Post by MadWags on Jun 14, 2005 20:19:34 GMT -5
Pre-Fishing Day 1
I arrived at Houghton Lake around 10:00 AM on Thursday morning. The launch site for the tournament had been changed from the South DNR launch to Houghton Lake Marina in the extreme north west corner of the lake. I headed straight to the marina to orient myself with the location and inspect the launch site. It became clear to me that no boats would be launching at this location, since the single ramp was in disrepair and parking was limited. It also became apparent that the weigh-in would be a long one since there was only enough room for 10 boats to come in at one time. Another event that was readily apparent was that the May Fly hatch was in full swing. This had an adverse effect on the fishing last year. Couple that with the 90 degree heat we were experiencing and you have yourself some tough fishing conditions.
I got out on the water and started to scout the areas that were familiar to me from last years tournament. The lake was covered with the remnants of the previous nights bug hatch.
Trolling these areas produced nothing but hammer handle size Pike. I decided to find the thick weeds and pitch-cast Grubs, Rattle Traps and Spinner Baits around and in-between the clumps. I caught several Largemouth Bass, Crappie, Pumpkin Seed, Perch and Pike but no Walleye. The sun was cooking me like bacon so I headed back to the marina for a break and to get some live bait, Leeches and Crawlers, to see if this would make a difference. After about an hour of being out of the sun and talking with the guys in the marina I decided to make a quick repair on my trailer. One of the fender bunks had come loose. The marina owner was kind enough to supply me with the necessary stainless steel fasteners and the repair was made in less than 30 minutes. Another 30 minute break from the sun, with plenty of liquids, and I was ready to head back out on the water.
The entire late afternoon and early evening produced nothing in the way of the targeted species. Hopefully the next morning would make a difference. I pulled out and headed for the hotel for a much needed rest and a good meal. Maybe if I studied the map more I could figure something out. When I arrived at the hotel I saw Keith Strauss, who I had met last year at this event. I talked with him briefly, while he cleaned a couple of small walleye on the back of his Ranger 621. He had been there all week. He was catching good numbers of decent size fish casting Beetle-Spins and Gulp minnows at weed clumps in 9’ of water. He had yet to troll. But the numbers of fish he was catching fell from 17 on Tuesday to 4 by Thursday. The bug hatch and heat was taking the toll. The fish were feeding good at night and burying up in the weeds during the hot day.
Pre-Fishing Day 2
On Friday I launched from the small DNR ramp located on the west side of the lake and headed for East Bay once again to see if I could get an early morning bite going.
I proceeded to troll the north side of the bay on a 10’ to 15’ break with good weed growth. This time I rigged some spinners in-line with only ¼ ounce bullet weights and loaded them with one leech per hook on a double hook rig. The line was down sized to 6lb and 8lb test spinning tackle on medium and medium light action rods. I trolled with mini in-line planer boards at a snails pace. The bug hatch was everywhere and at times bogged down my small planer boards as it collected on the line. I was rewarded with a 17” walleye in the first hour. I continued to work this break from different angles to see what would trigger a strike. By noon I had determined my most productive area of the break with two more keepers off one general location which I marked with my GPS.
After taking a small break to load up with sun block and eat a candy bar, I decided to try and make some casts to this very spot with various lures to see if I could trigger a strike.
I tried jigs with grub bodies in various colors, small spinner baits, Rattle Traps and even tube baits. NO TAKERS! Man was I getting frustrated. I know there are good size fish in this lake.
With that spot logged in my GPS, I needed to find more fish, just in case they decide to move on me. The rest of the day was spent running and gunning around various locations of the lake in an effort to develop another pattern. I did not catch another Walleye the rest of the day. Plenty of Pike to be had in Houghton Lake. I did catch some really nice Pumpkin Seeds and even a decent size Crappie.
Soon big storms were rolling in and making their presence known with big claps of thunder and flashes of lightning. It was time to get off the water.
At the ramp everyone was in a mad rush as the weather closed in. I managed to get out in time and even talk to a few other anglers about their fishing luck. The anglers I talked with weren’t having any better luck than I. By the time I reached the hotel, mother nature was putting on a show with large hail, winds and rain.
I did run into Keith Strauss again and he did not have any luck at all. I thought, well maybe if I just catch a small limit I can do well in the tournament.
At the pre tournament meeting I drew #44 out of 59 boats and was partnered with a professor from U of M. Nice guy.
He finished in 8th place at the Detroit River Tournament so I would need to put him on some fish to keep him up there in the points. This was his first year of Tournament Fishing so his excitement level was high and I knew he would be a pleasure to fish with. I made him a deal. I’ll run the boat and keep us in the right spots and he would run the lines and catch the fish. Team work.
Tournament Day
We blasted off in the only bass boat in the tournament with Fish Hedz masks in place and headed across the lake for East Bay. My waypoint mark was #46 on the GPS and we would have to live and die by it in the tournament. I had rigged all of the rods the night before so we were fishing in no time upon our arrival to the area that I hoped would yield our limit of Willey Walleye. We would start with two floater spinner rigs on ¼ oz bottom bouncers on the boards and two in-lines straight out the back.
I captained the front of the boat with the electric trolling motor while my partner commanded the lines. Within the first five minutes we crossed my waypoint marker and boated fish #1. The 17” walleye easily measured over the minimum 15” length but carried very little weight. We kept working the area in an east and west pattern and averaged one fish per hour for the first four hours. All of our fish came off the same purple spinner except for one which bit red. With four fish in the box by noon we looked forward to getting our limit. We talked about securing a limit and then taking a chance at flipping the weeds for a kicker fish. I assume the best plans are always to be tested since our bite shut down and we were beginning to wonder if our limit 5th fish would join us in the boat.
The sky turned black and the weather started to change drastically all around us. Our path to the safety of the west shore disappeared in a deadly down pour of rain wind and lightning. To the east another storm threatened us and we were forced to stay put with rain gear in place. The wind picked up to gale conditions and white caps pounded our hull. I had to put the electric motor on high and fight the wind straight on. We had no choice but to remain on the lake and fish. And fish we did, right thru the storm.
The storm passed with our safety in check and we started once again to ponder our decision to stay with the location we were fishing. I suggested that we no longer fight the wind, but try to utilize it in a drift scenario with the drift sock. We started this tactic in deeper water in hopes of ending back at the designated waypoint where we caught our fish. After about 15 minutes I no longer felt comfortable with this decision and decided that we should go back to trolling. Time was running out and we needed that limit fish.
With 15 minutes remaining in our fishing time I noticed one of our boards giving a tell tale sign. I grabbed the rod and loaded up on what I knew was a fish. Walleye number 5 entered the live well at the last minute. We brought the lines in one at a time in hopes that a bigger fish would bite so that we could increase our total weight. Didn’t happen!. We secured everything and blasted back to the launch full throttle, arriving with seconds to spare. We were the last to weigh in. Our 5 fish weighed 7lbs 5oz. Good for 37th place.
My co-angler maintained a top ten points slot moving from 8th to 11th and I moved from 51st to 37th place in the standings. I feel we made a good showing for the conditions.
Keith Strauss stayed with his beetle spin pattern and put a solid limit together, good enough for second place. Congratulations Keith! The winner was blessed with a 31” 8lb Walleye that no one could believe. He was forced from his spot by the storm and just pulled up and threw the lines in at another unchecked location. Luck was on his side.
I hope you enjoy these reports as much as I enjoy writing them.
Thanks for your support.
I arrived at Houghton Lake around 10:00 AM on Thursday morning. The launch site for the tournament had been changed from the South DNR launch to Houghton Lake Marina in the extreme north west corner of the lake. I headed straight to the marina to orient myself with the location and inspect the launch site. It became clear to me that no boats would be launching at this location, since the single ramp was in disrepair and parking was limited. It also became apparent that the weigh-in would be a long one since there was only enough room for 10 boats to come in at one time. Another event that was readily apparent was that the May Fly hatch was in full swing. This had an adverse effect on the fishing last year. Couple that with the 90 degree heat we were experiencing and you have yourself some tough fishing conditions.
I got out on the water and started to scout the areas that were familiar to me from last years tournament. The lake was covered with the remnants of the previous nights bug hatch.
Trolling these areas produced nothing but hammer handle size Pike. I decided to find the thick weeds and pitch-cast Grubs, Rattle Traps and Spinner Baits around and in-between the clumps. I caught several Largemouth Bass, Crappie, Pumpkin Seed, Perch and Pike but no Walleye. The sun was cooking me like bacon so I headed back to the marina for a break and to get some live bait, Leeches and Crawlers, to see if this would make a difference. After about an hour of being out of the sun and talking with the guys in the marina I decided to make a quick repair on my trailer. One of the fender bunks had come loose. The marina owner was kind enough to supply me with the necessary stainless steel fasteners and the repair was made in less than 30 minutes. Another 30 minute break from the sun, with plenty of liquids, and I was ready to head back out on the water.
The entire late afternoon and early evening produced nothing in the way of the targeted species. Hopefully the next morning would make a difference. I pulled out and headed for the hotel for a much needed rest and a good meal. Maybe if I studied the map more I could figure something out. When I arrived at the hotel I saw Keith Strauss, who I had met last year at this event. I talked with him briefly, while he cleaned a couple of small walleye on the back of his Ranger 621. He had been there all week. He was catching good numbers of decent size fish casting Beetle-Spins and Gulp minnows at weed clumps in 9’ of water. He had yet to troll. But the numbers of fish he was catching fell from 17 on Tuesday to 4 by Thursday. The bug hatch and heat was taking the toll. The fish were feeding good at night and burying up in the weeds during the hot day.
Pre-Fishing Day 2
On Friday I launched from the small DNR ramp located on the west side of the lake and headed for East Bay once again to see if I could get an early morning bite going.
