Jim Blue Max Charters

By Capt. Jim Hirt The last article closed with a promise of exploring the different types of hooks I use on Lake Michigan and the techniques I use to sharpen them. This is a somewhat controversial issue for most fishermen. Everyone has an opinion I can only state what works for me. One thing I believe all will agree on is a sharp hook will catch more fish. There are many types of sharpeners out there. I have tried most of them. A simple $4.00 file is the system I keep coming back to. Start with a check of the point by trying to stick the tip into you thumbnail. A hook that slides off your nail needs some work. Do not shortcut this process 10 hits and 9 fish is a good day 10 hits and 2 fish you wasted your time coming out on the lake. File three sides of the point and test again. New lures do not always have sharp hooks! After you have boated a fish check the hook for sharpness and that it didn't get bent out of shape. A word of caution if you loose the tip of the hook from repeated sharpening it’s time to replace it. This is the first step for any type of fishing and I guarantee it will improve your number of fish in the box. When you shop for hooks buy quality extra strong hooks. It should say 2x or 3x on the package. There are cheap hooks that bend easily and won't hold a sharp point look for the best. A recent trend is to use red hooks in theory this makes sense. I do not have an opinion on this. I will be testing this on some baits this season. Always replace hooks with the same size you removed or the action will change. This leads us to the big question single hooks verses trebles. My rule is this stay with the original manufactures recommendation, they do the testing and that's good enough for me. 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

By Captain Jim Hirt The last several articles we covered some options for spring presentation with a focus on temperature, planer boards, lines, terminal tackle and lure selection. If you would be interested in this information, contact Southeastern Wisconsin Outdoor Guide for back issues. Let's continue with lure selection, colors, boat speed, and lure action for spring. The cold water slows down the metabolism of the fish; this in turn requires you to slow down your presentation. I select lures that are small and work well at slower than normal boat speeds. Your adjustment to these variables is different depending on the preferred temperature of the target species. Brown trout like the warmest water of the five game fish in Lake Michigan. They are looking for above 60-degree water. When you find 60 plus water, fish them as you would in summer. Below 60 degrees the way you fish should be adjusted. Most Browns will be found in the top 20 feet of water where bright lures should be best. Please read article #4 for break down of color by light. I slow my boat speed to below 1.5 mph. The small lures become very effective and run well at this speed. Does your boat troll at 1.0 to 4.5 mph? If it doesn't, you will find it difficult to produce all the types of fish in all types of conditions. Most boats have trouble trolling slowly. When I purchased my new boat, the Blue Max with two 454 engines, trolling slowly was a problem for me. I then added a drift sock to slow down my presentation. Without this tool you will not be successful every trip out. If you adjust the idle down too low on your motor, you will most likely have spark plug fouling or worse. Slow trolling is the way to go in spring or any time the water temperature is below the temp range of the fish you are after. In spring keep it slow, small and bright to increase your catch. Note don't forget to sharpen those hooks. In the next article I will go into hook types, sharpening techniques and the pros and cons of trebles vs. singles. 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

