Launch conditions?

[acesario]

Just wondering if anyone is getting out, and what condition the launches are in... we are planning a trip this coming weekend and just making sure we can get in/out of the water safely.

Any one else out fishing? Catching?

[The Bait Shop Guy]

Been pretty cool these last few days, so not to many reports coming in. The ones we have heard have been pretty good. Jigging suckers during the day, and trolling cranks after dark. As far as I know, all the launches are still open. I checked the Escanaba harbor yesterday, and there were no issues. Daytime temps are supposed to be above freezing, starting this weekend. Still, you may want to bring some salt or sand, in case the ramps start to ice up after dark.

[acesario]

Also wondering how the current wind will affect the bay... looks like 15mph winds from the east tonight, and 10-12 out of the SE/South/SW tomorrow. Are we looking at dangerous conditions on the bay??
What kind of wave heights should we expect out of escanaba/gladstone ?
What about up north in the bay??

[The Bait Shop Guy]

Andrew also sent me an email. Here was my response, if it helps anyone -

This is one of the weather sites I like to use for the bay. Lets you see wind speed, direction, temp, and sky conditions - http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/launch/code.cgi?Submit=Go&sta=KESC&state=MI Winds right out of the south are going to produce the biggest waves. Friday and Sunday look ok, but Saturday will be rough. Dangerous - no. Uncomfortable - yes. The upper bay will be much more fishable Saturday, than the lower bay will be. Biggest problem right now is that the Kipling launch has the docks pulled, so you'd have to go out of Gladstone harbor. You'd still have waves to deal with from the harbor to Saunder's Point.

[peter8]

Was up thursday the 29th. I did not check Kipling out as it was too shallow for me a few weeks ago. We launched at Gladstone and broke about a 1/2" of ice to get out. Getting back in was a chore as there was about 1 1/2" at daylight when we came back. It took about 2 hrs to get the boat on the trailer w/o ice chunks between the boat and trailer !! ...Long story but after several attempts and dip netting/pushing ice we got er done! Fishing was good = 9 between 22" to 28". We had had enough but now with the weather I kinda wish we had stayed. I'm sure the guys that came in for the weekend are doing well ! Water temp was around 35 degrees and we had zero competition as we were the only boat on Little bay. All fish were caught shallow on #14 HJ's, Best color was Clown. If it wasn't a 5hr trip back I'd go tonite, I put the boat to bed for the winter yesterday... Good luck if you can get out I'm sure the big girls are hitting as all the fish were fat the 28 hitting about 9lbs.

[acesario]

We got out this weekend and did so-so despite decent weather friday and considering some of the other great reports we heard around town. * We fished right outside the escanaba harbor trolling south along a steep break that comes up to 6' of water from 50+. *It was difficult to keep the boat at depth with the crosswind wanting to pull us into the shallows. *Picked up gear and pulled mussels/weeds off the deeper lures. *Marked quite a few fish and hooked about 10 fish friday night, kept a 28"27"22 and 20" fish. *The rest went back per the slot limit rules.... some real nice fish. *

Saturday evening we had a bugger of a time, if it could go wrong it did. *We looked at the wind and decided not to fish out of escanaba, since Gladstone would be more sheltered from the wind. *I think we would have been ok, just would have been a bumpy ride across the bay for a bit. *Anyhow, we trucked up to Gladstone instead (and yes, there was floating ice all around the harbor... but there were lots of other boats who had broken that up for us). Locked my key in the truck at the launch, hooked a deadhead or something on the first trolling pass. We werent marking much in that area anyhow, so we headed up north and scouted for fish, found some (few_ north of the first set of reefs in about 25 fow and put down the gear but the wind had shutoff, like someone pulled the plug on the wind machine, and the fish did too. *We hooked one 22" fish til about 11 when we called it quits.

Wish I could have stayed another night, but duty calls. *Hope for some better results next year.

I gotta say I was real happy with the Yarcraft I bought this summer. the motor ran great, the new terrova with iPilot worked well, and the hull is certainly ideal for this fishery. Look forward to more time on the water next year, including a weeklong trip in early June and hopefully a full week at the end of November/early december next year!