I was wondering the same thing about the number of spoons those fish have seen? I won't deny that they work. They do. I have absolutely, positively, no single doubt in my mind. I could do as well or better with a much more natural presentation.
When we first got there, he was singing the blues. They had been getting pounded with a strong nw wind for 3 days straight. Lake MI is 400 miles long and mostly straight north and south. That wind and waves hammer the southern side.
The wind died down the day before we got there, and 3 boats went out in the afternoon. All 3 got skunked. He took a crew out that morning, and they managed to catch 3. Lake trout are there "go too" fish when things get tough. He asked if we were interested in going out and catching trout that afternoon? We weren't even slightly interested, so he agreed to try something different for salmon.
We caught a respectable 3 yr old king fairly soon after we started our trolling pass. Then nothing, for 30-45 minutes. I pulled out my bag of baits and asked if we could put it on one of the lines. After all, there were 9 lines out, and nothing was happening. My bait looks very close to an alewive, which is a primary food source for the Kings we wanted. He told me that junk doesn't work here, and then talked down to me like I was dumber than I look. ( I know, hard to do.)
It is fun catching fish up to 13 pds or so? I'm done reeling in fish somebody else hooks. I want to try and solve the puzzle too.
