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Day Trips to Lake Erie

Have you ever been so sick of catching fish that you'd rather eat lunch? Well, If not, it's time to head to Lake Erie.

The experiences of two Michigan professional walleye anglers Mike Bringedahl and Tod Conner show that, on many trips, the fish come so fast and so often that stopping for lunch is a welcome break in the action. Mike and Tod have been tournament pros on the walleye circuit for 10 years and they met while fishing on Erie.

"If you want lots of action and some fillets for a fish fry", said Mike, "Lake
Erie has generous bag limits of ten fish per person (now 6 as of the 2001 season) , 13" or larger. Throughout the rest of the state there is a limit of five over 15"."

"Last year I took a day trip with a couple of guys that had never fished Erie
before, Jerry Kosturik and Brad Foster. We drove over for the day from Muskegon and launched at Luna Pier, Michigan by 8 am. It was an unusually hot sunny May day in the 80's. The surface temp of water was almost 70 degrees and the bait fish and feeding walleye were very active," explained Mike.

If you fish in late April or early May you're targeting post-spawn walleye. There will be lots of smaller, hungry males and they'll be eating like crazy. 90% of the western basin fish will be males until the 4th of July. The big females have moved to deeper water in the eastern basin.

"Erie was dead calm with flat water", reviewed Mike. "We boarded my Lund 1800 Pro V and went out about 4 miles. I'd slow way down about every 1/4 mile and check the bottom with the graph. About 6 miles out we started marking a bunch of arcs five or six feet off the bottom in 16 feet of water. I knew it was probably a pod of active fish."

In early spring slow trolling is the name of the game, even when it's fairly
warm. "I only use my 150 hp Mercury Optimax to get up out to the fish," said
Mike, "but most of the time I'll slow troll using a small 6, 8 or 9.9 hp kicker
motor. I try to keep the speed around 2 to 2.2 mph. I monitor my speed using a
Lowrance GPS unit. GPS speed is pretty accurate with speeds 1 1/2 mph or faster."

Finding fish is learning to think in 3-D. You can move around on the lake and finally get on top of a school, but then you have to find where the fish are
depth-wise in the water column. The deep fish may not be active while the shallow fish are active and feeding. The best way to find that out is to fish lures at different depths.

I set two lines on inside on dead rods with Rattle-Tots running deep, just off
bottom. I like chrome & green and blue & silver with red bills in this clear
water. On the outside I'll put 1/4 ounce Hot-n-Tots with blue scale & chrome with a red bill or green & chrome . I'll run these back about 45 feet and 60 feet
behind the Off Shore In-Line planer boards. They'll get down to about 7 and 8 1/2 feet respectively. The Tattle-Tale flags on Off Shore boards are a big help. You can catch a small walleye or perch and drag it for an hour without the flag.

We started picking up fish on the outside lines right away. Each time we caught a fish I'd hit the icon button on the Lowrance LMS-350 GPS to mark where we caught fish. An area only 3/8ths by 1/2 mile produced 45 fish between 1 1/2 to 5 pounds in three hours.

We kept a limit of eaters and were back at the launch by noon. Luna Pier has a
screened in fish cleaning station with outlets, sinks and stainless steel tables.
I got out my electric knife and went to work on our limit of "eaters". Two women from Luna Pier even came out and helped us clean fish. I wish I could remember their names. They were so helpful and friendly. We bagged the fish, packed them in ice and hit the road by 1:30 pm. I was back taking a nap on my couch in  Muskegon 3 hours later. What a day!

Tod Conner had a very similar experience on a trip out of Bolles Harbor. The DNR launch there is very well maintained with plenty of parking spots and about 20 launch sites with nice docks.

"I went down with a couple guys from work who had never fished Lake Erie and
wanted a fish fry. I needed an excuse to fish, any excuse," said Tod, "so we
launched about 7:30 and headed out 4 or 5 miles. I try to stay away from the
pack. I went through the stop and search technique, just like Mike, and found
fish out in 22' of water. I ran four planer boards with Rattle-Tots and
Thunderstick, Jr's on 3-ways rigs with 2 1/2" Scorpion flutter spoons. In clear
water I like to use chrome & blue and will match the color of the spoon to the lure. I'll run this 3-way rig with a crankbait on bottom on an 18" leader and spoon on top a 36" leader at 2 to 2.4 mph."

To do that, first you drop the crankbait in the water and let it swim a bit while
you're holding the spoon, then flip the spoon in the water and hold the rod.
Check the swimming action to make sure they're not tangled then slowly let out line. Thumb the spool or set the clicker of your reel and run them back about 30- 40 feet back before you hook them in the pinch pads of an Off Shore in-line board. Don't free spool your reel or you'll have a big mess.

The thick schools of fish were hitting non-stop and we caught 80 fish that day. About 70% were taken on spoons. Four times we even had two fish on the same rod at once. We made a 2-3 mile circle, staying away from the pack, and caught fish all morning. The three anglers ended up with a live well full of eaters in the 2-5 pound range and released more than 50 fish on their day trip.

Now this all sounds really easy but remember that Mike and Tod have fished Lake Erie many times and have professional quality gear. But that doesn't mean you can't catch plenty of fish with a little experience. The tackle used is a little specialized to deal with conditions.

Speed control - A small outboard kicker is critical for slow trolling. A 6, 8 or
9.9 hp will provide that slow, steady, reliable speed.

