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When the weather permits, the fishing has been very good this last week. Capt. Norm Coffman reported a limit catch of 20 coho and a lake trout that was caught on Wed. in 20 to 30 foot of water. All the fish were caught south of the Douglas point. Flat lines with stick baits and thin fins (in a variety of colors) produced every fish. There were also some reports of lake trout being caught in 50 to 60 foot of water and one fisherman caught a few very nice chinook salmon in the mud line off the Saugatuck piers. River fishing on the Kalamazoo River continues to be slow with a few steelhead being caught on their beds. Perch fisherman are doing well (some reporting limit catches) out of Grand Haven and one fisherman I talked to caught 25 perch just south of the Holland piers. For more information or charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

Saugatuck fishing this past week started out with very good catches of 15 to 20 fish per boat but then the catches decreased to 6 to 10 fish and then by the week end catches ranged from 2 to 6 fish. Most of the fish were coho in the 2 to 4 pound range with an occasional brown trout and chinook salmon showing up. 10 to 20 foot of water produced most of the fish early in the week but on Saturday we caught fish all the way out to 60 foot and they appeared to be more scattered and in a variety of depths. The temperature of the water did not change, however the distribution of the fish changed for some reason. Early in the week, the best lures and combinations continue to be flat lines with stick baits in the green, orange and fire tiger combinations. By Saturday 5 color lead core and the downriggers at 20 to 25 foot produced most of the action with frog and glow frog Stinger lures and green black ladder back thunder sticks with some lake trout showing up in the creel. The Kalamazoo River pier fisherman and shore fisherman continue to report catches of steelhead, coho and browns on spawn. No new reports on the the steelhead fishing in the Kalamazoo, however there are reports of decent catches in the Grand River at the dam in Grand Rapids. Fisherman in the St. Joe River said that some steelhead are being caught, however the fishing was slow. If you want more fishing information, or want information on a fishing charter, email me at [email protected].

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 [email protected].

This week brought the closing of the Lake Trout season, forcing us to concentrate on salmon and steelhead. The first part of the week produced 12 to 20 lake trout per trip with an occasional salmon or steelhead in 80 to 90 foot of water. There were some reports of some 2 and 3 year old salmon being caught in 220 to 240 foot of water but the run of 4 year old salmon still had not started. Saturday we again got blown off the lake with gale force winds that continued into today. There were a couple of boats that fished the Kalamazoo River on Saturday and reported catching a few big 4 year old salmon, pulling Hot n Tots and Tadpollys. If the there are salmon in the river, there must be some in front the piers, however with the rough conditions, no one fished for them in the lake. Could it be that the run has finally begun? For more information, or to book a fishing charter email me at [email protected].

This past week again produced limit catches of Lake Trout, however the salmon were few and far between. The salmon that were caught hit 60 to 70 foot down but the lake trout hit off the bottom in 75 to 90 foot of water. The lake trout continue to be in the 12 to 20 pound range and the salmon are the 2 and 3 year old with the 4 year old chinook being absent. The down riggers and the dipsy divers were run on the bottom with Silver Horde Gold Star metal dodgers with spin n glows. This combination produced 17 fish by 8:30 (1 1/2 hours of fishing) this morning. Any salmon and steelhead that we caught, were caught on regular stinger lures (orange corey and reverse christmas) and glow Silver Horde plugs pulled on 200 and 300 foot of copper. I do not know where the 4 year old chinook salmon are, however the water in-front the piers is still in the mid 60 degrees and we do not see anything in this water. Grand Haven boats were catching small salmon and steelhead out in 260 to 300 foot of water. To get to this depth out of Saugatuck, we would have a 15 mile run and I have not talked to any one who has fished this depth here. Check back next week for an update or charter reservations or email me at [email protected].

