I am going to see if we can start to get some discussing of Lake Michigan tactics, lures, etc. going on here.

I thought this would be a good start that everyone and anyone can comment on and join in on.  This will also be very helpful to all anglers:

What was everyone's best or favorite producing Top 5 or Top 10 Lures of 2005?  Or however many you want to post!!!!!

Here are the Top 10 producing Lures on the Hit Man last year from May to October everywhere we fished from South Haven to Muskegon:

1) Natural Born Killer Stingray

2) Mixed Veggies regular-sized Stinger and Stingray

3) Hypnotist LG Rapture Fly

4) Snow Ghost Horsefly

5) Lemon Ice Stingray

6) Double Orange Crush Stingray

7) Green Dolphin regular-sized Stinger and Stingray

8) Blue Bubble Rapture Fly

9) Glo Dolphin Stingray

10) Green Machine regular-sized Stinger and Stingray

Honorable Mention: Wild Fern Rapture Fly, Can't Afford It regular-sized Stinger and Stingray, Green Dude Rapture Fly, Pearl/Black Dot 4 and 5 inch Tomic, Sea Sick regular-sized Stinger and Stingray, Green Scaly Size 3 J-Plug, Chip's Shanster Stingray (Gold Blade), Hawg Wild Stingray, Jawbreaker Stingray, Grinch Size 3 J-Plug, Yellow Tail 4 and 5 inch Silver Horde, Citron Rapture Fly

Captain Jon Selbig

Top Ten lures

10.  Bloody Nose Stingray

9.  Purple and glow Silver Horde (evening)

8.  BlueBubble Stringray or DW

7.  Orange Squiggly Thin Fin

6.  Tequila Sunrise DW

5.  Wild Fern Fly

4.  LG Hypnotist Fly

3.  White/black dot Tomic

2.  Lemon Ice Stingray or Mag

1.  Jawbreaker Stringray (HANDS DOWN BEST every trip.)

I am new to the sport of Lake Michigan salmon fishing. I noticed the (Top Five Lures) posts with great interest. I noticed that the Stinger Scorpion was mentioned quite a bit. That is a very small spoon, isn't it? How do you rig it for large salmon? Any further tips about basic rigs would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Sid

Hey ghsurfer, The most effective flashers in our area over the last few years have been the Dreamweaver Spin Doctor and the Bechhold FishCatcher.  This last season we also had excellent luck with Luhr Jensen 11" (Size 3) Coyote Flashers.

Here are a few of the most consistent and top producing Flasher/Fly Combos over the last few years:

1) Dreamweaver 8 inch and 10 inch Spin Doctor (70023-Green Fishscale/Crush Glow) with a Hypnotist LG Rapture Fly, Citron Rapture Fly, or Green No-See-Um Rapture Fly.

2) Dreamweaver 8 inch and 10 inch Spin Doctor (70032-Emerald Fishscale/Crush Glow) with a Wild Fern Rapture Fly, Hypnotist Rapture Fly, or Atomic Green Glow HorseFly.

3) Dreamweaver 8 inch and 10 inch Spin Doctor (70007-Blue Holo/Crush Glow) with a Blue Bubble Rapture Fly, Blue Bubble Action Fly, Blue Fern Rapture Fly, or Blue Hypnotist Rapture Fly.

4) Luhr Jensen 11" (Size 3) Coyote Flasher (White/Pearl Fishscale) with a Snow Ghost HorseFly, Green Dude Rapture Fly, or Little Bride Rapture Fly.

5) Dreamweaver Spin Doctor and Bechhold FishCacther 8 inch (White/Double Crush Glow and White/Double Pearl Glow) with any fly always seems to work.  Some of the better flies have been the Hit Man No-See-Um Rapture Fly, Mirage Green Action Fly, Hypnotist LG Rapture Fly, plus many others.  Basically any fly can match well with these flashers.

Overall, We try to match the Fly of choice with a Flasher that looks very similar in color.  These are just a few examples as many others have their days as well.  Dark and Light Green Plastic Spin Doctors and Bechhold FishCatchers with Crushed Glow are also very effective.  The Hypnotist LG Rapture Fly has been our top producing Fly for the last 5 years and always seems to produce on many different flashers.  I hope this helps and if you have any other questions let me know.

Captain Jon Selbig

Hey ghsurfer, The best place to buy Great Lakes Tackle was Steve's Bait and Tackle, but he is no longer in business.  The only place in Grand Haven now is Lakeview Marine and Tackle.  They do have a good assortment of Flashers and Flies, plus much more.  The West Marine store in Grand Haven was going to get more Great Lakes Tackle but I don't know what happened or if they ever did.  I hope this helps and let us know if you have any other questions.

Captain Jon Selbig

Hey Chris, I am glad the reports and information helped you out.  We have received many thanks and compliments from people who have said the reports have really helped them on specific trips and overall.  I will continue to answer any questions on this board that anyone may have.  We would like to get more people onto the board with discussions and questions, etc.  I will also be posting fishing reports, information, etc., throughout the year like in the years past all summer long.

This past year was an excellent year for spoons like you stated.  This was also a great year for Plugs.  We fished a lot more spoons than in years past after the Flasher/Fly bite started off very slow.  The Fly bite was a lot better in late July and August like you said.  It was not very good at all until later on in the year, unlike previous years.  The spoon bite continued to be very good for long periods of time throughout the summer, so that was what we stuck with.  Plugs were also excellent as the water stayed cold and we were able to fish close to the harbor for long periods of time throughout the year and through the Muskegon Tournament.  That was very unusual.  I hope this helps and I am glad the reports and information really helped you out.  That is the whole goal of the reports; to help everyone who doesn't fish everyday catch more fish when they can go.  If you have any other questions let me know.  Thanks a lot.

Captain Jon Selbig

Jon,

Great question. The top 10 on our boat last year were.

1) Green Dolphin Stingray

2) Mixed Veggie Stingray and regular size

3) Holly Christmas stingray and regular size

4) Blue Dolphin stingray and regular size

5) Green Howie fly e-chip flasher

6) Lemon Ice stringray and regular size

7) Hypnotist LG

8) Aqua howie fly smoke dodger

9) Purple Kevorkian Circus Freak stingray and regular size

10) Carmel Dolphin stingray and regular size