By Capt. Jim Hirt The last article was a general discussion of spring presentation with a focus on planer boards, lines and terminal tackle. This was good information for a starting point but you will need more information to produce every trip out. In the next several articles I would like to help you define when to use spoons, crankbaits, flasher flies, dodger flies, squids and a variety of other lures. The way I decide what to use is determined by many variables. Let’s look at each of them separately. What we are looking for is the right color, size and lure action that will get your target species to strike. There are basically two approaches with every fisherman putting his own twist on each. Some fishermen believe it is better to run all of the same kind of lure at one time and use a selection of colors or sizes. This type of presentation is called bait sets. Let’s say they are running six rods. They will run the same type of spoon on each rod in a variety of colors and sizes, or all flashers and flies in different colors. Bait sets work well when you know what's happening but you leave no room for error. If you're hot you're hot or if you’re wrong you may not be in the game. The other approach to presentation is running a different lure on every line. This set up is called shotgun. Mixing lures this way is tricky; some lures may be too fast or too slow to work well. On most days, I run a mix of different lures doing what I call mini sets. This is what I might do in a summer presentation. I am usually running 12-16 rods. I split up my rods into three mini sets. On the deepest lines in the coldest water I fish for Lake trout. All the deep lines are matched for speed, color and preference of the target. This is a good time to talk about color as it relates to the amount of light. You may or may not remember learning the colors of the rainbow in school. The colors are remembered by this acronym "ROY G BIV". These letters mean red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. There are exceptions to every rule. Most of the time I run lure colors of red, orange, or yellow when that lure is presented in the portion of the water column with the most light. The other end of the rainbow blue, indigo and violet are used in darker or low light situations. You may ask what about silver and white? I consider these as neutral or they will work in any type of light. All the other colors fall into either bright or dark. Bright lures are used in bright light conditions dark lures in low light. Now let's get back to setting our deep lines. Go with colors for low light that work well at a speed you intend to run and in the size of the baitfish. Medium to large spoons, Opti-dodgers with flies, or spin-n-glows and lake trolls work most days. Look for temps below 48 degrees for Lake Trout. I will get into downrigger presentation in another article. The next mini set will run in water above the deep lines. Fish the 48-58 degree water spreading the lines to run about every ten feet of depth. Here we are looking for Chinooks and Coho salmon. I like a mix of opti-dodgers, flashers and flies with a long lead spoon or two. The balance of my lines will run in 59 degrees or warmer water looking for rainbows and browns. Depending on how much warm water you have to work with you can cover it with long lines, diving planers and lead core. The mini set in the warmest water with lots light should have the lures with fastest action and brightest colors. I was not on the lake yet this season. I will start a fish report as soon as we get out. Give me a call on the lake to exchange information. 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

By Capt. Jim Hirt In articles one and two, we covered general overview and the specifics of temperature breaks and their location. Now let us start on spring presentation. 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 would like to break this down by months. I will cover April in this article. This month provides great action on Lake trout and Brown trout, with the other species available but not as active. Browns and Lakers, this time of year, will come on similar presentation with a preference to different lures. I set up 90% of my lines on boards working the top fifteen feet of water. The remaining 10% of my lines are on diving planers or downriggers for deeper fish. The lake will be very cold, well below your target temp. I fish the surface down to fifteen feet with planer Boards. Some of your choices are, Yellow Birds, Church, Off Shore and Riviera. I’m a little hesitant to recommend a particular brand because what works for me may not work for you. I will say I find it easier to run a small board on each line rather than a large board with releases on the towline. I do feel it is important to run all the same type to get a presentation that is easy and productive. On all my rods in spring, I run a 20-25 pound test monofilament. 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. In spring fishing, the clear surface water leaves you with a visibility factor to consider, and smaller crank baits do not run well on heavier test lines. I run a 1/4 to 1 ounce bead chain trolling sinker at the end of the 20-25lb mono to avoid line twists and get the depth I want. From the sinker to the lure I use 8ft of a 12lb mono and a small round cross lock snap. When the fish hits, the board slides down to the trolling sinker. With the sinker in line, it will not knock the fish off as it would if it ran down to the lure. I put out as many boards as I can handle, with equal number of boards on both sides of the boat. When setting this presentation, I set my boat speed at 1 to 2 mph and let out my lure about 30 to 100 feet and attach the board. This distance will change with the amount of light, type of lure, depth you want to fish. When action is slow, adjust this distance and see what happens. Once the board is attached, carefully lower the board into the water and let out enough line to allow room for more boards, between that board and the boat. Boards should be spaced about 30 feet apart. I run a mix of minnow type lures, crankbaits and small spoons. 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. When a fish hits, the board releases and it will drop back behind the boat. Land your fish and reset this board by letting out enough line to allow the board to fly back into the same spot it came from. Avoid changing out to many lures if you are getting action because at times one lure feeds off another. By this I mean, a spoon may be attracting the fish but they will hit the crankbait next to it. If the weather cooperates, we will be doing charters by the next issue and I will include a fish report Good luck Give me a call on the lake. 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

By Capt. Jim Hirt 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 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 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

