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I opted to go out of New Buffalo today and got a bit of a late start (7a). The waves were significantly bigger than the 1-2s that were forecast. They had me strongly considering turning back by the time we got out to 50 fow. But I decided to give it a go anyway. I set up in 65 fow, running a pair of Brad's Thin Fish on mini dipsys, a pair of Yakima Mag Lips on 5 colors and a pair of spoons on dipsys (0). We had good marks down around 40-50 feet, but I don't think I was able to get down to them. We trolled out to 80 fow.

After awhile working that area, we decided to go in shallower where we marked fish on the way out. So we set up with a similar program in 55 fow. We went over what looked like three huge balls of bait fish down between 25-40 feet on the graph with fish marks all around them. We made three passes through those marks and still no takers. After the third run through and taking a constant beating all morning through lunchtime, I decided enough was enough.

Two things: 1. I don't have downriggers yet, so I'm limited there, and 2. I left my box with my tadpole divers and flies in my garage. I don't know if my luck would've been any better running my Spin Doctors and flies, but I sure wish I would've had them with me to try. From everything I heard on the radio, it sounds like a lot of folks struggled by us. My buddy Gene went out and work d 85-100 fow and went 5-for-6 with a 20-pound laker, a steelie, two coho and a 12-pound king. As for my day, I'll chalk it up to operator error and inexperience.

One thing I always try to have in the water is a protroll with the EChip. I thought it might just be another "snake oil" marketing thing but we always seem to do significantly better when one is in the water (many times it does not get the hits but the other lines near it do). Just something else to throw in the mix if you don't have one already.

Thanks for the report.

Thanks for the report. Better luck next time.