After 10 days of watching the waves approaching 18 feet and winds often over 50 MPH, we finally got a chance to fish on Sept. 9. What we are getting is October weather in early September. We were hoping that that water would have cooled down and that the fish would move in, however we found 70 degree water in front the piers and very few fish. Moving out to 100 foot of water we found 67 degree water on the surface and 67 degree water on the bottom, so we continued out to 200 foot and found a temperature break down 70 foot. Out in this water there are 2, 3 and a few 4 year old salmon and lake trout from 60 foot to 150 foot down. By the end of the week, the water had stabilized somewhat and the the temperature break was 60 foot down in 100 foot of water with the same combination of fish as was found in the 200 foot depth. The best methods continue to be spoons on the copper, flashers and flies on the dipsy divers and dodgers and flies on the downriggers. With small bait fish out in this deeper water, regular size stingers and nitro lures worked the best on the 300 and 400 copper with color combinations changing from day to day. On the dipsy divers white glow, white blue wiggle and white glow mountain dew echip flashers with no see um green and green hypnotist flies did very well. The downriggers produced very well with green glow Pro Chip flashers and metal dodgers with green hypnotist and last supper flies. With a weather forecast that calls for more west winds and move high seas, I do not see any cold water moving in soon. And without the cold water and with the low river flow, the salmon will not school in mass and they will just trickle in, a few at a time, and continue up the river. Check back or email me at [email protected] for information or charter reservations.

After 10 days of watching the waves approaching 18 feet and winds often over 50 MPH, we finally got a chance to fish on Sept. 9. What we are getting is October weather in early September. We were hoping that that water would have cooled down and that the fish would move in, however we found 70 degree water in front the piers and very few fish. Moving out to 100 foot of water we found 67 degree water on the surface and 67 degree water on the bottom, so we continued out to 200 foot and found a temperature break down 70 foot. Out in this water there are 2, 3 and a few 4 year old salmon and lake trout from 60 foot to 150 foot down. By the end of the week, the water had stabilized somewhat and the the temperature break was 60 foot down in 100 foot of water with the same combination of fish as was found in the 200 foot depth. The best methods continue to be spoons on the copper, flashers and flies on the dipsy divers and dodgers and flies on the downriggers. With small bait fish out in this deeper water, regular size stingers and nitro lures worked the best on the 300 and 400 copper with color combinations changing from day to day. On the dipsy divers white glow, white blue wiggle and white glow mountain dew echip flashers with no see um green and green hypnotist flies did very well. The downriggers produced very well with green glow Pro Chip flashers and metal dodgers with green hypnotist and last supper flies. With a weather forecast that calls for more west winds and move high seas, I do not see any cold water moving in soon. And without the cold water and with the low river flow, the salmon will not school in mass and they will just trickle in, a few at a time, and continue up the river. Check back or email me at [email protected] for information or charter reservations.

All the wind this past week, allowed just one day of fishing out in 210 foot of water. Two days of gale force winds and 4 days of small craft adversaries, kept almost all the boats in port. Today we went out to see if we could fish in-front the piers, however the water was still in the high 60 degrees, with 5 foot seas and we came back in. With the warm water, there are very few salmon in- front the piers and the best fishing has been in 170 to 210 foot of water with a mixture of 2, 3 and 4 year old chinook salmon, steelhead and lake trout in the creel. Stingray and stinger size spoons on 300 and 400 copper produced well the one day we fished. In addition the same flashers and flies that we ran last week worked this week in the dipsy divers and on the downriggers. We need some strong north winds and a north current to get some cold water at the piers to get the run started. For information and/or charter reservations, email me at [email protected]

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 [email protected].

Fishing off of Saugatuck was good throughout the week. The week started with large catches, but small fish (salmon and lake trout) in 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 [email protected].

The salmon off of Saugatuck set up in two separate areas this week. Adult salmon and some lake trout were caught in 80-100 FOW and another group of fish- all age groups of salmon, lake trout, steelhead and some coho were caught from 150-200 FOW. Fishing was good throughout the week, with catches of up to 20 fish a trip. The fish in the shallower water bit mainly plugs and flasher fly combinations. Silverhorde Ace-Hi plugs on the copper lines, 200-400 feet of copper, produce kings throughout the week. The best plugs were: green w/ black ladder back, green lightning, wonderbread glow and pearl black dot. The best flasher fly combinations were: a chrome/green Prochip w/ a no-see-um Rapture fly, blue bubble or a white blue wiggle 8†Hotchip w/ an Oceana Rapture fly, a chrome w/ mt. dew and glow Prochip w/ a yellow no-see-um Rapture fly, and the 11†white fish scale Protroll w/ a hypnotist LG Rapture fly. Most fish were caught 50-100 feet down. In the deeper water, many of the same flashers worked well. The best flasher in the deep water was the green glow 8†Hotchip and Prochip with wild fern or hypnotist flies. Fish on the outside were caught from 40 feet down all the way to the bottom. We caught many large salmon and lake trout 180 feet down. Strong winds from the Northwest on Sunday and Monday may bring in colder water. This may bring the adult salmon even closer toward the shoreline. For information or charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

