C Wilson wrote:
I would like to connect with anyone fishing East or West Grand Traverse Bay. I am ready to start fishing for something other than the small mouth bass but am not sure how to get as deep as is necessary without a downrigger.
Hey CW -
I fish East Bay occasionally from my PA14. Great fishery for Lakers, Cisco and salmon. Although I have trolled there a lot using both downrigger and lead core, don't discount jigging!
My usual drill is to rig magnum spoons or Spin-n-Glo's or J-Plugs behind a flasher. I'll troll one of these on lead core and the other on my Scotty Depthmaster downrigger, typically setting baits 70-100 ft down. I set waypoints as I pass over clusters of fish. If the trolling is unsuccessful, I return to those waypoints and jig with a 2oz vertical Jonah Jig. I have probably landed more large predator fish by jigging than by trolling.
FWIW, before I started using a downrigger, I would troll deep with 8-12oz Torpedo Divers but that proved awkward when trying to land feisty chinook. I have tried Dipsy Divers and similar dive-plane devices but have not had much luck with them, probably due to variable troll speeds.
Good luck out there!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk