows as Raider Spoons. I will have some real good deals on some tackle at all of these shows, so it will be well worth your while to get there and be early if you can.
The best part is I get to see customers from New York to Wisconsin. I look forward to seeing you all there.
12-17-2008 I have read that the Michigan DNR has changed the # of rods to 3 per angler for all waters. No more pulling rods entering the harbor. There is also word that they are making the limit 5 Salmon/Trout per day and getting rid of the 3/5 rule. Thank goodness. Tournaments can stop killing Kings looking for Trout.
What you see to your left, except for the Walker Deeper Divers and Twinkie Rigs is pretty much the way the store will look this year. Sales of Twinkie Rigs at $3.74 each has led me to declare the bait rig thing pretty much dead. Excellent catch rates with spoons (yeah!) and flies and a lack of quality bait did that in.
I will have a few rigs and some Gulp in a box on my boat. There will be a day when it means the difference.
There will be new Raider products, and I intend to carry most of the Offshore and Opti products. If something really new and exciting comes along I might add it, we'll see what the shows hold.
12-15-2008 Amazingly enough, at least to me, thanks to my "helpers", I have FINALLY shipped all orders.
12-11-2008 I am slowly getting the orders out, a little longer than I had wanted, but I expect everything to ship out by tomorrow.
No more reels, no more A-Tom-Mik Flies, no more Lil' Shooter Flashers
This will mean cash for bills, supplies for spoons and fees for shows. Some of the prices are so stupid that I have actually had customers apologize, but I am aware that in this economy I have to give you a deal you can't refuse.
As always, you can send your item as a gift with a note card, the recipient will receive your card and a packing slip WITHOUT the prices. The invoice will be mailed to your billing address separately.
Also, remember you can buy a gift certificate right up until the last second and print it your self - they never expire and cannot be lost!
Sorry, but those prices are for in-stock items. I have counted them and will do my best to make sure you cannot order out of stock items, but I expect a lot of in-person sales and that may throw my counts off. I will notify you if there is an unexpected shortage.
8-15-2001 If you look close those are "Interline" rods where the line is inside the rod, no guides. I think that is the day they came off of the boat when they got gummed up with water fleas.
12-10-2008 In this day Otis Redding (Sitting on the Dock of the Bay) died, as did Richard Pryor, but Emily Dickenson and Susan Dey (Partridge Family) were born. President Roosevelt became the first American to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
12-9-2008 The rods and reels are flying off of the shelf. Ridgeback Rattlers are gone. You can buy them at http://www.ridgebackrattler.com
It is going to be a long day.
You should take a look at the A-Tom-Mik Fly kits. For just under $17, you can make 25 flies. Where are you going to get flies for 68 cents a piece? Look outside, you have time.
12-8-2008 I know stores say this when a sale is flopping, but the response has actually been overwhelming. Twenty SG47LCA reels sold Friday afternoon. What I mailed out today was one of my best days ever.
All Daiwa Accudepth Plus Reels are 25% off
All Daiwa Heartland Specialty Rods are 25% off
My few remaining A-Tom-Mik Fly kits are on sale 1/2 price
All remaining ANDE Line are 1/2 Price
Buy one of Dan Keating's Books and get the second free!
Walker Deeper Divers are on sale 1/2 price.
My last few Ridgeback Rattlers are 1/2 price.
Kingfishers are running low, they will not last long.
We still have plenty of Twinkie Rigs available. This it the time to stock up.
All the items on sale have one thing in common. They are all excellent products that will catch fish, but for reasons unrelated to that they will not be replaced when they are gone. I will be devoting all of my energy to Raider Spoons this coming year. I will continue to carry certain items, such as Offshore and Opti-Tackle products because they sell well and I enjoy doing business with them.
In the special case of Ridgeback Rattler, I have decided not to continue carrying them only because I am competing with the Ridgeback Rattler website, which seems kind of silly to me now. I will continue to be a big supporter of Ridgebacks, I plan on continuing to run them on my boat.
USS Arizona December 7, 1941
We will never forget
Donate to the Pearl harbor Memorial Fund
12-6-2008 Well, that woke things up. At 10:30 pm the last of the two boxes of SG47LCA reels I had for sale were gone.
Well, since that's gone maybe you will also like this, buy one of Dan Keating's Books and get the second free!
Stuff Those Stockings Sale!
Stock up on Twinkie Rigs at 1/2 Price - only $3.74 a piece
Stock up on all remaining Kingfisher Flashers also at 1/2 Price - only $4.99 a piece
Awesome Deal - Daiwa Sealine SG47 Reels 37% Off - only 69.99 - the best price anywhere!
This is the only time you will see these reels on special, below wholesale prices!
11-26-2008 Here is a recipe for Cajun Hot Butter from Greybeard:
Cajun Hot Butter
3/4# butter
1 tbl paprika
3/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
Melt the butter and stir in the spices. Place
in a 1 pint jar and shake occasionally to keep the spices suspended as it
cools. Use as a baste for grilling fish or chicken.
A nice king taken on July 5, 2008
11-11-2008 Let's not forget our Veterans today!
There is a pretty good article about river fishing on the Pere Marquette River here.
An evening battle with a King last July
11-7-2007 Well, today is my Birthday. I really enjoy hearing about how young our President is, since he is the same age as me.
No, not Photoshop. This beast was found dead in Battle Creek, California. You can read about it here.
The summer of 2000, a Charter I took with my son, my brother and my nephew out of Pentwater on the Outdoorsman.
11-5-2008 Well, we have a new President-Elect. You have to be impressed with a nation that can go from the race riots and bussing fights of my youth to electing a black man with a name like Barak Hussein Obama. For all of our sakes, let's all wish him great success.
The first fish I caught in my Trophy back in 2001. For the record, it came on a red Fuzzy Bear with red tape like the strip of tape we use on bait heads. I think he called them "squid spoons". They worked great that day but I was never able to get them to work well again.
I saw this on the GLA website. It reminded me of fishing with Skip.
11-3-2008 My buddy harassed me yesterday about my political "rants". He has a point, but I am going to do it for one last time (for now) anyway.
VOTE TOMORROW! Sportsmen (and women) need to vote. Trust me, the parties and the analysts know which groups vote. Political power belongs to those who show up.
Don't show up and you give that power to others, including the Anti's. PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk has said, “ a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. Sorry, my son is not a rat or a pig or a dog. I feel sorry for any kids you might have.
Me, I'm not turning my vote over to her.
12 Point taken with a bow in SW Michigan this week.
11-01-2008 The boat is in the barn today, after not actually being in the water at all this year. Well, I have to be sure to be extra ready next year.
This week's job is to get sighted in for Deer opener.
Notice the spoons they use toward the end of the video
A buck near my tree stand taken with a trail camera. This is the second year we have seen this guy, real big deer, wide rack, only 6 points.
10-28-2008 I wrote about being a gentleman, or lady, in our sports the other day. I included a personal story that I later decided might be too personal and I took it down. Well, a couple of people saw it and the general reaction was "why did you take it down?"
I was discussing the importance of being a good sportsman. Generally that means following the Golden Rule, treating other as you would want to be treated. Sometimes that means not hunting an area that you think another is hunting, sometimes it means giving way while trolling your boat.
Most of the stories you read on the web are the negative kind. "I was hunting from my stand and another guy came along and set up right next to me." "I was fighting a fish and that guy ran over my line."
I think that the vast majority of the sportsmen out there are gentlemen and ladies. The "bad apples" get all the press. You don't see the guy who scouted that area before you, but upon seeing your blind hunted elsewhere. You don't talk about the 10 boats who turned away when they saw you fighting that fish, just the jerk because you remember him!
Well, in March of 2001 my fishing buddy Skip was on his boat in a marina with a friend when they saw a guy attempting to launch a boat across the channel. They watched as he put the boat in the water and then pulled the boat back out. The guy ended up in their marina parking lot where he was taking the trailer, with the boat still on it, off of the truck.
Now they could have "minded their own business", but instead they went over to the guy to inquire as to what happened. The obviously irate person "explained" that his brand new boat would not start, and he had killed the battery. Even at this point, they could have given him directions to the marine repair and gone back to what they were doing.
They calmed him down, found a battery, went back to the launch and got the boat started and helped the guy put his boat in his slip. The shutoff switch had been flipped to off, something I am sure that person will never forget to check again.
