5/8 Wall

[noodles]

Hit the water at around 8am. I fished all along the wall and out front of the mill. Marked more fish out front but nothing. Was I wasting my time after the big blow yesterday? I used flies, Brads, spoons on riggers and boards and anything else that worked before and NaDa! Was a great weather tho. And I only saw 2 other boats. A guy at the ramp in Hammond said he heard Portage was hot?

[Whaletale]

We started this morning at the Gary Light- nothing.  About 9.30 packed em up and cruised to Portage on glassy water.  Had one fish take a red w squiggles body bait in 47fow and then throw the hook halfway to the boat.  But it was a beautiful day for a 2.75mph boat ride.

[BNature]

Methinks the best of the nearshore spring bite is history for 2024. Personally, it ended last Saturday when I could only get five fish for my crew so I headed offshore yesterday a few miles out on the Indiana Shoals. The lake trout bite was very good and when we had enough trout, I switched game plan to a bit deeper water with a spread of spoons and coho dodgers for an hour or so. One coho was all that responded. 

It happens most years like this sometime in May. In a week or two, the nearshore bait will leave and school up somewhere near the state lines or deeper, the salmon will find them and (HOPEFULLY) we'll get another six weeks or more of hot, offshore action. 

[noodles]

Where are the Indiana shoals? On  a map I have it shows Indiana shoals right off the northern point of the mill?

[Ltrain]

Hey BN,  what were the trout going on, spin n glos?

[BNature]

They start off the north wall of the steelmill but they run on out  generally Northeast to the state line and beyond into Illinois. There's a nav buoy that's deployed about 4 miles or so off the end of the steelmill called the R2 "officially" - most locals call it 'the gong."  It's not been deployed so far this year. It marks the eastern edge of the shoals. At times, anywhere on the shoals can be good fishing, later on the eastern edge is usually better since as the lake currents flow around the southend of the lake, the shoals cause an upwelling where the bottom jumps up 10 to 15 feet in a short distance. Bait goes there, the fish follow the bait.  

[BNature]

Best was wire divers pulling either a dodger/spin-n-glow combo or SpinDocter/spin-n-glow combo. Run the divers so they are ticking along the bottom. Also had bites on a downrigged spoon and downrigged dodger/SnG.  First time this year with no action on the 200s. 

[Ltrain]

Thanks BN, unfortunately I'm going to miss the beautiful Sunday weather because my boats still in the shop till mid next week. 
I thought i was getting it back today. 
How long do you think them lakers will hang around the shoals?

[BNature]

How long they stay is water temperature related. Between the end of the steel mill and the gong, the fish could boogie any day. Usually they'll be between the gong and the state line until Memorial Day and on out in Illinois waters, you can find them through June most years.  In June, the summer cohos often invade the Illinois portion of the shoals and few people work the depths for the trout under the salmon. Think numbers like 47 X 20