Fishing Report

Lake Trout Setting up in 100 foot (Jun-22-2014)

June 22 Fishing Report

The fishing this past week was fair, however the storms blew us off the lake 2 times and also forced one cancellation resulting in only one charter run.  The salmon were hard to find, however the lake trout are starting to set up in the 80 to 100 foot of water.  For those who did get out late in the week, the creel consisted of 90 % lake trout and the remaining portion consisting of Chinook salmon and steelhead. 

The lake trout are being caught by using Gold Star metal flashers (chrome and white) with a glow or a green Spin n Glow that are pulled on the bottom in the 80 to 100 foot of water.  When the salmon are caught they are coming on 150, 200 and 300 copper with NBK, Craig’s Reverse Christmas, and orange crush Stingray and stinger lures.  We are also seeing some hits on flashers and flies that are pulled on the dipsy divers.  This is the time of the year when the salmon seem to change their preference to flashers and flies instead of lures.  Maybe this is what is happening—the next week or so will tell us. 

Don’t forget about the Catch and Cook program that the CoHooker Charters and selected Saugatuck restaurants are offering.  Spectators, Mermaids and Wally’s Restaurants will (with advance notice) cook the fish you caught that day on our state registered Catch and Cook charter boat.  For reservations, or for more information about Catch and Cook, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com or call me at 888-253-8372.

Fish move back into shallower water (Jun-15-2014)

The fishing has slowed this past week.  Not so much in the number of fish caught, but in the number of hits we are getting.  The creel numbers were 8 to 14 fish per trip with the majority being Chinook salmon and steelhead.  Early in the week we were fishing 170 to 240 foot of water and then after a couple of days of strong east winds, the fish were in the 80 to 140 foot range by the weekend.  Regardless, if you are fishing 200 foot of water or 70 foot of water, the fish are found in the top 45 foot. 

Orange double crush and orange green crush Stingers have produced very well in the top 15 foot with 2 color lead core, 30 foot copper or 75 foot copper line.  Slide divers at 120 foot out with Stingers and Super Slim double orange and orange and green  produced well.  Downriggers did not produce many fish, however every day the green/glow frog Stinger would produce 45 to 65 foot down. 

There have been no reports on the perch fishing, however, pier fishermen are catching a lot of sheephead, catfish and some small mouth bass.  There have been some walleye taken by trollers in the river with Loco lures and Fast Trac plugs.

For more information and/or charter reservations, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com.

20 pound Chinook Salmon in deep water (Jun-08-2014)

June 8 Fishing Report

This past week produced some very good fishing; however we had to go to deep water to get creel numbers of 10 to 15 fish.  170 to 220 foot of water produced Chinook salmon pushing 20 pounds, steelhead ranging from 5 to 12 pounds and an occasional Coho salmon.  For example, on Saturday morning, we boxed 12 fish, including an 18 pound, a 14 pound, and a 12 pound Chinook salmon. The water has warmed into the low 60 degrees but is still very cold just below the surface (41 degrees 15 foot deep).  As a result the fish are scattered from 10 foot down to the 50 foot down. 

Once again we are using 2 and 3 color lead core, 30 foot, 75 foot, 150 foot and 200 foot of copper line with regular size stinger lures in both the silver and gold blanks.  Green and orange crush, orange crush, smash mouth and NBK colors worked the best on these long lines.  Down riggers were run at 25, 35 and 55 foot down with the same stinger combinations we used on the long lines.  Slide divers with orange crush and Craig’s Christmas Stingray lures worked well with 125 foot of line out. 

The bait still has not set up in the 80 to 100 foot depth as we would expect this time of the year, however we did mark some very good schools of suspended bait out in 220 to 240 foot of water. 

The report on the perch fishing is not very good with boats fishing from 15 foot out to 80 foot of water with very little success.  Fishermen on the piers and in boats drifting down the channel are taking some very nice smallmouth bass and an occasional walleye.

For more information or to book a fishing charter contact me at captron@chartermichigan.com.

Salmon and Steelhead in 180 Foot of Water (Jun-01-2014)

June 1, 2014 Fishing Report

We had another very good week of fishing with creel numbers of 10 to 14 salmon and steelhead per trip.  The fish were found in 150 to 200 foot of water with the best depth being 170 to 185 foot.  The Chinook salmon range from 5 to 15 pounds and the steelhead are weighing in up to 14 pounds.  In addition we are taking an occasional Coho salmon, however they are in the 2 to 5 pound range.  As a rule, the steelhead are being caught in the top 20 foot of water and the salmon are hitting from 15 to 40 foot down. 

The steelhead are hitting orange and silver and orange and green Stinger lures on the 3 and 2 color lead core lines and on the 30,  75 and 150 foot of copper line pulled behind the planner boards and also on “add a lines” with the same stinger lures.  The Chinook salmon are coming on mainly 200 and 300 foot of copper line with the NBK Stingray and Craig’s Reverse Christmas Stingray.  Although not very productive, there are some salmon coming on the dipsy divers with flashers and flies run at 100 and 150 foot of line out.  The downriggers (30 to 55 foot down) with stinger lures are producing some fish but they have not been real productive. 

It is nice to see the salmon and steelhead in the deeper water, and they should start showing up in that 100 and 120 foot depth as the bait sets up just inside of that.  For information and/or for booking a charter for these fantastic fish, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com.

2014 Kids Fishing Outing (May-26-2014)

2014 Kids Fishing

On May 20, 2014 the Lake Shore Charter Boat Association along with private boats from both Saugatuck and Holland took 67 6^th Grade Saugatuck students out for a morning of salmon fishing.  This is the 5^th time that the charter boat association has rewarded students for their participation in the Salmon In The Classroom program.  In this program the students hatch and raise Chinook salmon to the smolting stage and then release them into the Kalamazoo River.  All of the equipment and supplies for the two classrooms were purchased and maintained by the Lake Shore Charter Boat Association and Allegan Ducks Unlimited.

20 charter and private captains and mates donated their time, gas and equipment to catch 80+ salmon, steelhead and lake trout.  The catch was then cleaned by the captains and mates and Allegan Ducks Unlimited cooked up the catch for all students, teachers, writers, captains and mates.  After the lunch, all the students were given a Shimano rod and reel purchased from Shimano with a donation from Huntington Bank. 

Thank you to Sarah Coffman and Dave Engle for their work in organizing the outing and getting the boats.  Thank you to Ducks Unlimited for cooking and serving the catch and to Huntington Bank and Shimano Rods and Reels for their donations.  And a special thank you to all the captains and mates who made this outing so special to the students.