westrate

We fished a couple of days this past week and because of the dirty water after the blow last week, we had to fish from 190 foot of water out to 230 foot of water. We found a slick where the blue water started and the chalky water ended and the salmon and steelhead were found just inside the slick in the chalky water. Regular sized stingers (orange crush, orange corey, craigs christmas, jawbreaker) were pulled on almost all the lines from 60 foot of copper to 200 foot of copper, dipsy divers at 60 foot and 130 foot out and downriggers at 30, 40 and 50 foot down. Nice fish with 2 and 3 year old salmon and steelhead from 6 to 12 pounds. We will probably be pulling the boat next week, however if you need fishing information or information about a fishing charter, email me at [email protected] or call me toll free at 888-253-8372.

Although we only fished a couple of times this week, the fishing was very good out in 140 foot of water with 15 to 20 fish per trip. In this deeper water you will find 3 and 2 year old chinook salmon, some 10 to 12 pound coho and an occasional lake trout and steelhead. We fished the downriggers at 80, 90 and 100 foot down with the dipsy divers at 100 ft. and 180 foot out and then 450 foot and 300 foot of copper if conditions allowed. Flashers and flies on all the lines with the best flashers being Stinger Echip green super frog, green glow/UV, mountain dew and green glow with any Rapture fly that was green or hypnotist with green beads. We will be available for charters for the next couple weeks and then end the season. For charter reservations or fishing information email me at [email protected]

A very nice week of fishing with some catches from 10 to 15 fish per trip. With the warm water in front of the piers, we have moved out to 90 to 200 foot of water and found 2, 3 and some 4 year old chinook salmon, 10 to 14 pound coho, and some steelhead and lake trout. With the strong east and south east winds the best direction was a 240 or a 300 degree troll from 100 to 190 foot of water with the best depth being 135 to 160 foot. Almost all of the fish came on flashers and flies although we did take a couple of coho on Stingray spoons (blue mixed veggie with white back). Both silver Stinger Echip flashers (mixed veggie, silver UV, silver mountain dew) or white bladed Echip flashers (blue wiggle, and white double glow) with the Rapture green dude, wild fern, speed weed and the blue bubble fies. Yesterday the blue wiggle flasher and blue bubble fly was hit at least 6 times at 95 foot down. We ran 300 and 450 foot of copper and the dipsies were run at 100 and 180 foot out, downriggers at 80, 90 and down to125 foot. Although our season is winding down, the fishing should continue to be good in the deeper water. If we get another shot of cold water, we should see some more 4 year old salmon stage in front the piers. For more fishing information or for charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

The water temperature dropped into the mid 40's this week and the salmon moved into the shallow water at the piers and fishing was excellent. Big chinook salmon and large coho produced some limit and near limit catches with some lake trout and steelhead mixed in. By Saturday the word had gotten out and combat fishing took place in front the Saugatuck piers. By noon on Saturday the fog moved in and we noticed a increase in the water temperature from 46 degrees to 50 degrees and by Sunday morning the water temperature was 67 degrees and the fishing slowed. There were still some salmon in front the piers, however they were not as active in the warmer water and we moved out to 200 foot and caught some 2 and 3 year old salmon and steelhead. The most productive lures were the Ace Hi plugs in pearl/black dot and silver/red head pulled on downriggers, dipsy divers and 2 and 3 color lead core. We also ran some Hot n Tots on flat lines (gold and white black dot), however the Ace Hi plugs out performed any other lure. Sunday we found the cold water in 200 foot of water and used small stingers (blue green dolphin, green dolphin and orange crush) on 50 foot of copper and 5 color lead core. On the dipsy divers the best lure was the blue mixed veggie Stingray which was hit multiple times. A couple of hits on the downriggers at 40 and 50 foot down with small stingers (orange corey and mixed veggie) on the add-a-lines. With a south wind and current for the next few days, I think that the shallow water will continue to warm and other than early morning and late evening, the most productive fishing will be off shore. For charter information or for fishing information, email me at [email protected].