He also will never forget the kindness of a couple of strangers on a cold March morning.
Well, seven years later they are still good friends, and of course the dope with the kill switch was me.
Whatever you are doing out there, hunting or fishing or whatever, try to be the guy with the battery. Let's also talk a little more about the guys with the battery, they are all over the place.
10-27-2008 From the Detroit Free Press: "Starting in November, you will have at least five years to use the next gift card or gift certificate you get for a birthday or holiday in Michigan. You also won't have to worry about inactivity fees that reduce a card's value if it's not used within a specific amount of time. The law that takes effect Saturday doesn't apply to existing cards and certificates in your wallet or purse."
Well, none of that matters at Bob's Outdoors. Gift Certificates have no fees, never expire and even if you lose them, if you can tell me the name of the purchaser, after I have confirmed it with them, they are still good. You think you had one given to you a couple of years ago and pretty sure you never used it, let me know and I will track it down. I can tell pretty easily if it was ever used, and there is no harm in asking.
10-26-2008 Kind of hard to put together a fishing or hunting post with all the "other" news going on now. Every time I see the news I am reminded of the curse, "May you live in interesting times." Who new that we would look back fondly on days where the big story was if Brittney was wearing underwear. She could dance naked in the street now and not make the news.
However the Chrysler thing works out, I am afraid the result will be devastating for Michigan and Ohio. I just wish that the Feds were as concerned about this situation as they are about some banks.
I am looking forward to November 5. I am SO sick of the ads. I just have one question. Who are the people who are still undecided? I mean, this thing has been going on for like two years.
10-20-2008 "Went to to the store to buy a toaster and they asked me if I wanted a free bank to go with it!" Jack Mayberry
For more humor, just watch the Lions next week.
10-16-2008 I went hunting today at Rooster Ranch. After all this time I owed it to Jenny to put her on some birds. I ended up with 3 out of the 5 flushed.
10-12-2008 I have been shooting every Tuesday evening for the last few weeks at the OCSC range. Even if you don't hunt, going out on a nice cool evening and blasting some clays is a lot of fun.
There are some humbling things about this though. Age and lack of shooting have set me back far below the scores of my youth. I watched a one-eyed senior citizen kill clays on the trap range far better than I do.
Don't let that keep you off the range. I have never heard any negative comments, but I have received some helpful advice. There are some real hot shots there, but a lot of "pluggers" like me.
Right now I am trying to break 17 on the 5 stand. I have shot 17 several times, but never 18. The #6 station sends the bird almost straight up and for some reason I really struggle with it.
I have found that my score climbs when I relax and just shoot. I am not competing with anyone. The only "losers" are those who go out bird shooting with no practice and miss birds because of it.
I was told that the recovery from chemo would take a while, but I guess I didn't believe it. My vision blurs, my left arm shakes and my legs hurt, but other than that I am fine. Even with all this I have a good time out there.
The range is open to the public, you just pay more. Tuesdays after 6:30 pm I am usually there if you want to drop by.
For those of you who shoot other sports, there are outdoor ranges, an indoor pistol range and an archery range. For more information click here
For Michigan voters, here's a site where you can verify you are registered and print out a sample ballot for the November 4 Election For Wisconsin you can go here For many other states you can start here.
10-4-2008 Here is a picture I just received of a nice catch on my buddy's boat the middle of August.
9-22-2008 Summer is over today. This will probably be my last fishing report for 2008.
We went straight out from the Ludington Pier to about 200 feet of water Saturday evening. Went 7 for 8, I released one, getting 6 Kings and a Steelhead. All nice silver fish. I suspect that with all the rain the fish ready to spawn are all in the rivers now.
I was on the "Willie Wonka" with my buddy Skip and Bill Warner, the captain and very experienced charter. It was not a "Raider Day" unfortunately. All of the fish came on Pro King prototypes of next years colors, mostly in a glow/orange combination. Bill had a limited supply of Raiders and none in what the fish wanted that day. Oh well, it's always fun to catch fish, even on the other guy's spoons. Pro King makes a darn nice product and aren't "copy cats". Truth be known there are a couple of their spoons in my tackle box, some of the very few that are not Raiders.
The fish came deep, 80-90 down on riggers and on full core and the steelhead on 3 color.
I have added instructions from Greybeard on how to clean salmon and leave no bones. My wife will appreciate this technique, she is always commenting on my skills cleaning fish.
9-18-2008 Can it be that there is some sanity in the legislature about the deer baiting ban? Check this out. http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=41485
9-14-2008 Fishing was kind of tough out of Ludington this weekend. The majority of hits came on high divers with spin doctors and flies. A 10 lb Sheep Head hit a 3 color with a non-Raider spoon.
I am told Frankfort was much better. A buddy of mine who mainly Walleye fishes went this weekend and ended up with 10. I don't have any word on what they hit on.
My wife and I were watching the Lions play the Packers today. When the Lions went ahead (for about a minute) my wife told me that I was going to regret all my negative comments about them. I told her not to underestimate the ability of the Lions to lose a game. 3 interceptions in 3 plays, even I was impressed.
9-10-2008 I will be fishing for Salmon for probably the last time this weekend out of Ludington. We are planning 3 days of hard fishing to stock up for the winter.
There will also be some "prototype testing" going on. Unlike some other manufacturers, my lures get actually tested in the lake before your buy them.
I think you will really like some of the new things I will be presenting next year. My new products are not "more of the same" pale imitations of other manufacturers, but real attempts to be different.
9-8-2008 This is the best new band out there, Every Avenue. Michigan natives featuring Jimmie Deeghan on Guitar. Jimmie is the son of one of the best fishermen on Lake Michigan.
I was afraid that the Lions would pull their old MO, win a couple of games and go in the toilet. I guess they are just skipping the "winning a couple of games" thing.
9-5-2008 If you were waiting for
an order, they all shipped today.
For those who think that the Auto industry is "irrelevant" and does not
affect you or the economy.
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9-2-2008 2 weeks to Grouse Season!
Started the day at 0430 in 40fow just south of the filter with great expectations because a friend went 12 for something yesterday and cold water was in. Temp was 44 down 35 in 40fow but the raging north current was still present. No bites for over an hour then a double with 30’ rigger and #4 blue/chart glow J and 50 loc wire Dipsy with White/glow Inticer and Trophy blue green/glow and that screamer came unbuttoned. I thought here we go!! Not!!! That was our last Dipsy bite for the day despite running 4 with various let backs and lures. When light enough to see noticed the 3 color OffShore out of line and had drowned next yrs little Coho on Magnum Cracked Ice.
I couldn’t believe that there were not more hooks and bait when conditions were just what I would have wanted except for the current. Turned back south at Atwater and stayed between 40-50fow and had to really crank to keep the Raider around 2. Rigger with Raider Bob’s Electric clown took a brown down 30, Magnum Raider Cracked Ice a 3yr old down 34. Drowned a small brown on the rigger down 28 on a blue and silver Andy Reeker. Just south of the Filter Electric Clown went and a dandy 15# brown.
Radio chatter in the deeper water sounded even slower than us so decided to continue south in 40fow and Magnum Raider Cracked Ice took a 4yr old down 36 between north and main gap. Saw 4 boats working the north gap and no one by the main so slid in front and still water in the 40s down 28. No marks and little bait in front so wondered if the cold water had them inside the harbor. Changed a bunch of setups to Js and shot the main. 51 down 24 and still few hooks and little bait so turned to go back out and popped another 4 yr old on Magnum Cracked ice down 24 and all the Js, even on Dipsys were dead. Because so few marks and not much for bait decided to troll back north and hope going into the current would help. Only one bite all the way back to Atwater, LT regular bloody death on 6 color, the only rip on 6 different leadcores for the entire day, 2s thru 7s with lots of changing of lures.
Ended with 9 to clean and one shaker brown released. Nice to have some rigger bites and ran them with 10, 12 and 15 passes and no SWR. Totally puzzled and wondering where the fish are and esp. wonder where the bait is. Really expected more browns under these conditions this time of year. On the way in ran over some 25-30fow and did mark bait. Maybe should have been even shallower. Considering the big change in weather that’s coming may wait for a while and better reports before hitting it again.
