Jig-a-whoppering

[Dan]

My brother-in-law has me taking the bass boat out jig-a-whoppering. He jigs off the bottom 20-30 ft. deep out in front of the rivers in our West Side drowned river mouths. All of them are producing, with Muskegon just now really turning on. We got our limit of 10 salmon the first time out. Hasn't been that good since. We've been getting 3-5 with about that many that we hook. These fish are eating the jig. No snagging here. You can see them chasing bait on the graph. Man of man when they hit that jig you had better hang on. Smallmouth on steroids and crack. We caught this 24 pounder yesterday. They seem to bite best early and then late. Some stay out after dark, but with this full moon I have to be in early.

[Cy]

What is the setup you're using Dan?  What kind of jig?

Cy

[Genie]

What kind of rods, line, etc. too please?

[Cy]

Don't tell Genie...just tell me!  It can be our secret.

[thedude]

go ahead and tell genie. he's not allowed to go fishing anyway.

[Genie]

wow - where's the love?

[Dan]

I have been using 12 lbs. Vicious Pro Elite. Haven't broken off any, despite boating 20 pounders! I know it is probably sacrilege, but I have been using my KVD crankin rod and reel that I won. My brother-in-law is also using bass rods, spinning reels. He's been using 14 lb. XT green. Guys are catching them on all sorts of jigs from 3/4 to two ounces. My brother-in-law has his favorite and he said I could blog about jig-a-whoppering, but said I couldn't name his secret lure. For a price though... Cy already paid me not to give out specifics.
Water depth seems to be important, because of temperature 25-30 ft. Watch for Big Lake temps to be around 60 for the best fishing. My brother-in-law is surprised that they are getting them like they are with the weather so warm. Here is a good site for Lake Michigan surface temps http://www.coastwatch.msu.edu/michigan/m3.html

[LipRip]

Can you say what style of jig?!?! Theres a lot of jigs out there lol

[Waterfoul]

Salmon sure make a mess of a bass boat though.... slimy critters.  Worse than pike!

[Dan]

If you have a system, it's not too bad, but they are slimy. We net them and then leave then in the net while we take the hook out and then put them on a stringer and hang them off the back cleat. We motor to the launch, which is a short distance, with them on the stringer. after we put the boat on the trailer we pull the truck up a ways and then just throw the fish in the back of the pick up. We then drive about 3-4 miles to the cleaning station and have Mark, the contracted manager for the cleaning station, fillet them for $2.00 a piece. All you need is a box of zip locks, and all you take home is fillets.

As an aside, there were people slitting their salmon caught and throwing the eggs in, chumming. I wondered if that was legal?

I read in the DNR regs that it is unlawful to throw fish offal (basically guts and carcass) into any state waters, and technically skein is part of the guts. However skein is used as bait, so I guess it wouldn't be illegal as long as you are using it in the water that you caught the fish in.

BTW we have been bleeding our salmon. They say it makes the flesh firmer and is better if you plan to cure the skein.  (http://www.lakemichiganangler.com/tips/salmon_eggs/removing_salmon_skein.htm)