Another good week of fishing in Saugatuck. Catches of 15 to 30 fish per trip was very common last week. What really determined how many fish you caught was what they hit that day. If they hit more copper at 300 and 450 foot, it took longer to land the fish and when you slowed down to fight the fish, you really "stopped fishing" until you got your speed back. If the majority of the fish hit the downriggers and dipsy divers, you spent less time fishing the fish and got the lures back in action faster. The creel consisted of 2, 3 and 4 year old chinook salmon, coho salmon, lake trout, steelhead with an occasional brown trout. Although some boats reported some success with stingray lures, the best method for us were flashers and flies which were run on copper, dipsy divers and downriggers. 200 foot, 300 foot and 450 foot copper with flashers and rapture flies produced very well. The dipsy divers at 200 and 300 foot and downriggers at 80, 90 and 100 foot produced very well. We had very good success with Singer E chip flashers (mixed veggie, chrome UV, super frog, white UV/glow, silver UV green) and Rapture flies (no see um with green beads, no see um with yellow beads, sour apple, green hypnotist and green dude). On certain days we had very good success with the 11 in echip (white glow UV, silver mountain dew and white double glow) on the downriggers, however they might work one day and not the next. Next week might prove to be interesting. With strong winds and high waves the next two days, we may find cold water moving in and with that the salmon should move into the river. Yesterday when we ran a mid day charter, we marked what looked like salmon in 55 foot of water and saw a couple of salmon jump in front of the boat. For fishing information or charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

Salmon fishing off Saugatuck was as good as it could get this past week. Catches of 12-20 fish everyday, a limit catch of 30 on Saturday. The creel was dominated by kings 8-26 pounds with some adult coho (up to 14#), lake trout, steelhead, and even a brown trout in the mix. Best fishing was from 130 FOW to 175 FOW. During the week fish ranged from 40-110 feet down, and came on downriggers, copper, and wire divers. The vast majority of fish came on Stinger Echip flasher/Rapture fly combinations. The best combo were: 8†mixed veggies w/ a sour apple, 8†chrome w/ a hypnotist, 8†superfrog w/ a wild fern, 8†green glow w/ a wild fern, 8†chrome mt. dew/UV w/ a speed weed or no-see-um, 8†Davey Jones glow w/ a speed weed or green-no-see-um. In addition we had success with Pro Troll 11†white double crushed glow w/ a hypnotist, Pro Troll 11†green UV frog w/ a first wish, and a Pro Troll 11†chrome mt. dew w/ a hypnotist. Tremendous amounts of bait fish promise that fishing should continue to be excellent. Some of the adult kings are beginning to darken for the spawning run. It should be a great end of summer fishery. For charter reservations or fishing information, email me at [email protected].

What a great week of fishing. Just about every day we would have at least one salmon that would push or exceed 20 pounds. Today we caught a 24.5 pound, a 23.5 pound, a 19 pound and a 17 pound salmon in the 10 fish creel. The fish are located from 100 foot of water out to 160 foot of water from the Holland piers to south of the Douglas point. Mixed in with the chinook salmon are some coho, steelhead and lake trout. Downriggers at 70, 80, and 100 foot down are producing with flashers and flies. The best are the Echip (silver green, davie jones glow, glow frog and white and silver mountain dew) with Rapture wild fern, green hypnotist and green beaded no see um flies. We did take some salmon on the 11 in E chip but the best was the 8 in. Our best method continues to be the dipsy divers at 200 foot and 250 foot out with the same flashers and flies we used on the downriggers. 300 and 450 foot of copper lines did well also with flashers and flies on the 450's and Stingray lures (green dolphin, blue green dolphin and mixed veggie-all with glow backs) on the 300's. For fishing information and/or charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

This past week was a very good week of fishing. Early in the week the catch consisted of 80% lake trout and 20% silver fish and by the end of the weekend we were taking 90% salmon and 10% lake trout. In addition we were taking multiple 20+pound salmon almost ever trip. The best depth continues to be 70 to 115 foot of water, however there were some boats taking salmon out in 180 to 200 foot of water. The methods that take the fish change from day to day as the conditions and current change, however the lures and flashers remained the same. Early in the day we were catching salmon on 150, 200 and some time on 100 foot copper with Area 51, ET, Orange Corey and glow back Mixed Veggie Stingray. The downriggers produced at 40 ft. to 70 foot down with Glow frog, white UV glow and Davie Jones glow E chip flashers and Rapture no see um green beaded and green hypnotist flies. The most consistent method continues to be the dipsy divers at 180 foot and 100 ft. with E chip flashers (Davie Jones, green side UV, silver mountain dew and green UV) with either Rapture wild fern and no see um yellow beaded flies. For information or charter reservations, contact me by email at [email protected].