Rods - Graphite rods are good for casting and jigging but glass rods are tougher, less expensive and more practical for trolling and board fishing. Tod and Mike use St. Croix 7' pro-glass, medium or medium-heavy rods because they can take the abuse.

Reels - Line counter reels are worth their weight in gold when it comes to
precision trolling. Both Mike and Tod use Diawa 27LC line counter reels so they can be consistent with lure depth and trolling line length. They're tough,
durable reels and extremely dependable. Another good reel is the new Okuma.
They're new in the line counter market but Okuma has been making reels for a long time.

Fishing Line - 10 pound test Berkley XT Trilene  in dull green. XT is suggested because it is very abrasion resistant. Clipping on in-line boards can be hard on line because the board always hooks in about the same spot. And, as you know, walleye have sharp teeth and gill plates. Catching a lot of fish requires watching for line wear around the lure.

Day trips are great. You don't have to stay overnight and if you only have one
day of the weekend (like most of us married guys) a day trip gets you back home for a day with the family. You can have fish for supper and everybody's happy!

Saginaw Bay Summer Walleye
 

Tournament pros Tod Conner and Mike Bringedahl have fished Saginaw Bay for almost
15 years. Their combined experiences have been put together in this story about
how to fish Saginaw Bay in July and August.

"Early in the spring the fish will be along the Kawkawlin River, near Buoy B at
the southwest tip of the bay," explained Tod. "As summer progresses, many of the
fish move northward. Around the Callahan Reef area it stays pretty good through
July with plenty of 2-5 pounders. You can usually get them slow trolling with
spinners rigs and crawlers spread out with Off Shore in-line boards. As the
season wears on, around July and August, the west side of the bay off Pinconning
and Linwood will pick up. There it's either a crank bait bite or a spinner bite
on the bottom.."

It's a fun spot to fish and for the quality and quantity of fish it's unmatched
by any other body of water in the northwest," said Mike. "As well as catching
smaller eater fish you have a good chance to catch on 8 or 9 pounder. It's
great!"

"Callahan Reef is always a good target area," agreed Mike. "You don't have to
travel far with your boat. You can launch at the Quanicassee DNR launch  at the
southern tip of the bay and run out about six miles to the reef. The reef is 10-
13 feet surrounded by 18-20 of water. Fish right over the top of the reef. If
you're fishing Thomas reef or the trough you can drive up a little farther and
launch at Sebewaing. They have a good launch, beautiful camp sites at the city
campground that's run by the water sheriff's wife so you can get good reports
from them."

"It pays to call ahead and do some homework before you go," said Mike. "Saginaw
Bay is such a large body of water that you can save yourself a lot of time by
talking to the bait shops and finding out where the fish are. The fish also come
in off Lake Huron and move around the bay in the same general patterns every
year. The rule of thumb is that 4th of July triggers a good bite on the rock
reefs around the Big and Little Charity Islands."

"Saginaw Bay can get extremely rough at times because it's such a shallow bay and
has a lot of reefs. There are a lot of guys fishing out there in 14-16 foot boats
but you want to really watch the weather for your own protection. You should be
in a descent size, well equipped boat", said Mike. "although you can drive to
different launches all around the bay to make your boat trip shorter".

Around July and August fishing in the deeper water near Buoy 1 off Pinconning and
Au Gres fishing really starts picking up. The bait fish move out to 25-30 feet of
water at that time of year and the walleye follow them.

"If you're planning to fish Saginaw Bay," said Tod, "you'll need big water
walleye equipment - A well equipped boat, a reliable engine, GPS and trolling
rods and reels. We use St. Croix medium or medium-heavy action rods like the GC70
seven footers. Our counter reels are loaded with Trilene 10 or 12 pound test
green line. Off Shore in-line planer boards and Snap Weights to control the depth
and spread of crank baits and crawler harnesses are essential."

"I'd probably start around Pinconning and work outward", suggested Tod. "Start
looking for schooling fish in 20 to 30 feet of water. I'll "run and gun" with the
graph trying to find where the concentrations of fish are. Usually the upper
level fish you're marking are the ones you need to key on. Sometimes you'll mark
a lot of fish around 14-16 feet but if you can't get them to go, that's a tell-
tale sign to run your baits up as high as you can - 5 feet below the surface. The
most active fish will be on the top and you won't mark them on the graph because
they're too high and they'll spook away from the boat."

"Sometimes we'll put some bottom bouncers near bottom on drop rods but most of
the time we'll use planer boards trolling spinners at .5 to 1.3 mph or crank
baits anywhere from 1.3 to 3 mph. Troll with the wind unless it's 5 mph or less,
then you can troll against it", said Tod. "I'll troll down through an area then
run back up if it's windy. Silver or gold blades with red or chartreuse beads
have always worked well for us on the bay. If the water is a little murky we'll
try colored blades - yellow, chartreuse and orange."

"Sometimes we catch fish running a spinner 30-40 feet back behind the board with
no weight," said Tod, "but most of the time I prefer to use 1/2 to 2 ounce Off
Shore Snap Weights depending on the depth of the fish. I'll let out 20-50 feet,
then add a Snap Weight to the line. The clearer the water, the spookier the fish
and the more line you let out. The momentum of the boat will lift the spinner up
so if you drop the Snap Weight down 20 feet the spinner will be about 10 feet
down or less, depending on your speed.

