North Point 9/29-10/1

Took off on Friday morning with the anticipation of 5-10 mph West winds listening to the forecast from the night prior. It started off great, the Lake was calm and 1' to 2' rollers left over from the North blow on Thursday met us at the harbor mouth. I set up on the Wisconsin side of the line in 70` and took it North along the hill. Bait was everywhere, from the bottom all the way up to 20`, however marks were scarce. I kept the Northern heading and turned East after 1/2 hour with no action. We took our first hit at 110` and a # 2 dipsey 150` back,White Hot Spot / lil` boy blue fly brought our first king to the box. I finally started marking fish as we reached 145`, then both deep `riggers, a 69` Stinger Kevorkian, and 79` Silver Streak Green Dolphin, went off in quick succession. After getting the lines back in I turned on the and we took a few more hits all the way back into 130`. It seemed to be a spoon bite with all the `riggers working, I switched out my shallow dodger/flys with a "Smurf" down 40` and a "Black Fin Tuna" set at 55`. The forecasted "Light" Westerly winds were 20 mph plus out of the Southwest with more South than West, and the Lake was getting a little sloppy. The guys were doing well, and I used my GPS to keep me over the same East and West passes until we ended up 2 over the 2 man limit we needed, all Kings. On the way in as we came over the "Hill" the waves really calmed down and back at the dock you would expect the Lake to be flat.

On Saturday morning I had a 2 boat corporate outing for Fed Ex. We fished Illinois and I took it along the line setting up at 130` continuing East, the other boat set up in 90` 1 1/2 miles South. My graph was bare with no bait or marks, we managed to land 2 lakers as we neared 170`. The other boat was having more success than I so we turned back Southwest. It was a dead troll until we reached 140` where it became steady. The lead with the Stinger Kevorkian, `riggers had the Silver Streak Smurf 40` down, Black Fin Tuna 52`, Green Dolphin 75` and another Kevorkian down 95` were the mainstay for the rest of the morning. I stayed between 130` and 140` heading North at 3.0 kts (GPS) and South at 2.3 kts from the line to 1 1/2 miles South. At this level it was all Kings mostly, 3 yrs. of age with a few 2 yr. olds and even a couple yearlings I threw back. we ended up with 23 Kings and the 2 Lakers.

On Sunday Morning I slowed the boat in 50` just South of the line after marking a few fish and a lot of bait. It was a beautiful start with 1` waves and a few quick hits as I was setting lines in the 60`s. The #2 wire dipsey`s were out 100` and 120`, `riggers down 40` to the bottom with the same spoons as the day prior. The 10 color leads had the Kevorkian, and Green Dolphin in tow as well. As I passed 100` I took a 130` heading to avoid traffic. This is when the hits became steady, all the way out to 145` where I turned back. Everything was now working, but the dipseys died. On the way back I found a few marks deep so I dropped the Kevorkian to 95` and it was the stud on the return taking 3 more hits. I had to turn as we reached a pack of boats at 105` and then the bite really seemed to slow. There were plenty of hooks on the screen and listening to the radio chatter, they all seemed to have loc-jaw. The wind basically died making the Lake almost dead calm, and the Sun may have helped contribute to this. We only managed a few more pokes and ended up with 12 kings and 2 browns. It was a beautiful day, and perfect conditions for a family with their 3 young sons.

There are still plenty of kings hanging around between the 7 and 13 pound range. The bait in the fish I was cleaning varied from 1 1/2" to 4" alewife. So I would run your presentation a variety of sizes to match the hatch.

"Wet Nets"
Captain Jim