That was my first trip there but my son in law s friend was fishing that day and was on them when we got there. Sure is a beautiful lake though.

Had a great day fishing on Grand Lake north of Alpena, MI on Sunday. Caught 12 keepers after getting a late start. There's only 11 in the pic because I already filleted the biggest one before I thought to take a picture! 2 were 7" but the rest were 9 to 11 1/4". Lots of small ones were caught and released as well. This is the first time I fished this lake but it won't be the last.

Heading to Little Bay de Noc from Feb. 18-20 to try for some trophy walleyes.

I already had 2 filleted before I thought to take a picture. Lol.

Had a good day on Grand Lake north of Alpena today. Got a late start but still managed to catch 12 perch. Average length was 8 to 10 inches. Through a lot of perch back that were under 8. Biggest one was 11 1/2 inches.

I took a slip and fall 2 years ago and broke my wrist. The break was so close to the end that they thought they might have to amputate my hand. Luckily a specialist was able to put a plate on it and save it. However, I have osteo-arthritis in my wrist now and only have partial use of my left hand. At least I still have it. The worst part was the pain after the surgery because the doctor only prescribed 3 days worth of pills. He said the feds were cracking down on all the doctors for over-prescribing and so now I guess they under-prescribe to be safe. I was about out of my mind in pain after that third day for at least 3 weeks. Turns out my potassium and calcium were low and caused brittle bones.

Believe it or not you will pull the hook right out more often than not if you try to set the hook. The way a circle hook works is when a fish bites and starts to swim away with its' mouth closed to hold the bait in, the hook slides to the corner of the mouth and catches there, then you start reeling to keep tension on the line because if it gets ANY slack the hook will fall out. This prevents the fish from being hooked deeply and injuring it. If you pull on the rod to set the hook it will pull the hook right past the corner of its' mouth before it can catch. I learned the hard way!

Either way, the captain will know what is in season as well as what is biting good and where. Good luck on your trip.

JTh...been deep sea fishing several times. The charter boat captain will have everything needed for whatever type of fishing you will be doing. Bottom fishing is the way to go if you want fast action. If you catch Amberjack, very common, they will give you a heck of a fight. A few of those and you will be wore out. I suggest targeting Snapper or Grouper if they are in season. If you get into some big ones it's like reeling in a car hood! Excellent eating. Good luck and great fishing!

Same here. I'm eager to get out there! I didn't get to fish much this summer. Can't wait.

I think you're going to love it.

I use the regular stuff in the summer and love it. But I tried the ice braid last year for the first time. I was a little skeptical at first and honestly expected it to still get stiff but it seemed to stay flexible and had no problem winding back onto my reel. Btw...I have it on my walleye rod with a small spinning reel. It works great! I have no doubt it would be excellent on a tip-up. It lasts forever as well. I haven't had ANY braid actually wear out. You just need to remember to set the hook more gently with it. A light tug will usually do it. Often times you don't need to even set the hook. Just reel them in! I love it.

When you bring that wet line up out of the hole it WILL get very stiff! Been there, done that. The exception would be if you are in a shanty. Then it's warm enough to keep from getting stiff. Ice braid has a special coating or something because I didn't have that problem with it. Not saying regular braid won't work. It's just not as easy to work with in the winter.

That Bill Gates video is long but very interesting! He's got his hands in every piece of the pie.

I got the J&J shot but not the booster. I've heard similar info from a few other top doctors and scientists. I didn't know there were that many deaths from the v*****e though. Not cool keeping that a secret.