Kelley's Island

[CJHughes]

Just got back from Kelley's last night. Sunday we caught 8 , 5 of the eight were over 9 lbs. Monday we caught 5 all were over 9 lbs some right at 10 , over half had already spawned . Reef runners in Erie descent was the best , 75 ft. back of the board 130 ft. total . The shallow runner was the best ,although we did catch some on the deep runner. All were caught trolling in front of the state ramp on Kelley's ,where ever the water was discolor. We didn't catch anything in the clear stuff . The lake was like glass Sunday night , with the full moon it was something to see . We could not fish Tuesday it was blowing out of the North hard . Three boat loads of cheese heads also did good ,they caught most of theirs on storm stick bait in rainbow .They are a hardy bunch , only 4 boats fishing most of the time , no crowds it was nice. Also the smallmouth were in 38 ft on Sunday night , they also hit our reef runners that were running shallow. Hope this helps anyone going up. Good luck

[Captain Hook]

Can you tell me what ramp you put in at? I am heading up on Friday to try and pick some fish. What depths were you in?
thanks in advance, Chris

[Bottomfeeder]

I have some Cheesehead friends on Kellys this weekend. What kind of boat did you see them in? They are the kind of guys that would go out in almost any water.

Thanks

[CJHughes]

We went out of the State ramp on Kelley's , which is on the North side of the island . We were in 38 ft. of water . The cheese heads were in Sylvan {Green and tan) , sea nymph ( fish and ski) ,and a smoker craft .Like I said they were a hardy bunch . They did better than we did but , I had my nephew who was green (sea sick) , he also just about knocked himself out when a big fish got off right at the boat and the trolling rod came back and hit him in the nose . My son laughed so hard I thought he was going to get sea sick . He also broke one trolling rod (hit the net ) when he jerked , he also set the hook so hard on fire line that it broke the 10lb leader . But he did catch his biggest ever 31.5 10lb . The key was dirty water , you had to stay in it to catch fish . I wish I was going back up this weekend good luck !

[Bottomfeeder]

Just got an email from the cheeseheads you are talking about. Best trip they have ever had. I guess they caught a number of fish over 10lb. I went with them 2 years ago. Went for 3 days, only fished for 6 hours due to weather. I should have gone THIS year.

Bottomfeeder

[CJHughes]

Hey bottomfeeder it was a typical Erie trip sun shining , hot t shirt weather , lake flat as I have ever seen it it , next day raining 3 to 5 wind blowing from the North.There must be one heck of a ice cube over there . Last time I saw your bunch of cheese heads it looked like they were heading for the gulf of Mexico 4 to 6 ft blowing straight out of the North . I hate to ask this but did they catch any Tuesday morning ? My boys were pretty green around the gills .

[Bottomfeeder]

CJ - I just talked to the cheeseheads. You probably don't want to hear this. By noon two boats had 12 and one 10. Then they quit, got on the ferry, and drove 9 hours home.

They were using terms like "trip of a lifetime".

I think I'll go next year.

Bottomfeeder

[Bud Riser]

Hey guys,

I'm going out with a pal of mine who has never caught a walleye. What do you think? Kelleys or the reefs or flats tomorrow and Saturday??
Don't know what this wind did to the water but I bet it's still fairly clear inshore.
Bud

[GetReel]

Bud; Do you really have any friends who NEVER caught a walleye?!
Good luck and catch a HAWG.

[CJHughes]

I knew they would catch them , my nephews eyes were as big as silver dollars the second time we went out Tuesday Morning . We got soaked every time we went out my Starcraft is not a dry ride . This is two years in a row for us ,same time, my son's spring break ,same results . We may have a pattern . I will be going back up for smallmouth at the end of this month . Also the fall bite is about the same , plus no crowds . Good Luck and I wish I was going back today .

[Bottomfeeder]

What worked for the cheeseheads, and has worked for me a couple of times off Kelleys in April are those large shallow running Thundersticks, with 1 or 2 colors of leadcore line. 50 ft leader before the lead and let out about 100 ft of line after. 3 guys in a boat, 6 boards. The hot color can change every day, but the basic pattern has worked for 5 or 6 years now. Every year I have gone we have pretty much smoked every one else around us using this system, provided we can actually go fishing. My buddies were in about 30-35 ft of water.

Good Luck, hope you get out there again

Bottomfeeder

[Skeeter]

Who or what are cheese heads??

[Loti]

A cheesehead is a Packer fan or someone from Wisconsin, the dairy state.
We wondered why the starcraft leaked out on Tuesday. It was our best day.

[CJHughes]

Hey Bottomfeeder it looks like the RCL was won at Kelley,s . Thanks for the info on what has been catching your fish ,we asked one the older gentlemen of your group who said (we let out all of our lead core line ) my boys just looked at me after he left , and said I told you they were deeper . Good Luck

[JCarp]

Thanks for the fish. Hope I'm able to return the favor sometime. It was nice not to start from scratch on a one day trip.

We handled 12 on Sat + lost a couple (6 lines/10 hrs). Nothing much over 8 lbs. Pretty much on your spot/pattern. Color seemed to matter more than lure type. Spinners didn't work. Buddy and his 12 yr old son went home happy. Lot of boats fished NW-W of Kelly's, lake was flat.

[CJHughes]

That is what it is all about WC helping each other .

[helix33]

bottomfeeder,

How deep do you think your lures were running with the leadcore method and shallow diving lures. I don't use lead core so I need to know what depth they were catching fish.



Thanks,

helix33

[Bottomfeeder]

Helix - I just saw the new precision trolling (version 6) that has a chart on using leadcore. I was suprised at how variable the depth was depending on trolling speed, and the amount of line you have out behind the core. I know we were trying to stay near the bottom so 2 colors(60ft)of 18lb test core at 1.5 to 2 mph looks like it will go down about 30 ft with about 100 feet out after the leadcore. (Wow, maybe we should use this to teach math in our schools.) Before I saw the chart I used the old method of "if we are in 30 ft and we tick bottom, the lures are down 30 ft".

Using leadcore sounds complicated, but it is very effective. The first time I used it was also the first time I ever used inline boards. When the board pulled back, we didn't know that was a fish. That first trip was a real Chinese firedrill.

Good Luck
Bottomfeeder