Counter reels are very effective for this type of fishing. Once you locate the
depth of the active fish you can continue to repeat your set up. For example, if
one rod that caught a fish had 50 feet of line out, then the Snap Weight, then 20
feet of line between the Snap Weight and the Planer Board you'll want to repeat
that setup exactly after you reel the fish in. A counter reel makes that
duplication possible.

"If I have two people in the boat I'll run four rods with lures 5, 10, 15 and 20
feet down depending on where we're marking fish and just see which one goes
first," said Tod. "I'll experiment with my favorite lures and rotate and change
them. I like Storms Hot-n-Tots and 3/8ths ounce Rattle-Tots with a brown back and
lime green polka dots, also blue and silver, or purple. A red lip makes them even
better."

"We usually start off by trolling crank baits like 1/4 Hot-n-Tots, 3/8 ounce
Rattle-Tots and Thunderstick Juniors", said Mike. "They're key baits for Saginaw
Bay. You can cover a lot more water with crank baits. We'll run them around 12-14
feet down or go up on the reef a little shallower around 10 feet.  I like to
place my lures about 1-2 feet above the fish. 9 times out of 10 they're feeding
up."

The "Precision Trolling" book by Mark Romanack is an invaluable tool for this
type of fishing. It has a life size picture of every crank bait in it and tells
you how far back to run each lure to obtain a certain depth.

"It's important to pay attention to what's going on around you. Feeding fish may
be in the top five feet", explained Mike. "Watch the water. If you see minnows
jumping out of the water you can be pretty sure there are predators chasing them.
I'll raise all my crank baits up, sometimes only 15 feet behind my Off Shore
planer boards. Those are real aggressive fish and they'll pull the board right
under. It's a lot of fun."

Boat speed is critical. You need slow speeds of 1-1.2 mph or slower for spinners
and 2-2.2 for crank baits. If you can do that with your big motor, fine. The new
4-strokes can handle this but large 2-strokes tend to load up. A 10 horse kicker
motor or even an electric trolling motor may be needed. Trolling plates behind
the prop or a drift sock can also help slow you down.

"We've had times when we trolled down to .7 mph to get those big walleye to hit",
said Mike. "It was difficult to tell when we got a hit on the planer boards until
Off Shore came out with the "Tattle-Tale Flag". Now we can detect just about any
hit."

"There is a misconception that the best bite is in the morning. Tournament
fishing has proven one thing - some of the biggest fish are caught around noon. We've
had some of out best luck on Saginaw Bay fishing high, 5-6 feet down, when the
bay was dead flat and the sun was straight up. You don't always have to fish deep
structure."

Walleye are eating machines, just like sharks. They're going to go wherever the
food is, whenever it's there. We've had times when we were fishing in 6-7 foot
waves in 30 feet of water and a wave would roll over and you'd see a walleye
right up in the wave.

You really have to pay attention to your surroundings and react to it.

Grand River's Brunch Walleye

Who said you have to get up at the crack of dawn to catch walleye? Not Tod Conner
and Mike Bringedahl, two walleye pros who regularly fishing the Grand River
between Grand Rapids and Grand Haven, Michigan. According to them, the best bite
tends to be between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Time for brunch!

They pinpointed some of the hot spots for me and explained how to catch these
river walleye in September and October.

Western Grand:
Indian Channel & The Willows
"Launch at Bruce's Bayou to fish Indian Channel or The Willows.  There are two
launch sites off 138th Avenue and 129th Avenue. Head west into the river after
you launch. The Willows is a stretch of water just west of Bruce's Bayou on the
north side of the Grand River. This cut is easily found by the huge willow trees
overhanging the banks above it. There are usually a few boats trolling or
drifting the deep water through here.

Indian Channel is a cut off the main river farther to the southwest of The
Willows. Just head downstream and stay to the right and you'll find it. Both
areas are proven walleye stomping grounds.

Grand River by the Gravel Pits:
"The river by the gravel pits in September and October is a good place to try
jigging spoons," said Tod. "We fish a 10 foot hole at the base of the island
right where it meets the gravel pits. It comes right up to 2 feet deep where you
enter the pits. We drift down and vertical jig. A good rod for this type of
fishing is a St. Croix Avid 6-foot spinning rod with a medium action tip like an
AS60MF." There are several good launches just west of the pits, one is at
Riverside Park.

"That's also a good area to drag jigs," said Mike. "I drag a 1/8 ounce Z+3 glow
jig, usually pink or pearl. It's almost like having a dead rod leaning up against
the edge of the boat. Just watch it close and when you see the rod start to go
try to let out some line and let them take it a little bit. When you watch your
line move off to the side too, it can be a fish. Watch real close."

 Inside the Gravel Pits - "This time of year is a great time to troll Shadraps
inside the pits," said Mike. "Look for suspended fish near the north side drop
offs. You're trolling for fish in the 8-10 foot depth. There are some big fish in
there. Good colors are Fire Tiger or chartreuse & pearl run behind Off Shore In-
Line planer board."

"One day we were trolling toward evening," explained Tod, "and we made a couple
passes through there with black & silver Shadraps as it got dark and got three
fish between 3 and 6 pounds. So, evenings on the gravel pits might be worth a try
too."

