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.

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.com

 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.

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.

 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.

 Fishing continued to be excellent this past week and into the weekend.  Of course, this weekend, we had to deal with the fog and that makes it a little more intense as we try to land fish and keep an eye on the radar, as well.  Thank goodness we have our mates to help out.

 We are fishing from 110 ft. of water out to 210 ft.  We are fishing the top 50 ft. of water.

 We are using a large variety of spoons, some of which are:  Blue Dolphin, Green Dolphin, Mixed Veggie, and Icicle.

 We also are using some spinnie/fly combos, but mainly spoons.We are catching a mixed bag of 1, 2, & 3 year old Salmon and some Steelhead added in.

 With rough waters today and the colder temps. in the forcast for the next few days, we will undoubtedly be fishing differently.  We hope the weather settles down for our Slammin’ Salmon Derby this coming Saturday.

The water temperature dropped into the mid 40’s this week and the salmon
moved into the shallow water at the piers and fishing was excellent. Big
chinook salmon and large coho produced some limit and near limit catches
with some lake trout and steelhead mixed in. By Saturday the word had
gotten out and combat fishing took place in front the Saugatuck piers.
By noon on Saturday the fog moved in and we noticed a increase in the
water temperature from 46 degrees to 50 degrees and by Sunday morning
the water temperature was 67 degrees and the fishing slowed. There were
still some salmon in front the piers, however they were not as active in
the warmer water and we moved out to 200 foot and caught some 2 and 3
year old salmon and steelhead.

The most productive lures were the Ace Hi plugs in pearl/black dot and
silver/red head pulled on downriggers, dipsy divers and 2 and 3 color
lead core. We also ran some Hot n Tots on flat lines (gold and white
black dot), however the Ace Hi plugs out performed any other lure.
Sunday we found the cold water in 200 foot of water and used small
stingers (blue green dolphin, green dolphin and orange crush) on 50 foot
of copper and 5 color lead core. On the dipsy divers the best lure was
the blue mixed veggie Stingray which was hit multiple times. A couple of
hits on the downriggers at 40 and 50 foot down with small stingers
(orange corey and mixed veggie) on the add-a-lines.

With a south wind and current for the next few days, I think that the
shallow water will continue to warm and other than early morning and
late evening, the most productive fishing will be off shore. For charter
information or for fishing information, email me at
captron@chartermichigan.com.

 Another excellent week of fishing.  Bites ranged from 17-37 with 13-24 fish caught per trip.  Not as many 4-year old kings (12-23lbs.) available towards the end of the week, but still a very nice mix of 3-year old kings (8-12 lbs.), coho (7-11lbs.), steelhead (7-15lbs.) & lake trout (7-10lbs.).  Best depths were 80 to 160 FOW at first light, then 170 to 250 later in the day.  Some days we were only able to run 6-8 rods due to the rough waves.  Still, many doubles & triples kept us pretty busy.  Once again, baits didn’t seem to matter as almost anything put out caught fish.  Small green, white, & mountain dew/white glow Spin Doctors with a green glow fly continued to work best in the morning, while a variety of Moonshine & Stinger Stingrays spoons did well any time of the day.  Most productive morning setups were downriggers set at 50’, 75’ & 90’ and divers set at 1 1/2, back 80’-140.’  Spoons on full copper & lead core did best later in the deep water.  Also, 5 color lead core set at 30’ & 40’ on the downriggers in the middle of the day did very well.  Fixed sliders set 10’ above the main line worked well in the morning, while free sliders did better later in the day. 

 Still no good news on the perch fishing.  I can be contacted at cyndiesuecharters@comcast.net or 616 450-4921 for more information or to inquire about reserving a fishing trip.

Another good week of fishing in Saugatuck. Catches of 15 to 30 fish per
trip was very common last week. What really determined how many fish you
caught was what they hit that day. If they hit more copper at 300 and
450 foot, it took longer to land the fish and when you slowed down to
fight the fish, you really “stopped fishing” until you got your speed
back. If the majority of the fish hit the downriggers and dipsy divers,
you spent less time fishing the fish and got the lures back in action
faster. The creel consisted of 2, 3 and 4 year old chinook salmon, coho
salmon, lake trout, steelhead with an occasional brown trout.

Although some boats reported some success with stingray lures, the best
method for us were flashers and flies which were run on copper, dipsy
divers and downriggers. 200 foot, 300 foot and 450 foot copper with
flashers and rapture flies produced very well. The dipsy divers at 200
and 300 foot and downriggers at 80, 90 and 100 foot produced very well.
We had very good success with Singer E chip flashers (mixed veggie,
chrome UV, super frog, white UV/glow, silver UV green) and Rapture flies
(no see um with green beads, no see um with yellow beads, sour apple,
green hypnotist and green dude). On certain days we had very good
success with the 11 in echip (white glow UV, silver mountain dew and
white double glow) on the downriggers, however they might work one day
and not the next.

Next week might prove to be interesting. With strong winds and high
waves the next two days, we may find cold water moving in and with that
the salmon should move into the river. Yesterday when we ran a mid day
charter, we marked what looked like salmon in 55 foot of water and saw a
couple of salmon jump in front of the boat.  For fishing information or
charter reservations, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com.