Fishing Report

Cold water changes fishing in Saugatuck (Jul-27-2014)

Big changes in the fishing this past week.  On Wednesday, we had a strong blow with with 4 to 8 foot seas and winds out of the north.  The surface water cooled from 70 degrees to 49 degrees in shallow water and 52 degrees in the 100 foot depth we have been fishing.  It was 39 degrees on the bottom and 15 foot down was 44 degrees.  Big change in temperature for the fish and the bite was slowed somewhat.  Our creel numbers ranged from 6 to 12 fish per trip with most of the creel consisting of lake trout.  This was somewhat disappointing since the salmon we just beginning to add to the creel. As the lake stabilized, by this past weekend, we started taking 2 to 4 salmon and steelhead each trip. 

Once again the lake trout were primarily taken with green Spin n Glos pulled behind tin can and white Gold Star Flashers.  The salmon and steelhead were caught on silver and silver and green plugs pulled on the 100 and 200 copper and silver mountain dew flashers with Rapture green hypnotist flies on 300 copper. 

With another forecasted blow for Monday and 4 to 8 foot predicted seas, we will probably see another change in the water temperature and a change in the fish location.  If we see another temperature turn over, we may find more of the silver fish (salmon and steelhead) around the warmer river water and the piers.  Time will tell.

This past week we have had a couple of groups that have taken advantage of Catch and Cook and had their catch prepared at selected restaurants.  If you are interested in the Catch and Cook program or want to book a fishing charter, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com or call me at 888-253-8372. 

Some silver fish showing up in the creel. (Jul-20-2014)

Limit catches of Late Trout along with a mixture of salmon and steelhead made up the creel this past week.  We had catches of 10 to 20 fish each day during the week and each day has some silver fish (salmon and steelhead) in the mix, in addition to catching and returning 3 to 6 undersize fish each trip. Fishing in the 85 to 100 foot depth, the lake trout are running up to 17+ pounds with most in the 8 to 12 pound range.  Once again  there were some reports of some salmon and steelhead being caught out in the 220 to 260 foot depth, however they were scattered over a large area and change location from day to day. 

If you saw last weeks report, the methods remain the same.  The best method for the lake trout was Gold Star dodgers and Spin n Glos run on the downriggers and dipsy divers on the bottom.  When the salmon or steelhead hit they were on Hot Wire and Super Frog Stinger flashers and green Rapture Hypnotist flies pulled either on the high divers or on 200 and 300 copper line. 

No good reports on perch in Holland or Saugatuck, however there were some reports of perch in 20 foot of water half way between Saugatuck and South Haven and some good catches south of South Have.  Again, good pier fishing for catfish and sheephead were reported over the weekend.  In addition, there were some reports of good walleye catches up river from the I 196 bridge.

This past week we have had some people take advantage of the Catch and Cook program as they had their catch prepared at some of the local restaurants after the charter.  For more information about the Catch and Cook program or to book a fishing charter call me at 888-253-8372 or email me at captron@chartermichigan.com.

Limit catches of lake trout (Jul-13-2014)

July 13 Fishing Report

Limit catches of Late Trout was the rule rather than the exception this past week.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday we had catches of 16, 12 and 17 fish that were kept and we returned 3 to 6 undersize fish each trip.  Each day we had one or two silver fish (salmon and steelhead) on but did not land them.  Fishing in the 85 to 100 foot depth, the lake trout are running up to 17+ pounds with most in the 8 to 12 pound range.  There were some reports of some salmon and steelhead being caught out in the 220 to 260 foot depth, however they were scattered over a large area. 

Once again the best method for the lake trout was Gold Star dodgers and Spin n Glos run on the downriggers and dipsy divers on the bottom.  When the salmon or steelhead hit they were on Hot Wire and Super Frog Stinger flashers and green Rapture Hypnotist flies pulled either on the high divers or on 200 and 300 copper line. 

No good reports on perch in Holland or Saugatuck, however there were some reports of perch in 20 foot of water half way between Saugatuck and South Haven,  Again, good pier fishing for catfish and sheephead were reported over the weekend.  In addition, there were some reports of good walleye catches up river from the I 196 bridge.

This past week we have had some people take advantage of the Catch and Cook program as they had their catch prepared at some of the local restaurants after the charter.  For more information about the Catch and Cook program or to book a fishing charter call either 877-952-4554 for Saugatuck fishing and 877-952-3674 for Holland fishing.  

A good holiday week for fishing (Jul-06-2014)

The holiday week produced another good week of fishing for boats out of Saugatuck and Holland.  Creel numbers ranged from 10 to 20 fish which mainly consisted of lake trout.  There were some salmon and steelhead taken, however the main targeted species remains lake trout.  There were some reports of steelhead and salmon out in 200 foot of water, however they

were few and scattered.  We fished the 85 to 100 foot depth during the week with creel numbers of 12, 10 20 and 10 fish caught on each trip. Many of the lake trout ranged in weight from 12 to 17 pounds and one steelhead weighed in over 14 pounds.  We did take one brown trout that weighed in over 10 pounds, however this is the only one we caught during the week

The steelhead and salmon, when caught in the 100 foot depth were caught on 200 copper with NBK and Craig’s Christmas lures and high divers run at 150 foot of line with glow frog and mountain dew Pro Troll flashers and green hypnotist flies.  Most of the lake trout were taken on the bottom with metal flashers (chrome, white, yellow) with a variety of Spin n Glos. 

Perch fishing continues to very slow with a few being caught in 40 foot of water and also   from 50 to 60 foot of water.  Fishing off the pier has slowed some what, however there are some sheephead and catfish being caught. 

For more information about fishing or charter reservations call me at 888-253-8372 or email me at captron@chartermichigan.com.  Also don’t forget Catch and Cook that allows you to take your catch from your charter and have it prepared at participating 

Lake Trout in Saugatuck (Jun-29-2014)

June 29 Fishing Report

The fishing has slowed this past week with creel numbers of 2 to 8 being the norm.  Most of the creel consists of Lake Trout with occasional salmon and steelhead mixed in.  85 to 110 foot of water was the best depth with the salmon and steelhead hitting lures run 35 to 60 foot down and the lake trout caught in the bottom 10 foot. 

Downriggers on the bottom with metal flashers and Spin n Glos produced the majority of the Lake Trout.  200 foot, 300 foot and 400 foot of copper also produced.  Salmon came on the shorter lengths with NBK and Orange Crush Stinger lures and Lake Trout on the longer lengths with Pro Troll flashers and green hypnotist flies.  The dipsy divers at 100 and 150 foot of line out caught some steelhead and salmon with just about any color flasher and the green hypnotist fly behind it. 

There have been reports that salmon were being caught north of Holland and south of South Haven from 120 to 180 foot of water, however we have had very little success in the deeper water.  There is some bait in the 90 foot depth and hopefully the salmon should begin to show up in this area.

Once again, I have not heard any reports on successful perch fishing anywhere from South Haven to Holland, however I do think we have seen some small schools of perch, on the graph, off The Ball in 40 to 50 foot of water.  Fishermen on the Saugatuck piers are catching nice stingers of cat fish and sheephead.  There also have been some reports of very good walleye catches in the Kalamazoo River above the I-196 bridge.

Remember that reservations to catch that fish for Catch and Cook can be obtained by contacting me at captron@chartermichigan.com.  Also you can contact me to get information about the restaurants who participate in Catch and Cook.