Captain Ron Westrate & Captain Kevin Westrate
888-253-8372
616-335-2076 Cell 616-836-2748
CaptRon@CharterMichigan.com
Check our calendar for available fishing dates
Lake Michigan Fishing Report
September 24, 2011
Very good salmon fishing in deep water
Although we only fished a couple of times this week, the fishing was very good out in 140 foot of water with 15 to 20 fish per trip. In this deeper water you will find 3 and 2 year old chinook salmon, some 10 to 12 pound coho and an occasional lake trout and steelhead. We fished the downriggers at 80, 90 and 100 foot down with the dipsy divers at 100 ft. and 180 foot out and then 450 foot and 300 foot of copper if conditions allowed. Flashers and flies on all the lines with the best flashers being Stinger Echip green super frog, green glow/UV, mountain dew and green glow with any Rapture fly that was green or hypnotist with green beads.
We will be available for charters for the next couple weeks and then end the season. For charter reservations or fishing information email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
September 19, 2011Chinook, Coho, Steelhead and Lake Trout in Saugatuck
A very nice week of fishing with some catches from 10 to 15 fish per trip. With the warm water in front of the piers, we have moved out to 90 to 200 foot of water and found 2, 3 and some 4 year old chinook salmon, 10 to 14 pound coho, and some steelhead and lake trout. With the strong east and south east winds the best direction was a 240 or a 300 degree troll from 100 to 190 foot of water with the best depth being 135 to 160 foot.
Almost all of the fish came on flashers and flies although we did take a couple of coho on Stingray spoons (blue mixed veggie with white back). Both silver Stinger Echip flashers (mixed veggie, silver UV, silver mountain dew) or white bladed Echip flashers (blue wiggle, and white double glow) with the Rapture green dude, wild fern, speed weed and the blue bubble fies. Yesterday the blue wiggle flasher and blue bubble fly was hit at least 6 times at 95 foot down. We ran 300 and 450 foot of copper and the dipsies were run at 100 and 180 foot out, downriggers at 80, 90 and down to125 foot.
Although our season is winding down, the fishing should continue to be good in the deeper water. If we get another shot of cold water, we should see some more 4 year old salmon stage in front the piers. For more fishing information or for charter reservations, email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
September 11, 2011Water temperature raises 20 degrees overnight in Saugatuck
The water temperature dropped into the mid 40’s this week and the salmon moved into the shallow water at the piers and fishing was excellent. Big chinook salmon and large coho produced some limit and near limit catches with some lake trout and steelhead mixed in. By Saturday the word had gotten out and combat fishing took place in front the Saugatuck piers. By noon on Saturday the fog moved in and we noticed a increase in the water temperature from 46 degrees to 50 degrees and by Sunday morning the water temperature was 67 degrees and the fishing slowed. There were still some salmon in front the piers, however they were not as active in the warmer water and we moved out to 200 foot and caught some 2 and 3 year old salmon and steelhead.
The most productive lures were the Ace Hi plugs in pearl/black dot and silver/red head pulled on downriggers, dipsy divers and 2 and 3 color lead core. We also ran some Hot n Tots on flat lines (gold and white black dot), however the Ace Hi plugs out performed any other lure. Sunday we found the cold water in 200 foot of water and used small stingers (blue green dolphin, green dolphin and orange crush) on 50 foot of copper and 5 color lead core. On the dipsy divers the best lure was the blue mixed veggie Stingray which was hit multiple times. A couple of hits on the downriggers at 40 and 50 foot down with small stingers (orange corey and mixed veggie) on the add-a-lines.
With a south wind and current for the next few days, I think that the shallow water will continue to warm and other than early morning and late evening, the most productive fishing will be off shore. For charter information or for fishing information, email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
September 04, 2011Sallmon fishing, as good as it can be in Saugatuck
Another good week of fishing in Saugatuck. Catches of 15 to 30 fish per trip was very common last week. What really determined how many fish you caught was what they hit that day. If they hit more copper at 300 and 450 foot, it took longer to land the fish and when you slowed down to fight the fish, you really “stopped fishing” until you got your speed back. If the majority of the fish hit the downriggers and dipsy divers, you spent less time fishing the fish and got the lures back in action faster. The creel consisted of 2, 3 and 4 year old chinook salmon, coho salmon, lake trout, steelhead with an occasional brown trout.
Although some boats reported some success with stingray lures, the best method for us were flashers and flies which were run on copper, dipsy divers and downriggers. 200 foot, 300 foot and 450 foot copper with flashers and rapture flies produced very well. The dipsy divers at 200 and 300 foot and downriggers at 80, 90 and 100 foot produced very well. We had very good success with Singer E chip flashers (mixed veggie, chrome UV, super frog, white UV/glow, silver UV green) and Rapture flies (no see um with green beads, no see um with yellow beads, sour apple, green hypnotist and green dude). On certain days we had very good success with the 11 in echip (white glow UV, silver mountain dew and white double glow) on the downriggers, however they might work one day and not the next.
Next week might prove to be interesting. With strong winds and high waves the next two days, we may find cold water moving in and with that the salmon should move into the river. Yesterday when we ran a mid day charter, we marked what looked like salmon in 55 foot of water and saw a couple of salmon jump in front of the boat. For fishing information or charter reservations, email me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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.
