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

If you like lake trout fishing, you would love the fishing this past
week. 80 to 90 percent of the creel consisted of lake trout with the
rest made up of chinook and steelhead. The best fishing continues to be
in 70 to 100 foot of water, however there were some boats that fished
all the way out to 300 foot of water for the silver fish.

We are fishing the downriggers on the bottom with Silver Horde Gold Star
Flashers and green Rapture Flies (wild fern and green hypnotist) and
yellow and green spin n glows. The dipsy divers were run at 180 foot on
the high divers and 160 foot or more on the low divers with silver Pro
Troll flashers (silver UV, Davey Jones and silver prism) and Rapture
flies (no see um with yellow beads). The 150 foot and 200 foot copper
produced some silver fish with stingray lures (NBK, carmel dolphin and
blue veggie) while the 300 copper produced some chinook with silver and
silver mountain dew flashers and no see um yellow beaded flies.

There was some good reports on the perch, however you may have to run to
get there. The last part of the week produced some limit catches 9 miles
south of the Saugatuck piers in 20 to 30 foot of water. Morning fishing
is much more productive than mid day. Today the boat J Bird caught their
limit of 70 fish that ranged from 8 to 14 in. I did talk to one boat
that caught some perch north of the piers off the state park in 40 foot,
but boats that fished there today did not fare well.

For fishing information or to book a charter, email me at
captron@chartermichigan.com.

Capt. Ken Deaton of J-Lyn Charters reports from Harbor Beach:

Lake Trout fishing is fair with some still being taken North of the harbor using the dodgers with spin and glows close to the bottom. Any color seems to be working when they decide to take them. Try clean spoons off the downriggers. Fish 50 foot down to the bottom for best results. Start fishing in 120 feet of water and work your way out to the deeper water till you find them.

Steelhead fishing is fair, fish the color lines for best results. Keep your lines up high as they are feeding on the bug hatchings right now. Put out some 2,3,5, and 10 color lead lines on the boards, bright colors of spoons regular and magnum sizes for best results, fishing North of the harbor in 120 to 160 feet of water.

A few Salmon are still being taken North of the harbor fishing the 145 foot of water areas North of the harbor. Clean spoons of the lead lines, dipseys, and downriggers are all working. Fish 15 to 60 feet down.

Bass and Pike are being taken using spoons and body baits in close to shore or inside the harbor. Fish around the weed beds for best results.

Try for perch South by the cemetery or inside the harbor along the channel using minnows.

Walleye fishing is starting to get better try North of the harbor and north of Port Hope working in close to shore, 30 to 65 feet of water. Clean small spoons or crawler harnesses should work.

Captain Ron Westrate of CoHooker Charters reports from Saugatuck:

A good week of fishing that started out in 250 foot of water and ended
in 15 foot of water. The first part of the week found us 9 miles out in
250 foot of water fishing Coho, Chinook Salmon and Steelhead. Creel
numbers varied from 8 to 15 fish per trip however strong north, north
east and north west wind during the week produced some rough conditions
and ultimately cooler water. By Friday the surface temperature had
dropped into the low 50 degrees and bait and steelhead had collected at
the pier heads. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday we fished 10 to 20 foot
of water and caught 8 to 13 steelhead per trip with an occasional
Chinook salmon thrown in.

Out deep the pattern was flashers and flies on 200, 300 and 450 foot of
copper, dipsy divers and downriggers. The best combinations included Hot
Chip flashers (silver and silver and mountain dew) with Rapture flies
(green mirage and oceana). Once we move inshore, the pattern was all
spoons on 2 color and 3 color lead core, and dipsy divers and
downriggers. Any spoon would work as long as it had silver and orange on
it and was the size of the stinger lures. The best lures for us were the
stinger fruit cocktail, double orange crush and jaw breaker. On Friday
we were 11 for 35, on Saturday we were 6 for 24 and today we were 13 for
26. On Saturday, fishermen were walking off the South Saugatuck pier
with stingers full of steelhead.

