We fished south today setting up in 110 feet of water. First fish came on a 200 copper with a Natural Glow Captains Choice Cut Plug. It was a good size King. That 200 went one more time but we missed that one. A pair of regular size DW Blue Skinny Jeans on an out down set at 50 feet went twice. Our best rod was a high wire diver out 300 with a 10″ White Slick Spin Doctor/Pickled Sunshine Dreamweaver Meat Rig. An 8″ White Crush Spin Doctor/Pickled Sunshine Action Fly stacked with a mag Fuzzy Bear Modified Blue Dolphin 110 down on an out down went twice. One hit the flasher/fly and the other the spoon. Our biggest King came on a 300 copper with an 8″ White Crush Spin Doctor/Pickled Sunshine Action Fly. We took a King on a mag glow spoon on a 350 copper and another King on our Trout rig. an 8″ Chrome Spin Doctor/Blue Chrome WhirlyGig with glow wings. The top picture was from yesterdays charter. I attended a funeral out of town and Capt. Russ Soper and 1st mate Corey did a fine job … [Read more...]
Coho Fishing is Hot in Southern Ports
Bending Limits Sportfishing Charters of Saugatuck Michigan reports excellent catches of Coho on body baits-on flat lines, 1,2,3,4,5 colors of lead core with copper back mini streaks have been very good. We’re also catching fishing down deep. anywhere from 55 to 280 feet down on the downriggers!!! These fish seem to like spin doctors and Big Weenie flies. Our best fly as always is the Proctologist. These fish really seem to change the baits they’re biting on, on a daily basis. One day they really want the flies, the next they seem to love the spoons. The key right now is it run as many rods as possible, with as many different baits to start out with, and let the fish tell you what they want!<a … [Read more...]
8-1-2016 Saugatuck / Holland fishing Report Lake Michigan
What a great week of fishing off of Holland and Saugatuck. The creels ranged from 10 to 20 fish per trip with lake trout exceeding 20 pounds and Chinook reaching the mid 20 pound range. In addition to the Chinook salmon and lake trout there were steelhead up to 12 pounds and coho pushing 10 pounds. Every day we had kings hit our lures run from 30 foot down to the bottom, however we did not catch the kings every day. A 20+ pound king will take off 600 foot (or more) of line with the initial hit and were it goes is anybodies guess, however you can bet that it will be into other lines producing tangles and often lost fish and gear. The salmon, as I said will hit 150 foot copper to 350 foot of copper with spoons and flashers and flies and they also hit on the flashers and flies that we ran on the bottom for lake trout. So basically you fish from 30 foot to 110 foot and what hits is often a surprise—often lake trout but some time steelhead, king salmon or coho salmon. Silver and UV … [Read more...]
Lake Michigan Fishing Report from Saugatuck Michigan
What an interesting week this has been. Though out the week, when we left the dock we never knew what the day would produce. We started the week like we ended last week with 90% of the creel consisting of lake trout and the remaining 10% being steelhead and kings. By Wednesday the creels consisted of 50% lake trout and 50% kings and steelhead. Thursday and Friday produced creels consisting of 90% kings and 10% lake trout and steelhead. By Saturday we were back to primarily lake trout with an occasional silver fish. Fishing between fronts on Sunday we caught some coho along with some steelhead, lake trout and kings. Even though the fishing was unpredictable, the size of the fish was very good with catches having an average of 11 or 12 pounds per fish. The kings that we caught this week ranged from 16 to 22 pounds. We got to a point in the middle of the week were we decided that “less was more”. We had to reduce the number of copper lines and divers we ran because the kings would hit and … [Read more...]
7-11-2016 Southern Lake Michigan Fishing Report
This past week produced some very good fishing between fronts that came in mid week and on the weekend. The creel consisted of mainly lake trout with a couple of steelhead and/or salmon thrown in each day with creel numbers of 10 to 20 fish per trip. On one of our multi boat charters, a boat boated a lake trout that pushed 30 pounds and there were also chinook salmon taken that pushed 25 pounds. Not a lot of salmon being caught, however there are some very good sized salmon out there. The lake trout are also very nice size, with the catches averaging about 10 pounds each. We are fishing from 85 foot of water to 110 foot of water. The steelhead are hitting any spoons that are orange and silver and orange and red that are pulled on 5 color lead core and/or 100 foot of copper. There are also some steelhead taken on 3 color lead core with orange and red thin fins. The best rigs for the salmon continue to be the super slim coyote ugly and the bloody nose pulled on 200 and … [Read more...]