The fishing this past week has slowed some what, however we still caught between 7 to 12 fish per trip. The creel consisted of chinook salmon that weighed over 20 pounds and lake trout over 12 pounds and an occasional steelhead. The best depth was again the 80 to 90 foot depth however by the weekend we also caught fish out to 160 foot of water. There are some fishermen that are going out at 4 in the morning and taking some nice fish in 50 to 60 foot of water. Early in the week we had some good luck with 200 copper, however by the end of the week we fished primarily 300 and 400 foot of copper with Ace Hi plugs (glow green lightning, glow black lightning, green glow, green glow ladderback and wonderbread). The divers are pulled at 100 and 200 foot early in the day and then lengthened out to 300 and 200 foot as it get brighter. On the divers we are pulling echip flashers (white blue wiggle, white glow mountain dew, green silver and white slick glow) with Rapture flies (oceana, no see um green, green hypnotist, and last supper). On the downriggers we are fishing near the bottom and pulling 11 in echips (white glow, white slick glow and white mountain dew) with Rapture green flies (green hypnotist and wild fern). With the rough water conditions on Sunday, we did not fish so it will be interesting to see what happened to the water temperature on Monday. For information or charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

The Ace High plugs made by Silver Horde are beginning to produce some very good salmon when pulled on copper. This past week produced catches from 6 to 18 fish per trip in the 70 to 90 foot depth. There where also some nice 4 year old salmon caught out in 160 to 180 foot, however the most productive was the 85 foot depth. The chinook salmon dominates the catch, however some lake trout, steelhead and brown trout showed up the the creel. On the 200 and 300 copper the Ace High plugs (glow green back, glow green ladder back, glow green lightning, glow black lightning and green splatter back) produced very well along with the silver mountain dew flasher and green fly. The dipsy divers produced very well at 100 and 200 foot back with Pro Chip and Hot Chip and Stinger E chip flashers (white blue wiggle, silver blue wiggle, silver mountain dew and white slick) with Rapture (oceana, blue bubble, green hypnotist and green no see um) flies. Downriggers produced at 65, 75 and 65 foot down with a variety (these changed daily with white glow, white slick, green glow, etc.) of 11 in E chip flashers and Rapture flies. Good fishing with good size chinook salmon and lake trout should hold if we do not get any drastic changes in weather or water temperature. For more information or to make a charter reservation, email me at [email protected].

We had another good week of fishing even with the rough water and storms that moved through during the week. With the exception of today, we have been taking 8 to 20 fish every trip. Today we fished from 9 to 2 and had a total of one fish on a 400 foot copper. I hope this is due to the fact that we fished in the middle of the day since as a rule the fishing is better in the early hours of the morning and slows as the light increases. This week we caught a number of chinook salmon in the 16 to 20 pound range, a 14 pound steelhead, a 13 pound lake trout and a fantastic 18 pound brown trout. Flashers and flies continue to produce very well when pulled on downriggers, dipsy divers and 300 and 400 copper. The best flashers are the Pro Troll (silver/green, silver mountain dew, white blue wiggle, white glow and silver blue) with Rapture flies (no see um green, oceana, blue bird, wild fern, green hypnotist and purple no see um). We also had some good luck with Ace Hi plugs (silver red head, green lightning and blue lightning) and Stingray blue dolphin and Nitro lures producing some nice steelhead on 200 and 300 copper. Perch fishing continues to be spotty with some reports of decent catches in 40 to 50 foot of water out of Holland and 60 to 70 foot of water out of South Haven and 40 foot of water off of Glenn. Again, it has been spotty with the perch being caught at one depth one day but gone the next. There are a few perch being caught in the rocks off the Douglas point, however it is hard to get the bait past the golbies. The bait is still in the 40 to 60 foot depth and out in 140 to 160 foot depth, so I hope this will hold the salmon and trout in the area. For information or charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

