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Michigan City 6/4 & 6/5 Jun 05, 2022 1:33 pm #34900

  • teamsmokercraft
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After last week we thought we were going to hang it up for the year, but after seeing the low wave forecast and the temperature break still near shore my brother and I decided to give it a go this weekend.   

6/4 We went 6/7 with 2 kings (9 and 6 lbs) and 4 coho all 4-5 lbs.  Also got 2 shaker kings and had about 6ish drive bys.  9 lbs king came on a 7 color mag blue dolphin, 6 lbs on on a 9 color ss glow frog, 2 coho came on mag glow frog 60 feet out on a dipsy, 1 on a flasher fly 60 out on dipsy, and the last on a 3 color ss caramel dolphin.  Fished mainly 55-65 feet of water by state line.  Marked a lot of bait and every fish was packed with alewife.  

6/5 Not as succefull today but still went 3/3 all nice cohos with 2 drive bys.  7 color mag blue dolphin took one, flasher fly out 50 on dipsy took one, and one on 3 color ss caramel dolphin.  Fished by state line like yesterday, only marked about 1/4 of the bait that we did yesterday.   Overall a great weekend on the lake.  

A question I have for everyone how loose/tight do you set your drag on your lead core or copper rods? We switched to braid backer this year on our lead core and have noticed we’ve had a lot of quick hits over the past month (fish on 1-3 seconds and then they’re off).  We mainly set our drag so if pretty much any fish hits it’s going to take drag.  So on the real loose side, curious if maybe we should tighten that down at all or just leave it be.  

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Last edit: by teamsmokercraft.

Michigan City 6/4 & 6/5 Jun 05, 2022 3:59 pm #34907

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Great work!  Thanks for the report. 

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Michigan City 6/4 & 6/5 Jun 05, 2022 4:23 pm #34908

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Thanks for the reports and nice work. I keep it just tight enough so the board doesnt click out on its own. Once the fish is on you can adjust as you feel.
-Lady M- Sea Ray 290 Amberjack
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Michigan City 6/4 & 6/5 Jun 05, 2022 4:29 pm #34910

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I keep my drags same as yours, just enough so they don’t let out over a wave or a turn. When we get a lot of short runs and off could be fish are just miss hitting the lure. Make sure to check above the spoon when this is happening, I had to cut and retie do to fish hitting infront of spoon and fraying the line with there teeth. Mike
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Michigan City 6/4 & 6/5 Jun 05, 2022 5:55 pm #34914

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Very nice! Thanks for the report 
Sea Ray 290 Amberjack
Kelliann 4

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Michigan City 6/4 & 6/5 Jun 05, 2022 6:49 pm #34917

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Congrats on a successful weekend.  It definitely was nice out there. 

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Michigan City 6/4 & 6/5 Jun 05, 2022 6:55 pm #34918

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I was struggling with my ratio the previous couple trips, and honestly I attributed it to the drags being too tight. I backed them all off quite a bit, yesterday had a couple that would occasionally single click, so they got small increments until they stopped. This was our best percentage get, and we would have gone 6/6 if we hadn't lost one boatside when it tangled in a rigger cable. Only thing I changed was the drag.
Sea Ray 250 Weekender
Catchin ZZZ's
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Michigan City 6/4 & 6/5 Jun 05, 2022 7:25 pm #34919

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I personally dont think drag has much to do with hookup ratio.  Certainly, plays a giant role in landing ratio.   If you think about it, the amount that a planer board will drift inward in addition to any line stretch and pole flex - that fish is either hooked up before you know it or hes not.  Playing the fish though that is a whole different story, easy drag, dont create a giant hole in his mouth.  Regardless of the drag setting, its enough pressure to surely set the hook and if its set, too much drag pressure will not pull it out.........assuming its actually in the fish's mouth.  

I believe poor hookup ratio can come from a variety of reasons; the biggest IMHO is fish aren't really attacking the bait as food - they are swiping at it out of annoyance.  In this instance, sometimes a faster troll can assist in the hookup ratio.  I think at the end of the day, we have all experienced both extremes.  I will never forget I fished back to back days about 4 years ago.  On Day 1 I went 24/25.  It was easier than easy.  On day two, I went zero for my first 13, and ended up with 4 in the box for the day.  Tough days happen.  Adjust your speed to see if it helps, make sure your hooks are sharp.  Braid backer is a must IMO.
Boatless!
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Last edit: by Dirty.

Michigan City 6/4 & 6/5 Jun 05, 2022 9:08 pm #34929

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Last year we had a day like you had. We went 8 for 27. We kept getting hits but didn't stay so I put a stinger hook on and we caught a couple.

They were the spring stocked Coho. We snagged one on a magnum spoon and 2 on the stinger hooks so we called it a day.

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Michigan City 6/4 & 6/5 Jun 08, 2022 2:31 pm #34979

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How do you locate the temperature breaks?  Thanks

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