Phil and I finally had a chance to get offshore and look for some trout and salmon.   The currents brought in some super cold water so  we didn't need to get way out by the boats to find some fish.   The action was not hot and heavy but we were able to pick off a few fish here and there.   I used my Fish Hawk TD and found the water was 72 on the surface, 59  degrees 10 feet down, and 48 degrees 20 feet down.  We put our baits a little closer to the surface and it didn't take long to get hooked up.   Phil had a real nice steelhead slam his dipsy and sky rocket out of the water.   Unfortunately the fish came off a moment later.   As the day went on we managed to pick away at a few more steelhead and cohos.  Stinger and Super Slim Spoons in almost any color caught all of the fish. 
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Comments

Jim
08/03/2011 14:00

Rob -
How do you use the temperature information when fishing for salmon? Are you targeting depth by temp for particular species, and if so, what temp for coho and chinook? Or are you mostly using your fish finder and the temp info is just for fun? Lake water here on the northern MI side is already pretty warm, getting warmer and nobody within pedaling distance of Charlevoix harbor is getting any salmon or lakers yet. They are rumored to still be several miles out in deep water, but who knows? I only know that you seem to have an incredibly more productive fishery on your side of the lake than we see over here.

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Rob
08/06/2011 03:21

Jim,

I Typically look for the thermocline. Some days the fish are hard to find with just a fish locator so this helps me target an effective depth. So if the thermocline is down 30 feet I will want my lines to be at least 30 feet down. Trout and salmon like cold water so I look for water below 50 degrees if it is around. Unfortunately, sometimes this means there might not be fish near shore. In fact the fish I caught lately were about 4 miles offshore.

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Jim
08/08/2011 15:51

OK I feel a little better that you have to get out of the harbor now! From your posts, I got the feeling that all my fish had migrated to your backyard!

So what does a thermocline look like on the Fish Hawk anyway? In your example, the temp drops pretty linearly, about 12 degrees for every 10 feet down or so. I wouldn't know how to use that info to set a trolling depth. At this point I am focusing on finding baitfish, and lacking that, just stay "deep" where it should be cold.

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Rob
08/08/2011 16:31

Jim,

Basically. the Fish Hawk just displays the water temperature every five feet down from the surface to as far down as you let it go. The water temperature does not always drop at the same rate. But if you can target the coldest water available you will have a better chance at catching some fish even if you are not marking any. The thermocline is where the warm water breaks to cold water so it is good to have your baits at that level or below it.

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Jim
08/23/2011 17:14

Rob -
Finally got a nice 7-lb Laker this past Sat. Marked lots of them down about 80 ft in 85 FOW. I used the torpedo diver to get down there. Worked fine for a Lake Trout, becuase they don't fight too much, but I would probably not be so fortunate if a Chinook was being dragged up from that depth with a big torpedo on the line for leverage. So I was thinking about adding a Scotty Laketroller downrigger to my PA. Have you used downriggers before from your PA? Any adice?

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Rob
08/27/2011 08:28

Jim,

Great job catching that laker! When I got my P.A. I was planning on putting a scotty downrigger on it. Once I started using the torpedo divers I did not feel the dowrigger was necessary. I have caught a lot of kings and other fish on Torpedo Divers and they do not give the fish and leverage to pull the hooks. A dowrigger give you an advantage since the weight is not on the line when you are fighting fish, but it stays in the water so your other lines or fish can get tangled in it or cut off while fighting. You might like the downrigger more but I prefer the torpedo.

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