The Nursing Home:
About 1/4 mile west of the Eastmanville bridge you can see the big brown nursing
home on the hill on the north side of the river with an island right in front of
it. Fish between the island and the north side. "I like to troll cranks up
through there, #5 or #7 Shadraps in chartreuse & pearl, black & silver or black &
chrome," explained Tod. "The water is only about four feet deep this year. You
just dig the lures right into the bottom. Run them back until you feel them
digging. I troll up river using Mercury kicker motor with two Off Shore Planer
Boards and two high lines with shallow running Shadraps. Even though I have an
electric motor on my Lund, I don't use it for trolling on the river because the
fish are not spooky - you can catch them right in the prop wash. There is one
hole close to the island and another closer to the shoreline on the north side
with a hump in between. Fish the holes upstream, then motor around the other side
of the island and make another pass.

Eastern Grand:
It's very difficult to go any farther upstream than the Nursing Home unless you
launch up near Fillmore Street in Grand Rapids. There are some good areas up
there too some of which are
Sand Creek - Fishing right in front of Sand Creek, right across from the launch,
is good in the fall around August and September. The cool water from the creek
mixing from the warm water of the Grand brings them in. They'll stage from the
creek down to the power lines. Try drifting crawlers through here.

The Airport - About 2-3 miles upstream you'll see where the airport pad dead ends
at the river and there's rip-rap out front for 150-200 yards. It's about 7 feet
deep right there. Stay right in that hole. Troll upstream or drift down with
crawlers.

Buck & Rush Creek - Farther upstream yet you can find an area near Wilson Street
where two creeks dump into the Grand, 200 yards apart, around the bend and
downstream from the ferry in Grand Rapids.

The Cow Pasture - Above the Eastmanville bridge and before the M-45 bridge
there's a hole called the Cow Pasture. There's another island with a real deep
hole, 15-18 feet deep on the north side. At the head of the island is a cow
pasture. This is a good run but it's pretty snaggy because it collects all the
junk that floats down the river. But, if you don't mind breaking off a few jigs
and losing some crawlers, the walleyes usually hang in there pretty good. They'll
be staging up there prior to spawning. Just pick up a good supply Walt's Crawlers
on the way out and you're all set.

"A good way to fish this is to vertical jig with good boat control," said Mike,
"because of all the snags you want to stay straight vertical rather than dragging
jigs. I like to use Z+3 Glow Jigs in white, pink or chartreuse with half a
crawler."

"At this time of year, late August and September, I wouldn't fish above Rush
Creek," said Tod. "Most of the fish will be down until the water starts getting
colder then they'll move up."

The Grand River is a great place to fish with pleasant scenery and plenty of
fish. But remember, be careful when the water levels are low. There are a lot of
pilings left over from the lumbering days just waiting to eat props. It's usually
nice and quiet except for the shouting, "Got one!"

Fishing the Soo

If you want to explore some new water in the northern stretches of Michigan you
might want to consider a trip to Sault Ste. Marie at the northeast tip of
Michigan's U.P. and fish the waters around the St. Marys River in June.

Mike Bringedahl and Tod Conner won the Michigan Walleye Trail Championship there
in 1997 and learned a lot about the rivers and bays around Lake George's Echo
Bay, Whiskey Bay River above the locks and Munuscong bay just southeast of "The
Soo".

There are several bodies of water you can explore in the area. Mike and Tod
caught most of their fish, three to four pounders, in Echo Bay. Tod also did well
pre-fishing the Munuscong Bay area but the fish were smaller. Others tournament
contenders made the long run to Drummond Island and did well there.
Licenses and Regulations

The U.S. Canadian border cuts through Whitefish Bay and zig zags its way through
the waters in the area around St. Joseph and Drummond Island so depending on
where you plan to fish you might want to visit a Canadian sport shop and pick up
a license. Fishing regulations are different in Canada. For instance, you can
only use one rod instead of two and other changes may apply. Read them over
carefully.
Scouting and Pre-Fishing

Do your homework before you launch your boat. Stop at the local tackle shop and
talk things over as you buy your bait, or find a good local guide. We talked to
area Canadian guides Joe and John Giuliani and they told us that they thought the
tournament would be won in the Echo Bay area and they helped us a lot. (Actually,
they were right!). Feel free to give them a call at 705-942-5473.
Technique

Mike and Tod tried several techniques including a basic hook and sinker, slip
bobbers, jigs and spinner rigs.

In Munuscong Bay Todd did well in the SW corner on the windblown shoreline. He
was catching keeper walleye right up in six inches of water with 1/16th or 1/8th
ounce Z+3 Glow Jigs with half a crawler. "Just pitch it up in the reeds and pop
it back," Todd explained. "You'll see the reeds moving as the walleye come for
it. The walleye are feeding on minnows that are getting shoved up into the reeds
by the wind." He'd catch 20-30 fish in a morning. Unfortunately, the fish weren't
big enough to win a tournament.

"But, the way we ended up winning the tournament", said Mike, "is with a small
dark red spinner blade with a single spit shot and a crawler on a single hook or
a Z+3 Floating jig head and crawler. We just trolled with the bow mount real
slow. Tod fished out one side and I fished out the other. We'd just cast it out
and move along just barely off bottom, about 30-40 feet back. When we felt a
little tick we'd release line to let the walleye take the crawler. Then we'd lock
the reel in, follow it back until we saw the line start to move and set the hook
with a long, swinging hook set. We also did the same program with a Z+3 Floating
jig head in red. Another key was using the biggest crawler you could find. We
picked up a batch of giants at Walt's Crawlers and they worked great!"

