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Category: Spring Fishing

Milwaukee Brown Trout Fishing Heaven!

Milwaukee Brown Trout Fishing Heaven!

By Lake Michigan fishing Charter Capt. Jim Hirt

Fishing the easy way
You could do a fishing charter with me at http://www.bluemaxcharters.com/ and I will take care of everything for you. We do put together groups if you have no one to fish with come join the fun. This article will also help you navigate your way to exciting fishing out of Milwaukee on your own with your equipment.

All the details
Milwaukee fishing is as easy as it gets. We truly have a world-class fishery. There are three launch ramps for trailerable boats within minutes of dozens of hotels.

Where to launch
McKinley Marina 1750 N. Lincoln Memorial Drive, South Shore Marina 2900 S. Shore Dr. and Riverfront Launch 650 S. Water. McKinley Marina 414-273-5224 can arrange transient slips for those who would like to do an overnight. For general information on ramps and fees call 414-257-6100.

Questions
Should you have a question please e-mail me from my Blue Max website contact us page. Read all my articles and see video fish reports at http://www.jimhirt.com

What to do in Milwaukee
Shopping abounds for the ladies who prefer not to fish. Excellent dining, in all price ranges, will make your family outing complete. The Milwaukee Visitor Bureau 800-554-1448 is a great source of information.

How many
Wisconsin has a generous daily bag limit on Lake Michigan.
You may keep five total of salmon or trout over ten inches. Possession limit is two daily limits. You may use three rods per person.

Let’s catch a limit
I would like to share with you some of my keys to finding fish and the hottest set ups for very early presentation. I start my season in early April and the most important factor at this time is temperature. I recommend launching at McKinley. When you come out of the marina, stay inside the break wall. This area is well protected and is always fishable. Proceed south about one mile to the mouth of the river. The best early action will be where the warm river water meets the colder water. The mouth of the river and harbor breakwall gaps is where you want to fish.

Presentation
The most active species will be salmon and Brown Trout in the 5 to 12 pound class with many limit catches. Motor trolling is the method I use for most of my fishing, and I will explain one of my basic spring setups. I fish all my lines on planner boards with twenty-pound test line. Use a six foot leader 3/8-ounce keel sinker twenty feet behind the board. I recommend a boat speed of 2.0 M.P.H. Run small crank baits, medium size jointed minnow type lures and bright colored spoons. The color of the lure is dictated by the amount of light and water color. On most days in clear water I use white and black or silver lures. Hotter colors work best in cloudy water. You can’t go wrong with chartreuse in both conditions. The new Badger Tackle Vulcan glow in the dark lures sold at http://www.badgertackle.com are an excellent option call me I will help you pick some of my favorites. Good luck Captain Jim. Jim charters out of Milwaukee, WI. with Blue Max Charters He can be reached at 414-828-1094 or visit his web site at http://www.bluemaxcharters.com Copyright© 2015, James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved.

Three Must Read Spring Salmon Tips #2

By Wisconsin fishing charter Capt. Jim Hirt
Don’t know which way to go for spring salmon fishing. Allow me to break it down and offer some suggestions for wherever you fish. Let’s discuss presentation, lures and location to jump start your spring. Should you have a question please e-mail me from my Website contact us page http://www.bluemaxcharters.com I will be pleased to answer. My charter season will be under way soon and it may take a while to get back to you. Read all my articles and see video fish reports at http://www.jimhirt.com

Top producing spring lures
Article number one focused on presentation and this is very important. Now let’s talk about water temperature and it’s relationship to the correct lure. The best way to break this down is categorize the lure type by temperature Fahrenheit.

Thirty three through Forty degrees
Cold water means slow to dead slow presentation. Since this article is about trolling I will not go into what an angler might use for lures when shore fishing or when the boat is stopped. For trolling very cold water small seems to work better than large and I go to my smallest lures in this cold water. My set up for this scenario would be half of my baits as one half ounce or smaller spoons and the other half under two inch crank baits. These small baits must work and provoke a strike at speeds less than 1.5 miles per hour trolling speed. Color is determined water color and light. Bright colors or glow colors are always part of my program in spring.

