Captain Ron Westrate Saugatuck Fishing Report on Lake Michigan South

The best fishing right now is in the Kalamazoo River with good catches of steelhead and an occasional salmon. With the high water levelsubsiding, the Kalamazoo River is almost back inside its banks. In addition most of the leaves are off the trees, so fishermen do not have contend with large number of leaves floating down the river and fouling lines. Most of the action is from New Richmond Bridge to the mouth of the Rabbit River by walking spawn down through the holes. Some fish are being taken by using small hot-n-tots and wiggle worts and back trolling them down through the same holes. River fishing should only get better as the river conditions stabilize.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (reposted from the MDNR)
Nov. 4, 2009

Contact: Mary Dettloff 517-335-3014 or Debbie Munson Badini
906-228-6561

DNR Conservation Officers Seize Illegal Gill Net with 1,100 Pounds of
Fish in Big Bay De Noc

Three Upper Peninsula men were implicated in an illegal gill netting
operation this week on the waters of Big Bay De Noc in Delta County.

Conservation officers from the Department of Natural Resources’
Commercial Fish Enforcement Unit made contact with three men illegally
harvesting fish using a gill net in the early hours of Monday, Nov. 2.

Don’t forget Lake Trout season is closed! They are in close spawning right now, so if you
catch one be sure to throw it back.

According to the Michigan DNR:

Salmon are still being found in some locations however it is getting harder to find fresh fish. The rivers have started to fill up with steelhead and whitefish are being caught in the waters of Lake Michigan.

Charlevoix – Small steelhead were caught off the docks and piers when using spawn.

Platte River – Those using spawn are catching steelhead at the mouth.

Frankfort – Pier fishing and surfcasting have been pretty good for the last week. Good numbers of steelhead in various sizes along with a few whitefish have been caught on spawn. Boats trolling from the piers to Pt. Betsie have also caught decent numbers of chinook, brown trout and steelhead. Try orange or blue spoons or a white flasher/fly combination 45 to 50 feet down in waters 80 to 160 feet deep.

Betsie River – The salmon run is pretty much done however anglers were still taking a few fish up near the dam. Light numbers of steelhead were caught from Betsie Bay to the US-31 Bridge.

Arcadia – Had good steelhead fishing for those trolling orange or white spoons in the top 20 feet of waters 30 to 100 feet deep. Surf and pier anglers are also doing well when using spawn about 100 feet from shore.

Onekama – Chinook and steelhead were caught in 100 to 150 feet of water when trolling south to the Bar Lake outlet or north to the Barrel. Small spoons or flasher/fly combinations in orange, blue, or green worked the best. Pier action was slow.

According to the Michigan DNR Reported some decent catches of perch along the shipping channel, near buoys 17 and 18 and out by the Spark Plug. Some were 9 to 10 inches but a few were closer to 12 inches. Shore anglers caught perch in the Linwood Marina and the Eagle Bay Marina. Though sorting is necessary, anglers were taking enough fish to keep it interesting. Activity on the east side of the Bay was slow except for a few perch caught in the marina and the river at Sebewaing.