The Championship
The first day of the three day Championship tournament was stressful. Tod had
been catching good numbers of small fish in Munuscong Bay and Mike had been
fishing north into Echo Bay. He wasn't getting as many fish but they were much
bigger so they decided to concentrate on Echo Bay.

"It was funny, we fished until about 11:00 and didn't have a one fish", said
Mike. "We're discussing what to do and Tod says, 'I know we can catch fish in
Munuscong Bay', which was 40 miles away.' I asked him, Are you sure we can catch
five fish? 'Well', he said, 'I know we could have if we'd gone there first thing
in the morning.' "

Then Mike noticed a lone fisherman on the other side of Echo Bay. He was a local
guy in a little 12 foot aluminum boat in the SE corner of the bay. They ran over
near him to see if the fish moved across the bay.

"We got there and had five nice fish in the boat within an hour!, said Mike. "It
was just incredible. All the tension was lifted and we started having a good
time." At the end of Day 1 Mike and Tod were in 3rd place.

The Michigan Walleye Tour Championship rules require that an observer be in the
boat all three days. "We had a great guy from Drummond Island on Day 1", said
Mike. "One Day 2 we had an observer from Saginaw who was throwing change in the
water all day "to pay the fish Gods". We'd catch a fish and he'd say, 'That's too
small, we have to throw 50 cents in this time.' We pulled a lot of fish. We just
had a ball and the observers made the day."

On Day 2 of the tournament they went back to the same spot and did the same
program with the spinner blades and did well. At the weigh-in they moved into 1st
place by three pounds. "We were feeling pretty comfortable", said Mike.

On Day 3 the weather totally changed. A major cold front had moved in and they
struggled. They headed back to Echo Bay with seven or eight boats following them
because they had the lead. "The boats that followed us into Echo Bay just
converged on us", said Mike. "One of them had a big I/O and he was just churning
up mud all over in that four feet of water. We ended up catching four decent fish
but didn't pull a limit that day."

Back at the weigh in they held Tod and Mike out until they were the last ones to
weigh in. "We ended up winning it by three and half pounds", said Tod, "and came
home with $4,000."

Navigation
In the St. Marys River you have to be careful in June. The cold water off Lake
Superior and the warm ground along the shore can generate heavy fog on the river.
The water is so cold at this time of year that the fish aren't in the St. Marys
River, they in the warmer bays in shallow water. It is critical, whenever fishing
that body of water, to have a GPS navigation system with plotter capabilities.
The river can get foggy quickly and there are plenty of turns in the river. The
shipping channel is marked with buoys but sometimes you can't see either shore.
If you get out of the main shipping channel it can be very dangerous with lots of
rocks with points sticking out on every bend in the river. We really had to count
on our Lowrance LMS 350A for navigating the river.

Suggested Tackle
Tod and Mike recommend 6 1/2 to 7 foot medium light with an extra sensitive tip
like a St. Croix AS66ML or PS70ML and reels loaded with 4-6 pound test Trilene XT
green line as the water can be very clear at times.

Lodging
Competition for lodging can be tough with the casinos in the area so plan ahead.
There are also a few campgrounds right on the river just east of the Soo. You
could also call the Chamber of Commerce for information on lodging.

Other Places
Another good place to fish is Echo Lake. Take the river up through the Indian
reservation (no fishing in the river) and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Fish the
break line on the east end of the lake with spinners.

You can also head south through Munuscong Bay taking the south channel and follow
it down toward Drummond Island or try the Whiskey Bay and river area off Lake
Superior above the locks from the Soo.

Wherever you go, go prepared and have a safe, enjoyable trip.

Walleye on the Lower Kalamazoo River

Saugatuck is a sleepy little tourist town in southwestern Michigan that is just
coming to life in the month of June. The weather is breaking and big cruising
boats come from all over the great lakes to visit. But the walleye angler also
has a good reason to visit Saugatuck - Tod Conner and Mike Bringedahl have found
that there are schools of walleye residing in the lower Kalamazoo River.

The Kalamazoo is directly connected to Lake Michigan at Saugatuck and has plenty
of river run walleye that are accessible without a long boat ride.

>From late May and on into June the lower part of the river is probably the best.
There is a trailer park about 3-4 miles upriver from the I-196 highway bridge
that marks the farthest point you can reach with the current low water levels.
>From that eastern limit, all the way out to the channel leading into Lake
Michigan you can find hungry walleye. One of the favorite spots is a stretch 100-
150 yards down river from the I-196 bridge. As the season progresses into later
June the fish migrate upriver farther.

There is small DNR launch site farther upriver but it is only suitable for small
boats and canoes. If you've got a 12 foot boat and an adventurous spirit go down
river about 4-500 yards from the launch and you'll find a sharp bend in the river
with a deep hole that runs about 14 feet deep along a metal barrier wall. Just
drag or lightly jig along the bottom on the flats in the river and even on the
shallow inside turns. The active fish will be up on the flats and will usually
stay out of the deep holes.

The best technique Mike and Tod have found is vertical jigging with a small 1/8
to 1/16 ounce jig tipped with a half crawler. They like to use hot Glo-Pink and
bright Glo-Orange Z + 3 Jigs because the water can be quite muddy. A sensitive
rod in the 6 to 6 1/2 foot range is best. The St. Croix Avid medium with a fast
action tip works very well. For jigging and slipping the current 4 lb. test Solar
Fireline picks up every little tap and is easy to see.

