Fishing Report

Kings and Lake Trout in Saugatuck (May-15-2011)

Last week we did not fish when the weather was warm, clear and the winds were light, instead we waited until we had 25 mph winds, 2 to 5 foot seas and constant rain. With 3 out of 4 people chumming, the fishing was good with a good catch of salmon and lake trout. We kept 4 salmon and 4 lake trout and returned some under size lake trout and lost some other nice sized salmon. The best depth was 70 to 75 foot of water, fishing 30 to 60 foot down. The best methods were downriggers at 35 foot, 50 foot and on the bottom with regular stingers (green glow, green/blue dolphin on the 35 and 50 footers and a tin can flasher and spin and glow on the rigger on the bottom. The dipsy divers were run at 90 and 150 foot out with the Hot Chip flasher (frog/glow and silver mountain dew) and Rapture flies (wild fern and green hypnotist) on the low diver and green dolphin stinger on the high diver. The copper did not produce very well, however we had a couple of hits on the 200 and 300 foot copper with the glow frog stinger and yellow tail stingers. This week Tuesday, 20 charter and private boats will be taking out 70 Saugatuck seventh grade students as a reward for participating in the Salmon in the Classroom Project. We will leave the dock at 7 AM and return at 12 noon. After pictures and cleaning of the catch, Ducks Unlimited will treat the students to a fish fry for lunch at Tower Marina in Douglas. Check back next week and I will update everyone on the student fishing excursion and the fishing results during the week. If you would like fishing and or charter reservation information, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com.

Few chinook salmon and a lot of lake trout in Saugatuck (May-08-2011)

This past week produced some good catches of lake trout with a few salmon thrown in. The good news is that the chinook salmon are running a good size (mid teens) and appear to be in very good shape. To catch the lake trout, bounce the bottom with metal dodgers with spin n glows and rapture green hypnotist flies.. The best area was 50 to 70 foot of water south of the Douglas Point which produced 8 to 15 lake trout per trip that weighed up to 18 pounds. Saturday we tried to concentrate on the salmon and caught some in 45 to 40 foot of water in the mixed water off of the Saugatuck piers. 3 color and 5 color lead core with orange crush and fruit cocktail stingers and dipsy divers at 70 and 90 foot out with regular size Craigs X mas, Blueberry Muffin and Orange Dolphin stingers. No fish on the downriggers and none on flat lines. The day produced some small salmon in the 5 to 8 pound range, one chinook that weighed 12 pounds and a lake trout. Not real productive, however it might be worth trying if you do not want the lake trout. For more information or for charter reservations, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com. or call toll free at 888-253-8372.

Chinook showing up in the creel (May-01-2011)

We only fished one day this past week with only lake trout showing up in the creel, however Thursday, Friday and Saturday boats reported some nice chinook being caught up to 19 pounds. We caught the lake trout south of the Douglas Beach to the point from 50 to 60 foot of water where the water began to clear. The boats that caught the salmon found them in 40 to 50 foot of water between Saugatuck and Holland. The water temperature is the same from top to bottom and we caught most of the lake trout in the bottom 20 foot however some also hit flat lines and 3 and 5 color lead core. All of the fish came on spoons (we tried flashers with no success): blue dolphin mixed veggie, green glow, and yellow fin stingers. No color preference, it appears if it came in view they hit it. When I talked to some of the boats that got into chinook salmon, they reported the same thing with fish hitting stick baits, thin fins and spoons in a variety of colors. Probably because of the dirty water from the run off. For more information and or charter reservations, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com.

Limit catch of CoHo in Saugatuck (Apr-17-2011)

When the weather permits, the fishing has been very good this last week. Capt. Norm Coffman reported a limit catch of 20 coho and a lake trout that was caught on Wed. in 20 to 30 foot of water. All the fish were caught south of the Douglas point. Flat lines with stick baits and thin fins (in a variety of colors) produced every fish. There were also some reports of lake trout being caught in 50 to 60 foot of water and one fisherman caught a few very nice chinook salmon in the mud line off the Saugatuck piers. River fishing on the Kalamazoo River continues to be slow with a few steelhead being caught on their beds. Perch fisherman are doing well (some reporting limit catches) out of Grand Haven and one fisherman I talked to caught 25 perch just south of the Holland piers. For more information or charter reservations, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com.

Fish catch fluctuates throughout the week in Saugatuck (Apr-10-2011)

Saugatuck fishing this past week started out with very good catches of 15 to 20 fish per boat but then the catches decreased to 6 to 10 fish and then by the week end catches ranged from 2 to 6 fish. Most of the fish were coho in the 2 to 4 pound range with an occasional brown trout and chinook salmon showing up. 10 to 20 foot of water produced most of the fish early in the week but on Saturday we caught fish all the way out to 60 foot and they appeared to be more scattered and in a variety of depths. The temperature of the water did not change, however the distribution of the fish changed for some reason. Early in the week, the best lures and combinations continue to be flat lines with stick baits in the green, orange and fire tiger combinations. By Saturday 5 color lead core and the downriggers at 20 to 25 foot produced most of the action with frog and glow frog Stinger lures and green black ladder back thunder sticks with some lake trout showing up in the creel. The Kalamazoo River pier fisherman and shore fisherman continue to report catches of steelhead, coho and browns on spawn. No new reports on the the steelhead fishing in the Kalamazoo, however there are reports of decent catches in the Grand River at the dam in Grand Rapids. Fisherman in the St. Joe River said that some steelhead are being caught, however the fishing was slow. If you want more fishing information, or want information on a fishing charter, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com.