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Lake Michigan Fishing Report
East wind, cold water scatter the fish in Saugatuck
Strong east winds has blown the warm water out and the lake has cooled down to the low 50 degrees which quickly drops to the low 40 degrees as you go down in the water column. As the water cooled, the bait scattered and the fish followed. By the weekend you could catch a few fish in 70 foot, 100 foot, 130 foot, 160 foot, 180 foot and 200 foot however, not a large number of fish at any one depth. In addition, the big Chinook salmon that we had been taking have moved and most of the catch are in the 6 to 10 pound range. It is almost like the mid June fishing conditions. Fish are still being caught (9 to 14 fish per trip), however they are a different age class of fish compared to what we caught the beginning of the week.
Early in the week it was predominantly flashers and flies on 300 foot of copper, divers and downriggers. The best combination was Hot Chip and Pro Chip flashers (green glow, white glow, silver/green and silver) with the Rapture trolling flies (last supper, Lakeshore green, green mirage). By the weekend, most of fish were caught on stingray and magnum stinger lures (Craig’s X-mas, NBK, Green side glow, gold orange crush, orange crush) on 100 foot, 150 foot and 200 foot of copper.
There were some perch caught in 70 foot of water this past week and we did see some school of perch in 40 foot and 60 foot of water as we ran in and out. I think that if someone did some drifting you could locate some decent perch in the deeper water. In addition, walleye are still being caught in the Kalamazoo River, however this has also slowed some what.
If we get some south winds and currents, we should see the bait start to re-stage in the 100 to 130 foot range and possibly in front the piers. If the bait shows, the salmon and steelhead will follow. For information and charter reservations, email me at .
Salmon, Steelhead and Lake Trout Hitting
Another good week of fishing out of Saugatuck with chinook salmon, lake trout and steelhead making up the creel. Catches of 10 to 20 fish per trip were common. During the week, we fished from 90 foot of water all the way out to 220 foot of water with the most productive being 120 to 130 foot early in the week and 180 to 220 foot by Sunday. The water continued to change during the week in temperature and color and as a result the fish moved to whereever the break was that day. With the north and northeast winds toward the end of the week, the fish tended to be more scattered than in the early part of the week.
In the 130 to 150 foot depth, the best method was 100, 200 and 300 copper with stingray spoons in the copper orange Cory, green machine, NBK, gold orange crush, gold Craig’s X-mas and Craig’s X-mas color combinations. The downriggers were run from 40 to 80 foot down and the best bait was the green double glow Hot Chip and the Rapture Lakeshore green fly. Other flasher and fly combinations worked but not consistently. By Sunday, the magnum blue dolphin and magnum lemon ice produced well on the divers and copper line.
As we moved out to the 200 foot depth the catch consisted of steelhead with some kings and coho mixed in. The water out in this depth was in the low 40 degrees and the fish were in the top 30 foot with the regular size stinger reverse Crag’s x-mas, double orange crush and mixed veggie combinations.
The east wind today should conntinue to cool down the lake and the fish should continue to move both in and out and vertically. For fishing information or charter reservations email me at .
Big May Chinook Salmon
May 17, 2009
This past week was another very good week of fishing out of Saugatuck with a mixed bag of Chinook and coho salmon, steelhead and lake trout. The Chinook salmon are running in the mid to high teens in weight, with the largest taken this past week going just over 18 pounds. During the week we caught from 12 to 20 fish per trip with 75% being Chinook salmon. The fish are located in to general areas, 85 to 130 foot of water and out in 160 to 180 foot of water. Most of our fishing was in the inside depth with 110 to 120 foot being the most productive.
