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Hi guys, I’ve done a lot of winter and spring coho fishing and a little summer skamania fishing inshore but I am going with a group tomorrow out of Portage to do some trolling. Thinking of using spoons on leadcore, spoons/ dodgers and flies on dipsys, plus a couple planer boards up high with dodgers and flies. Planning to set lines in sixty feet and troll north. I’m new to the offshore fishing but we are experienced on the big lake and have all safety gear, flares, etc. and never take any chances. Do these baits and tactics seem to be going somewhere in the right direction? Hope to post a report back tomorrow. Thanks guys, it’s great to be part of such a great group of sportsmen and women. 

Yes I think you are on the right track.  I would start a mile south of the tri state line and feel it out.  Work North, East, West and see what you can find.    You also might try some  flasher/fly on your leadcores.  Its been more of a fly bite lately.  Our best rod for silver fish this past weekend was a mini orange spin doctor with a green peanut fly on a 3 color.  With that being said, 8 inch flashers with full size flies also caught fish.  

What jeff said, I will add I did try in the high 60s for a little never took a silver fish until we got back out past 70. Thermo cline is setting up nicely around the mid 30 mark so they could be in closer who knows unless you give it a try.

On Saturday we had multiple steelhead hit lines in the top 10' with orange spoons so I would definitely drag some high lines.  Also, Lake Michigan Angler in Winthrop Harbor, IL sells custom 8" orange spin doctors not found anywhere else that I know of(not even Dreamweaver website) in multiple patterns that have produced with a 2" fly for bigger coho and steelhead looking for a larger presentation.  Good luck out there.

Yep everything these guys said 

I only had 2 fish come on spoons last week and nothing below 30, everything was up high. Not saying that's how it's going to be now but that's where I'd start.  I was running 8" dodger and flasher with 2" flies.  If i was going out today i would have boards out running high, and 4 dipsys running F/F,  D/F  in upper 25' of column and have 1 or 2 spoons around 35.  I'm not that experienced as most here so take that into consideration but that's where i would start. 

What length leads do you guys run on your spin doctors? Just three times the length of it? Even including the minis? Thanks in advance.

Went 1/1 or 2 today. Got one coho on a dipsy on 2 setting set 107 back on line counter with a purple spoon. Had one or two other dipsy releases set farther back. Hit the coho in the 60 -64ft range straight out more or less. 

northwind wrote:

What length leads do you guys run on your spin doctors? Just three times the length of it? Even including the minis? Thanks in advance.

Lloyd, usually 3x is a good rule of thumb.  I generally run a tad shorter, but sometimes longer as well.

Glad you caught fish,thank you for report.