07-04-16 Saugatuck Fishing Report
This past week we saw all types of weather conditions with 90 + degree conditions with no wind to a 55 degree day with 30 knot winds and 8 foot seas. We saw the water temperature go from the high 40's to the mid 60's and then to the mid 40's over night and now slowly increasing into the high 50's. During the week we began fishing in front the piers, then moved out to 90 foot of water, then back in front the piers and today we were back out in 80 foot of water. Needless to say, there was no consistency to the week, however, the fishing was good with creel limits ranging from 2 to 10 fish per trip. The 2 fish catch does not sound very good however we had more than 10 steelhead on and fighting during the trip. If you fish steelhead you know that often you need three fish on to land one. Around the piers the best lure for the steelhead continues to be Thin Fins (Silver, Gold/Red, Red/Black, Orange/Red) run on flat lines, 2 and 3 color lead core and on the downriggers. When we moved … [Read more...]
June 27, 2016 Fishing Report Saugatuck
June 27, Fishing Report Lake water temperature is beginning to warm and most of the fish have left the shallow waters around the piers. However we had another week of good fishing out of Holland and Saugatuck producing creel numbers of 9 – 12 consisting of lake trout and steelhead. The best fishing was in 70 to 110 foot of water with lake trout caught bouncing the bottom and the steelhead hitting at 20 to 50 foot down. The best combination for the lake trout, continues to be metal Gold Star dodgers and silver spin doctors with spin n glos (yellow/silver, green/yellow and double trouble glow). These are run on the bottom on the downriggers and on the low wire divers. The steelhead were caught on the high divers (125 to 150 ft. out) with blue bubble flasher and flies and silver UV flashers and Oceana flies. We also caught steelhead on 100 copper and 250 copper with orange and green spotted super slim spoons. I have not had any good reports on the perch fishing and the steelhead … [Read more...]
06-02-2016 Southern Lake Michigan Fishing Report
Coho Bob's Sportfishing Charters LLC reports: Fishing remains good out of St. Joe! Some kings and coho's with a steelhead mixed in. Plenty of lakers also! Pro-Troll UV Frog with Rapture asteroid fly has been working on the low divers set on 1 180-220 out! Meat on a large Pro-Troll with Rapture Red pepper teaser on a 300cu and a 2oz Stinger diver bomb pulled by a Church TX-44 has been working also! Stinger reg size coyote, blonde tangerine, yellow killer, and veggies on the riggers and free sliders are catching the coho's. Tin can on and near bottom with Raptures pearl pink dots spin n GLo with little bride fly is killing lakers! Coho Bob's Sportfishing Charters LLC … [Read more...]
Lake Michigan Fishing Report from Holland
Fishing in Holland, Michigan is absolutely fantastic! The king salmon have shown up in big numbers! We’ve been taking anywhere from 10-20 salmon bites per day. Fishing does not get much better than it is right now. Right now we’re targeting salmon in 130-150 feet of water. Our best baits by far have been Big Weenie meat rigs. Speckled dick, Spotted dick, Blue Balls, and JJ’s boyfriend have all been great. 10in White slick spin doctor paired with Big Weenie No fish Nick has also been very good. Morgan’s copper in 150, 200, 225, 250, 300, 350 foot segments have been very good with magnum spoons in various colors. Lake Trout fishing is still VERY good south of Holland in 60-80 feet of water. Yakima Bait Spin n Glos are catching our trout with relative ease! Now is the time to get on the big lake and do some fishing! -Capt. TJ Willacker Bending Limits Charters 989-464-6546 … [Read more...]
09-21-2015 Southern Lake Michigan Fishing Report
The season is coming to a close for the charter service; however the fishing continues to be very good in the 90 to 120 foot depth. The last couple of weeks produced some days of high winds and waves. During the blows the water temperature dropped for a day but then the warm water flowed back in and we had 68 degree water again. During the day or two of cooler water, a few salmon did show up at the piers but with the return of the warm water, they either moved up the river or moved back off shore. The fishing off shore is still very good with creel numbers in the teens and 4 to 6 “silver fish” in the catch each day. The last week our catch had more Coho and steelhead than Chinook salmon. The salmon and steelhead were caught on 100 to 200 copper with stingray size spoons (mixed veggie and mixed veggie UV) and on the high divers with Live Wire and Mixed Veggie Pro Troll with Oceana UV flies at 180 foot and 200 foot. Lake Trout continue to be caught on the bottom with metal flashers … [Read more...]