Tight lines and full coolers,
Grey Beard
Southeast Michigan Ruffed Grouse Society chapter
banquet dinner will be held in
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I thought you'd enjoy seeing the pictures of the 30.75# king and the 31# king Chris Peplinski caught out of Onekama. Three days and two 30#'rs pretty good!! First fish came on 8-15-08 and second fish was caught this morning on 8-17- 08. Both have been certified by MIDNR for master angler awards....
No big fish in Lake MI huh!!??
Best, Chip
Here are a few pictures from Fairport (MI, on Lake Michigan South of Manistique on the North entrance to Green Bay) Bob, we ended up putting 51 fish in the boat, most went over 10 lbs, biggest 18.5, had 1 more 18pounder, the rest where made up of 17's 16's 15's and a bunch 10 - 12lbs . Caught very few on spoons, Meat was the ticket and it did well, pulling fish after daylight from Mid 60's deg water. what few spoon fish we caught came off Mag Raider chicken pox, and Mag Monkey Puke..
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Evening trip in front of the pier heads
(along with 100 other boats)
Unscientific experiment;
4 to 6 plugs (J's / Silver Hordes) in the
water, port side
4 to 6 Raider spoons in the water, starboard
side (including 1 mountain dew spin doctor and fly on low diver /
mountain dew Raider on high diver)
Everything in the water on the starboard was
hit ( boating 3 fish)
Everything in the water on port side was
ignored with exception of one bite (landed) as we were clearing
lines (Raiders came out of the water first)
GO FIGURE!.........Jerry
 One of my best customers and his Family with a successful trip to Ludington this past weekend 
 Correct Incorrect |
 Captain Bill "Willie Wonka" Warner with a nice King on Friday, 8/1/2008 
 Results from the Saturday 8/2/2008 Morning Trip Results from the Saturday 8/2/2008 Evening Trip  Results from the Sunday 8/3/2008 Evening Trip |
Hot spoons: Double Mountain Dew bubble / Blue Bubble Mountain Dew / Pink Alewife / Blue Grass all in standard size no magnums. I took my deepest fish ever, 145' down on rigger behind 13# Ridgeback Rattler. Most fish coming north, straight and south spotty..
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Fish can't see red, or
any other theory about why one color or another actually works. |
Thanks to some great teamwork, the
threat of a new EPA discharge permit for all your boats is gone!
On Tuesday night, President Bush
signed into law "The Clean Boating Act of 2008," which gives
recreational boats a permanent exemption for the court imposed EPA
discharge permit.
I thank each of you for helping
create this victory for boating. Every time we asked for your
help, you were there to push the legislation further down the path
towards successful passage. You contacted your Members of Congress
and helped them understand the importance of boating in your life.
And Congress heard the loud voices of tens of thousands of boaters!
Nice work!
Enjoy the rest of the summer on
the water!
Margaret Podlich
Vice President of Government Affairs
BoatU.S.
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Milwaukee 7/29-30.
Left the dock each day around 0330. Not a great bite in the dark but the 2 color with #3 J and 4 color with #4 J glow chartreuse always seem to fire at least once. Started just off the filter in 45fow and Tues had 5 by 5 with 2 on Opti Glow with Trophy aqua/glow with 45loc. Temp was warmer with 55 down 30. 5 color Dbl Purple spook and 6 color bloody Death both regular went 1 for 2. Slide out to 80fow just after 6 AM. Should have stayed in as running 15 rods had 5 bites in next 5 hrs and 4 on one rod, wire Dipsy 140loc White/glow Opti and Trophy Aqua/glow. Full core with Bloody puke took the only other deep water bite. I ran the flasher spread and found quite a current the Raider at 35 was 0.4 slower than Raider at 70 down so turn to get an angle to get the numbers to match. I thought is was good to get the whole spread working but evidently didn’t matter to the fish. Ended 10 for 16, 9 kings and one bow.
Today was a bit better with some bigger fish and a few more bites. Today stayed tight all AM and worked same depths of 45-55 from filter to Atwater. Water was the same at about 54 down 35 in 45fow. Lots of bait and plenty of hooks. 3 color and #4 glow Chart. J first to go then a drive by on 2 color with #3 J. White Opti combo from day 1 at 65 and 45loc fired. The Seekin 5 told me he had 2 bites down 30 so put on a regular BlueTail and fired 3 times. I had a magnum of same on the other rigger so put that at 30 while fighting the regular size and it fired. Then they died. Leadcore took over after 7AM with 6 color Magnum Raider cracked ice gold back and 8 color and regular bloody Death. 5 Color and Diamond King rainbow pattern took a bite then 90loc 3.5set dipsy on a Raider regular Bloody Puke took a nice 16+ king that also captured the 4 and 5 color setups. Oh well, what’s a tangle if you get the screamer? Lost a nice screamer on a regular Bloody Puke rigger down 35. Spoon came back with out hook but split ring intact. Wonder how they do that.
Both days kept the Raider speeds 1.8-2.1. Again made the mistake of leaving fish early due to warmer water than had been there. Fish stayed, I left but today stayed and had some late AM action. Seekin 5 had the majority if his 13 fish after 7AM. We ended 14 kings with one released and missed 6 or 7. One bow blasted the board once but jumped twice so I wasn’t surprised that it now owns a regular Bloody Death stolen from my 4 color.
Tight lines and full coolers,
Grey Beard
Click on the pictures
for a better view. with this many pictures it takes the
page too long to load.  7-11-2008  7-12-2008     7-19-2008   7-23-2008 This King kicked the you-know-what out of that spoon, but still ended up in the boat.  7-24-2008  7-25-2008 That is actually an amphibious car being used as a dingy. I have seen a similar, if not the same, one driven right down the boat launch in Ludington. It freaks people (including me) out for a second until they realize that it floats. The car is a German made "Amphicar" made from 1961-68  7-26-2008 |
 That's Josh's little girl trying to hold that king with a Fish Holder |
  Greybeard had a perfect 16 for 16 on 7-12  The second biggest Rainbow in the contest caught on the 14th. |
They got the Coho, but Greybeard also took a Brown on a Double Purple Spook that put him in First place in the Master Angler with a total of 60.15 lbs.
 This flock of Turkeys showed up in my yard Wednesday with 8 young birds with 2 adults |
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7-13-2008 The English is a little funny, but WAY better than my Finnish:
I have a good information about Ridgeback. There was a big salmon competition in Helsinki 27-29.07.2008. It was Open European Champion competition. There was about 160 boats, in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Baltict, Russian, Norway for example. I have to tell you, that we won that Competition. We used 3 ridgeback. One salmon behind ridgeback, two near to Rigde with Dipsy. I am very happy, because Ridgeback work so good.
We managed to catch five salmon 31,7 kg, biggest 12,8 kg. Now we have that kind of situation, that we need new Ridgeback. Four 11 lb, two Nickel and Yellow Zinc, two Nickel Silver. Are you interesting to sent those Ridge? And what it cost?
So we won hole competition. I won personal EM 2008 competition and Satunnaiset Saaliit Nordea/Suzuki Finland won team EM 2008 competition. Good result for us, than to Ridge.
Yours, Sami Heiskanen
P.S There is one foto, for four salmon, biggest 12,7 kg, that we catch in Friday 27.07.2008.
7-12-2008 My buddy in Ludington Reports going 7 for 8 again Friday. Four Steelhead on 7 color and Bluegrass, Kings came on high divers with Double Blue Bubble.
7-11-2008 Grindstone City and Port Austin are HOT for Walleye. Limit catches are being reported in 1-2 hours of nice fish. Trolling spoons in 20-30 feet of water.
7-9-2008 Fishing remains slow but still a great day to be out with NW breeze and mild temps. Saw some hooks and bait clearing the north gap at 0415 so headed to the main to check it out. Just before the gap lots of bait so decided to give it a try. Bait petered out except at the gap and inside the harbor. Surface temp 56 and 46 down twenty. First fish 25loc 3set dipsy and Magnum Raider Yellow Fever just inside the harbor. 2 color #4 glow J next to go and a drive by on 2 color #3 glow J. Not enough bites, hooks or bait to stay so trolled the 40-50’ contour north. 4 color Magnum Raider Cracked Ice Gold 55fow off the Filter. Took another king on 5 color and regular Double Purple Spook 65fow off the towers.