Forty one through fifty degrees
Beef up the size of your lures is the way to go. Use the same spoons and cranks in larger sizes as you used for the colder water. I would add to my program a few stick baits in the four inch size. Depending on the water color some of the stick baits in the natural color patterns can be very effective. A increase of boat speed will be required and necessary to bring these baits to life. These larger baits should be run from 1.7 to 2.0 boat speed.

Above fifty degrees
At this point you are reaching the optimum temperature of cold water class fish like salmon and some trout. Their metabolism cranks up and you may increase speed, bait size and lure action.
Magnum spoons or flashers with flies are a great option for these temps.

Hot location focus on temp breaks
Wind will dictate where you find the best concentration of fish. Monitor the direction of the wind and this will help you find where warmer water is stacking up. Surface temperature gauge is a must and your key tool to find any increase or decrease of temperature watch it closely! River mouths and break water gaps are important spots to investigate. Anywhere you find a increase in water temperature you will most likely find fish.

Hot spoons for spring
I keep talking about Vulcan spoons and more anglers are finding out that this spoon will out produce most spoons in their tackle box. Reasonably priced and nearly indestructible they just keep on producing. The regular size is a good bet for spring. Vulcan spoons are sold by http://www.badgertackle.com Good Luck let’s go fishing! Jim charters out of Milwaukee, WI. with Blue Max Charters. He can be reached at 414-828-1094 or web site at http://www.bluemaxcharters.com Copyright© 2011 James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved.

Three Must Read Spring Salmon Tips #1

By Wisconsin fishing charter Capt. Jim Hirt
Don’t know which way to go for spring salmon fishing. Allow me to break it down and offer some suggestions for wherever you fish. Let’s discuss presentation lures and location to jump start your spring. Should you have a question please e-mail me from my Website contact us page http://www.bluemaxcharters.com I will be pleased to answer. My charter season will be under way soon and it may take a while to get back to you. Read all my articles and see video fish reports at http://www.jimhirt.com

Top producing presentations
Here are some ways to present lures in spring. This time of year look for most of your fish in the top 50 feet. Keep your eye on your locator and also work deeper marks when you see them. My experience this time of year is the deeper fish are less active and tend not to bite. Most often you will not mark well above 30 feet because those fish are outside the cone of your locator’s transducer. However that’s where most of the fish are.

Leadcore on boards first choice
The primary presentations I use at this time of year are Church Tackle Walleye boards, Slide Divers and leadcore. If your budget allows, I would recommend trying a leadcore line set up. This presentation will work when all others are dead and this is the best bet for spring

Basics
The basics of leadcore are simple. The most expensive part is the reel. It must have enough line capacity to handle the twenty seven pound leadcore line plus Seaguar fluorocarbon leader and Power Pro 50 pound backer line for a total of anywhere from 300 yards on a half core to 600 yards double core. I run my half cores or five colors on a reel that holds 300 yards of 20 pound test. This is the smallest reel a half core ( five colors ) will fit on. Line counter reels are not necessary. Leadcore sinks at a rate of 4-5 feet per color. A half core will run about 24 feet deep.

Loading the reel
When loading this reel, start with 200 yards of Power Pro 50 pound then strip the lead out of the end of the leadcore and tie a Willis Knot to the leadcore. Finish with another Willis Knot and 30 feet of a 20-pound Seaguar fluorocarbon to a ball bearing cross lock snap. You will need a medium heavy action 8-foot rod to work with lead. You may run this with a Church Tackle Walleye planer board if you are going to use multiple set ups.

Presentation Tips
Snap on your favorite lure and let out all of the line to the Power Pro backer. Then install your board so it does not release. I usually run them 150 feet off each side of the boat. Very wide turns and low boat traffic are a must to avoid tangles and getting run over. I set my drags light. When the reel starts to scream, adjust the drag as necessary. Reel in the line until you can reach the board and hand release it. Now the line is clear to bring in the fish. I don’t fish lead early in the morning. I use it when the early bite is over. Some of my biggest fish are caught on this presentation.