New report on the perch fishing: Limit catches of perch were reported
Saturday evening and Sunday morning. The problem is that the location is
9 miles south of the Saugatuck piers off of Glenn. I talked to boats
that caught 75+ perch last night and got their limit again today and the
perch were running 7 to 12 in. in length.

Capt. Ken Deaton of J-Lyn Charters reports from Harbor Beach:

Steelhead fishing is picking back up again, fish the color lines for best results. Keep your lines up high as they are feeding on the bug hatchings right now. Put out some 2, 5, and 10 color lead lines on the boards, bright colors of spoons regular and magnum sizes for best results, fishing North of the harbor in 75 to 120 feet of water.

A few Salmon are still being taken North of the harbor fishing the 125 foot of water areas North of the harbor. Clean spoons of the lead lines, dipseys, and downriggers are all working. Fish 20 to 50 feet down.

Lake Trout fishing is fair with some still being taken North of the harbor using the dodgers with spin and glows close to the bottom. Any color seems to be working when they decide to take them. Try clean spoons off the downriggers. Fish 50 foot down to the bottom for best results. Start fishing in 110 feet of water and work your way out to the deeper water till you find them.

Bass and Pike are being taken using spoons and body baits in close to shore or inside the harbor. Fish around the weed beds for best results.

Try for perch South by the cemetery or inside the harbor along the channel using minnows.

Walleye fishing is starting to get better

Captain Terry Walsh of Termar Charters reports from AuGres:

Walleye action over the weekend out of AuGres was “as good as it gets” many anglers said, though most also said a bit less heat would be nice. I would certainly agree on both issues.

Leaving the channel at Northport Marina just north of AuGres, one could see boats in virtually any direction. A virtual armada stretched from the 30-foot depths off the AuGres Rivermouth as far south as the eye could see. Hoping for less boat traffic by going north, we were following up on a tip by the captain of the charter boat ABSOLUTELY that there was good fishing north of the Big Charity Island.
When we rounded the northwest corner of the big island, another armada of fishing boats came into view. So much for the less boat traffic idea. There had to have been more than a 100 boats stretching across the northern shoreline of the island and beyond.

We elected to go way to the east to a favored waypoint that would put us on the outside of the fleet of anglers and in the 20-foot depths. The move paid off handsomely, as we started catching fish almost immediately–nice fish and all in the 2 1/2 to 3-pound class. The action was steady from the start, and seldom did we manage to get all eight lines set.

Crawler harnesses behind two-ounce in-line weights run 28-35 feet back behind Offshore In-Line Planer Boards worked their magic. Color of the harness blades and beads didn’t seem to matter much, as we caught fish on everything we tried. It did seem that chartreuse and gold blades were especially good. Trolling speed wasn’t real critical either as long as we stayed under two miles per hour. Catching a four-party limit of 20 walleyes was pretty easy.

North of the Big Charity means fishermen are in the open waters of Lake Huron, and definite caution must be exercised. Never venture out without a good marine radio, and pay attention to the weather station. Make certain there’s plenty of gas in the tanks for the long run out and back as well as several hours of trolling. (At least one boat I know of had run out of gas and was asking for someone to tow him back to AuGres). USCG certified life jackets are mandatory for everyone on board. It’s virtually impossible to drown in a life jacket and awfully easy without one. Finally, take plenty of water along, as it’s easy to get dehydrated in the July heat.

Be safe and remember to take the kids fishing, too.

Captain Ed Stowe of Stowaway Charters reports from Ludington:

The fishing is still on the slow side. We got a Northwest wind and it turned the water over on the point but the fish have not found the cold water yet. The salmon are elusive and the bite is early in the AM, and then again at around 9:30 AM. The temperature at the point is 51 on the surface and 45 down 55ft. Meat rigs are the baits of choice, with spinnies and flies a close second. 100and 200 coppers and low wire divers from 100′ back to 150′ are also producing. Best fishing is from the Project up to the three bears in from 100 ft out to the 4400 numbers. 3, 5, 7, and 10 cores tipped with the standard steelie baits and Superslim SOGs and Dolphins and Moonshine Do De Ks on the riggers and divers are all working.

Good Fishin…..Capt Ed