Hey thanks Chuck that was lot of fun with a dash of excitement when we hit the buoy  For the record I was not putting on my life vest because of the Buoy incident I wear my life vest whenever running big motor I just had forgot to put it on before that.
The fishing was little tough I think due to the thunderstorms that came early in the day. I started slowing down when I saw Chuck losing a lot of fish on crank baits & he did get one late that night that was hooked in the head so they were just bumping it all night.
I got 1 3lber on a spinner bait slow rolling at dusk 1 3lber on a shaky head A 2lber on a drop shot when all you guys were there at midnight & few others at 1lb or less.
Night fishing was very nice the mild temps no water skiers how can you beat that in the summer. I am sure it's a real blast on a full moon night. Next time Chuck might let me get the big fish 

My friend Som and I had a fun night.  On the way up to meet others, we stopped at Coleman and I caught a few dinks on a spinnerbait.  After we broke off we went up to Webster.  Right when the sun was just gone I hooked one on a dropshot that went a bit less than 3lbs.  The fish was hooked towards the back of the throat and I told myself to retie, but didn't.  That was a big mistake as 10 minutes later my rod loads up and bend and the line broke.  We then moved over to see if we can get any largies and on the first cast with the black spinnerbait, another 2-3lb fish hooks up.  All the way to the boat and ready to get lipped, it gets off.  We had no other bites until we went back to I-90 around midnight and my friend hooked one with a crankbait and it too popped off at the boat.  Overall we had fun except the ride up to Webster...that was scary.

What I learned:

Be really careful when there is a lot of boat traffic.  Those waves come out of no where.  And at night, go slow.  Even though I was going 35mph, I too almost hit a bouy. 

retie often with 6lb line

I should start using my net to land fish.

Don't get stuck with using big, black lures at night.  Some of you guys proved it that night.  I was amazed that small finese techniques where working.  Many times I  was going to throw small grubs or dropshot, but kept telling myself they weren't going to see it.


Says

The best part of the night was getting to know John, who had never gone night fishing before.  I wanted to get him on crankbait bite, but the fish were really skittish.  No matter how slow I ran the crank - they would bump it but not take it.  Just at dusk John did picked one smallie up on a spinnerbait over the weeds, but all the rest of the fish for the night (approx - 15) had to be coaxed with tiny plastics moved painfully slow. 

John picked up several fish close to 3 pounds and I had one go 3lbs -4oz.  One of the interesting experiments of the night was when I put on a white 3 inch grub.  Apparently the fish didn't read the magazines that suggest night anglers use black, black, and black.  Caught numerous fish on the white - was fun to dispell that one. 

The scariest thing was hitting a large bouy at 34 miles an hour!  I thought I knew every bouy on the lake - all but the one I hit I guess.  Never saw it coming.  We were approaching the I-90 bridge from the north, and I was focused on two other boats passing on the left.  Good thing I didn't have a fiberglass boat - it made a huge booming sound.  All my old aluminum ended up receiving was another dent to my 11 year collection of dents.   (Though I noticed John wore his life-vest religiously from that point on - wonder why?) 

Still, fun time - I love the quiet and the cool night.  Even if the fish were spooky it was a great night!

Yep, fish or no fish it was a great night on the lake. I picked up 3 fish on a spinner bait between 6:15 and 7. Then I went to the Mercer launch to see if a non boater needed a ride. Everybody was taken care of so I tried to help Ray get his Stratos going but the motor would not start. He and his son went out using the trolling motor. I went back to my favorite shoreline about 8:50. Got another nice SM on a dark, single colorado spinner bait. I switched to trolling a crankbait about 10pm. This, as always, produced bigger fish. Two about 3lb's and one about 2.5 lb's. Stayed till midnight but the bite slowed. You might think a SM would depend on seeing prey above them at night but they really have no trouble finding a bait that is ticking along the bottom.

We had a good turnout and a good time at the night fish-in.

Thanks to Mark B, Chuck, Faz, Ray and his son, Jose, Carlos, Phil and Brian, Pat S, Jon, Says and his fishing partner Som for coming out.

I'll need some of the others to add in their individual reports about what they caught and how, because we met up under I-90 for a few minutes at midnight to compare big fish, but didn't have the usual BBQ time to talk about the details - we just went back out on the water.

Jose and Carlos fished with me in the aircraft carrier. The weather was beautiful and we had the stereo going all night. It was calm all evening with a slight breeze from about 10 PM on. We fished Groat Pt first and Jose caught a 2.4 smallie on a spinnerbait. We went down to Colman Pt after that, but we think we missed the best topwater by about 30 minutes. We had a few good blowups on Sammys, but no takers.

After that, we fished Pleasure Pt and Jose caught a fat 4 lb 9 oz smallie on a dropshot. It was a really nice fish. Jose can add the pics.

After midnight we went back to Groat and Carlos caught a 2 lber on a dropshot while we were moving to another spot with the trolling motor on high. The fish must have grabbed it on the drop, because we were really moving at the time.

I had never been night fishing before. It's everthing good that people have said about it, as far as I am concerned.

Thanks again, everyone, for a cool fish-in.

Stu

Love to be there but have family in town from Texas and the east coast. Have fun!!!!

Russ

Just for information sake - Gene Coulon is open 24 hours a day.  I have a yearly pass so I will be putting in there and running down to I-90.  I know the lake real well and have GPS.  I run the lake at night a lot and love doing it.

PS - Make sure you guys have plenty of flashlight, etc..  Nothing worse than not being able to see how to tie a knot.  And if there is not a breeze, you may want bug spray.  I always throw an extra start up battery in the boat just in case.  When you have bow and stern lights on constantly, fish-finders (also using night lights), etc... you can delete a battery in a hurry!  Just a few loose thoughts...

Thanks, everyone. Let's just bring food individually.

Stu

I'd like to skip the food at midnight.  I will have dinner in the boat.
Ray

Several longtime club members have told me that the MI police in the past have been OK with us leaving our rigs after hours. I hope they are right.

Larry or Jose, were you able to get in touch with your contacts at MI Police dept?

Stu

StuK wrote on 07/12/07 at 04:55:07:

I say we just fish!

Good luck to everyone...Watch out for those Thunderstorms!

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/warnings.php?wfo=sew&zone=WAZ657&pil=XXXRFWSEW&productTy...



Bob

Forget the food - let's fish!

I need to get your input. What do people think about not having hot dogs/chili, just fishing until midnight, comparing big fish and then continuing to fish? I'll cook if people really need it, but if everyone is OK with just bringing food along on the boats, we could get more fishing in before it getsa too far into the AM. I'd like to be on my way home around 2 am or so because I have plans on Saturday afternoon and evening.

Let me know what you think.

Stu

Hey gang it's been awhile since I've been able to get out and would love to make this one. If someone might be able to give me a ride I'd love to make it I can cover fuel costs. Give me a call...

Die 'n' to go fishing,
Carlos 253-376-8591

BTW I don't have a computer so messaging me won't get r done, thanx.