By Capt. Jim Hirt The start of the 2006 Lake Michigan Season is right around the corner 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 presentations. 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. 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. Well lets get started. It’s always a good idea to check the Wisconsin Outdoor Guide for up to date information on what’s biting. I also check at local tackle stores and Internet 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. 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 more important than the type of lure you use. 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 planner boards. Find one you like and run all the same type. I like crank baits, jointed minnow type lures and some spoons. 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. I run my boat speed between 1.0 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 dark lures 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

By Capt. Jim Hirt Now is the time to think about changes to make your trips more productive next season. There are many ways to go on this subject. Over the next several articles I will try to cover topics like rigging, tackle and presentation. My goal is to provide information, which should lead to more fish and less slow fishing. In the last article we covered rigging diving planers and flat lines. Let us continue with rigging presentations. The tools out there are endless. Being flexible on the slow days is the answer to more fish. It is a fisherman with a full arsenal of presentations that finds action when fishing gets tough. The hot rig for the last several years has been leadcore. With the influx of Zebra Muscles the waters of the Great Lakes have become very clear. In my opinion the toughest conditions are calm clear sunny days. On these types of days leadcore is the way to go. I do not recommend this presentation for first light it is far to time consuming to run during a hot bite. After the early morning bite or about two hours after sunrise I break out the leadcore. The basics are reel, rod, line and planer board. The cost of a rig will start at about $150. The reel you use is based on the amount of leadcore line you want to run. The rule of thumb is 4-5 feet of depth to every color of leadcore. When your target fish is 15 feet down you should run 3 or 4 colors of leadcore. Some of you may be thinking why is there a variation of 4 to 5 feet per color. The factors that affect this are type of lure and boat speed. This line is graduated in 10-yard sections each having a different color. When selecting a reel purchase one large enough to handle the amount of colors you would like to run. Leadcore is a bulky line and most likely will not fit on the reels you are currently using. Find a tackle store that deals with this product to ensure a correct purchase. Popular set ups are 3 colors, 5 colors and 8 colors. Rods for leadcore need to have plenty of backbone. I use a heavy action 8-foot rod. This should give you the power needed to reel in 500 feet of line, planer board and 20-pound Kings. The line comes in many test weights. 27 or 36 pound is what I run it all has the same sink rate. You will also need a backing line of mono, braided Dacron or one of the super lines like Powerpro. From the leadcore to the lure use a 20-pound fluorocarbon line. To avoid tangles when running multiple leadcores you will need a planer board for each rig. The purpose of a planer board is to move the line off to the side of the boat away from other lines. Several manufactures have boards for leadcore. Church has a walleye board also you may use Yellowbird's big bird and Offshore boards. When loading this reel, start with 100 yards of a backing line then strip the lead out of the end of the leadcore and tie a Blood Knot to the leadcore. Finish with a Willis Knot and 60 feet of a 20-pound fluorocarbon to a ball bearing cross lock snap. To run this rig, snap on your favorite lure and let out all of the line to the backing. Then install your board on the backing 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. Some of my biggest fish were caught on this presentation this year. The good news is it produces fish all day long. Good Luck let's go fishing 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

By Captain Jim Hirt October fishing is good. The better fishing days have been overcast. If you are looking for two and three year old Chinooks, fish 30 to 50 feet of water. Most of the water out of Milwaukee is 53 degrees on top and the temperature break changes as you move. Fish the warmest water you can find. The harbor or the gaps in recent trips have been slow. I have had good catches of Chinook, Brown trout and Lake trout at the green can. The green can is located 2 miles east of the south gap. There are good schools of four inch Alewives at the can. My fish have come on three and four inch spoons in silver or glow in the dark colors. When the action at the green can slows, I have gone north to the water treatment plant about one mile north of the north gap. There has been good action in 30 to 50 feet of water both sides of the structure off of the water treatment plant. Also work north in 30 to 50 feet from the water treatment to Fox Point. I have caught most of my fish on Dipsy Divers, long lead spoons off the downriggers 10 to 20 down or on 3 to 5 color Leadcore. Smaller silver spoons are taking these fish all day long. The boat speed of 2.0-2.5 on the Depth Raider works well with all the presentations I have been using. Good Luck let's go fishing 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