I proceeded to troll the north side of the bay on a 10’ to 15’ break with good weed growth. This time I rigged some spinners in-line with only ¼ ounce bullet weights and loaded them with one leech per hook on a double hook rig. The line was down sized to 6lb and 8lb test spinning tackle on medium and medium light action rods. I trolled with mini in-line planer boards at a snails pace. The bug hatch was everywhere and at times bogged down my small planer boards as it collected on the line. I was rewarded with a 17” walleye in the first hour. I continued to work this break from different angles to see what would trigger a strike. By noon I had determined my most productive area of the break with two more keepers off one general location which I marked with my GPS.
After taking a small break to load up with sun block and eat a candy bar, I decided to try and make some casts to this very spot with various lures to see if I could trigger a strike.
I tried jigs with grub bodies in various colors, small spinner baits, Rattle Traps and even tube baits. NO TAKERS! Man was I getting frustrated. I know there are good size fish in this lake.
With that spot logged in my GPS, I needed to find more fish, just in case they decide to move on me. The rest of the day was spent running and gunning around various locations of the lake in an effort to develop another pattern. I did not catch another Walleye the rest of the day. Plenty of Pike to be had in Houghton Lake. I did catch some really nice Pumpkin Seeds and even a decent size Crappie.
Soon big storms were rolling in and making their presence known with big claps of thunder and flashes of lightning. It was time to get off the water.
At the ramp everyone was in a mad rush as the weather closed in. I managed to get out in time and even talk to a few other anglers about their fishing luck. The anglers I talked with weren’t having any better luck than I. By the time I reached the hotel, mother nature was putting on a show with large hail, winds and rain.
I did run into Keith Strauss again and he did not have any luck at all. I thought, well maybe if I just catch a small limit I can do well in the tournament.
At the pre tournament meeting I drew #44 out of 59 boats and was partnered with a professor from U of M. Nice guy.
He finished in 8th place at the Detroit River Tournament so I would need to put him on some fish to keep him up there in the points. This was his first year of Tournament Fishing so his excitement level was high and I knew he would be a pleasure to fish with. I made him a deal. I’ll run the boat and keep us in the right spots and he would run the lines and catch the fish. Team work.
Tournament Day
We blasted off in the only bass boat in the tournament with Fish Hedz masks in place and headed across the lake for East Bay. My waypoint mark was #46 on the GPS and we would have to live and die by it in the tournament. I had rigged all of the rods the night before so we were fishing in no time upon our arrival to the area that I hoped would yield our limit of Willey Walleye. We would start with two floater spinner rigs on ¼ oz bottom bouncers on the boards and two in-lines straight out the back.
I captained the front of the boat with the electric trolling motor while my partner commanded the lines. Within the first five minutes we crossed my waypoint marker and boated fish #1. The 17” walleye easily measured over the minimum 15” length but carried very little weight. We kept working the area in an east and west pattern and averaged one fish per hour for the first four hours. All of our fish came off the same purple spinner except for one which bit red. With four fish in the box by noon we looked forward to getting our limit. We talked about securing a limit and then taking a chance at flipping the weeds for a kicker fish. I assume the best plans are always to be tested since our bite shut down and we were beginning to wonder if our limit 5th fish would join us in the boat.
The sky turned black and the weather started to change drastically all around us. Our path to the safety of the west shore disappeared in a deadly down pour of rain wind and lightning. To the east another storm threatened us and we were forced to stay put with rain gear in place. The wind picked up to gale conditions and white caps pounded our hull. I had to put the electric motor on high and fight the wind straight on. We had no choice but to remain on the lake and fish. And fish we did, right thru the storm.
The storm passed with our safety in check and we started once again to ponder our decision to stay with the location we were fishing. I suggested that we no longer fight the wind, but try to utilize it in a drift scenario with the drift sock. We started this tactic in deeper water in hopes of ending back at the designated waypoint where we caught our fish. After about 15 minutes I no longer felt comfortable with this decision and decided that we should go back to trolling. Time was running out and we needed that limit fish.
With 15 minutes remaining in our fishing time I noticed one of our boards giving a tell tale sign. I grabbed the rod and loaded up on what I knew was a fish. Walleye number 5 entered the live well at the last minute. We brought the lines in one at a time in hopes that a bigger fish would bite so that we could increase our total weight. Didn’t happen!. We secured everything and blasted back to the launch full throttle, arriving with seconds to spare. We were the last to weigh in. Our 5 fish weighed 7lbs 5oz. Good for 37th place.
My co-angler maintained a top ten points slot moving from 8th to 11th and I moved from 51st to 37th place in the standings. I feel we made a good showing for the conditions.
Keith Strauss stayed with his beetle spin pattern and put a solid limit together, good enough for second place. Congratulations Keith! The winner was blessed with a 31” 8lb Walleye that no one could believe. He was forced from his spot by the storm and just pulled up and threw the lines in at another unchecked location. Luck was on his side.
I hope you enjoy these reports as much as I enjoy writing them.
Thanks for your support.
