Capt. Dave Myers of Cyndie Sue Charters reports from Holland:

Not much changed this past week. Excellent salmon fishing produced 21-29 bites with 14-19 fish caught per trip. There were still lots of BIG 4-year old kings (10-24lbs.) available with a mix of coho (7-12lbs.), steelhead (7-16lbs.) & lake trout (7-12lbs.). Best depths were 80 to 120 FOW at first light, then 170 to 200 later in the day. We only needed to run 6 rods in the morning as it was difficult to keep them in the water. Many doubles, triples and an occasional quad kept us pretty busy. Baits didn’t seem to matter as every thing put out caught fish. Small green, white, & mountain dew/white glow Spin Doctors with a green glow fly worked best in the morning, while a variety of Moonshine & Stinger Stingrays spoons did well later in the day. Most productive morning setups were downriggers set at 50, 75 & 90 and divers set at 1 1/2, back 120.’ Spoons on full copper & lead core did best later in the deep water. Fixed sliders set 10’ above the main line worked well all day.

Did not do any perch fishing last week, however it appears to have been poor most days as we did not see any boats out fishing for perch all week. I can be contacted at cyndiesuecharters@comcast.net or 616 450-4921 for more information or to inquire about reserving a fishing trip.

Capt. Ron Westrate of First Call 2 Charters reports from Saugatuck:

Salmon fishing off Saugatuck was as good as it could get this past week.
Catches of 12-20 fish everyday, a limit catch of 30 on Saturday. The
creel was dominated by kings 8-26 pounds with some adult coho (up to
14#), lake trout, steelhead, and even a brown trout in the mix. Best
fishing was from 130 FOW to 175 FOW. During the week fish ranged from
40-110 feet down, and came on downriggers, copper, and wire divers. The
vast majority of fish came on Stinger Echip flasher/Rapture fly
combinations. The best combo were: 8” mixed veggies w/ a sour apple, 8”
chrome w/ a hypnotist, 8” superfrog w/ a wild fern, 8” green glow w/ a
wild fern, 8” chrome mt. dew/UV w/ a speed weed or no-see-um, 8” Davey
Jones glow w/ a speed weed or green-no-see-um. In addition we had
success with Pro Troll 11” white double crushed glow w/ a hypnotist, Pro
Troll 11” green UV frog w/ a first wish, and a Pro Troll 11” chrome mt.
dew w/ a hypnotist.

Tremendous amounts of bait fish promise that fishing should continue to
be excellent. Some of the adult kings are beginning to darken for the
spawning run. It should be a great end of summer fishery. For charter
reservations or fishing information, email me at
captron@chartermichigan.com.

Captain Ed Stowe of Stowaway Charters reports from Ludington:

Fishing is on again at the point. It doesnt seem to matter what bait to use as long as its a meat rig. Meat rigs in just about any patterns are taking fish. 150, 250 and 300 cores and low wire divers from 80′back to 110′, and high wires from 120′ to 140′ are also producing. The secret weapon with a plug is doing very well right now. Some boats are doing very well out in the 5600s out to the 4400s. There is a mixed bag of Kings, cohos, steelhead and some lake trout out there. The pierheads are best from early morning to just before dark at night. PM lake is doing very good with some nice catches on meat rigs. During the day the best fishing is from the 3500#s out to the 5500#s in the 5400#s up to the 0450#s.

Good Fishin…..Capt Ed

Captain Bill Winowiecki of Watta Bite Charters reports from Glen Arbor:

Fishing out of Glen Arbor has been good. Early morning near shore has produced some nice King staging to run up the Crystal and Platte rivers. We boated a 14 pound master angler Coho last week. Some Kings are quite large. A 27 pound fish was caught in our little Glen Arbor Tournament on Sunday. J-Plugs and wonder bread spoons are working well.

Off shore fishing around the Manitou’s we are catching a mixed bag of 2, 3 and 4 year class fish. The salmon are scattered, with all the wind changes. Keep working the banks and out in the 300 foot of water until you hit fish. Then start working that area. These fish want to be spoon fed. Various colors are working depending on cloud cover, and water conditions. Usually when you hit a pod of fish, they’ll hit anything. Be very aware of North winds, in Glen Arbor. We had a little tournament over the weekend, the wind, shifted North-west fast and hard. We had a very bad situation at the ramp.

The Traverse Bays have good fishing for kings. Fishing pressure is heavy, but the Salmon are large. Both bays are producing nice Kings and Lake Trout.

Capt. Ken Deaton of J-Lyn Charters reports from Harbor Beach:

Steelhead fishing is still good straight out, fish the color lines for best results. Put out some long lines on the boards, bright colors of spoons, small, and regular sizes for best results, fishing straight out, South and North of the harbor, start in 80 feet of water and work out to 120 feet of water as the sun comes up. Be there early for a good bite.

A few Salmon are being taken straight out, South and North of the harbor fishing the 80 to 120 feet of water areas. Work deeper as the sun comes up. Clean spoons off the lead lines, dipseys, and downriggers are all working. Fish the top 60 to 80 feet of water for best results.

Lake Trout fishing is fair. Try straight out, South and North of the harbor using the dodgers with spin and glows or flys close to the bottom. Try clean spoons off the downriggers. Fish 50 feet down to the bottom for best results. Start fishing in 80 feet of water and work your way out to the deeper water till you find them.

Bass and Pike are still being taken casting or trolling spoons and body baits in close to shore or inside the harbor. Fishing around the weed beds is still giving the best results.

Walleye fishing is slowing down,

Capt. Dave Myers of Cyndie Sue Charters reports from Holland:

Salmon fishing continued to be excellent this past week. Lots of BIG 4-year old kings with a mix of coho, steelhead & lake trout. Had to quit early one trip due to no more room in the cooler even though we were 4 fish short of our limit. Break-offs continued to be an issue as some of the kings were over 20lbs. Biggest last week was 24 ½ lbs. The coho may also be to blame as they tend to roll up in the line. Best depths were 80 to 120 FOW early, then 170 to 220 later in the day. Best baits were a variety of Moonshine & Stinger Stingrays spoons, and green/white glow Spin Doctors with a green glow fly. However, most days it didn’t matter as just about any bait put out worked. Most productive setups were full copper early, then with an added 3 oz. dive bomber in the deeper water. Down riggers set at 45, 60 & 80 in close, and 50, 70 & 90 out deep did well also. Divers set at 1 1/2, back 120’ and 12 color lead core also caught fish. Free sliders did not do well on most days.

Many of the kings are turning dark already. The eggs and sperm look loose and ready to spawn. It looks like there may be an early run at any time. All-in-all it appears we are in for a much better fall fishery than last year.

Perch fishing continues to be poor most days. There are some around, but mostly very small.