Captain Ron Westrate of CoHooker Charters reports from Saugatuck:

Last week we did not fish when the weather was warm, clear and the winds
were light, instead we waited until we had 25 mph winds, 2 to 5 foot
seas and constant rain. With 3 out of 4 people chumming, the fishing was
good with a good catch of salmon and lake trout. We kept 4 salmon and 4
lake trout and returned some under size lake trout and lost some other
nice sized salmon. The best depth was 70 to 75 foot of water, fishing 30
to 60 foot down.

The best methods were downriggers at 35 foot, 50 foot and on the bottom
with regular stingers (green glow, green/blue dolphin on the 35 and 50
footers and a tin can flasher and spin and glow on the rigger on the
bottom. The dipsy divers were run at 90 and 150 foot out with the Hot
Chip flasher (frog/glow and silver mountain dew) and Rapture flies (wild
fern and green hypnotist) on the low diver and green dolphin stinger on
the high diver. The copper did not produce very well, however we had a
couple of hits on the 200 and 300 foot copper with the glow frog stinger
and yellow tail stingers.

This week Tuesday, 20 charter and private boats will be taking out 70
Saugatuck seventh grade students as a reward for participating in the
Salmon in the Classroom Project. We will leave the dock at 7 AM and
return at 12 noon. After pictures and cleaning of the catch, Ducks
Unlimited will treat the students to a fish fry for lunch at Tower
Marina in Douglas. Check back next week and I will update everyone on
the student fishing excursion and the fishing results during the week.

If you would like fishing and or charter reservation information, email
me at captron@chartermichigan.com.

Captain Ron Westrate of CoHooker Charters reports from Saugatuck:

This past week produced some good catches of lake trout with a few
salmon thrown in. The good news is that the chinook salmon are running
a good size (mid teens) and appear to be in very good shape. To catch
the lake trout, bounce the bottom with metal dodgers with spin n glows
and rapture green hypnotist flies.. The best area was 50 to 70 foot of
water south of the Douglas Point which produced 8 to 15 lake trout per
trip that weighed up to 18 pounds. Saturday we tried to concentrate on
the salmon and caught some in 45 to 40 foot of water in the mixed water
off of the Saugatuck piers. 3 color and 5 color lead core with orange
crush and fruit cocktail stingers and dipsy divers at 70 and 90 foot out
with regular size Craigs X mas, Blueberry Muffin and Orange Dolphin
stingers. No fish on the downriggers and none on flat lines. The day
produced some small salmon in the 5 to 8 pound range, one chinook that
weighed 12 pounds and a lake trout. Not real productive, however it
might be worth trying if you do not want the lake trout.

For more information or for charter reservations, email me at
captron@chartermichigan.com. or call toll free at 888-253-8372.

Captain Ron Westrate of CoHooker Charters reports from Saugatuck:

We only fished one day this past week with only lake trout showing up in the creel, however Thursday, Friday and Saturday boats reported some nice chinook being caught up to 19 pounds. We caught the lake trout south of the Douglas Beach to the point from 50 to 60 foot of water where the water began to clear. The boats that caught the salmon found them in 40 to 50 foot of water between Saugatuck and Holland.

The water temperature is the same from top to bottom and we caught most of the lake trout in the bottom 20 foot however some also hit flat lines and 3 and 5 color lead core. All of the fish came on spoons (we tried flashers with no success): blue dolphin mixed veggie, green glow, and yellow fin stingers. No color preference, it appears if it came in view they hit it. When I talked to some of the boats that got into chinook salmon, they reported the same thing with fish hitting stick baits, thin fins and spoons in a variety of colors. Probably because of the dirty water from the run off.

For more information and or charter reservations, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com

aptain Ron Westrate of CoHooker Charters reports from Saugatuck:

When the weather permits, the fishing has been very good this last week.
Capt. Norm Coffman reported a limit catch of 20 coho and a lake trout
that was caught on Wed. in 20 to 30 foot of water. All the fish were
caught south of the Douglas point. Flat lines with stick baits and thin
fins (in a variety of colors) produced every fish. There were also some
reports of lake trout being caught in 50 to 60 foot of water and one
fisherman caught a few very nice chinook salmon in the mud line off the
Saugatuck piers.

River fishing on the Kalamazoo River continues to be slow with a few
steelhead being caught on their beds.

Perch fisherman are doing well (some reporting limit catches) out of
Grand Haven and one fisherman I talked to caught 25 perch just south of
the Holland piers.

For more information or charter reservations, email me at
captron@chartermichigan.com.

Captain Ron Westrate of CoHooker Charters reports from Saugatuck:

Catches Fluctuate During The Week in Saugatuck

Saugatuck fishing this past week started out with very good catches of
15 to 20 fish per boat but then the catches decreased to 6 to 10 fish
and then by the week end catches ranged from 2 to 6 fish. Most of the
fish were coho in the 2 to 4 pound range with an occasional brown trout
and chinook salmon showing up. 10 to 20 foot of water produced most of
the fish early in the week but on Saturday we caught fish all the way
out to 60 foot and they appeared to be more scattered and in a variety
of depths. The temperature of the water did not change, however the
distribution of the fish changed for some reason.

Early in the week, the best lures and combinations continue to be flat
lines with stick baits in the green, orange and fire tiger combinations.
By Saturday 5 color lead core and the downriggers at 20 to 25 foot
produced most of the action with frog and glow frog Stinger lures and
green black ladder back thunder sticks with some lake trout showing up
in the creel. The Kalamazoo River pier fisherman and shore fisherman
continue to report catches of steelhead, coho and browns on spawn.

No new reports on the the steelhead fishing in the Kalamazoo, however
there are reports of decent catches in the Grand River at the dam in
Grand Rapids. Fisherman in the St. Joe River said that some steelhead
are being caught, however the fishing was slow.

If you want more fishing information, or want information on a fishing
charter, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com.

Captain Ron Westrate of CoHooker Charters reports from Saugatuck:

The 2011 fishing season is about to begin in Saugatuck. We are planning
on getting the boat in some time this week and the report is that the
fishing has been very good. People fishing off the pier have been doing
very well with CoHo, Steelhead and Brown Trout hitting spawn and lures
like Little Cleos. Trollers off the Saugatuck piers are also catching
Brown Trout and CoHo using small stick baits, and small Hot n Tots
pulled behing boards and small stinger lures on the down riggers and
dipsy divers. If you are planning on trolling, I would troll south
toward South Haven since the hottest fishing is in the southern part of
Lake Michigan. St. Joe, Michigan City and the southern ports are
reporting limit catches of CoHo but with the water warming the fishing
should become more active to the north.

I tried to contact the charter captains that are fishing the Kalamazoo
and St. Joe Rivers for steelhead, however no one returned my calls.
Reports are that they are catching steelhead in both rivers and the run
has been much better than last year.

If you want to try perch fishing, Fish On Bait Shop in Spring Lake
reports that the perch bite is hot on the Grand River at the bridges.
The best bait are minnows and leeches.