You can drift or jig the area from the I-196 bridge downstream to where another
bridge separates the towns of Saugatuck and Douglas. The water ranges from 4-7
deep all along this stretch with the best section being the first 200 yards below
the I-196 bridge.

The bite on the Kalamazoo in this area lasts about 2-3 weeks in June and can get
pretty hot. You'll tend to catch a lot of smaller males and occasionally a 6-8
pounder. A little later in the month and into July you'll have to start probing
the deeper holes upriver. A lot of the post spawn walleye drop back down into
Lake Michigan.

The channel leading into Lake Michigan is also a good place to fish. You'll catch
quite a few different species in addition to walleye, especially sheephead. A
typical day might include 20-30 fish per boat with five of them being walleye.
But if you like bending a rod, it's a good place to be. The technique is the
same. Slip the current using  an electric trolling motor to keep you speed
consistent with the current so you line stays straight down. Bounce a crawler
tipped jig on the bottom and you'll find fish. Sometimes a Lindy Rig with a whole
crawler or a 3-way rig works well. You have to let the fish run a bit with the
bait before you set the hook with a wide sweep of the rod.

If you don't have a boat the pier heads also produce some good fish, although
they are not very easy to get to because of private property. You can drive to
the park south of the river and walk the beach a couple hundred yards to the
pier.

If you're in a trolling mood, try trolling upstream from Saugatuck all the way to
Lake Michigan with Thunderstick Juniors or Shadraps through the main river
channel. Best colors will be bright - fluorescent, Fire Tiger, chartreuse,
orange, white & red. Rattles can also help in the muddy water. Fish caught on
crank baits will usually run a little bigger - in the 3-5 pound range so use a
stiffer rod and a heavier line like Trilene 10 lb. XT. Try to keep the bait just
off the bottom. The boat traffic this time of year is usually not heavy unless
it's a warm, weekend day. The best time is from daylight to 10:00 am, then boat
traffic increases.

Other trollers have been known to pick up walleye in Lake Michigan, just outside
the pier head, on days after a strong east wind.

The water in the Kalamazoo River is generally muddy so fish tend to bite
throughout the day through mid afternoon. Although, if the fish are in the
channel, the mornings or evenings are usually best. Above the I-196 bridge
they'll bite all day and at times the mid afternoon bite is the best so you can
sleep in and still catch fish.

If you're after some fillets for supper, stick to the smaller fish, under four
pounds or so. The Kalamazoo River doesn't have the best record for clean water,
but in the channel area many of the walleye probably come from the cleaner waters
of Lake Michigan. Read the Michigan DNR Fish Advisory Bulletin.

You can usually launch your boat in four locations: (1) Downtown Saugatuck, (2)
on the other side of the river at the town of Douglas (by the large cruise ship).
(3) at the public launch just southwest of the I-196 bridge or (4) at the DNR
launch upriver. From there it's a very short distance to the fish on calm water.
Most launch fees are around $8.

Hordes of Walleye at Your Back Door

They swore me to secrecy! The spot was so hot that we were the only boat there.
In the first 10 minutes of fishing we caught two walleye weighing 9 pounds and 10
1/2 pounds, and lost another while trying to land those.

I got a call from Tod Conner, a professional walleye angler and tournament
winner, "Got your fishing hat on?"

"Of course", I said, "I'm always ready to go fishing, anytime, anywhere."

"Meet me at the (Secret) launch ramp at 8:00 pm and we'll do some night trolling.

Now don't get mad. I promised I would not tell where the spot was, but I'll tell
you how you can find it. Walk out to any Lake Michigan pier head with two rocks.
Throw one out into the lake as far as you can. Now turn around and throw another
one toward shore. Now fish between the splashes.

The smelt are staging off the river mouths all along Lake Michigan's eastern
shoreline in huge clouds of silvery, swimming swarms - and at night the walleye
are moving in to feed on them. These are huge, female walleye that have just
finished spawning and they're hungry.

The season for walleye on inland lakes is closed right now but it's open on Lake
Michigan all year so this is a rare opportunity that won't last long.

We caught ten fish in a four hour time period from 8:30 pm to 12:30 am. We could
have stayed all night and easily caught another ten.

We were trolling Rapalas in silver and black or blue and black colors with snap
weights. You troll slowly, let the lure out behind the boat about 10-15 feet,
clip on an Off Shore Snap Weight and let out enough line to drop it down about
12-18 feet or where you mark them on your graph. Set two rods like this directly
below the boat. To expand, put two more long lines out with lead core line or
deep divers. You can also try in-line planer boards if the boat traffic isn't too
heavy.

If you don't like the idea of trolling at night or don't have a boat you can
still get them. Walk to the end of the pier and throw the largest Count Down
Rapala you have as far out as you can. Wait for the lure to sink 10-12 feet and
retrieve slowly. Try again at different depths. Be patient, they are out there. I
saw them.

Another way to catch these fish is to use a large, live shiner on a lighted
bobber. Set the depth for about 10 feet and throw it out. You'll probably have to
recast quite often because the wind and current will move the rig around a lot
but that's good. You're covering more water that way. Make sure your bait is
lively.

Jim Rodgers was fishing with Tod and I last night. He'd never caught a walleye in
this size range before, and honestly, the 10 1/2 pounder was the largest I've
ever caught. After he'd landed a solid 9 pound fish we hooked another fish and he
started reeling in.