Slid out to 85 and north of everyone with decent bait marks but no nibbles. Heard a couple of catches in 60fow south so headed back. Put out a full core with regular Raider Blue Tail and nice king. For quite awhile ran Inticers on all 3 riggers and both wire Dipsys with only one bite on White/Glow/Mountain Dew and Trophy Ice Blue Glow taking a LT down 54. I haven’t caught a Coho in about 5 outings so left out orange Bechhold and blue longtail 45loc for most of the day and finally a Coho. 3 color, 6 color, 8 color and wire Dipsys nadda. 1 LT, 1 Coho, 5 Kings with 3 at 11-12#.
Raider 1.8-2.2 with 39.6 down 60 in 85fow and surface temps low 50s. Marked plenty of bait mostly in the top 15 and not a lot of hooks. Best catch I heard of was 9 for 12. Starting to hear a few more fish being caught on Js. No surprise as kings making up the vast majority of the catch. Strange year. Sure wonder what’s on the horizon for the rest of the summer. 9 days fishing coming up with the Fish Bash could be a challenge.
Tight lines and full coolers.
Grey Beard
A
ll orders are in the mail as of today! You guys really like free shipping.
7-6-2008 A new
version of the net alert is posted on the LACA website
today. This update includes the locations of the inside
lead flag and the outside king anchor bullet float on
the first net located to the north of Ludington,
basically straight west of Big Point Sauble. This
net extends from approximately 57' out to 160'. Trollers
should avoid traversing north and south shallower than
approximately 200'. This net alert replaces all
previous net alerts. A one page pdf summary of Ludington
area net locations is located inside the website Net
alert.
Please print the pdf and replace your current net alert.
Jim Fenner, Pres. Ludington Area Charterboat Association
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 .JPG)   |
Here a few pictures from our
Manistique Trip this past weekend, You'll see that your
Magnum Frozen Pox did pretty well, the fish where you can't
see the spoon is a Steelhead that wacked one of your new
Standard size Double Orange Crush Gold On a 1/2 Core...
these where taken the evening of the 3rd of July.
Here are a few more from our morning Charter on the 3rd of July out of Manistique. Raider Magnum Blue Dolphin off a rigger and your Standard size Double Orange Crush Gold off 1/2 core strikes again.
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Fished Friday AM starting in 75fow south of the harbor finding some bait and a few marks with surface still a chilly 51 and 38 down 65. First 2 bites were on the same wire dipsy White/glow Inticer and Trophy Fly aqua/glow then White/glow/Mt Dew with Trophy Aqua down 60 in that cold water 1 for 2. Thinking we had a flasher bite put 2 more on riggers and 1 on 8 color but that was the last flasher bite. Remaining fish were 2 on 7 color and reg Raider Sister Sledge and full core reg Miss Thing. 5 K and 1 LT and 2 misses seemed remarkably slow for 4 July fishing 7 hrs.
When weighing fish at the Wharf, I think it was Fish Hound who had 12 and kind enuf to say about 12 mi north of the harbor. Blew up there for the PM bite and fished 430-730 and outdid the AM fishing 80-103fow. 13 and 15# king on 300’ of 30# copper and reg Raider Bloody Puke. 11# King on full core and reg Miss Thing and SWR down 40 reg Raider MT. Dew bubble. 7 color Sister Sledge produced again. All spoons out so pushed the speed on Raider to 2.0-2.3 with 52 surface and 45 down 30 and 40 down 60. No bites all day shallower than 7 color. First time I used 2 Depth Raiders and trolled at an angle to have both down speeds the same. Hope that keeps the whole setup working and felt like it helped. Looked like we found our spot for the tourney on Saturday.
Saturday had shotgun start at 0500 and blew up to just inside of first waypt starting in 60 fow and all day in that depth lots of marks. Funny how 2 boats came to exactly the same spot where we sat down. Apparently only about four 4 yr olds weighed in at the Wharf until we came in with 3. First fish on wire Dipsy white/glow Inticer Trophy glow/aqua 90’. Then 8 color Mag Bob’s electric Clown. Full core and reg Bloody Death a LT. Then 2.5hrs of one drive by on 7 color Sister Sledge. Worked 60-90 and swung back into 60 as more marks there and dug one out of the bottom with SWR down 50 on reg Bloody Puke. Last bite was an 8 color Miss Thing. When we ran the copper nadda. So 5 for 6 and not 4 yr olds looked bleak but apparently as bad for others as our 32# was good enough for 11th. And wouldn’t you know our wt from the night before would have taken 2nd.
On our way out Sat PM saw 3 Dumper Dan boats fishing in front of the cap and when we saw one plus 2 small boats with fish on we put on the breaks. The water was pretty dirty but surface was 54 and down 15 was 45. We were thinking of browns so put on all small spoons. The next fish we saw caught was a dandy king so put out a #3 J on 2 color and pushed the Raider speed to 2.2-2.4 and rewarded with a 18.12# king which ended in 6th and big fish for Sat. Dipsy 35loc and mag Raider Mt. Dew bubble 15# and #4 J on 2 Color 11#King. Boy did we do some 20-20 hindsight for the tourney. Those three would have moved us up the leader board by a bunch.
Next AM same program fishing the gap. 2 Color #3 J was first. Dipsys 35loc took one on Mag Bob’s Electric Clown, and Mag Yellow Fever. Rigger down 15 a drive by on Mag Grey Beard and finished with a brown on Mag Sister Sledge. We dropped one of the crew off to go pray for us and tried straight out in 60fow north and nadda for 2.5hrs so pulled the plug.
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I was really looking forward to getting out today because for the first time in awhile, reports of up to 17 fish catches near Fox Pt. Set down at 0440 in 50fow north of UWM and trolled into 38 with surface temp 48 and 41 down 35 and marking good amt of bait. First fish was a 7# king on 2 color and #3glow J. Next was a small king on wire dipsy 70loc on White/glow Inticer and aqua/glow Trophy, the only flasher fish of the day. Was not getting much action despite good temp, bait in 40-50 fow so slid out to 60 and 6 color with regular Raider Sister Sledge took a small LT. Then 5 color regular Double Purple Spook.
Next came the catch of the day. 6 color Sister sledge took off and promptly broke the 30# Power Pro backing and that was only on since last season. Then off went the 4 color. As luck would have it the 6 color fish pulled into the 4 color and the spoon hooked the board. Got my Off Shore back and double uni splice and back in business able to land the 12.5# king. Rachel’s arms were tired but happy to land her biggest salmon.
It remained slow for us as well as others. Made it out to 110 and pulled a LT on a full core on Raider Blue/Yellow bubble in 80fow. It was 39.6 down 50 out there. Didn’t know where to go but could see the boats cleared a bit on 60’ contour so back we went. Pulled an 8# king SWR down 35 in 50fow Magnum Bloody Death. Last fish came as we pulled lines with the Off Shore in Jake’s and as he was about to release the line, a nice bow hit a 3 color and regular Orange Muffin and blessed us with a few leaps. Ended with 2LT, 1Bow and 4 kings and happy for that with only 2 drive bys that didn’t trip the dipsys.
I still wonder where the Coho are hiding. Heard from friends that fished the Morris ran into decent numbers of Coho down there so may more to come.
Tight lines and full coolers,
Grey Beard
OK, I know that it is tough, but some of this is hysteria. The simple, but somehow not obvious, way to make $4 gas $2 is to Buddy Up! How many times do you go out with your boat not full? Get with your buddies and pitch in for gas. Don't forget that getting the boat there is no longer a "miscellaneous cost", pitch in for towing gas.
For that matter, you can cut that in half by planning longer trips and renting a slip. If you are like me, with a 200 mile tow, you can check out a local secure storage yard for the boat and not tow it home between weekends.
And remember, every 10 mph over 50 is like 4 mpg or more. If you are doing 80 going to the lake, then you are wasting a lot of money.
Both the truck and the boat, regular oil changes are FREE, after the gas you save.
What I am saying is there are a lot of alternatives to leaving the boat in the yard. Get out and use your investment before your wife starts saying, "If you are not going to use it, sell it".
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Could you tell my son and I if the 12-13" Kingfisher flashers are too big and too long for Lake Michigan Salmon off Racine and Milwaukee?
We are new to Lake Michigan
trolling and my son is 11 years old and in charge of picking
tackle. He thought the Kingfishers were cool and it would be
great if they worked, but it seems the guys around here don't
run any flashers longer than 10".
The Kingfishers work great with bait
rigs. If you use them with flies, run the lead to the fly
at about 30”, as the flashers make a wider “sweep” than a
smaller flasher.
