From Capt. Dan Tebo, of D’Ann Marie Charters in Grand Haven:

What a week! We have been fishing from 120 ft. of water out to 220 ft.
Spoons are the bait of choice, specifically Blue Dolphin, Green Dolphin, Blue Veggie, & Green Veggie.

We are using white paddles with green flies down deep.

The fishing changes daily right now according to what the water temp. does.
If it cools down, we move into shallower water. If it stays warm, we have to move out deeper.
Every day around here is different right now!

Of course, we are contending with the winds and waves, as well. We will see what happens this next few days as the air temps plummet.

Someone told me the other day: August fishing means rough waters.
I wonder what Sept. will bring?
Good luck to all of you as you finish the season.

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

Salmon fishing is slow but some pinks and kings are being taken mixed in while fishing for the Lake Trout and Steelhead in the 100 to 140 foot of water areas North of the harbor. You might want to start trying some J-Plugs off the downriggers, dipsey divers, and boards in close to shore first thing in the morning. It is that time of year and you might be surprised at what you might catch!
Lake Trout are still being taken in the 60 to 120 foot of water areas North of the harbor. Try using plain spoons off the downriggers or the ghost dodgers with spin and glows down on the bottom. Best colors have been black, glow in the dark, white with pink dots, and green.
Steelhead are being taken in 60 to 140 feet of water using the 3, 5, 8, and 10 color lead lines off the boards, or try some spoons off the monofilament line with the Offshore tadpoles and put them off the boards. Lines off the downriggers back 50 to 60 and down 35 to 60 feet are also working. Bright colored small Pro King lures with yellow with silver, orange, pink, and red with green are still working best.
Walleye continue being taken Straight out and North of the harbor on crawler harnesses, small spoons and small body baits. Try root beer, perch, purple, gold, and green with red colors. Five and ten color lead lines have been working well in the deeper water. I would also suggest using spoons and body baits trolled fast to cover more ground till you find where they are setting. Try starting in 30 foot of water and work out to as far as 100 feet of water till you see where they are. You might want to start trying off the wall in the evening casting body baits and spoons.
Perch fishing is slow, try South of the harbor by the cemetery in 30 to 50 feet of water with minnows.
Bass and Pike are still being taken inside the harbor and close to shore casting or trolling small body baits and spoons.

Keep those lines tight,
Captain Ken and Captain Janice

Captain Ron Westrate of CoHooker Charters reports from Saugatuck:

This past week started out just as the preceding week ended, with good
catches in 80 to 100 foot of water. Then we had the blow out of the
north on Wed. which turned the lake over moving cold water in front the
piers on Thursday. Everyone felt that our salmon will be in-front the
piers on Thursday or at least by Friday. That, however, did not happen.
Instead we lost the fish we had been catching in the 80 to 100 foot
range and the fish were scattered out from 140 foot of water out to 240
foot of water. Our best fishing during the weekend was in 180 to 220
foot of water with decent catches of 2 and 3 year old salmon and a few 4
year old chinook, steelhead and lake trout mixed in.

The best lures for us were Stingray and Nitro lures and glow Ace Hi
plugs on 300 and 400 foot of copper. On the dipsy divers pro troll
flashers (silver green, silver mountain dew and white glow) with rapture
no see um flies (green beads and red beads) produced the best. On the
downriggers we ran metal dodgers and green rapture flies.

Early in the week there were some perch caught in 15 foot of water south
of the Saugatuck piers and between the State Park and Castle Park. The
perch ran small, however you could catch enough that it produced a nice
catch of “keepers”.

Our salmon should show up at any time so check back or email me for
information at captronn@chartermichigan.com.

Captain Ed Stowe of Stowaway Charters reports from Ludington:

The fishing is an early morning bite that starts out really hot and then it is as someone turns the switch off and it is a struggle to get another bite. The water has cooled a bit and fish have showed up in front of the bath house and in front of Epworth. As the water cools we are taking fish on the 3 cores and 5 cores with plugs on them. Almost any moonshine early, with the Perch and Carbon 14 raspberry doing the best for me lately, and the Silver Hoard ace highs, Double Glos and Corncobs on the cores and coppers are taking fish. Blue Bubble Spindoctors with Blue Fairways and later 11″ White paddles with meatrigs are a good bet either on the riggers or the wire divers. Good Fishin…..Capt Ed

Capt. Dan Tebo, of D’Ann Marie Charters in Grand Haven, reports:

Well, this is definitely not a normal August for fishing in this area. The water is unbelievably warm and the winds are strong, this is creating havoc for the fish, as well as the fishermen.
Everyday this week the winds have shifted several times during the day, thus creating water that is very unstable. The waves are choppy and close together or they are cross chops making for rough rides and many tangled lines! Several trips were shortened due to rough waters and rescheduled. The catches are good one day, not the next.
The water is so warm the fish move all over to find the temps they like and we are at their mercy and chasing them all over. Some days guys are going way out to deep water and the next day they are fishing in closer.
Fishing is still better at the first crack of day. We have been trying to leave a little earlier these days to get to the right spot for that “first bite”.
We are fishing from 95 ft. to 110 ft. water, 60 to 90 ft. down on most days..
We are using pearl black dot, green lightning, and yellow lightning plugs.
Later in the morning, we have had good luck with a variety of spoons: mixed veggies and blue veggies.
If you are interested in booking a trip with us, contact us at: www.dannmariecharters.com or call 616-846-3700.

Captain Ron Westrate of CoHooker Charters reports from Saugatuck:

Fishing off of Saugatuck was good throughout the week. The week started
with large catches, but small fish (salmon and lake trout 160-200 FOW.
The week ended with large catches of large lake trout and an occasional
king in 85-100 FOW.

The fish in the deeper water were biting orange Cory’s bait, mixed
veggies and lemon ice sting ray spoons on the 200’ and 300’ of copper.
On the down riggers the 8” green/glow Hotchip with a wild fern, 8” white
dew wiggle Prochip with a hypnotist LG and the 8” white fishscale with a
green no-see-um fly.

The lake trout in 85-100 FOW were biting metal dodgers with spin-n-glows
and Goldstar squids. The best combinations were the tin can w/ a glow
and pink dot, green, or chartreuse spin-n-glows. A chartreuse dodger
with a green splatter back glow squid was also very productive. The
dodger were bounced on bottom to produce action.

The water started to cool down on Sunday and some kings were found in 50
FOW right on the bottom. With some northerly winds forecasted for the
week the salmon might start staging in the 45-50 FOW area. The cooler
water will also spark a better perch bite for the perch anglers. For
more information or charter reservations, contact me at
captron@chartermichigan.com