Catch more salmon and trout this summer. Part 2, Adjusting to Water Temperature

Captain Andy Derwinski

JEDI Sportfishing Charters

Kenosha, WI

Lake Michigan fishing is like a puzzle with a few of the pieces missing. At least this is how it feels some days. Just when you think you have it figured out, here comes the twist of the week. After 30 years of fishing Lake Michigan from over 20 different ports, there are a few things that remain constant. The most important key to consistently catching fish is location. In the last article we discussed location in relation to information available. Fishing reports, local bait shops and captains, and yesterdays info all help us pick a starting point. So what do we do if we have no information? What if we choose a location and the fish aren’t there? Where do we go now?

Most days, water temperature will determine fish location. If we break it down into seasonal patterns, it can begin to make sense.

Spring in my part of Wisconsin starts in mid April. The fishing can be excellent one day and downright aggravating the next. The key here is to find the warmest water in the area. Sometimes it’s the filtration discharges. Other days it’s runoff from the rivers and streams. Still other days it is small pockets of warmer water located along the shoreline. However, as spring progresses into late May, the warm water pockets are often located well off shore. A great tool is on the web. Just Google “coast watch”. There you can find satellite images showing lake surface temperatures. As I sit here in the dead of winter, the warmest water on the lake is 37.7 degrees. A small pocket located halfway between Kenosha and South Haven, right in the middle of the lake.

As June approaches, the water begins to set up with summer thermo clines. Currents begin to form as the lake rolls north and south from winds and the earth’s rotation. These currents will hold colder water and higher oxygen levels. These currents also hold the bait fish. Once the alewives have stopped spawning, they move offshore and move with the currents.

So much has been written over the years about preferred temps for the various Lake Michigan species. However, with a reduced bait population and almost no smelt, food often becomes the main factor for fish location. In a perfect world a big Chinook could spend his entire life swimming in 52 degree water and there would always be plenty of food. This is why June becomes a challenge as the bait begins to move. Cold water doesn’t mean a thing if the bait is elsewhere. So, until the summer thermo cline sets up, the late spring/ early summer focus is on bait.

As summer approaches, cold water is the key. Last summer we had west winds for a week followed by 2 weeks with no wind. The west wind brought cold water near shore. The shore temps were down to 39 degrees for several weeks. It made for fantastic fishing right off the beaches. Mixed catches of all 5 species, even Lakers, were common in 30 to 40 feet of water.

Other times during summer we may be anywhere from 150 to 300 feet of water with a major temp break 90 to 120 feet down. The pocket of cold water may extend for miles or maybe only a few hundred yards. Finding these cold pockets can be a challenge. You need to keep moving until active fish are located. A downrigger temp probe is very helpful at this time of year. Also, keep checking surface temps on coast watch for pockets of colder water near shore.

Finally, as the lake starts to cool, you need to move with the falling temps. Spawning fish will move to shore if the water remains warm. However, the main schools will wait till the shores cool.

Once the spawn is over, the focus is on bait again. As the lake temps fall, the last few pockets of warmer water will concentrate the bait. We’ve trolled in 20 feet of water in October and watched huge schools of alewives pass under the boat like a giant silver ribbon. It can be a challenged to beat Mother Nature with all the free food around, but the rewards in October can be great.

Next month I will cover in detail a plan for early season Brown trout.

Feel free to contact me for local reports for the Kenosha area. I don’t normally respond to text messages, a call is always better. For more info on the lake and what it has to offer, check the website at http://www.jedisportfishing.com

The JEDI fishes daily from late April through October for salmon and trout from the Port of Kenosha. Kenosha is consistently ranked the best charter fishing port in Wisconsin by the Wisconsin DNR.

I am Captain Andy Derwinski, owner and captain of the JEDI. For the best adventure on the lake, give me a call. 414-788-6603

Hello I run www.worldsfishermen.com fishing,Deep Sea Fishing | Sea Fishing | Fly Fishing | Ice Fishing | Saltwater Fishing | Bass Fishing | Salmon Fishing | Shark Fishing
| Walleye Fishing | Ohio Fishing | www.worldsfishermen.com River Fishing | Freshwater Fishing | Sport Fishing | Kayak Fishing | Lake Fishing | Catfish Fishing | Carp Fishing | Tuna Fishing | Surf Fishing | Trout Fishing | Crappie Fishing | Ocean Fishing | Pike Fishing | Fishing Reports

If you haven’t signed up yet for South Platte Pro-Am Carp Slam you can and should do so now. Even if you are not a local, it sounds like a good excuse to plan an end of summer getaway.

from the official site

It’s a fly fishing tournament where the finest professional and amateur anglers in the region (and beyond) match wits with the wily and elusive common carp. Carp are one of the most difficult freshwater fish to pursue on fly - meanwhile the urban South Platte River running through downtown Denver is one of the finest carp fisheries in North America.

The purpose of the tournament is to raise money for the reconstruction / rehabilitation of a roughly two mile section of the South Platte River below Chatfield Reservoir.

So now you know. It sounds like a good cause, a fun day, and credit needs to be given for the great name. The name alone is enough to get me running to check my diary.

see ya there :-)

Via Michael Gracie

I love reading old text books or newspapers and so on, especially from the end of the 19th century, because society as we know it has change in such a vast way since then, and this is most evident in editorials and text books.

One of the thing that I have noticed in common with all the books from that period - is the black and white philosophy (not racism, but right and wrong, good and bad and how clearly they are defined. Its as if grey only happened in the 1960’s). The thing that never fails to jump out at me is how chauvinistic society was at the time, and how gender based the thinking was.

I just read a great post on Fishing for History, in which Dr. Todd quotes an article form the New York Times, dated January 1891 which was very interesting to read.

It was all about collecting and displaying fishing paraphernalia and decorating a mans library or den with it.

The fisherman’s study or library is now receiving more attention than at any previous time, and all manner of devices in the shape of decorations are being placed upon the walls to remind the angler of enjoyable sojournings on stream or lake….If the angler’s wife is at all artistic she will see that the decorations in his den, smoking room, or whatever it may be called, are arranged in a tasteful manner and to his satisfaction.

In  another part of the article - the cons of stuffed fish are discussed

With a few pictures of trout or bass a start can be made…Sometimes an attempt is made to prepare decorations of stuffed fish. Stuffed fish, as a rule, are a failure. They seldom look well.

Anyway, go over and read, it will make your day

OK. If I would have fished a missile or mine or any other sort of ammunition, I for one wouldn’t necessarily keep it around as a memento….but then again - each to their own

via Connecticut Fishing Tips and News