Captain Brian Helminen From Sandpoint Charters reports from Lac La Belle:

Fishing report for Lake Superior fishing in Bete Gris and Stannard Rock out of Lac la Belle with Sand Point Charters, LLC aboard the Fishin Mission.
With the surface water temperatures warming up to the low 70’s almost all accross Lake Superior, all the fish are down deep. There are some thermoclines from anywhere between 50 feet down to the bottom. Fishing in water as deep as 200 feet, there are still a few Coho being caught, but mainly lake trout in the thermos, and at the bottom.
Dypsy divers and planer boards have been un-productive with fish down deep, so downriggers are almost a necessity. Another option that has always worked well is deep sea trolling with a heavty duty rod and 1 to 2 lb weight on a triangle, pulling a herring dodger and fly or “pop corn” spinner.
Catches of lakers in the 1 to 5 lb range have been most common in close, but larger fish in the 10 lb range at Stannard Rock are more normal.
Most spoons have been working well with Silver Streaks with orange, gold and black are most productive. Speeds of 2 to 2.2 for the laker trout and a little faster for Coho and Steelhead have been good. There have not been many Steelhead or King Salmon caughrt lately though. Kings are few and far between.
Many of us are looking forward to fall fishing for lake trout as the water cools and they come in to shallower waters.
To schedule a charter with Sand Point Charters, call Brian at 906-370-2257 or email brian@sandpointcharters.com. For more informaition, see www.sandpointcharters.com

Watta Bite Charter Fishing Glen Arbor Michigan

Fishing out of Glen Arbor has been good. nice catches, of Lake Trout with an occasional Salmon are being caught in Sleeping Bear Bay. Tight on the bank in 50-60′ of water. Cowbells with spin glows, and double orange crush spoons are working well.

South Manitou Island produced some nice Kings over the weekend. Fish between 4 to 16 lbs were caught. Lead core, and copper were hot. Double orange crush and green blue dolphin spoons worked well,
trolling over 100 to 300′ of water.

The weather looks great for the Memorial Day Weekend.

Captain Bill Winowiecki
Port Captain – Michigan Charter Boat Association.

Captain Dick Stafford of Take Five Charters reports from the U.P Lake Michigan and Superior:

Perch fishing on the Bays de Noc has slowed down a great deal from two weeks ago. A few browns and splake have been caught around the Cedar River Area just south of Escanaba. Walleye opener is expected to be moderate at best. Numbers of spawning walleye were down this past Spring.
Meanwhile, cohos were up around Marquette, Autrain, and Munising. Coho fishing saw good catches around Grand Maris Harbor. Steelhead are being caught off the Chocolay River in Marquette. The sudden cold and windy conditions have, however, slowed up limit catches. As the weather warms, the catching should improve.

Written testimony before Congress on February 9th  by Great Lakes Fishery Commission Chair Mike Hanson “The Great Lakes Fishery Commission” has more than 50 years experience controlling the invasive sea lamprey”

Written Testimony to Congress on Asian Carp

Video of the testimony

Governors of five Great Lake’s state met with President Barack Obama’s administration to work out a plan to prevent Asian Carp from reaching Lake Michigan, which would allow their movement into the other Great Lakes.

The Army Corp and other agencies are doing a great deal of testing and scientific work throughout the region and have committed significant resources in the $75-80 million range.

Although the governors and federal officials found many common solutions they could not convince officials to close navigational locks which lead into Lake Michigan but left the summit with this option is still on the table.

Officials hope to have a final report by next month, which will provide more information about the navigational locks.

Although all admit that closure of the locks is not the single answer to this by any means. The navigational locks were not built as fish barriers, so closing them will not necessarily prevent the carp from reaching the Great Lakes.

Illinois Governor Flynn said shipping from Chicago would have to be rerouted at currently undetermined costs if the navigational locks are closed.

The summit was a first step to convince the administration is that the long-term effects of allowing the carp are irreversible,” he said. “The effects of closing the locks and moving some of that shipping to rail and truck are not.”

Please join with us and sign the petition at http://www.stopasiancarp.com