Lures for leadcore
I keep talking about Vulcan spoons and more anglers are finding out that this spoon will out produce most spoons in their tackle box. Reasonably priced and nearly indestructible they just keep on producing. The regular size is a good bet for spring. Vulcan spoons are sold by http://www.badgertackle.com Three Must Read Salmon Tips number two will continue with more lure choices in the next post. Good Luck let’s go fishing! Jim charters out of Milwaukee, WI. with Blue Max Charters. He can be reached at 414-828-1094 or web site at http://www.bluemaxcharters.com Copyright© 2011 James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved.

Finding Spring Fish on Lake Michigan

In the last article, we started with the importance of location, tackle, temperature and good record keeping. I also covered some of my key ways to find fish in early spring on Lake Michigan and the hot set ups to keep the rods dancing.
Let us now go into more detail on location of temperature breaks and how to work them. The first and perhaps most important is how to find these sometimes subtle temperature changes. Your primary tool, and one you cannot do with out, is a surface temp gauge. I use the one built into my fish locator. It also has a graph to show the temp history over the last hour. This may not be necessary but it can help when mapping temp over a given area. The big pond is very cold in May also some years even into June. Your ability to monitor temp and stay in as close to the target species preferred temp will make or break your day on the lake. Let us assume most of the lake is in the forty-degree range and your target species is Coho, browns or Chinooks. All of these fish are looking for two things, temperature as close to their preferred range and food. I will go into food and or forage in another article for now let’s focus on temperature.
Out of Milwaukee we are fortunate to have several rivers flowing into a large harbor. The rivers warm earlier than the lake and the mouth of a river is a place to start with a temp check. In addition, you should be checking each of the three gaps in the break wall that creates the harbor. A south wind will push the warm water out the north gap. This will turn the fish on in this area while the south gap is too cold for productive fishing. The way I start any day is to work the warmest water or water nearest to preferred temp I can find. After working this water, I move to cooler water. Sharp temp breaks are usually better at holding fish then gradual changes. Always consider the wind direction, not only when you are fishing but what it has been doing over the last several days. A light east wind on our western shore moves warmer surface water on shore and contributes to a rise in temp and a good bite close to the shoreline. All harbors with rivers have some current flow and the wind determines the direction that warmer water will flow when leaving the harbor. Fish that warmer water and into the cooler lake water keeping an eye on your temp gauge. When you get action note your location by land sightings and temp. Stay with that temperature to find active fish. If you have worked the harbor and gaps with no or slow action, look for temp breaks on the lake created by shifts in wind direction.
Another option is to check tight along the shoreline in protected bays. At times I will run my lures in the shallow warmer water on side planners keeping the boat out in the deeper cooler water. Also check out any warm water discharged from power plants. We have this opportunity south of Milwaukee by twelve miles at Oak Creek. I will go into details of spring lure selection and presentation in the next article good luck Jim charters out of Milwaukee, WI. with Blue Max Charters. He can be reached at 414-828-1094 or visit his web site at http://www.bluemaxcharters.com Copyright© 2011, James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved.