Most lures are designed to look like
bait fish. The kingfisher is designed to look like a
feeding Salmon, and a 13” Salmon is not a big fish. Salmon
are opportunistic feeders, meaning they have to put away a lot
of bait fish in their 4th year to bulk up for
spawning. If they see another salmon feeding, they will
come to check out what they are eating.
Make sure that you have a good piece of toothpick in the
back hole that the line runs through. This keeps the line
from slipping. Shorten or remove the front end of the
"line guard"
We planned to fish Milwaukee but heard it was slow so Craig and I ventured to Sheboygan for the evening bite. Started straight out in 100 and water looked off color until about 125.We headed SE first fish was a bow on Raider Sister Sledge regular on 7 color then would you believe, 2 LTs on 3 color on regular Raider Orange Muffin, our bow setup. I put out another Sister Sledge on 6 color and both it and 7 color fired but small kings we released. A bow succumbed to the regular Double Purple spook on 5 color.
Light was fading so charged up Magnum Raider Yellow Fever and Magnum Green Tiger. Yellow Fever took about a 15# king down 60 on SWR and 10#King on Green Tiger down 50SWR. Same set ended our PM with a 5#King. Didn’t run any flashers, 8 & 10color no bites. 1.8-2.2 on the Raider with 40.5 down 60. Got out as far as 180 and best action 125-140fow south of the plant. Kept 2 LT, 2 Bows and 3Kings and released 3 small ones.
Headed out in AM to same area and setup in 125 and trolled SE. First blast and it was a blast was 5 color with Magnum Chicken Pox that just kept running. 6 color fired with regular Double Purple Spook and Craig put the screamer in the rod holder to net my 5# king. Then the Magnum Yellow Fever fired on SWR down 15. As luck would have it, our fish crossed paths but fortunately the escapee was mine and Craig boxed about a 16# that fought like 20+. 7 color swing and miss on Sister sledge. Dropped the riggers down and Magnum Green Tiger 12# LT SWR down 40 and SWR Magnum Yellow Fever 5#King down 50.
Things went quiet so put a holograph Diamond king pink Alewife that Naz gave me on 5 color and fired twice in 30 min with a bow and shaker king then nada rest of AM. Replaced the 2 color #3glow J with another 5 color and regular Orange Muffin and went about 1 for 4 on bows. Still no action on full core so put a Magnum Yellow Fever on a dipsy and 70loc nice bow to finish the day.
Speed 1.9-2.2 Raider, again only spoons and the 1 J and fished out to 190 with best action 145-160 south of the plant. 38.6 down 60 but took bites in that cold temp. They should know better and get up in the warm stuff so we don’t need such a spread. Went 10 for about 16, kept 1LT, 2 bows and 6 kings. Where are the Coho?
Tight lines and full coolers,
Grey Beard
Copper Line Reels:
The following chart is the approximate feet of copper
line that will fit on each of the reels, this assumes +/- 200
yards of a super line backing ( i.e. 30# Tuf-Line) . The footage
will vary depending on the type of backing used.
|
Reel |
.028” Dia. Copper(“30lb”) |
. 037” Dia. Copper(“45lb”)
|
|
Penn 330 |
300’ |
|
|
Penn 340 |
450’ |
300’ |
|
Penn 345 |
600’ |
600’ |
|
Shimano 700 |
450’ |
300’ |
|
Shimano 800 |
600’ |
400’ |
|
Daiwa ADP57LC |
300’ |
|
|
TICA 558 |
300’ |
|
|
OKUMA 45 |
300’ |
|
|
OKUMA 55 |
|
300’ |
|
Friday
Southwest winds 5 to 10 knots. Chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Waves 1 foot or less.
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Saturday
Southwest winds 5 to 10 knots. Chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Waves 1 foot or less.
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 John, Chris, Mike and Dylan |
We all would like to think that with skill and preparation it can't happen to us. Well, that might get you to 99.99%.
The other .01% are what ditch plans and life insurance are for.
A pretty sobering and unpleasant thought, but that reminds me to pick up a new package of batteries for the handheld GPS and VHF for this year. For obvious reasons I recently double checked that the life insurance is paid up.
If nothing else let's use this as a warning for all of us. Be prepared for the worst and hope or pray it does not happen.
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We left the harbor at 430 and headed a bit south anticipating a Sunday crowd off the filter. Started setting lines in 75fow and first bite was a nice bow on 3color and Raider Regular Frozen Pox. Then a 65loc 1.5set Magnum Grey Beard and a small king followed by 3set 35loc Regular Broken Nose another smaller bow. Drive bys on 6color Regular Bloody Death and 8Color Regular Green Tiger. Full core and Magnum Dbl purple took about 12#king and later a Coho. 90’loc wire Dipsy and white/Mountain Dew Inticer and LBB took a bow and later a Coho. First bite was 110fow and turned at 135 took another pass and nadda. Heard of some action yesterday in 150-160 but not today so SW back to 105.
Almost a 2hr shutdown until back inside then the old faithful orange Bechhold and Blue longtail 50loc took first of 3 Coho. Matched it on the other side and nadda. SWR down 50 with Raider Magnum Green Tiger took 12 & 14# kings and one of similar size that escaped. 2 color Chicken Pox and 5 color Dbl Purple quiet. Pulled one and put out 300’ copper and no nibbles.
Surface temp 48ish, 43.5down 70 and trolled 1.8-2 on the Raider. The late morning action I attribute to finally seeing some bait fish. Ended at 13for17, 4Kings, 4 bows and 5 Cohos. Weather was beautiful and heard Tues may be rain so going back tomorrow.
Tight lines and full coolers,
Grey Beard
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It was a pretty lumpy start to 2008 finding the flag
ripping straight out of the NE. Heard the action had been decent at
Milwaukee in 100-170 so set down in 80 and didn’t get bit until 110
when the 40’SWR fired on a Magnum
Raider Green Tiger. That same setup went 0 for 3 in
the next hour. Next was a nice fish on a Magnum Grey Beard down 70, which went 0/2 in
the next hour. First boxer was a bow on 3 colors on
Regular chicken pox
and over the day that took another bow and 2 Coho. Opti white/glow
with a glow/aqua on wire dipsy 102loc 0/2. You must be getting the
message that we couldn’t keep them hooked up. Yup, we were something
like 2 for 8 on the first pass and turned back at 160.
11 of 12 rods took hits today. My usual
hot rod this time of year is an orange Bechhold and blue longtail at
various let outs on 3 set dipsy, nadda. 2 colors with regular Orange
Muffin took a Coho. Regular Miss Thing
1 for 2 on 8 colors. I ran 2 full cores and had the best ratio with
them on Magnum Dbl Purple spook taking
bows, kings and would you believe, a Coho(see picture for proof)
that had the scale bounding between 7.5-8.5#. Must be one that
forgot to spawn last fall. Riggers pretty much died after the first
two passes except for a nice king the succumbed to a
Magnum bloody Puke SWR
down 70. Finally a shallow Coho on 6” red flasher and blue Coho
Candy 50loc 3 set. Our only LT came 120loc 1.5set wire dipsy on
White/glow Opti and LBB.
Best action was around 150 and not much
inside of 130 and out as far as 170 with surface temp 45.2 and 40.5
down 80. A little tuff for speed control and had to trough the waves
1.6-1.8 on the Raider.
We ended up 13 for 26 with 4kings, 4
bows, 4 Coho and one LT. It was good to get out but hope the next
time is not in 3-5s.
Tight lines and full coolers,
Grey Beard
 5-27-2008 Crappie Fishing |
  Coming into Ludington Harbor The Steiger Craft at the Dock  Heading North from Pentwater |
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| Pentwater Tournament Board as of Sunday Morning |
     From 4-8 to 4-19 2008 Best spring ever with some 25+ fish days for our
boat. We had a lot of 28s & 29s so should be some dandies
next yr. Musky broke my net when attempting to land it so
another boat brought a net and managed to land a beauty.
