Fishing Milwaukee Downrigger Leaders How Long ?
By Capt. Jim Hirt
Fishing report for Lake Michigan Milwaukee, Wisconsin The four year old Chinooks are staging and getting ready to come up the Milwaukee River. Look for exciting action on the biggest fish of the year in the warm water outside the break walls, in the harbor gaps and around the harbor. Don't try to finesse them because they are biting on reflex reaction. What I mean by this is rotators with flies, small spoons and slow trolling is definitely out! Go big go fast for best results. My first choice for tackle is the Vulcan magnum spoon. A close second and third choice are the Nestor Wobblers magnum size and size #4 J-plugs. When the water is clear go with all silver, silver/green, silver/blue. In low light or cloudy stained water, run the glow in the dark colors. Vulcan and Nestor Wobblers you can get from Badgertackle.com J-plugs you can get anywhere. Downriggers 15 to 30 down are the way to go.
If the two and three year old Chinooks are the way you want to go, look for the temp break to 50 degree water. The wind has been moving the fish around. A couple of days of west wind will move the warm water out and the fish will come in to 50 to 60 feet of water. When the wind blows east, go deep over 100 feet for fish. Reaper Spoons, J-Plugs and Rotators with blue or green flies are steady producers. I like to run a mix of rotators and spoons. The rotators will attract the fish to your downrigger presentation. As always check the water temperature as the first thing you do. Find the 50 degree water and you will most likely find fish. If you fish at first light, you may find fish in the warm water above the temperature break to 50 degrees. When the water is above 50 degrees from top to bottom, continue to deeper water in search of colder water for two and three year old salmon. Action has been steady and predictable. All presentations are working early in the day. Downriggers are better later in the morning or mid day. Try Slide Divers set to #2 with 65 feet of Power Pro line out or conventional mono divers with 80 to 100 feet of line out. Temperature is the key. Find the break and work above and below it for salmon. If it's clear and calm, you may have to run long leads of 50-100 feet on the Slide Divers and downriggers.
Downriggers are one of the oldest most used and most productive tools used for salmon and trout on the Great Lakes. Their potential for putting fish in the cooler is undisputed. As with any tool proper usage is the answer to success. A common question I receive from fellow fishermen is how long do you run your drop back leader? This is the length of line between your lure and the downrigger weight. This one item will make the difference of a few fish or steady action. The variables on the length of drop back leader are dictated by many factors. The four most important that I consider are type of lure, amount of light at the presentation, the color of the water and the mood of the fish. The main types of lures fall into three categories spoons, rotators (flashers, dodgers) and plugs. Each of these has it’s own qualities that come out when run with the proper leader length. Spoons are the most forgiving and will do their job on a leader as short as 10 feet although I seldom run them that short unless I am fishing in stained or very deep water. On average 30 feet is a good leader length depending on the other variables. Rotators are another animal. Each type has its own characteristics on average a 12 foot leader is best. If you run them too long they loose their action. The leader length on Plugs like spoons aren’t as critical. Twenty feet is a good place to start. The amount of light at the lure will also change your leader length. As a general rule the more light the longer the leader. On calm clear days with lots of sun 100-foot leaders will catch fish when a short leader presentation is dead. The exception to this rule is the rotators. Long leaders on rotators will usually not produce. Mood of fish is also to be considered. Short leaders produce a more erratic action and may turn fish on or off. When setting tackle try some short and some long to get a feel for the mood of the fish. When the bite slows down, change the leader length of the best producing lures to keep the rods dancing. 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 Copyright© 2006, James J. Hirt, All Rights Reserved
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