9-6-26 Muskegon Lake
The salmon run is killing me this year. We are at a big time stall. No favorable winds and a super deep temp break in Lake Michigan. I'm not sure there is any end in sight to it either. We are just getting to where they are just going to come.
I had a nephew in town that was hoping for his first salmon. It just stinks knowing the odds are against us. We had options though and I let the kids pick. We could go all in on salmon but end up with a little action or nothing or gamble on an area with a potential for salmon but some sure bites from other species. They chose wisely and we went to the area with some likely action. It was still uncertain because I just stumbled onto this last year and it isn’t really something I normally do. I had some crankbaits ready just in case there were some salmon around. But floating skein on some 9 foot MH TFO steeldriver rods was the main presentation and catfish were the main target.
We made a couple quick passes looking for kings and that was empty so our focus shifted only to catfish. 5 globs of skein went out and we waited. I was starting to get concerned when my father in law hooked up with a nice one. He had the hot hand and getting bites for the day although we had trouble hooking them up. Another bobber went down while I was unhooking that one but the kids weren’t able to get the hooks into that one. This trip was turning around and it was never fast and furious but it was steady. Our main goal was to get my nephew some action since he loves fishing but doesn’t get to fish as much as the girls do. I’ve got to give the girls a lot of credit for letting him take some extra bobber drops. He got a pretty epic battle from a 12 pounder that they made me put on the scale. Peeling drag and digging under the boat, it was all he could do to hang on. Those 9 foot steeldriver rods are a ton of fun to fight them on too. I actually thought we might have had a salmon with that fish as it went on some legitimate runs. Our action slowed as the day went on and I’m thinking that mornings and evenings are the best for this bite.
The presentation was simple, a glob of cured skein attached to a 1/0 BKK octopus hook with a snell knot. That is suspended under a slip bobber and I was using braid with a 17lb P-Line Fluorocarbon leader. The same exact rig if I was floating skein in the lake or river. I do think I need to change out my leaders because they are all catfish slimed up! I ran them suspended off the bottom a couple feet. I don’t know if the cats are suspended or if I would be better running it on true bottom. But If I have any hope of getting kings at the same time, I need to keep it up off the bottom. We tried shallower but had our best action in around 20 feet of water. There were some balls of shad in the area and I think that helped too. It’s something that is a little different for me but I actually really enjoy it and I know the kids did too. I’m sure we’ll have another catfish adventure later this season!