I do not know what happened with the previous report, however one paragraph was completely scrambled up. Check out the report below. This past week produced consistent fishing in the 65 to 90 foot depth with limit or near limit catches of Lake Trout and Chinook Salmon and Steelhead. We did spend Friday in front the piers and caught 14 steelhead out of about 30 hits. Saturday the water had warmed up 15 degrees and after a hour in front and catching sheephead and white bass, we moved off shore and caught 11 lake trout and 2 salmon. The program continues to be Gold Star dodgers (white glow, yellow and silver) with green spin n glows and Repture wild fern flies on the bottom for lake trout. The salmon and steelhead came on the high divers at 180 ft. and on the 150, 200 and 300 coppers. The best combinations on the divers were the Davey Jones, UV Mountain Dew and UV green E chip flashers with Rapture no see um flies with green and yellow beads. The copper with orange crush stinger and the mixed veggie stingray were the most consistent. The perch fishing has slowed after the Wed. blow and the influx of the cold water, however there are some decent numbers being caught out of Holland, however they were small in size. I did not get any reports on the perch to the south of Saugatuck. With all the bait there is out in the lake, our salmon should be showing up in higher numbers that what we are seeing. I am a little concerned that we might be seeing the effect of the stocking cuts for the last few years and there just are not as many as we might expect. Regardless, the salmon that we are catching are large and we have taken many over 20 pounds and have had a few that busted off the equipment with their hits and runs. For more information or for charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

This past week produced consistent fishing in the 65 to 90 foot depth with limit or near limit catches of Lake Trout and Chinook Salmon and Steelhead. We did spend Friday in front the piers and caught 14 steelhead out of about 30 hits. Saturday the water had warmed up 15 degrees and after a hour in front and catching sheephead and white bass, we moved off shore and caught 11 lake trout and 2 salmon. The program off no see um flies with green or yellow beads. The copper lines varied from day to day, however the orange crush stishore continues to be the Gold Star dodgers (white glow, and silver) with green spin n glows or Rapture Wild Fern flies on the bottom for lake trout. The salmon and steelhead came on the high divers at 180 ft. and on the 150, 200 and 300 coppers. The best combinations on the divers were the Davey Jones, UV Mountain Dew and UV green E chip flashers with Rapture nger and the mixed veggie stingray were the most consistent. The perch fishing has slowed after the Wed. blow and the influx of the cold water, however there are some decent numbers being caught out of Holland, however they were small in size. I did not get any reports on the perch to the south of Saugatuck. With all the bait there is out in the lake, our salmon should be showing up in higher numbers that what we are seeing. I am a little concerned that we might be seeing the effect of the stocking cuts for the last few years and there just are not as many as we might expect. Regardless, the salmon that we are catching are large and we have taken many over 20 pounds and have had a few that busted off the equipment with their hits and runs. For more information or for charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

We found out this past week that we are not use to fighting salmon after weeks of lake trout fights. Getting 6 to 10 salmon and steelhead hits on a trip resulted in1 to 4 silver fish in the creel with copper breaking or fish just being lost because of the drag being to tight or too much slack in the line. We have gotten lazy fighting the trout. The catch was still good with 10 to 20 fish per trip, however the lake trout numbers still dominated the catch. The silver fish are coming on the 150, 200 and 300 copper with orange crush, green dolphin and sunburst stingrays. They are also hitting the high divers at 150 and 180 foot with white slick glow E chip and davey jones E chip with a rapture no see um fly with yellow beads. The lake trout continue to come on gold star dodgers (silver and yellow) with white, yellow and green spin n glows and rapture green hypnotist flies. Perch fishing has been fair to excellent, depending on your location. Limit catches are being reported from 10 miles south of the Saugatuck piers to just south of the Douglas Point in 25 to 40 foot of water. Decent catches of perch were also reported from the Holland piers to south of Castle Park in 30 to 40 foot of water. I saw one catch today (from south of the point) that consisted of over 100 perch with the smallest being 9 in and the largest pushing 14 in. For move fishing information or for charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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. I think that the shallow water pier fishing is probably going to end soon with the wind and current now out of the south and the water temp beginning to increase. I suspect we will be moving out into deeper water and hopefully the salmon will begin to stage in the 60 to 120 foot depth were they have that last couple of years. For information or for charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