09-07-2015 Southern Lake Michigan Fishing Report
Captain Ron Westrate reports: Warm water fishing continues in Saugatuck. The top 60 foot of water is still 70 degrees, however a good thermocline has formed from 60 to 70 foot with a drop of 12 degrees. The fishing still remains very good in 90 to 100 foot of water with creel numbers in the teens and consisting of lake trout, Chinook salmon and Coho salmon along with an occasional steelhead. The lake trout continue to come in the bottom 10 foot of the water column on Gold Star metal dodgers and spin n glos. The salmon are coming on a variety of flashers and Green No See Um, Yellow beaded No See Um, Oceana Tuli, Oceana and Green Hypnotist flies pulled behind dipsy divers and 350 foot of copper. Early in the morning, glow “Upside Under” and regular Ace Hi plugs (Wonder Bread, Green Splatter Back, Glow Pearl and Green Lightning) work well on 150, 200 and 250 foot of copper. Another good combination is the 11 in Pro Troll UV blade with a No See Um UV fly run at 70 foot that … [Read more...]
August 31-2015 Southern Lake Michigan Fishing Report
Captain Ron Westrate reports from Saugatuck This past week produced some unpredictable results with creels of 10 to 16 fish consisting of ¾ salmon one day and then 1 or 2 salmon the next with the rest mostly lake trout. Warm water continues to dictate the location and movements of the salmon with most of the fish being caught in 80 to 100 foot of water. Early in the week the water temperature is 70 degrees on the surface and 70 degrees 100 foot down. By the end of the week the temperature was 68 degrees down to 70 foot and then dropped to the 50’s and 40’s at 100 foot. The salmon were mainly caught in the warm water 40 foot to 70 foot down and the lake trout were caught 80 foot to the bottom. The Chinook Salmon were caught on Ace Hi plugs on 200, 300 and 350 foot of copper. The best colors were pearl/glow, wonderbread/glow, silver green back and green/splatter back plugs. We also caught both salmon and lake trout on blue bubble, mixed veggie and silver flashers with … [Read more...]
08-24-2015 Southern Lake Michigan Fishing Reports
Captain Ron Westrate reports from Saugatuck: The two day hard blow out of the southwest, changed the fishing dramatically this past week. Monday and Tuesday we were catching 20% Lake Trout and 80% salmon and steelhead with a good themocline at 50 foot. Then the wind blew 35 mile per hour from the southwest for two days and when we got out on Friday, we found 71 degree water from the surface down to 110 foot. Needless to say the fishing changed dramatically with fish coming 100 to 140 foot down in 150 foot of water. Fish are still being caught; however we are back to mostly lake trout. The copper lines, (300 ft., 350 ft. and 450 ft) did produce some nice salmon with silver, mixed veggie and blue bubble flashers and Rapture Oceana and green Hypnotist flies. Early in the week we ran the high divers and 170 foot out and low divers at 120 foot out but by the end we ran them at 350 and 250 foot out. Behind the divers we ran the chrome/mountain dew, all chrome and white/slick … [Read more...]
Southern Lake Michigan Fishing Report
Captain Ron Westrate reports from the southern ports of Lake Michigan A great week of fishing with limit catches most days. 2/3 rds of the creel still consist of Lake Trout, however there are more Chinook Salmon and Steelhead showing up. Even with the rough water and high winds toward mid week the fishing was very consistent. The Lake Trout were again taken on metal dodgers and spin n glos on the down riggers and low divers. The salmon were hitting on silver/mountain dew and silver flashers with the Rapture Illusion UV and yellow beads on high divers at 100 and 120 foot. Every morning, on the middle down rigger, we are running a glow bladed UV Pro Troll flasher and green beaded No See Um and when the sun gets higher we switch over to the Pro Troll Davie Jones flasher and Rapture Last Supper fly and it is good for 2 to 3 salmon a day and an occasional lake trout. The 100 foot, 150 foot and 200 foot copper are producing the steelhead and salmon with small Ace Hi plugs (glow … [Read more...]
8-10-2015 Southern Lake Michigan:
Capt. Ron Westrate, Director SLM, reports from First Call ll . A week of either limit catches or catches of all the fish a person needs or wants. Many of the charters only lasted 3 to 4 hours to get all the weight of fish a person or group needs. Creel numbers ranged for low to mid teens to the low 20’s. The creels consisted of a mixture of about 2/3rd lake trout and 1/3rd salmon and steelhead. The size of the fish was also very good with lake trout up to 15 pounds and salmon pushing 20 pounds. The lake trout again were taken primarily on Gold Star metal flashers and white/glow and green/chartreuse spin n glos on the bottom with downriggers. Salmon were caught on the high and low divers, 200, 300 and 350 foot copper with Pro Troll flashers (blue bubble, mixed veggie, white and blue and UV and white and UV. Behind the flashers we pulled Rapture flies and the best fly was the Oceana UV and Oceana Tuli, however there were days when the Green No See Um and the Green … [Read more...]
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