This week produced some very good fishing with 10 to 18 fish per trip. The creel consists of chinook salmon up to 18 pounds, coho up to 10 pounds, steelhead and lake trout up to 12 pounds. Fish are being caught from 60 to 160 foot of water, however the best depth for us has been 90 to 120 foot of water. There have been some salmon caught very early in the morning (5-6 AM ) and late in the day (sunset to 1 hour after) in 50 FOW just outside the bait. The best methods continue to be flashers and flies on the downriggers, divers and on 400 copper. The best flashers are the Stinger E Chip blue wiggle (with the silver blade and white blade), double white glow Pro Chip, green glow Pro Chip and the white mountain dew Pro Chip. We have been running the Rapture oceania fly behind the blue wiggles and green no see ums and green hypnotist flies behind the other flashers. Up until today we have been taking some nice coho and steelhead on 200 copper ( we had to go with them on the 300 copper today) with silver horde glow wonder bread and the white glow black lightning plugs. On the other 300 coppers we either pulled magnum spoons like the stinger blue dolphin or glow nitro lures. Perch fishing in the Saugatuck and Holland area continues to be slow with very few perch being caught. South Haven reported some very good perch fishing from 20 to 50 FOW. I did talked to some fishermen who caught some very nice perch 10 miles south of the Saugatuck piers in 30 to 40 FOW. Unless you want to run 10 miles, get out the flashers and flies and catch some salmon. For more fishing information and or to make a charter reservation, email me at [email protected].

We had another good week of fishing with catches ranging for 8-15 fish a trip. There is a definite early bite with most of the catch coming in the first 3 hours. Chinook salmon and lake trout made up the greatest part of the catch, with a few steelhead and coho mixed in. The best water was 90-110 FOW, but fish were taken from 80-180 FOW. During the beginning of the week the water was a little warmer and fish were caught 50-100 feet down. The water cooled off on Thursday and fish were taken 30-80 feet down. Pro Chip flashers and Rapture flies were at most productive presentation. The best combinations were: blue wiggle flasher w/ a blue bubble fly, green wiggle flasher w/ a wild fern fly, green slick glow flasher w/ a hypnotist fly, and a chrome green flasher w/ a last supper fly. Fish were caught on Sting Ray spoon on the copper lines throughout the week. Silver orange tip, coyote, glow wonderbread, and the blue cory spoons were all productive. The dolphin and pearl black dot Ace Hi plugs on copper also produced some action over the weekend. Perch fishing was slow out of Saugatuck and Holland, however it was red hot in South Haven with limit catches being reported. With a warm weather forecast in sight we expect the fish to continue to congregate in the 90-150 FOW during the upcoming week. For information or charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

Another good week of fishing in Saugatuck with 10 to 20 fish in the creel consisting of big salmon and big lake trout. 80 foot of water to 120 foot of water produced chinook salmon in the mid teens and lake trout pushing 13 pounds with occasional steelhead coming in the upper part of the water column. 11 inch Pro Chip flashers (white/glow) and 8 in Hot Chip (white/glow and green wiggle) with a Rapture green No See Um flies produced very well on the downriggers. Wire divers with Pro Chip flashers (white/glow, silver/green, white/blue, white mountain dew) with either Rapture green Hypnotist or No See Um flies produced most of the fish this past week. The steelhead came on 200 copper with Stingray silver orange tip and blue green dolphins. We did some perch fishing this past week and caught a limit catch in 40 foot of water. When we are running out to fish salmon I see perch in 40 to 50 foot of water. There were reports of good catches out of South Haven in 15 foot of water, so our perch fishing should continue to improve. For more information and/or charter reservations email me at [email protected].

Even dodging storms and high winds through out the week, the fishing was good with 6 to 12 fish per trip. The creel consisted of chinook salmon pushing 20 pounds, lake trout weighing up to 14 pounds and steelhead, coho and even an occasional brown trout. The best fishing continues to be the 90 to 120 foot of water depth, however there are also fish in in the 135 to 160 foot depth. With the full moon, the bite is best in the mid to late morning and early evening. The best lures for us are the 11 in Hot Chip and Pro Chip flashers (green/glow, white/glow and white/mountain dew) with Rapture flies (purple No See Ums, green Hypnotist, Green Dude and Frosted Fern). We are pulling these on the downriggers from 60 foot to the bottom and wire dipsy divers at 200 foot and 250 foot out. 200 and 300 copper have produced some nice steelhead and brown trout with Craig's Christmas and the orange Corey Stingrays and 400 foot of copper (also 400 foot with 2 oz dive bomb) are producing with 8 in white bladed flashers and Green Dude flies. The perch report is good with limit catches south of the Saugatuck harbor from 60 to 70 foot of water. It is difficult to fish this deep water however the report is they are catching 10 to 14 in perch. Yesterday there was some very good catches of perch in 20 foot of water south of the piers. These were not as big as the deep water perch but avg. 6 to 8 in. Reports from Holland to South Haven indicate good fishing from mid morning to noon and from 6 PM until dark. If the weather cooperates, we should hold our fish. For information and/or charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

