jrs1986

It is sad that it seems like the states are the only ones interested in keeping the salmon program alive. It is ever apparent that the feds could care less. To my knowledge the USFWS is dumping 3 million lake trout annually into Lake Michigan, certainly putting more stress on our bait. How is the effort going to naturalize chinook in Lake O? That may put you guys ahead of the game.

Yup we're worlds apart, I was hoping you were in the Chicago area and had a bunch of bait around.

Yes, all my posts are in reference to Lake Michigan. I thought a few of those who replied to my posts were also talking about Lake Michigan. Sorry for any confusion, I guess I'll have to preface my future posts so everyone knows which lake I'm referring to. Vince: I envy your situation, unfortunately I fear ours is the exact opposite. I think more pelagic predators will put more pressure on our already depleted alewife stock. With our offshore water appearing nearly sterile and the depleted nutrient load going into the lake, I just don't know what kind of ability the system has to rebound. Hopefully I'm wrong and this mild winter we had can kick start things back into gear.

That's good to know but you are in the good alewife spawning grounds as well. It's not the same in other areas of the lake. I did see 3 alewife in the 20 silver fish that I cleaned this morning, 2 in a juvenile king and 1 in a coho. That brings my yearly total up to 4 alewives seen in a total of about 290 fish. Not good from my perspective, hopefully other areas are like yours.

Thanks I did take it as a little snarky so sorry for jumping on ya a bit. As I just stated I'm a lifelong Lake M fisherman by trade and the way I view it we've all got something to teach eachother or learn from eachother. Especially those of us who have chased the same fish for decades in different bodies of water.

Thanks for the reply. That's something I've never heard before and have been using this method exclusively for about 6 years. Off the top of my head I can't remember a break off that I would a attribute to something happening in the way you describe above, but not saying it couldn't happen. In most instances the release pops on the inital bite or as soon as the rod is grabbed and slack is retrieved. At that point you simply have your swivel sliding down with no abrasion. Admittedly I have only used this method on Lake Michigan where our fish are no doubt smaller than yours, but still can bust your gear up pretty good. And just for source I have used this method a lot becuase I charter full time and have for my entire life.(I prefer to keep my identity anonymous for now but that may change in the future). Not saying it's better or the best method, but after years of trying different things this is far and away my preferred method.

And a rubber band is more simple than the method I showed? I would fully disagree with that. And just to clarify I'm not talking about one of the sh!tty clips that are designed for stackers. I'm just suggesting to use an Offshore OR-19 clip to keep your slider stationary. Far and away the most simple method I've tried other than a free slider.

Just a question, but how will those clips cause you to lose a fish that a rubber band won't? I have used both methods and personally found the OR-19 to be far superior, but to each his own. I'm also not the biggest fan of partial rubber bands dangling around on my line, but again find what you like and stick with it.

Sorry I forgot to attach, here is the picture I was referring to...

The drawing above should help immensely and here is a closeup of the slider connection that I snapped on my phone. If you look on the right side you'll see the main line with the swivel and or-19 release attached to it. Going out to the left is the slider line heading to that bait. Once a fish takes the slider it will pop the clip and the entire slider will head down toward the main. At this time the or-19 will simply float freely on the slider line. Hope that helps. Good luck!

We've had a fair amount of shrimp in our area as well, but with the prevailing east winds so far this season it wouldn't surprise me that most of that biomass is on the west side of the lake currently. As far as alewife are concerned, I have heard that there is more bait north of where I am now (st joseph) but think it is still a far cry from what would sustain a strong chinook population, at least for the time being. Hoping for a strong hatch alwwife this season, but keeping my expectations in check as well.

Regardless of what Lake Michigan anglers say in regard to the bait situation if they think everything is rosy they are in denial. I will simply say that I fish a lot from 2 different ports on the east side of the lake. And things are not great from a chinook perspective. So far this year out of nearly 300 fish that have come over my transom (only a handful of chinook), I have seen a grand total of one alewife come out of a fish. And that was a trout. All of this has been from a port in the south basin. Here's the way I see things currently: Our coho are doing fair eating a diet of bugs and mysids Our steelhead are doing fair eating mostly bugs Our Lake trout are doing very well eating gobies and alewife when available. Our chinook are starving or starved to death as jueveniles. In all fairness the few I've caught seem healthy but with so few around there simply isn't that many mouthes to feed. My biggest fear is that our offshore water is looking almost sterile and I just don't know how much production the system has in it at it's present state.

Unless it is a real small fish it will release either right after the bite or once someone gets to the rod to gather the slack from the main line releasing. After the slider release pops it will simply slide down to the bait that you have on your main. Like I said this will give you a much more positive hook up as opposed to a simple free slider. It also gives you the ability to put the fixed slider bait any depth that you want above the main. I can attach a picture if it is still a bit fuzzy. My explaining skills probably aren't the best.

The absolute best way I have found to do this is to use an Offshore Tackle OR-19 release. I have used free sliders and many types of poorly designed fixed sliders but none of them come close to being as effective or having the longevity of working day after day. The Michigan stinger shown above is basically done after 1 decent fish. Elberta clippers are better but will eventually degrade and either fail or cut the main line. All you have to do is tie your slider as you normally would but before tying the swivel on the second end, slide the OR-19 on the line of the slider and finishing tying the swivel. Sounds confusing but the release will simply slide freely on your slider line and can easily attach to the main line to hold it in place prior to getting a bite. The idea is extremely simple and very effective even though this isn't what these particular releases were designed for. Once the slider takes a bite you'll also have a much more positive hook up, especially if you keep your rigger rod wrenched real tight. A couple helpful tips if anyone decides to use this method: Very obvious but make sure to hook the swivel and release to the main line. The release won't hold on it's own with a fish on it and you'll donate tackle. Secondly, when attempting to remove the fixed slider with out a fish on it from the mainline it will commonly develop a bit of a twist. It is important to remove the twist before taking the release off (much quicker, easier, and pain free). Simply do this by pulling on your slider bait slightly while the twist works itself out (this is very easy to do when there is tension on the main line like when there is a fish on). Hope this helps someone. If I didn't explain well enough let me know and I'll try to do it better becuase it really is a foolproof method.