"Is it a good one?" asked Tod

"I don't know", he said, "kind of mediocre I guess." The fish turned out to be a
solid 7 pounder. Jim was spoiled already. Give the man and big fish right off the
bat and he's spoiled from then on.

We kidded him about his comment but later in the night as he reeled in fish after
fish his excitement returned and he muttered more appropriate things like, "Oh
God, help me" and "I can't believe this!"

I would have considered it a virtually perfect night if it hadn't been for my
butt! Let me explain.

The moon came out bright and Tod decided to switch to a brighter color gold lure
with a red head. It immediately caught a fish. The reel in the rod holder was
buzzing loudly so he grabbed it and handed it to me. I tried to stand up to fight
the fish and found that I was stuck to the seat of his brand new Lund boat. Tod
had placed the lure he removed on my seat while I was standing and I sat down on
three very sharp treble hooks. Luckily I was wearing long johns, jeans and
coveralls and the hooks didn't reach my posterior. I fought the fish sitting
down, a nice 7 pounder, and just before we netted it another rod went off. This
was the start of a Chinese fire drill that lasted 10 minutes and ended with two
seven pound walleye caught and released.

If you've ever wanted to catch a huge walleye, now is the time, run to the
nearest Lake Michigan pier head and do it now. Once the smelt move in, they'll be
gone. But, remember, if you keep and kill these big spawners the good fishing
won't last. Keep a couple of smaller eaters and let the big ones go. Good Luck
and happy fishing!!

Bass Casting Tactics for Spring Walleye

Most anglers think of walleye as a deep water species that require slow trolling
or deep, careful probing for success. However, there are times when fast casting,
fast retrieves and shallow water are the perfect combination for some hot action
on aggressive walleye. I experienced a few of these exciting trips while pre-
fishing with tournament pros Mike Bringedahl and Tod Conner. We caught dozens of
fish, of several species, in just a few feet of water using Bass Casting Tactics
for Spring Walleye. On a nasty, windy day when most guys would head for shelter,
we were toughing it out and catching lots of fish.


How do you find these shallow water walleye on a large body of water?

Bringedahl - " You want to find structure on the shoreline points, little
underwater points, or sand bars or something that is sticking out. You want to
hit the windward side where the wind is crashing in and cast to that side. The
bait fish are blown up in there and disoriented so that's where the predator fish
are going to be."

Conner -  "We look for a shoreline that has a 1-2 foot drop within 4 or 5 feet
from shore so there is a sharp drop where the minnows get pinned in by the wind
and attacking walleyes. Usually, if the the wind is blowing hard it blows all day
long. If it blew hard the day before you can still go to those key spots - the
points, inside turns on points where the wind has blown in and muddied it up. As
long as it's muddy those bait fish will still be there and you can fish
effectively in the morning and evening."

Bringedahl - "Muddy water is the key. What happens is when the wind is blowing
you get algae and sediment churned up from the bottom and circulating in the wave
action. Light sensitive fish like walleye prefer that kind of situation".

On a windy day, when guys go into a sheltered bay to fish,  are they're doing the
wrong thing?

Bringedahl - "Yes, they really are in many cases. You want to find the nastiest
side you can and just pound it hard casting crankbaits. Grin and bear it and go
catch fish."

Conner -  "There are a lot of times during tournaments too where we know the fish
are along the shoreline but there are 2-3 foot waves pounding in there. I'll give
up my casting to just control the boat while Mike fishes from the back of the
boat hitting the hot spots. I might cast sideways here and there just to get a
lure out there but he's the one in the fish zone. If we both tried to work the
zone the boat would be blown in and out and it's just not as easy."

Bringedahl - "It pays to have a good friend who doesn't mind controlling the
motor. Then we take turns."

Don't you get hung up a lot doing this type of fishing?

Bringedahl - "That's O.K.. You don't want to be afraid to cast right up into a
foot of water. When you're fishing the windward shoreline and the it's blowing
hard that lure tends to really take off. Once in a while you get hung up in the
trees and you have to extend your net way out to get lures back. You want to be
careful about trespassing on peoples property trying to get your lures back
though.

Conner -  "We go tree climbing a lot! We just extend the net and get the lure
caught and give it a jerk. We may break the line but at $5-6 a lure I don't mind
retying a knot.

It sounds like it might be important to have a really strong trolling motor for
this type of fishing.

Bringedahl - "Yes, we work the shoreline using a Minn Kota 74 pound thrust Maxim
that is bow mounted on a 19 foot Lund Pro V. We try to keep the boat out away
from shore and moving along that 6-8 foot depth so we can cast into the shallow
water along shoreline. I prefer cable steering on the trolling motor because it's
more responsive and quicker. When you're fishing winding conditions it's real
important to be able to maneuver quickly because you can get blown around or
tossed into shallow water before you know it. That could be dangerous or lead to
a messed up prop or a grounded boat.

What's nice about the Lund boat is that there's plenty of walk-around room on the
inside so it's easy to get around when you're fishing, setting lines and netting
fish."

Conner -  "Another thing that I like about cable steering more than electronic
steering is that with electric steering you actually have to look at the head of
the motor to see which direction you're going, where with the cable steering I
know that if my toe is going down I'm going to the right and if my heel is going
down I'm going to the left."

So you have the back end of the boat facing the shore?

Conner -  "You're usually at about a 30 degree angle to shore moving along with
the bow facing out and forward."