Saturday was a interesting, expensive and rough morning on the water. As we came out of the harbor the seas were running about 3 foot and we set lines in 60 foot of water and trolled out to 120 foot of water. It was 9:30 before we had our first hit and good size salmon on 400 foot of copper with a mixed veggie Pro Troll and purple Rapture No See Um fly, which we lost after a short fight. Our first fish was a lake trout on a the same set up on a low diver on the bottom. From 10:00 to 12:00 we had 12 or 13 fish on and only boated 3 with the seas building to 6 foot. Along with loosing fish we broke off and lost 200 foot of copper, 300 foot of copper and a dipsy diver rig and wire line that the salmon ran out to 450 foot. An expensive outing. Almost ever hit came on silver flashers (silver green, silver mixed veggie, silver blue) and Green Dude and purple No See Um flies. We did have a couple of steelhead hit the Craigs Reverse Christmas on 100 copper (caught one and lost one), other wise every hit was on flashers and flies. We did find bait in 60 foot of water, however the salmon and trout appear to be in the 80 to 100 foot of water. I think that if you get out at sunrise, you could take them in the shallower water but then most of the action will be just outside the bait. For information and charter reservation email me at [email protected].

This past week was a vast improvement over the previous two. The bait is starting to show up in larger numbers in 80 to 100 foot of water and the salmon are beginning to follow the bait. This past week produced creels of 8 to 12 fish per trip with kings in the mid teens. There were some boats that took fish that weighed over 20 pounds, however the largest we caught weighed 13 pounds. We fished 80 to 100 foot of water the last 3 trips, however the water is beginning to warm and Friday boats were fishing 130 to 160 foot of water. Flashers and flies are beginning to produce. White blades (Pro Chip white/glow, white/mountain dew) with Rapture no see um purple flies produced well on the divers and on the bottom on the downriggers. Don’t be afraid to go with the bigger 11 in flashers. In the upper water column the Stingray lures (orange Corey, NBK, Carmel dolphin, green dolphin and silver green glow) continued to produce on 100, 200 and 300 copper. Hopefully, our summer pattern is starting to develop and the fish should continue to stage just outside the bait. For information and/or charter reservations email me at [email protected].

The old saying that "fishing slows when the cotton flies" seems to holding true. The fishing has definately slowed down this last week with catches of 4 to 8 fish per trip. You can catch some fish in 40 to 50 foot of water, 70 to 90 foot of water, 100 to 115 foot of water and on out to 180 foot. A few fish scattered through out and no big concentration anywhere. We took steelhead and salmon with half core and 100 foot of copper, salmon on 200 and 300 foot of copper and lake trout and a few salmon on downriggers and deep divers. The best lures continure to be orange Corey stingrays and orange crush stingers on the 100 copper and NBK and carmel dolphin stingrays on the 200 and 300 copper. On the low divers we are running some flashers and flies and the best combination continues to be the mountain dew Pro Chip and purple no see um Rapture flies. To get catch the lake trout we are using metal flashers and the Rapture green dude and last supper fly. With the rough water and wind today, we may see a change in the water and a grouping of the fish around the bait. Hopefully the fishing will begin to improve. For information and/or charter reservations, email me at [email protected].

