Capt. Russ Clark of Sea Hawk Charters reports from St. Joseph:

Fishing has been excellent out of St. Joseph, MI. We’ve had limit catches daily being mostly KIng Salmon with a few Coho, Steelhead, and Lake Trout mixed in. The fishing has been best between 80′ and 160′ feet of water. The fish have been coming between 30′ and 120′ feet down. The best have been spoons such as Silver Streaks in Green Dolphin, Blue Dolphin, Lemon Ice, Yellow Natural born Killer, and Purple Smurf. Stingers have been working well also in similiar colors. Five, eight, and ten color lead core has been working we good, as well as 300′ copper off the Church Walleye boards. Dipsy divers back 80′ to 200′ with spoon or Spin Doctors has been very good as well.. Fishing north or south has both been good out of the port.

Good fishing, Capt. Russ

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

We fished a couple of days this past week and because of the dirty water after the blow last week, we had to fish from 190 foot of water out to 230 foot of water. We found a slick where the blue water started and the chalky water ended and the salmon and steelhead were found just inside the slick in the chalky water. Regular sized stingers (orange crush, orange corey, craigs christmas, jawbreaker) were pulled on almost all the lines from 60 foot of copper to 200 foot of copper, dipsy divers at 60 foot and 130 foot out and downriggers at 30, 40 and 50 foot down. Nice fish with 2 and 3 year old salmon and steelhead from 6 to 12 pounds.

We will probably be pulling the boat next week, however if you need fishing information or information about a fishing charter, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com or call me toll free at 888-253-8372

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

Although we only fished a couple of times this week, the fishing was very good out in 140 foot of water with 15 to 20 fish per trip. In this deeper water you will find 3 and 2 year old chinook salmon, some 10 to 12 pound coho and an occasional lake trout and steelhead. We fished the downriggers at 80, 90 and 100 foot down with the dipsy divers at 100 ft. and 180 foot out and then 450 foot and 300 foot of copper if conditions allowed. Flashers and flies on all the lines with the best flashers being Stinger Echip green super frog, green glow/UV, mountain dew and green glow with any Rapture fly that was green or hypnotist with green beads.

We will be available for charters for the next couple weeks and then end the season. For charter reservations or fishing information email me at captron@chartermichigan

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

Limit or near limit catches on every trip but 1 last week. Lots of nice 3 year old kings with an occasional 4 year old king, lake trout and steelhead mixed in. Saturday was the only “off” day when I couldn’t get a good program together and we ended up 6 for 17. Mornings were much better than in the middle of the day. 120 to 150 feet was very good along with 200 to 250. Pretty much ran spoons all week. Green, blue, orange and red work well, but it changed every day. Downriggers worked best in the mornings, while divers and board lines did better in the middle of the day.

Even though we did not do any perch fishing last week, I did get reports of some boats getting a few in front of the piers about 1 mile out.

Excellent fishing for the smaller fish should continue right through October. 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:

A very nice week of fishing with some catches from 10 to 15 fish per
trip. With the warm water in front of the piers, we have moved out to
90 to 200 foot of water and found 2, 3 and some 4 year old chinook
salmon, 10 to 14 pound coho, and some steelhead and lake trout. With
the strong east and south east winds the best direction was a 240 or a
300 degree troll from 100 to 190 foot of water with the best depth being
135 to 160 foot.

Almost all of the fish came on flashers and flies although we did take a
couple of coho on Stingray spoons (blue mixed veggie with white back).
Both silver Stinger Echip flashers (mixed veggie, silver UV, silver
mountain dew) or white bladed Echip flashers (blue wiggle, and white
double glow) with the Rapture green dude, wild fern, speed weed and the
blue bubble fies. Yesterday the blue wiggle flasher and blue bubble fly
was hit at least 6 times at 95 foot down. We ran 300 and 450 foot of
copper and the dipsies were run at 100 and 180 foot out, downriggers at
80, 90 and down to125 foot.

Although our season is winding down, the fishing should continue to be
good in the deeper water. If we get another shot of cold water, we
should see some more 4 year old salmon stage in front the piers. For
more fishing information or for charter reservations, email me at
captron@chartermichigan.com.

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

After several days of strong northeast winds last week, the lake rolled over. By Friday, surface temperatures were in the upper 40s close to shore, gradually warming to the upper 50s out to 180 feet. Most of the big kings were making their runs up the river. Good fishing was found in the channel and right out front. However, fishing for 2 & 3 year old kings, coho, steelhead, and lake trout in 180 to 240 feet produced even better catches over the weekend. The fish weren’t as big, but more action and less stress away from the combat fishing in the fog. Every trip produced 15 or more fish. The fish were somewhat scattered in the deeper water, but still good consistent action any time of day. Best baits near shore were small green, white, & mountain dew/white glow Spin Doctors or Pro-Troll paddles with a green glow fly. Stinger Stingray (NBK, any green color) & regular size Silver Streak (green chilly willy) spoons did well any time of the day in all waters. A variety of Moonshine spoons did well in the morning. All setups were productive as all rods produced fish on most days. Downriggers set at 30’, 60’, 80’ & 100’ and divers set at 1 ½, back 80’-140’ worked best in low light. Spoons on full copper & lead core were more productive later in the day. Outriggers with small divers set at 3 ½, back 60’ produced most of the steelhead. A lot of the smaller salmon were caught on free sliders.

We did not do any perch fishing last week. However, some boats were getting a few in front of the piers, and a little to the south on the edge of the stained water.

Even though fishing for the big 4 year old kings is now pretty much over, excellent fishing for the smaller fish should continue right through October. I can be contacted at cyndiesuecharters@comcast.net or 616 450-4921 for more information or to inquire about reserving a fishing trip.