Nothing in my boat long enough for a measurement but this
spawned out female was over 28# on the digital. The guy that
gave us the net was a musky fisherman and estimated at 48"
and confirmed by a musky fisherman at home to be 48-49"
class. 6# Fireline with an 8#Sensation tipet on a walleye
rod and jig and Electric Grape pulse worm was quite a blast. My brother had the biggest this spring at
31 and 11.6# and my biggest was 30.25 and 10.6#. I included
the others friends with 30+ who fished with me. A great
spring!!! Fished 17 days in a row and wish I had kept track
of the number of fish over 28" but approaching 25 for me and
many others by my friends. The long one that appears to be
spawned out was a 27.25" male. I can’t wait until next spring. Michael |
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Hi Chip,
I added 3rd rigger to my rig little over a year ago, it was meant to be as speed and temp unit but we have trolled baits in that rigger also.
For the most part my strike ratio on riggers has pretty much doubled since I started to use ridgebacks. On the 3rd rigger I've run mostly (other weights)
and occasionally neutral 14lb lead weight. I've run similar setups which we have proven to catch fish on every rigger but I haven't caught anything but couple small salmon on that center rigger, everything worth mentioning comes behind ridgebacks.2 weeks ago we spent 6 days fishing in southern Sweden again, landed 6 salmons and 1 trout , trout was 11lbs, salmons between 14 and 23lbs and lost 2x +20lbs , 5 of the fish we landed hit on short leads behind rattler.
On the last day my friend also caught a 30lb salmon behind rattler just beside us :)
Hello to all LACA Captains,
Associates, Business partners, community and fishing community
leaders,
Saturday morning, the 17th of May, charter boat operators reported a
new net placed directly in front of Big Point Sauble.
Information received today confirmed the location of this and other
nearby nets.
For the exact location of this and other nets go to
http://www.ludingtoncharterboats.org and click on the Net Alert
Logo. A new list of net locations has been posted today.
The new net is positioned in such a manner as to pose a major safety
issue as well as a substantial hazard to Charter and sport fishermen
fishing in this area; and to transient boats attempting to 'round
the point. It is located is in an area known for steep
contours, strong currents, huge waves and strong upwellings.
In past years nets in this area have been abandoned and wound up as
hazards to fishing and navigation.
Additional nets have been placed in close proximity to this net,
also in traditionally difficult net setting areas making it
difficult to fish/traverse the vicinity.
A chart is attached showing the approximate locations of the three
nets that pose the greatest danger, and their locations inside the
region of largest currents and contours.
A strong potential for a loss of lives accident exists if these
nets remain in this most heavily fished and traveled vicinity.
All boaters and fishermen are urged to avoid and use
extreme caution in this area.
Boaters and fishermen who become entangled in any of these nets
should report it immediately to the USCG by channel 16 and to the
MDNR Rap line.
It is VERY IMPORTANT to report all net
related incidents to the MDNR RAP Line: 800-292-7800. When
reporting a net incident, be sure to give complete Lat-Lon
information, including both north and west numbers in degrees, with
minutes in decimal format. Please include the depth if possible,
also.
In addition to the fishing and safety issues, the potential for a
large negative economic impact to the city and businesses of
Ludington also exists as boaters and fishermen become aware of the
dangers and choose to avoid the Ludington area. If a
major or fatal accident should occur as a consequence of these nets,
the negative publicity may undo much of the efforts of
the community to attract tourists and fishermen.
Jim Fenner, Pres. Ludington Area Charterboat Association
Posted: May 17, 2008 12:01 PM EDT
Updated: May 17, 2008 09:12 PM EDT
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| (courtesy the U.S. Coast Guard) |
LUDINGTON, Mich. (WOOD) -- The U.S. Coast Guard saved five people from a sinking boat near Ludington Friday afternoon.
The Guard's station in Ludington received a distress call around 5:30 p.m. from a 28-foot recreational vessel that was taking on water.
Guard members headed out to the boat eight miles west of the Ludington Pier Heads. When they arrived they pulled five people - a 15-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl, their parents, and another man - from the sinking boat.
Two of the Guard members tried saving the boat by using a dewatering pump but were unsuccessful as the boat sank.
The small craft advisory I mentioned for Friday went into effect as of 6 pm. I am not going to judge, I don't know what the conditions were or if they had anything to do with it.
I am assuming reading this that they had a VHF radio and a GPS, given that the CG found them so quick. "8 miles west of Ludington" is a big place without coordinates. I know my cell probably would not work at all out there. Having the proper equipment can be life or death.
Let's all play it safe out there this year and take this as a warning.
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LANSING -- Without a single dissenting vote, the state Senate and House voted Wednesday to include Michigan in a historic international compact designed to reserve all of the water in the Great Lakes for the eight states and two Canadian provinces surrounding them.
 The 2008 MDA Harbor Beach Tournament Winners 
 "Cluster" with their winning catch Friday (5/2) Pre-Fishing |
5-12-2008
I
now have full and 1/2 core "EZ-Core" setups from Woodstock Line.
I want to thank you all for the kind notes I have received. I am
doing fine, a little tired but OK.
 |
The weather was supposed to be a little rough but actually turned out great. We had a great showing of captains and crew members. The raffle table was full of our Valued Sponsors products that guys were eager to win! All in all we had a great 2008 showing and a group of captains and crew that are A 1 in my book. Enjoy the rest of this great fishing season and see you soon on the water. Lets all not forget about Harbor Beach’s next tournament Pro-King which is on June 7th. Please visit Harborbeachmi.org for more info.
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 On the other hand, this was my view from my office window this morning. Pretty cool. |
5-1-2008 I have to share something personal today. I have been reluctant to do so, but the "rumor mill" has it now and the only way to combat the rumor mill is with facts.
I have been sick for a while now and we have just found out the cause.
I have testicular cancer. I had outpatient surgery yesterday and I start chemo Monday and my treatments will go into August.
The statistics say that this is extremely survivable. Hey - Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France after this and dated Sheryl Crowe. Trust me, there are a lot of people out there much worse off than me. I will get through this with the help of my family and friends just fine.
The business will stay open, I have all the help I need to fill orders. If you are lucky when you call this summer you will deal with my daughter who is a much nicer person than I am. Orders will continue to ship out on time.
More importantly, I plan to fish more this year than last.
4-30-2008
GRAND RAPIDS -- Meijer Inc. has cut short an online pet photo contest that was raising money for the Humane Society of the United States.
The Grand Rapids Press reports the retailer stopped the contest Monday after the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance complained the Humane Society is anti-hunting.
The contest was to help pet-owning families going through foreclosure. The program was set up to donate $1, up to $5,000, for every entry to the pet photo contest to the Foreclosure Pets Fund.
Meijer spokeswoman Stacie Behler says "feedback from our customers is important."
Humane Society executive vice president Michael Markarian says its "outrageous" the hunting group "would try to prevent foreclosure victims from getting help."
What is outrageous is the idea that the HSUS is trying to pass it's self off as a group that cares about anything other than raising money to line their own pockets. These are the people who are against feeding game to the poor.
Meijer probably thought they were dealing with the Michigan Humane Society that actually helps care for animals.
The bottom line here is that your support for groups like the USSA does make a difference.
4-29-2008 OK, now that both a Democrat and a Republican presidential candidate have both latched on to a truly stupid idea I can comment on it without being partisan.
Hey, I want gas prices down. There is no doubt in my mind that high fuel prices will cost me sales and income this year. People are going to fish less and getting fishing tackle made and to you will cost me more.
A "holiday" from the gas tax will accomplish nothing but lining the pockets of the oil companies. It is simple economics. If the price goes down, consumption will go up and with the limited supply, the price will go back up. The only difference is that the government will have less money for the road repairs and the jobs that go with them.
If you want to lower gas prices you have to increase the supply of gas. Nothing else will have any significant effect.
Neither candidate that proposes the tax cut is stupid enough to believe that it will work, but they believe that you will think they want to help you, and that they will get your vote by telling you what you want to hear.
Before you think I am siding with the other guy here, I will give him a point for not pandering to us on a false hope of a break, but I have heard nothing in the way of a real plan from anyone to fix the real issues behind gas prices. His comments concerning the auto industry shows a complete lack of understanding of the industry and the issues facing it.
We have some real issues facing us as a nation and I have not seen much in the way of leadership from any of these people. It is time for us to demand that our leaders have more than 5 word slogans in the way of solutions to these problems.
4-28-2008 Sorry for the lack of updates. I have been under the weather for a while now.
The Michigan Salmon/Trout limit issue is back on the table again. Michigan currently allows you to take 5 fish per day with not more than 3 of any species. The proposal would be to make it 5 fish any species.