What a change in fishing this week produced! Boats went from catching 18 to 30 fish on Tuesday (with some lake trout pushing 20 pounds) to only having 12 hits on Weds. The fish moved, the bait moved and the lake started to warm up some what. The rest of the week catches of 4 to 12 fish was considered a good day. Saturday we decided to run out to 300 foot of water after satellite reports showed a temperature change 18 miles out. We found some steelhead on the surface however there was no concentration and no bait. On Saturday a few fish were caught in 40 foot, 70 to 90 foot, 100 foot, 180 foot, and 300 foot, however the best area seemed to be in 130 to 160 foot of water. At this depth there were some reports of chinook salmon pushing 20 pounds--not a lot of fish but 5 to 8 fish per boat. The best method continues to 100, 200 and 300 copper with Stinger and Stingray size spoons that are silver and orange and silver, orange and green. The most productive lures were the orange Corey, orange Natural Born Killer, and orange crush. These same lures produced well when pulled on the sliders on the downriggers at 35 and 45 foot. Most of the lake trout were taken on downriggers on the bottom with either the 11 inch white glow Pro Chip and the Rapture purple no see um fly or the tin can dodger with a Rapture green dude fly. We will be fishing again this PM and will probably be going to the 140 foot of water area. Check back next week and see if the bait returns, because if the bait is in an area, the salmon will be there. For information or charter reservations, email me at [email protected] or call toll free at 888-253-8372.

Our fishing in Saugatuck continues to be very good with catches of 10 up to 30 fish being reported during the week. Early in the week we fished primarily in 100 to 130 foot of water and then by the end of the week we were in 160 to 180 foot of water. The best fishing appeared to be in the shallower water and south toward the towers off Glen. On Thursday we did find a little larger fish in the 160 to 170 foot depth with Chinook salmon in the 13- 15 pound range, however, during the weekend the larger fish seemed to located in 110 foot of water. Most of the fish are being caught in the top 50 foot of water with 100, 200 foot of copper producing steelhead and coho and 300 foot of copper producing some nice chinook salmon. The lake trout were caught as deep as 80 foot (with some boats taking fish as deep as 110 foot). The best lures continue to be the stingray orange corey and orange natural born killer and the green NBK. Flashers (white glow and white mountain dew Hot Chip) and flies (Rapture frosted fern, purple noseem and green dude) caught some fish when run on the downriggers and the low divers, however the best lures continue to be the stingray size lures with orange and green. Check back and see what this weeks warm weather will do to the fishing. For information or to make a charter reservation, contact me by email at [email protected] or toll free 888-243-8372.

The Saugatuck/Holland Charter Boat Association along with the Huntington Big Lake Classic Fishing Tournament Committee, hosted the first annual Salmon in the Classroom outing. Douglas elementary 5th graders have been participating in the Salmon in the Classroom program for the last couple years and this program is currently funded by the Charter Boat Association, donations and fishing tournament fundraisers. As a reward for this their dedication to this environmental project and study, the charter boat association decided to take the students fishing. On May 18 the Saugatuck/Holland Charter Boat Association captains and associate fishing members took the 73 5th grade students on a big lake salmon fishing excursion. On boats, operated by eight charter boat members and twelve associate members, the students caught over 150 Coho salmon Chinook salmon and Lake Trout. Along with the 73 students there were teachers, school administrators, the DNR and video crew, MUCC and video crew and a host of media representatives ranging from newspaper and magazine writers to local television stations. The day of fishing began at about 7 AM at Tower Marina in Douglas, Mi. and all boats returned to Tower Marina at 12 noon where pictures were taken and the fish cleaned. The Tournament Fishing Committee then furnished all guests with a fresh fish dinner at the marina.

Another good week of salmon fishing, however, some days produced better than others for example one day we caught 18 and the next day produced 8 and then 15 on the following day. The chinook salmon are running from 5 to 15 pounds, coho salmon from 2 to 5 pounds and lake trout up to 12 pounds. Early in the week we had very good luck in 130 to 145 foot of water and today we did well in 90 to 100 foot of water. There were some boats that fished all the way out in 200 foot of water, however today there were two general depths that produced the most fish--90 to 100 foot and 150 to 165 foot. Early in the week most of the fish (chinook and coho and an occasional lake trout) hit mainly Stingray spoons (mixed veggie, NBK, green dolphin, glow frog). These were pulled on 100, 200 and 300 foot of copper and high divers at 150 and 160 foot. The downriggers produced with small Stinger lures on sliders at 40 and 50 foot. Today we had success with the same Stingray spoons on 200 and 300 copper and with some flashers and flies on the low divers and the downriggers. The flashers were Hot Chip 8 in. flashers (white glow, green glow, mountain dew) on the divers and the tin can flasher "down the shoot" and on the bottom with Rapture frosted fern and hypnotist flies. If you want more information or want to make a charter reservation, email me at [email protected].