Early in the week most of the fish were caught on 5 color lead core, 100 ft. 150 ft and 200 ft. of copper with Stingray lures and magnum Stinger lures. The best color combination was mixed veggie, freakin veggie, coyote ugly, NBK and the reverse Christmas. By the end of the week the best method were the wire slide divers at 100ft and 200 ft. and the downriggers at 50 to 85 foot. On these we pulled flashers and flies in a variety of color combinations. The best colors flashers consisted of Hotchip and Prochip 8 in flashers in the white/glow, green/glow, silver green tape and silver chartreuse tape. The best flies were the Rapture Tolling flies in the green hypnotist, last supper and purple mirage colors.
Early in the week the perch fishing out of Port Sheldon was still producing limit catches, however the winds this weekend may have prevented anchoring for perch. The walleye fishing in the Kalamazoo River was a littile slow, however I did get a report of one walleye that was over 16 pounds. I did not see it however a reliable source said it was the largest he had seen.
The good fishing should continue as long as the bait is in the area and we do not see any drastic changes in the water temperature. For information and or charter reservations, contact me at .
Big Chinook, Lake Trout, Coho and Steelhead
Finally, some good consistent fishing though the whole week with catches consisting of a mixed bag of 12 to 22 fish per trip. The catches consisted of Chinook salmon in the mid to high teens, lake trout, a few coho and some steelhead. The salmon, both Chinook and coho are averaging a couple of pounds heavier than in past years. We started fishing in 110 to 120 foot of water early in the week and by Sunday we were in 60 to 80 foot of water. Reports on the perch are still good with good catches in 60 foot of water off of Port Sheldon and some spotty success off of Saugatuck in 40 foot of water.
If you are going out into the Big Lake, fish the downriggers from 50 foot to the bottom and 75 copper, 200 copper and 300 copper behind the boards. Our best success during the week was magnum stingers and stingray lures on all copper and downriggers in green/glow, green/blue and green/black combinations. Slide divers 100 and 120 foot out with pro chip and hot chip flashers (green/glow, white/glow and silver) with green hypnotist rapture tolling flies produced some nice fish.
Fishing in the Kalamazoo River is still slow for steelhead, however there are a few walleye being caught by drifting from the bridge into Kalamazoo Lake and by trolling between the piers.
It looks like our spring fishing is here to stay and it should only get better as more bait shows up. For information on the fishing or to make charter reservations, contact me at .
May 4, Saugatuck Fishing Report
The Chinook salmon are showing up from Saugatuck to Port Sheldon. This past week has produced some very good catches of Chinook salmon with occasional coho and steelhead thrown in. The water along the shore is very discolored and most of the fish are found outside in the clearer water. On Friday the fish were found in 40 to 80 foot of water and then on Sunday they were in 60 to 90 foot of water. Today most of the fish came from 90 to 180 foot of water with 120 foot being the best.
The deeper the water the lower we are fishing. In the 40 to 80 foot range we were fishing from the surface to 40 foot down with stickbaits on the surface and then orange crush and orange and green Stingray lures behind 75 foot, 150 ft. and green and blue Killer Stingrays behind 200 ft. of copper. In the 60 to 90 foot depth the best method was 300 copper with Singrays behind and ProTroll Flashers and Rapture trolling flies. Out side of 100 foot the downriggers went as deep as 90 foot down with 300 copper and wire slide divers with the flashers and flies. Many of the salmon are running in the mid teens and a couple were pushing 20 pounds.
More good news is that limit perch catches have been reported from Saugatuck to Port Sheldon. Limit catches were reported in 60 to 65 foot of water from Port Sheldon north to the Bil Mar Resturant. Today there were a couple of limit catches in 40 foot of water just south of the Saugatuck pier. Another good report is the walleye fishing in the Kalamazoo river. Walleye are being caught by drifting down from the Blue Star bridge into Kalamazoo Lake while jigging off the bottom with jigging spoons or night crawler harness.
The only negative report is the Steelhead fishing in the river. With the muddy and high water in the Kalamazoo River the fishing has been very slow, however as the water receeds, the fishing should improve. For more information or for reservations for a charter, email me at .
You can also feel free to contact me at any time by email at: captron@chartermichigan.com or call toll free at 888-253-8372.