The biologists say that this will have minimal impact on the fishery, so there is no scientific reason not to make the change. The biggest argument against the change seems to be that fishermen feel better about themselves with a 3 fish limit than getting 3 fish in a 5 man limit.
When did the DNR get into the "self esteem" business?
If your manhood depends on a limit of fish, or if you think you are a better, or worse, than anyone else based on this measure, you need to do some thinking about your self.
My thinking on this subject is, let the guy who gets out one weekend a year take home 15 fish if he can. I also struggle with the idea of killing one species of fish in search of another species that you don't have a limit on.
Myself, I am going to fish until I don't want to any more, or I get to the limit which ever comes first.
The other issue is the number of rods. If I am trolling for Salmon, I can have 3 rods. If I am trolling for Walleye, I can only have 2. If I catch a Walleye trolling for salmon, is that fish illegal?
The biologists say that the number of rods is not a good way to manage the fishery. The DNR is there to manage the fishery and, apparently, make us feel good about our selves. If we get to our limit quicker with 3 rods, won't we feel happy about our manliness?
I think these rules are only in place at all to give the enforcement guys something to write tickets on. How about getting rid of rules that the DNR themselves say are not good ways to regulate the fishery and have the enforcement guys go after POACHERS.
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2002008 Harbor Beach Can-Can Salmon-Trout Fishing Tournament May 3, 2008 The Muscular Dystrophy Association of Mid-Eastern Michigan is pleased to offer a great opportunity to help in the fight against Muscular Dystrophy…FISHING FOR A CURE! http://www.harborbeachmi.org/fishing.html
The nut balls (I am not publicizing their name) in the news say it takes "3 minutes" to buy a gun in the US, so they are going to lie on the ground somewhere for 3 minutes. Funny, it took at least 20 minutes last year for me to buy a gun. I find it interesting that they are using the Virginia Tech shootings in their propaganda. The school is a "gun free zone", so that made the students "safe" because groups like this had already gotten their way. If Virginia Tech had allowed law abiding citizens with CCW permits to have their guns with them, many of those young people would be alive today. But then again, these people have never let facts get in the way. 4-15-2008 Tax day today! It's nice being able to work without the constant need for attention the puppies had, but I kind of miss the little guys and their enthusiasm for everything. Fortunately I can visit a couple of them.
4-14-2008 Tomorrow is Tax Day! Today I was supposed to be fishing, but that is spring weather for you. "We all hate paying taxes. But the truth of the matter is without our tax money, many politicians would not be able to afford prostitutes." -- Jimmy Kimmel Walker Deeper Divers are in stock with new "Clear" in 124, 107, 65, and 45mm and new "124mm" (Same as the "Magnum with a ring 003")Size. We also have Glow Bottoms in all sizes including 82mm. The 124mm also fits the "4 7/8 size 003 Magnum" LJ Diver and the The 107mm also fits the "4 1/8 size 001" LJ Diver.
4-12-2008 The last pup sold in about 5 minutes at Rooster Ranch today. The group had just finished a hunt over her dad, "Ben" and between that and her disposition she was an easy sale. I am now "puppy-less" for the first time in 13 weeks. Kind of a good news/bad news thing. I will miss them. Jenny had a good time, she flushed 3 stray birds while we were there. The group included several youngsters who had a GREAT time shooting birds. You want a great way to introduce a youngster to hunting where they can get the rewards of a successful hunt, you should check out Rooster Ranch. 4-11-2008 8 of the pups are sold!
4-8-2008 I am down to 1 female pup left, the last boy and one of the girls found a home today. 7 visits from prospective buyers and 7 dogs sold. Quality sells it's self. A customer fishing report, a successful one no less, the best kind:
Friday: Went out at 3pm due to wind, rain, waves. After trolling
about a mile south we quickly picked up a 3 man limit of Coho plus a
bonus brown in about 1.5 hours. The hot set-ups were orange dodgers w/
p-nut flies (10 ft back on dipsys!), thinfins, and orange joined
rapalas. We fished 10-20 fow most of the time.
If you have the chance I would say right now is a pretty good time to get some good “catching” practice in.
3-25-2008 My buddy has been working away on his boat. Spring is coming! 3-24-2008 Another Black Female went home today. The yellow male is also sold. 3-23-2008 Happy Easter! 3-20-2008 I did some research into Ben's pedigree. I have seen the pups at a couple of times point and discounted it. Maybe I should be looking closer. Two generations of Grand Master Pointing Retrievers, wow. One of the Yellow boys went home today. With the warmer weather they will be going fast now. 3-19-2008 The first pup sold is doing very well with a new family in Romeo, MI. She went to a nice family with kids and the dad was looking for a duck hunting dog to introduce his son to hunting. They said she slept the whole first night through without any problems or accidents. 3-18-2007 I filled out my DNR Survey today concerning my hunting activities last fall. We all complain about them, but they need good data to do their job. The least we can do is take 5 minutes to give them the data. 3-17-2008 The show season is finally over, for me at least. I enjoy getting out and seeing my customers and friends who I see only at shows, and even most of my competitors, who are almost all great guys. On the other hand, it leaves me backed up with a bunch of work and orders not being processed as quickly as I like. The next couple of days will be devoted to catching up. 3-12-2008 A "major" spoon manufacturer has copied the Raider Chicken Pox, even so far as to call it "Pox". That is part of the reality of the fishing tackle business. What really cracks me up is the back of the package: "We will never sit back and follow in the foot steps of others in the business." I guess if they are "on the leading edge" then I must be ahead of the curve!
3-12-2008 My partner has completed the installation of his Depth Raider and the 1000 W Transducer on the Steiger. 3-5-2008 Yesterday was rather frustrating dealing with some computer issues. Let's just say, the Hacker Safe service protects me from Hackers, but nothing protects the site from me! 3-3-2007 Today will be spent trying to catch up with orders. I should have all outstanding orders out by Wednesday. 2-28-2008 Today begins what I consider the best Great Lakes show there is. Flint (MI) River Valley Steelheaders Show in Birch Run is pretty much all Great Lakes tackle. Ridgeback Rattler, Great Lakes Angler, Franks (with a BIG tackle area) just to name a few, along with me of course, will be there. I will be in the South Arena where I was last year next to Great Lakes Angler. 2-27-2008 I have been running around like a madman, and tomorrow AM I head out to set up for the Flint (MI) River Valley Steelheaders Birch Run Show. This is my big show for the year and I will be having great deals on Rods, Reels Kingfishers, Inticers, Bait Rigs and Walker Deeper Divers
2-21-2008 I am off to Madison for the Madison Fishing Expo. The weather looks great, sunny and into the 30's. That's a heat wave! Well, a darn sight better than last year's blizzard. 2-20-2008 Tomorrow I leave for Madison, so orders will probably be delayed. I am giving a seminar at 10 am Saturday and 2:30 pm Sunday on beginning salmon fishing. Please stop by! You can hit my seminar at 10 and the Dan Keating/Dave Mull Show at 11.
2-19-2008 I hope by December I'll stop typing 2007... Save big $$$ on a used fish hawk The Steiger Craft may be featured in next year's catalog and Steiger's web advertising. My buddy has done an excellent job outfitting this boat.
2-18-2008 Captain Werner Stenger will be representing Raider Spoons at Booth 31 of the 2008 LAKE ONTARIO FISHING EXPO AND FLEA MARKET Saturday, February 24 at the Cornell Cooperative Extension 4H Building in Lockport, NY. Stop by and get a bumper sticker and a 2008 Catalog. Stop by anyway and help support LOTSA's Pen Projects. They reared over 180,000 Salmon last year, well worth $5 to support. If I was not in Madison this week I would be there.