Bringedahl - "Then the guy in the back works every little spot along the
shoreline. That's why they call it "Bass Tactics". But we also catch walleye,
northerns, white bass, smallmouth, largemouth and you can do it on any lake
whether it's in Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, anywhere there are fish. The
key is that in the spring, in May, there are all these young hatches of bait fish
fingerlings and they're all over the system.

With this type of fishing do you find pockets of fish?

Conner -  "Yes, usually what we'll do is work a full shoreline until we start to
see a pattern. It might be big rocks or maybe just a little bit deeper water, 1-2
feet, up close to shore, or maybe they're keying on bait fish that are up on the
sand bars.

Bringedahl - "It just depends on what the hatch is and what's getting blown in.
There might be parts of the lake where the minnows are not concentrated at that
and you might have to search a little. The fish are going to be where the bait
is.

Conner -  "Another key thing is that at that time of year the carp and suckers
are spawning and we've found that if you get in an area where the carp are
spawning stirring up the mud and sediment that you can also find walleyes right
in with them.

Walleye really hang around with carp? Why is that?

Bringedahl - "They love carp! It's true throughout the Midwest. Walleye will
follow carp and hang right with them."

Conner -  "In Bay de Noc about three years ago the water was so crystal clear you
could see a penny on the bottom in 12 feet of water. We were marking a lot of
fish and we just happen to go over them and saw a big school of suckers going by.
When I looked closer I could see walleye mixed in with the school of suckers. The
suckers were rooting up the bottom which drew little minnows and the walleye were
keying on those. When you find spawning carp or suckers in a clear water lake you
have an opportunity to find walleyes. There are a lot of areas where carp spawn
where there won't be walleye doing this, but in some areas it works.

Do you use lures with bright colors and rattles in that muddy water?

Bringedahl - "Rattles always help".

Conner -  "We've had lot of success with #5 and #7 Shadraps and Rattletraps. Also
the Reef Runner Little Rippers. They're a small version of the Wally Diver that
have rattles - the CD5. Also there are a few shad imitation baits like the Shad
'R. We did very well in a tournament with a bright green Shad 'R in an
impoundment where the old river channel came up close to the shoreline in one
spot. The river channel was 8-10 feet deep and came up to with 3-4 feet of the
shore line, but the rest of the area around it was four feet deep. We pulled some
very nice fish out of there.

What kind of retrieve do you use when you casting and cranking?

Conner -  "A lot of times we'll experiment with two different retrieves. One of
us will reel a little bit slow but most of the time we reel pretty fast.
Sometimes we'll do a little jerk, then reel a little bit or snap it a little. You
mixed it up all day long and you'll find a pattern that's working best for that
day.

Bringedahl - "You see who's catching the most fish. You try to pick their brain
and find out what they're doing a little different than you are, especially when
you're using the same bait".

Do you change the size of the lure to see if it matches the bait better?

Conner -  "If it's early in the year we'll go to small lures like a #5 and #7
Shadraps. If it's muddy you might go to a larger lure that gives off more
vibration".

Bringedahl - "It also depends on the bottom. If you have a gradual drop then your
Wally Divers and lures like that are going to dig in real quick and you're going
to get snagged up a lot. So where you're fishing depends on how big a bait you
can use and what type of bait you use.

Conner -  "Each bait has a dive curve to it. Some dive deep and quick and others
run shallow. They're all a little different, and line diameter affects it too.
The new book, Precision Casting is a big help. We've always guessed at the dive
curve of our lures, but now you can look them up in a book and know just how deep
they'll run.

Tell me about the type of outfit you use for casting for walleye.

Bringedahl - "We like to use a six foot medium St. Croix Avid 6 foot, 6 inch or
seven foot rod with a medium action and a fast action (very flexible) tip. I like
the longer rod because you can get a good snap at the end of your cast. That
gives you good control and nice long casts. When a fish hits the lure as you're
reeling fast you want to have some give to that rod when he pounds it. That's
another reason for the fast tip.

We like to use six pound test Fire Line because it doesn't catch the wind when
you cast so you get longer casts. Monofilament has a larger diameter and catches
the wind more. It will take also the abuse of hard casting and bouncing off
rocks. Plus, when you cast that lure up in the shallow water and you start
ripping it back as fast as you can and the fish hits, it hits so quick, with Fire
Line the fish sets the hook himself because the line doesn't stretch on the
strike.".

Conner -  "Another thing we've found is that walleyes will sometimes have a
tendency to follow the lure right to the boat and strike when you don't expect
it. With Fire Line, because of the low stretch, you'll set the hook whether
you're ready or not.

We use Okuma Epix Model 20 spinning reels. They're super smooth, with 10 ball
bearings, so you don't get tired with a lot of hard casting and reeling.

Bringedahl - "You're going to do a LOT of cranking, and the line doesn't knot up
on these reels. The line always lays down nice. They've got great, reliable drags
and you can get them either front or rear, depending on what you like. If a big
walleye or northern grabs the lure right at the boat and makes a hard run you
want to have your drag set just right and you want it to work smooth. And there's
no slop in the handle with the anti-reverse. It's nice and tight.


Casting and cranking for walleyes sound like a lot of fun!

Bringedahl - "If you don't mind fishing on a really windy day you can really get
into the action. It is a lot of fun.

Conner -  "And it really is a good technique for two people so you can share the
boat control, the casting and the story telling. Call a friend on the next windy
day and try it out".