Lures For Spring Salmon And Trout

Keys For More Action
The start of the 2011 Lake Michigan Season will be here before you know it and now is the time to think about early location and tackle. In this article, I would like to share with you some of my keys to finding fish and the hottest set ups for very early presentation. I have been a charter captain for over twenty years and these techniques have produced year after year. I am confident that you will achieve success applying these classic tips.
Tools You Will Need
I start my season in early April and the most important factor at this time is temperature. I recommend a must item for you is a temp gauge for the surface and a notebook. Your gauge can be a simple hand held thermometer or a unit built into your fish locator. The notebook is all about what’s working and what’s not. I find if I can avoid duplicating non-productive techniques, I will improve my catches and enjoyment. Keeping record of your bad and good days is key to moving to the top of the list as an above average in your sport. I write down the date, time of day, conditions, cloudy, clear, calm, rough, port or lake G.P.S. numbers if you have them. Record this on every fish or at least at the end of the day. On a hot bite, I usually get caught up on my notes as soon as I can to avoid lost detail.
Temperature Temperature Temperature
Spring action can be hot. Think about it, the temperature of the water is in the 40 degree range, and with a few exceptions, the fish we will find the most active are on the top five to ten feet.
Resources
Well lets get started. It’s always a good idea to check local phone hot lines for up to date information on what’s biting. I also check at local tackle stores and Internet reports. You may also call me at 414-828-1094 and check http://www.jimhirt.com for my fish reports. If these resources were not available, I would then start with temperature. This holds true if you are in a boat or on shore. Find the warmest temp you can. Sometimes I am fishing a temp break of only a degree or two. Don’t rush this process. Haste to get your lines in non-productive water is just a waste of time. You will find these temp breaks at mouths of rivers, power plants and protected bays.
Wind Direction
The wind direction will be a major player in warm water location. The surface warms first and wind will move this water around. On Wisconsin’s shore, a light east wind does wonders to improving spring action. The reason I used most of this article on temp is it helps eliminate a lot of slow fishing time. Temperature is almost more important than the type of lure you use.
Set Ups
Motor trolling is the method I use for most of my fishing, and I will explain one of my basic spring setups. If possible I would max out the number of rods, because more is better this time of year. I fish all my lines on planer boards. Find one you like and run all the same type. For lures I like spoons crank baits, and jointed minnow type lures. These will cover most fish. The water is too cold for flasher flies and they will be used when the water warms to over fifty degrees.
Speed & Color
When fishing early in the season, fish metabolism or body temp is very low so a slow presentation is required. I run my boat speed between 1.5 and 2.0 miles per hour. The color of the lure is dictated by the amount of light and water color. On most days, in clear water I use white and black or silver lures. Hotter colors work best in cloudy water. You can’t go wrong with chartreuse in both conditions. The glow in the dark Vulcan or Reaper spoons sold at http://www.badgertackle.com in regular size are an excellent option. The old rule of thumb applies; bright lures bright days, dark lures dark days. I cannot cover all the bases in this limited space so I will go into more detail in future posts. Good luck Captain Jim. Jim charters out of Milwaukee, WI. with Blue Max Charters He can be reached at 414-828-1094 or visit his web site at http://www.bluemaxcharters.com Copyright© 2011, James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved.

Cold Water Salmon & Trout Presentation Tips

In previous articles we covered general overview and the specifics of temperature breaks and their location.  Now let’s continue with spring presentation and location.  If your season starts early as we do at Blue Max Charters, you will be on Lake Michigan when the surface temperatures are below the preferred temp of your target species. 
 I will cover late May and early June in this article.  This time period provides great action on Brown trout, Chinooks, Coho and Rainbows. Browns, at this time of the year, will come on similar presentations, lures and locations as I described in the last articles. Look for temp breaks with bait fish and the warmest water. This time of year you won’t find water that is to warm for Browns.  I like small Vulcan spoons with silver, green or white blades with green, orange or blue accent stripes. Work the top 25 feet of water.

Presentation for cold water
I set up 90% of my lines on planer boards working the top fifteen feet of water.  The remaining 10% of my lines are on diving planers or downriggers for deeper fish.  On all my rods in spring, I run a 20-25 pound test monofilament with a 12-pound leader.  You need to go with a light leader to produce good action in clear water near the surface.   Run the heavier test to a bead chain sinker or barrel swivel then an 8-foot leader with a cross lock snap.  I don’t go nuts with Micro Filament or Super Braid lines because I think they are over kill for this application and add to expenses.  Starting out this way I will have the rods loaded with the correct line for most presentations through out the season
Speed part of the answer
  I set my boat speed at 1 to 2 mph.  Slow presentation is key in spring.  The lures you run is all about the amount of light, baitfish size and the size of fish you are looking to catch.  Mix it up!  When one lure produces I would double up on that lure.  For Coho I prefer 6 inch orange flashers and a variety of different colored flies instead of spoons.  Adjust the length of the leader from the flasher to the fly to get the best results.  The general rule is one and one half times the length of the flasher.  My experience is the colder the water the longer the leader.  Longer leaders slow down the action.  There are times when I run up to three times the flasher length.  Most Rainbows will hit the flasher flies.  When only looking for Rainbows, substitute bright color spoons for flasher flies.  The Chinooks should also take spoons.  Jim charters out of Milwaukee, WI. with Blue Max Charters.  He can be reached at 414-828-1094 or visit his web site at http://www.bluemaxcharters.com  Copyright© 2010, James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved

Location of temperature breaks

Your primary tool, and one you cannot do with out, is a surface temp gauge. I use the one built into my fish locator. It also has a graph to show the temp history over the last hour. This may not be necessary but it can help when mapping temp over a given area. The big pond is very cold in April and May also some years even into June. Your ability to monitor temp and stay in as close to the target species preferred temp will make or break your day on the lake. Let us assume most of the lake is in the forty-degree range and your target species is Coho, browns or Chinooks. All of these fish are looking for two things, temperature as close to their preferred range and food. I will go into food and or forage in another article for now let’s focus on temperature. Out of Milwaukee we are fortunate to have several rivers flowing into a large harbor. The rivers warm earlier than the lake and the mouth of a river is a place to start with a temp check. In addition, you should be checking each of the three gaps in the break wall that creates the harbor. A south wind will push the warm water out the north gap. This will turn the fish on in this area while the south gap is too cold for productive fishing. The way I start any day is to work the warmest water or water nearest to preferred temp I can find. After working this water, I move to cooler water. Sharp temp breaks are usually better at holding fish then gradual changes. Always consider the wind direction, not only when you are fishing but what it has been doing over the last several days. A light east wind on our western shore moves warmer surface water on shore and contributes to a rise in temp and a good bite close to the shoreline. All harbors with rivers have some current flow and the wind determines the direction that warmer water will flow when leaving the harbor. Fish that warmer water and into the cooler lake water keeping an eye on your temp gauge. When you get action note your location by land sightings and temp. Stay with that temperature to find active fish. If you have worked the harbor and gaps with no or slow action, look for temp breaks on the lake created by shifts in wind direction. Another option is to check tight along the shoreline in protected bays. At times I will run my lures in the shallow warmer water on side planners keeping the boat out in the deeper cooler water. Another area to check out is any warm water discharged from power plants. We have this opportunity south of Milwaukee by twelve miles at Oak Creek. I will go into details of spring lure selection and presentation in the next article good luck Copyright© 2010, James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved.

Motor trolling Set Ups In Spring!

Motor trolling is the method I use for most of my fishing, and I will explain one of my basic spring setups. If possible I would max out the number of rods, because more is better this time of year. I fish all my lines on planer boards. Find one you like and run all the same type. For lures I like spoons crank baits, and jointed minnow type lures. These will cover most fish. The water is too cold for flasher flies and they will be used when the water warms to over fifty degrees. When fishing early in the season, fish metabolism or body temp is very low so a slow presentation is required. I run my boat speed between 1.5 and 2.0 miles per hour. The color of the lure is dictated by the amount of light and water color. On most days, in clear water I use white and black or silver lures. Hotter colors work best in cloudy water. You can’t go wrong with chartreuse in both conditions. The new glow in the dark Vulcan or Reaper spoons sold at

http://www.badgertackle.com in regular size are an excellent option. The old rule of thumb applies; bright lures bright days, dark lures dark days. I cannot cover all the bases in this limited space so I will go into more detail in future issues. Good luck Captain Jim. Jim charters out of Milwaukee, WI. with Blue Max Charters He can be reached at 414-828-1094 or visit his web site at http://www.bluemaxcharters.com Copyright© 2009, James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved.

Lures For Spring Salmon And Trout

The start of the 2010 Lake Michigan Season will be here before you know it and now is the time to think about early location and tackle. In this article, I would like to share with you some of my keys to finding fish and the hottest set ups for very early presentation. I have been a charter captain for over twenty years and these techniques have produced year after year. I am confident that you will achieve success applying these classic tips.

I start my season in early April and the most important factor at this time is temperature. I recommend a must item for you is a temp gauge for the surface and a notebook. Your gauge can be a simple hand held thermometer or a unit built into your fish locator. The notebook is all about what’s working and what’s not. I find if I can avoid duplicating non-productive techniques, I will improve my catches and enjoyment. Keeping record of your bad and good days is key to moving to the top of the list as an above average in your sport. I write down the date, time of day, conditions, cloudy, clear, calm, rough, port or lake G.P.S. numbers if you have them. Record this on every fish or at least at the end of the day. On a hot bite, I usually get caught up on my notes as soon as I can to avoid lost detail.

Badger Tackle - www.badgertackle.com Blue Max Charter Fishing - Milwaukee WI - www.bluemaxcharters.com