Another good week of fishing in Saugatuck with good catches of Lake Trout in 100 foot of water and some salmon and steelhead showing up in 180 to 240 foot of water. The lake trout fishing is still good but not as consistent as in the last few weeks, with catches of 10 to 18 fish per trip with some more salmon showing up in the catch. The silver fish are showing up in the deeper water with some very good catches of up to 20 fish. This fishing is not consistent and you catch them one day and then struggle the next. If you are planning on fishing the 100 foot depth, go with the Silver Horde metal flashers (silver and yellow) with Green Dude Rapture flies and green spin n glows on the downriggers and low divers. We ran silver Pro Troll flashers and Rapture Oceana, Blue Fern and Wild Fern on the high divers and on the 400 copper and these produced the silver fish along with more Lake Trout. In the deeper water the fish were in the top 60 foot of water consisting of 8-23 lb. salmon and steelhead up to 14 lbs. 200 FOW to 275 FOW. Lots of blue: blue veggie, flying dutchman, blue thunder, dr. hook stinger and stingray sizes. This is the first plug bite with chart. with blue splatter back Ace-Hi. Other boats caught fish on no-see-um flies behind chart. with glow flashers. Hopefully these are the salmon and steelhead we've been waiting for, now moving in from middle of the lake. If you have questions or wish to make charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

This past week has been excellent with limit catches of 15 to 20 fish almost every day within 2 to 4 hours. The main species has been lake trout with a few salmon and an occasional steelhead in the creel. The best depth continues to be 80 to 110 foot of water with the lake trout hitting throughout the day and the most of the salmon coming early in the morning. The bait in the stomachs of the fish consist of all age classes of alewife from 2 in to 6 in in length, so lures from the regular stinger size to stingray and magnum sizes on the 300 and 400 foot copper have produced but not one size predominates. What was consistent was the Rapture Oceana fly. We ran this on the 450 copper behind silver flashers, on the downriggers and dipsy divers, behind silver and white Silver Horde metal flashers, and behind silver/green and silver blue bubble Hot Chip flashers. We would start with a variety of flies and spin and glows on the downriggers and dipsy divers and ultimately end up with the Oceana on almost every set up latter in the day. It is possible that in the green tinted water we were fishing, that other Rapture mirage flies would also work, however we pulled the Oceana and the Oceana glow. I think that once the water warms a little more the lake trout will move out of this depth and we will have to locate and target the salmon. There were boats fishing from 70 foot out to 270 foot looking for the silver fish and there were no concentrations of salmon reported ( at least from the boat I talked to). The perch fishing has been very poor with 2 to 6 perch per boat reported off of Saugatuck and Holland. The perch report from South Haven has also been spotty at best from 40 to 80 foot of water. If anyone has information on the perch fishing, feel free to email me so I can put this in future fishing reports. For information or for charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

Another interesting week of fishing out of Saugatuck. Early in the week we fished 80 to 90 foot of water with good catches of Lake Trout and a couple of Chinook Salmon. Water temperature was 41 degrees on the bottom and bait suspended in 65 to 70 foot of water. Wednesday the bottom water temperature increase to 51 degrees and after the blow on Thursday the bottom temperature was 61 degrees. On Saturday the temperature was back in the low 50's and we went back to pounding the bottom in 90 to 100 foot of water. Saturday we took 12 fish, 10 legal Lake Trout, 1 18 in. Lake Trout and one 13 pound Chinook Salmon. The best methods included metal (silver and white) flashers with the green hypnotist Rapture Fly and spin and glows on the downriggers pounding bottom. The Salmon were caught a little higher in the water column on the dipsy diver at 150 and 180 foot of line out with blue wiggle and silver mountain dew Hot Chip flasher and the Rapture blue bubble fly. We also had some action on the 450 coppers with a silver blue Hot Chip Flasher and Rapture mirage fly, however the 95% of the activity was on the downriggers and and dipsy divers. On Saturday we ventured out to 160 foot of water and the bait was unbelievable suspended out in this water. It was so thick that it would error out the graph for 100 feet or more. There were fish marked and caught out in this water, however, most of the action was in the 90 to 100 foot depth. With all the bait off shore, I have to believe that the salmon are going to find them and then it should get interesting. For more information or for charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

It has been an interesting week for fishing with rain, high winds, rough water but some very good fishing if you can handle the conditions. The best fishing during the week was in the 80 to 100 foot depth with about 50% of the catch consisting of salmon and the rest lake trout. Today we set lines in 75 foot of water and while we trolled out to 135 foot of water we expertly missed the first 3 fish and then followed that by loosing the next 4 fish we had on. We ended going 7 for 18 or 20 with 6 salmon and 1 lake trout. . The hits were scattered around the boat including 150, 200 and 300 copper, downrigger and dipsy divers. The Stingray Orange Corey had 2 hits on the 150 copper and the 200 copper with the glow wonderbread Stingray had 3 hits. The downrigger at 40 foot with the Stinger bloody nose produced 2 hits and the Stinger fruit cocktail, on the add a line, had 1 hit. The other downrigger was run at 50 foot and the gold Stinger watermelon on the add a line was hit twice. The rest of the hits were distributed around the boat with Stingrays on the copper lines and Stingers lures on the downrigger and high divers.(at 200 and 180 foot out). Only one hit on a flasher and fly and we missed that. This week is the first week that we had bait in the stomachs of the salmon with adult alewife in most of them. For more information or for charter reservations email me at [email protected].