2-17-2008 Back from the Mid-Michigan Steelheaders Swap Meet today. it was a good show with lots of bargains. 2-14-2008 Happy Valentines Day! You didn't forget, did you? 2 new items on the store today. "Dive Bombs" are going to revolutionize the use of lead core and copper, making it possible for you to severely cut back on the number of rods on the boat while giving you more flexibility on depth. I have the new design that has a steel insert inside the lead weight. Last year's "all lead" version had some issues that this version corrected. Second, I finally have a supply of Dan Keating's DVD's in the Books & Videos section. Also, I have a new book, "Billy Goes Hunting". Something that has been bothering me for a long time is how the media depicts hunting and fishing to our children. Disney is an almost constant attack on hunters and fishermen, they are consistently depicted as cruel and/or stupid. Well, you can pick up a book for your kids or grandkids that does a pretty good job of telling our side of the story. “Matt Butler has created an important educational tool for America’s youth with his book Billy Goes Hunting. Matt’s honest approach and genuine instinct as steward for our precious life giving natural resources needs only a reminder to be fired up. Conservation is in our blood and this book will fan the flames.” - Ted Nugent The book is also in the Books & Videos section
2-12-2008 We are experiencing a tropical heat wave here today, it's already up to 10 degrees and is expected to get into the 20's. After yesterday I feel like getting out my shorts. American Quality and Durability? - just read this. 2-11-2008 The pups grow amazingly fast daily in both size and personality. You might enjoy a film of an epic struggle. The show went very well this weekend. Lots of activity, great seminars and lots of customers. The Steelheaders put on a fine event. 2-8-2007 Off to set up for the MI-OH Sportfishing Expo that starts tomorrow. This is a Huron Valley Steelheaders event, so the profits go back into our fishery. Come on in and support the cause. If you went to previous shows you will be surprised this year. At last count they have 70 vendors in a brand new venue.
2-7-2008 I just got the wire I ordered in. I will have plenty on hand this weekend. I hope you enjoy the post card my Mom sent me the other day from Florida. Ha Ha. Why is it that snow in November is "pretty", snow in February is annoying and snow in March is just plain disgusting? 2-6-2008 If you are planning on visiting me at the shows, please check out the above. I will not have all items at the shows. At the the swap meet, I will only have some overstock and discontinued and used items, at the Grand Rapids Show, I will only have Raider Spoons, unless you order ahead of time. One thing I will not have for this weekend is wire. I have not heard at all from my supplier and there is no sign of my order from many weeks ago.
2-5-2008 Puppies, the Movie
2-4-2008 From Josh Swanton "Raider Spoons' Man in Kuwait":
The crew from the fishing show “Professional Tarpon Tournament
Series” went for a ride with us today en route to Everyone wanted to know who Bakers Dozen Fishing Team was, so I told them it was a big name on the Professional Salmon Tournament Series (j/k).
2-1-2007 About 4 inches of snow this morning. A far cry from
the 10-12 predicted, what a surprise.
I wonder how much would be on the ground now if we didn't keep getting warm spells in between? Your last chance on the Silver Streaks and the Yeck Salmon Spoons is coming up fast. These are great prices on the last I will have of some pretty good (Not as good as Raider of course) spoons.
1-31-2008 Yesterday we were without power or internet for most of the day, meaning very little got done. Not what I needed coming off of a show. Hopefully all orders can get caught up tomorrow. Sorry about the blurry picture, the camera phone does not do them justice. The pup's eyes are open and they are exploring out of their box.
1-28-2008 I got home from Syracuse this morning at 3 am. It was a pretty good show, I met some long time customers and made some new ones. The Steelhead are in the Salmon River in Altmar New York. Captain Harry from Salmon River Outfitters came in with the above fish he caught in a quick trip before the show Sunday! Must be nice to step out your door and fish like that. My next event is Saturday in Grandville a local swap meet you can read more about here.
1-24-2008 I am off to New York today. This time of year orders may take a week with getting ready/recovering from shows. If you actually are fishing (brrrr...) and are in need of a rush order, please give me a call. 1-23-2008 Painting spoons that are good enough to call Raider is a skill I am hard at work learning. I am getting there, but it takes time. Photographing spoons is another difficult skill. I think you will find that the above is a much prettier spoon in person than the photo shows. Both the green and the blue are Super Glow with a tough powder coat clear coat over the top. Time is not something I have right now. I hope to see a bunch of my loyal New York customers at the show this weekend at the Fairgrounds. 1-21-2008 This week is my first show in Syracuse NY. I am painting up a storm out in the paint booth. I will have my new colors ready to show real soon. I am disappointed about Green Bay. I would have liked to see Brett in the Super Bowl again, but New York will get murdered by New England anyway.
From the AKC:
11-15-2007 Today is election day in Michigan. I urge you to have your say today. Politicians have statisticians looking at all kinds of things. You can say, with good reason, that money has a lot to do with political power, but the real political power in this country comes from the vote. Send a message to Washington and Lansing that sportsmen and women VOTE. Look at it another way, they expect 20% turnout of eligible voters, which is less than half the population. In other words, you get to vote for yourself and 9 other people. I am NOT endorsing a candidate or party. That is for other web sites. I provide this link to a story to show you the power that sportsmen and women have in this election: http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/SandyFroman/2008/01/12/gun_vote_could_decide_michigan_gop_primary A little bit about Dog Breeding and Breeders: I selected a breeder that is breeding and using working dogs. These dogs are not bred for size, or color or anything but the ability to perform in the field. The breeder keeps to the "breed norms" in size and color and such, but those are not his "goals". So what does that mean: Healthy: The dogs must be able to work. The breeder has a great interest in keeping all health issues out of his lines. Strong and durable: Dogs that wilt after a couple of hours are of no use. Healthy breeders: A breeder like this needs dogs that produce pups without a ton of vet bills. Smart: Birds are pretty smart, even "farm birds". The dogs have to be smarter. They must be easy to train, he has a lot of dogs to train. Personality: His dogs must perform and get along with the general public, or at least the general hunting public. Hunting: Last but not least, his dogs can't be gun shy, they must have good noses and must be "birdy". The main thing that makes at good hunting dog is the intense desire to please YOU, the master. That is the foundation for all of the trainability and drive. When I have to reprimand Jenny it is never physical, my tone of voice can be devastating to that dog. On the other hand, the happiest I have seen her is presenting me with a bird or a ball or anything she thinks will please me. In my opinion if you look at a breeder, look at their goals. If they are breeding show dogs, that means certain things that you may or may not want in a dog. If they are breeding for a "look" or a color, what are they willing to compromise on to reach their "goal"? You need to understand the breeder's goals to understand if the dog is likely (nothing is ever 100% sure) to be the dog you want. This will take some time and some talking, but you are choosing a companion for the next 15 years.  1-11-2008 Jenny had her litter today. They squirm pretty well and she wants no one near them, but we count 9. The yellow one on top is "Seven of Nine".  |
1-9-2008 If you are a Megabait fan, you better get to the Bargains & Closeouts page. I have been trying to contact them for weeks now with no response. I certainly don't need this. My remaining stock is on sale.
Another major milestone today. The paint booth is installed and actually working. I know too many guys who have died at least in part from painting spoons. Some things are just better done right.
I do have to comment that the you-know-what that wrote the instructions never put one of these together. Quality means the WHOLE job.
Well, it is 12:32 am, actually painting spoons will wait for tomorrow.
1-8-2008 For all of you wanting to see some fish pics - despite all the doom and gloom there seems to be some out there in the lake: http://www.chitown-angler.com/1fish/viewtopic.php?t=29532 These are dedicated anglers.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Survey: Food for Lake Michigan game fish hits another low
From http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080106/UPDATE/801060365
MUSKEGON -- The amount of prey fish that
provide food for the larger sport fish that are native to
Lake Michigan fell last year to a record-low level for the
second consecutive year, according to a government survey.
Scientists
from the U.S. Geological Survey's Great Lakes Science Center
found 30 kilotons of prey fish in the lake during an annual
survey, down from about 60 kilotons in 2006, The Muskegon
Chronicle reported Sunday.
For the
second consecutive year, it was the lowest volume recorded
since 1973, when the government started tracking the
abundance of alewife, bloater and other small fish in Lake
Michigan.
Such prey
fish support salmon, lake trout, steelhead and other species
of large fish coveted by anglers.
At the same,
the volume of quagga and zebra mussels in Lake Michigan
increased 13 percent in 2007, according to USGS data. There
were 245 kilotons of the mussels, which invaded the Great
Lakes in the 1980s.
"Most of the
stuff we bring up in our bottom trawl now is quagga
mussels," said Chuck Madenjian, a USGS research fishery
biologist. "Their population has just exploded in the lake
in the last five years."
Quagga
mussels hog the plankton at the base of a food chain that
supports most fish species.
Randy
Claramunt, a research biologist for the Michigan Department
of Natural Resources, said anglers should expect to catch
fewer salmon -- and smaller salmon -- in Lake Michigan in
the coming years.
"This is not
a crash of the salmon fishery, it's more like a soft
landing," Claramunt said.
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