By Capt. Jim Hirt Late September fishing is great. If you are looking for two and three year old Chinooks, temperature is key to success. East wind, west wind the location changes daily. Look for 52-degree water. There are a Lot of 2,3 and 4-year-old Chinooks around. At this point most of the 2 and 3 year olds are in 60 foot or deeper water 60 to 80 down. Most of the big boys are coming on long lead spoons 80 feet behind the ball. Try glow spoons early in the morning. Go to silver with blue or green accent stripes after sunrise. Brown trout fishing is very good with lots of big browns this year. Smaller silver spoons are taking these fish all day long. We are also catching fish out of temp in warmer water than you would expect. The harbor and forty to fifty feet of water holds 4 year old Chinooks, mature Coho and Brown trout in all sizes. Long lead spoons in silver or glow in the dark watermelon is working. The dipsy divers set to 2 with 50 to 70 feet of line out is also working. Half core lead is taking Rainbows in 150 feet of water mostly on spoons. We have been setting up in 40 feet of water and fishing out to 100 and back to 40 enjoying steady action on morning and afternoon trips. Brown trout are active early in the day working 20 to 40 feet of water mostly on glow spoons. There are a few Lakers on the bottom in 100 to 200 feet of water on Opti-Dodgers and flies. The boat speed of 2.4-2.8 on the Depth Raider works well with all the presentations I have been using. Slow down to 2.0 or less for Lakers. Run a speed of 3.0 to for Rainbows. Good Luck let's go fishing 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

By Capt. Jim Hirt August fishing continues to be is excellent. Temperature is key to success. East wind, west wind the location changes daily. Look for 52 degree water. We are also catching fish out of temp in warmer water than you would expect. Lots of 2,3 and 4-year-old Chinooks around. At this point they are in 70 foot or deeper water 70 to 80 down. Most of the big boys are coming on long lead spoons 80 feet behind the ball. Try glow spoons early in the morning go to silver with blue or green accent stripes after sunrise. Brown trout fishing is very good lots of big browns this year. 8/27 we had a 22.5 pounder. Most of the Browns are near shore or at the harbor gaps spoons have been best. Half core lead is taking Rainbows in 150 feet of water mostly on spoons. We have been setting up in 80 feet of water and fishing out to 120 and back to 80 enjoying steady action on morning and afternoon trips. Brown trout are active early in the day working 20 to 40 feet of water mostly on glow spoons. There are a few Lakers on the bottom in 100 to 200 feet of water on Opti-Dodgers and flies. The boat speed of 2.4-2.8 on the Depth Raider works well with all the presentations I have been using. Slow down to 2.0 or less for Lakers. Run a speed of 3.0 to for Rainbows. Good Luck let's go fishing 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

By Capt. Jim Hirt July fishing is great. All species are active. Within the last several days we have caught Chinooks to 17 pounds on spoons and plugs. Fishlander ultra glow spoons size 2 or 3 in the easter egg or bloody nose color have been the best. Green ladder-back J plugs size #4 are also working. All presentations are working. Half core lead, downriggers 30 to the bottom in 30 to 130 feet and some Chins on Dipsy divers set on 1 with 70 to 100 feet of line out. If you would like to get into some 8 to 12 pound dancing Rainbow trout the top 20 feet of water is where you should be fishing. We have been enjoying the best numbers of the season working these fish on half core lead and Dipsy Divers. Most hot color spoons have been working in 80 to 180 feet of water. Most of our deep fish have been on glow or silver plate Opti-Dodgers or flasher flies. Coho are also hitting they like Opti-Dodgers with green or white flies. Brown trout are active early in the day working 20 to 40 feet of water mostly on glow spoons. Lakers are on the bottom in 100 to 200 feet of water on Opti-Dodgers and flies. The boat speed of 2.4-2.8 G.P.S. works well with all the presentations I have been using. Slow down to 2.0 or less for Lakers Good Luck Captain Jim. Let's go fishing!! 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