During the week most of the best fishing was in the 150 to 200 foot of water with good numbers of fish, but many of the fish were small. On our run out on Sunday we saw bait in 65 and 70 foot of water so we set lines in 90 foot of water with the intent of trolling on out to the 200 foot depth, however we started getting hits in 100 foot of water and took our first salmon in 120 foot depth and another in 130 foot so we decided to turn back and try this 100 to 120 foot depth. In past years, this 100 foot depth has been the depth that the salmon tend to stage in and they usually stage just outside the bait. We were 10 for 20 or 25 (we also lost 3 fish at the net) with 5 salmon and 5 lake trout and the largest salmon weighed in at 20 pounds and another at 13 pounds. Boats did fairly well in the deeper water, however from the radio traffic, the fish ran a little smaller than those we had inside. Our best methods were: 100 copper with craigs christmas stinger that had 3 hits 200 copper with a glow wonderbread stingray went 2 times. 200 copper with mixed veggie stingray went 3 times 300 copper with a blue/silver prochip flasher and blue hypnotist fly produced one nice lake trout. The downriggers produced fish with metal flashers and flies run on the bottom. The high dipsy (120 foot out) and (low dipsy 80 foot out) both produced hits with flashers and flies on the low dipsys and magnum stingers (green dolphin and carmel dolphin ) on the high dipsies. If we hold the bait in the 70 foot depth, we should continue to find the fish in the 100 foot depth. For more information or for charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

Fishing off of Saugatuck was good to excellent over the weekend. Very nice catches 15+ fish on Friday with a lot of action, then a little slower on Saturday. Early in the week the fish averaged 12 pounds, however by the weekend the fish ran a 7 to 10 pounds average. Same place, same depth, same lures, just a different age class of fish. Fish were in 110-180 FOW, and were caught 20-60 feet down. 100, 200, and 300 copper lines were the best with stinger and sting ray spoons. Stingers and sting rays were also producing on the downriggers 30-60 feet down, and on the divers 150 and 100 feet with wire. Best spoons: mixed veggies, jager bomb, blue modified dolphin, green dolphin, caramel dolphin, orange crush (on silver or gold), and the lemon-ice. Very little action on flashers and flies. We’re hoping for a little west wind to stack the warm water back up on the beach. This will concentrate the temperature break and the fish. For fishing information or charter reservations, contact me by email at [email protected].

Early in the year I pull mainly the regular size stingers, however once the kings show up in July and Auguest, it is almost all Stingrays and Magnum stingers. (mainly Stingrays) I have found that the stingray size works very well on all copper rigs--better (I think) than the regular size or magnum. Begin with a variety of color combinations and then once you find what is working load up with that flavor.

We are talking about doing the same thing in Holland. I am talking to the steelheaders exec. director tomorrow to discuss this, however I do not know if it is too late in the year to do this or if we should plan it out for next year. I would have to find out if we could get a sponsor like Shimono to help out. We will have to have a lot of help if we get this started.

The 17th dawned breezy and cold with 22 charter and private boats moored at Tower Marina in Douglas. By 6:30 some of the 70 Saugatuck 7th Grade students, a couple of teachers, administrators and some press began to arrive and by 7:00 all were checked in, given a tee shirt and a Shimano fishing hat, then assigned to and boarded their respective boats. Fishing was slow, however about 65 to 70 fish were caught with the smallest going about 1 pound to the largest going just over 20 pounds. All boats returned to the marina at 12 noon and pictures were taken and prizes handed out. Rods and reel combo and wind shirts (provided by Shimano) were given to the student who caught the largest of each species, the most fish and the student who was the first to get seasick. Captains cleaned and prepared the fish and then Duck Unlimited fried up the salmon and lake trout along with some perch (that was donated) for all students, staff, press and crews. Beverages, potatoes and ice cream were donated by DeMonds and Kilwins. The five fryers had a hard time keeping ahead of the hungry group. The Saugatuck/Holland Charter Boat Association and the Saugatuck Big Fish Classic would like to thank the companies that donated food and prizes, all the captains and mates that donated their time and boats for this outing. I would also like to thank the readers last week who emailed me and called and volunteered to help if we needed it. A good time was had by all.

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 [email protected].

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 [email protected]. or call toll free at 888-253-8372.

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 [email protected].