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.

Captain Gary Schaefer of Trout Scout Charters reports from the Big Manistee River:

We finally pulled the big boat out of the water on October 25th. Our last charter was on the 22nd and it was a good one with 20 fish. A couple of bucks have been shot while deer hunting and the duck hunting has been steady. The steelhead fishing has been steady. The main push of steelhead has not happened yet so we expect December and January to be on fire. Call 1-877-731-4460

BREAKING NEWS: Christmas is right around the corner, and a great present would be a Steelhead fishing trip on the beautiful Big Manistee river or a gift certificate for Lake Michigan charter on the big boat. Good luck to all those Christmas shoppers and everyone have a wonderful holiday.

Captain Ron Westrate of CoHooker Charters reports from Saugatuck:

Fishing in the Kalamazoo River is red hot right now with 5 to 8
steelhead being boated per trip. According to Tony Wolte of Frost Bite
Charters, the water level is very low but the fishing is very good. The
vast majority of the fish being caught are steelhead with an occasional
chinook salmon or brown trout. The best method for the steelhead is
either back-trolling small plugs through holes or bottom bouncing spawn
in the holes.

For more information about fishing trips or charter reservations for big
lake fishing for next year, email me at captron@chartermichigan.com.

Captain John Giszczak of Stray Cat Charters reports from Luna Pier:

Perch fishing was very good for some yesterday. We fished between Little Cedar Point and the water intake. Fishing was slow but the fish seemed to be the largest near the water intake in about 16 feet of water.
The best fishing we saw yesterday was in front of Bolles Harbor in 18 feet of water and off the East corner of the dump in the flats. A couple of boats smashed – em while others sat and waited for a bite. We moved 8 times, caught fish every stop but never hit the mother load. The fish seem to be in tight schools so if you don’t land on them keep moving. Some of the schools seem to peter out after an hour or so – don’t waste your time after the bite slows – Move!

Captain John Giszczak of Stray Cat Charters reports from Luna Pier:

Lot’s of “Doubles”!!!!!!
Perch fishing has been very good lake wide
Both sides of the shipping channel near the Platform in 22 feet of water has been very fast but the fish seem to average 7 and 8 inch’s
In front of Bolles Harbor in 14 to 18 feet of water has been productive.
In front of Luna Pier in 12 to 14 feet of water has produced some large perch along with some areas around “E” Buoy
West of the “Water Intake” in 14 feet of water has been the best for me for the past 4 day’s – fish have averaged 9 plus inch’s
Best bet is to start near shore in 11 plus feet of water and work your way out. The fish seem to be in tight schools so if you don’t land on them keep moving. Some of the schools seem to peter out after an hour or so – don’t waste your time after the bite slows – Move!!

Ohio upped it’s limit to 30 perch per angler this season – Michigan still remains at 50 per angler

Quit Wish-In Go Fish-In
Captain John
Stray Cat Charter Fishing LLC
734-787-0030
http://www.walleyefishingmichigan.com

Captain Ron Westrate of CoHooker Charters reports from Saugatuck:
As of Monday, the 2010 fishing season was officially done for us and the
boat is out of the water and in storage. The best description of the
last 3 weeks was windy and rough, permitting us to run only 2 trips
during this time period. When you can get out, the fishing is good to
very good with lake trout (before Oct. 1) and 2 and 3 year old salmon
and steelhead the last 2 weeks. Saturday we ran our last trip and the
fishing was good with fish being caught in 130 to 180 foot of water, 30
to 60 foot down. There was a slick in 180 foot of water and most of our
fish were caught inside the slick, however north of Holland the best
fishing was from 180 to 200 foot of water.

We pulled stinger and stingray lures on all of the lines except for a
flasher and fly on the low divers. Stingers with green and orange
(Orange Crush, Craigs Christmas and Reverse Christmas) on them or green
and glow (Frog) produced well on the downriggers and sliders from 35 to
65 foot. Stingray spoons and Silver Green Pro Chip flasher and Last
Supper fly did well on the low and high divers. What surprised me is
the the 300, 200, 100 foot of copper and half core never had a hit and
all the activity was on the riggers and divers.

With the end of the season, I will be posting a fishing report about
once a month rather than each week. I will try to update the reader on
the fishing in the Kalamazoo River and in Lake Michigan as long as the
weather and water conditions allow. For fishing information or to book
next years fishing charter feel free to email me at
captron@chartermichigan.com.