Casey II

Fished south 80-115 FOW. Went 4/6 with 2 kings and 2 lakers. Kings came on mag SS screwballs on a wire dipsey back 125 and 225 copper. Lakers on DR down 70 with mag bloody nose. Lost fish on DR with flounder pounder. Nothing on the flasher/flies. Most fish in 90-100 fow. Speed 2.4-2.6 on the ball. Nice day to be on the water.

Fished the lower river on Monday. Jigged near Mclouth in 14-21 FOW. Had our 15 by noon with the biggest 25". Chartreuse jigs/wyandotte worm seemed best.

Took two different guys out to handline that night from calf to the catamaran. Took until midnight but they got their 10. Best color was a #9 red/gold on a 15ft lead.

Back out in the morning after the storms. Bite was slow in by Mclouth but we picked away at them and got our 10. Same depth but the prefered a pink jig with just a minnow.

Tight Lines

Fished 0630-1100. Worked South 50-60 FOW early with few marks and no fish. Moved out to 70-80 and took a 16lb king on a 5 color/coyote stinger. Came back around NW from 80-115 FOW and marked fish the whole way back. Fired the riggers. Went 1/3 with 5 and 10 color cores and orange spoons. Landed a 14lb king and had another king come unbuttoned by the boat. Difficult landing them one handed. 2.4-2.6 GPS. Surface temp 47.5. Then went in and picked the wife/inlaws up for a boat ride.

New boat has Cannon DT20 downriggers. I am wondering how guys are setting the positive ion control?

Happy Mothers Day

Jim, I was about 2.5 miles south of the piers. There is a small point that comes out off of Douglas. I would start just south of that point and head south for the coho.

I am aware of the rule change on the lakers. Just prefer coho for eating.

We brown fished early in between the bars to the south and went 1/3. I then switch over to coho gear to finish our limit. Found the fish in 25-35 fow from Center St on south. Ended up 16/20ish. Let 2 large lake trout and a few coho go before we called it a day. Best baits were thinfish on 2-3 colors of lead and spoons on riggers down 10-12 feet. Browns were after pearl Bombers and a small blue/silver spoon.

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Fished south from the pump station to the wall in 18-22 fow. Surface temp 48-50 deg. Had my limit of coho by 0900. Went 6/6(let one go). Brad's thinfish on 2 colors of core seemed to be the ticket. Downrigger down 10ft with a blue J-11 took one.

Tight Lines.

4/7 St Joe 7am-12. Went 12/15 with 2 kings, 1 brown and the rest coho. Fished south in 12-20 FOW from the pump station to the chalets. Thin Fins and J-11 Rapalas in reds/oranges took the majority of fish.

4/8, 4/9 Saugatuck. Buddy and I went 7/9 Fri Am-2 nice browns, mix of coho and kings. Fished by my lonesome today and ended with five- 1 brown, 2 coho, 1 4yr old king, 8lb steelhead. Fished from the pier down to center Rd. 8-14 fow seemed best. Blue/silver in both spoons and body baits seemed best.

Tight Lines.

The marina island launch is nice. The first strech of river is fairly shallow so follow another boat out. Stay along the Benton Harbor side of the river until you approach the first bridge. You should be in the clear once you reach that bridge. Good Luck.

I will be out Thurs in a black 20ft Lund "Casey II". I'll give you a call if we get into them.

Good Luck

Traxtech makes a rod holder replacement cap that has a strap to secure the rod. They are about $20 a pair, much less than a diver set up.

Fished the 27th-30th. Fast limits of coho all days. Fished from the south pier to just past the pump station. 10-20fow. Thin Fins and Rapalas in red and orange were best. Water temp 38 deg.

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Fished 8/19-8/24. Limits on all mornings I could get out and averaged 3-4 fish in the evenings. Fished mainly on the south side of the herring hole in 60-100fow. Tons of boats north on the point/bank. Temp started out 70 down then came up as high as 35 down. Best baits were silver horde plugs in MOP, grey ghost and green splatter back. Green flashers and proctologist flies on the dipseys. Meat rigs worked once the sun was up with the best colors being purple haze and white glow.

Tight Lines

Thanks for the report. Went 11/15 with one laker released 8/20 am. Fished 80-160 out in front. Ace high plugs and meat rigs worked best. Will be back out Sunday night and Mon am.

Fished Pentwater for the first time. We fished south off the dunes to one mile past the point every day.

8/4 PM- Went 6/12 fishing from 100-120 fow. Temp break was between 65-70 feet down. 225 coppers with Ace High plugs in green splatterback and MOP took fish. UV and Mountain Dew paddles on the riggers and Mountain dew SD on wire also worked.

8/5 AM- Went 11/20'ish with one steelhead released. Strong west winds and 2-4 ft chop actually brought the temp up from 55-60 feet. No plug hits. Most fish came on dipseys back 140 on wire and 160-200 on braid. Mountain dew SD and Fishscale paddle/mirage fly. Coppers with spoons-pink panties, blue dolphin, glow frog all took fish.

8/6 AM Went 8/12 before the wind chased us off. Temp continued to climb with 46 deg 40 foot down. Same program as above but with 75/150 coppers and 100-120 foot leads on the dipseys. Wind picked up at about 0900 and sent us packing.

We had the boom on one of our Big Jons fracture at the block. Does anyone have advice/experience on how to drill that out?

Tight Lines

Here is a link to the net locations:

http://www.fishmanistee.com/content/view/163/61/

These sites also have reports from the area:

http://www.charterfreestyle.com/freestylefishingreports.html

http://www.troutscout.com/fishingreport.html.

http://www.fishmanistee.com/content/blogcategory/18/37/

If I remember channels 7, 10 and 68 all get fishing traffic.

I haven't been there this year. We often fish the stretch of water .5-2 miles north of Big Sable point as we usually find fish and less boat traffic.

Hope you catch a bunch!

Buddy and I went 8 for 11(6 kings, 2 lakers) north of the harbor in 80-90 FOW. Did not have a bump on a spoon all night. Ended up with 3 Ace High plugs and 3 flashers in the water. Landed a quad as the sun went down.

What worked:

1. Blue Bubble SD/dipsey back 140 on 2(power pro)

2. Mountain Dew SD/dipsey back 120 on 2(wire)

3. UV Paddle/Daybreaker fly on a rigger down 70

4. Green Splatterback plug on 225 Copper

5. Glow MOP plug down 60 on a rigger

6. Chartreuse Splatter plug on 150 Copper

Tight Lines.

Fished Frankfort 7/20-7/22. Ended up 16/23'ish fishing by myself.

7/20, 7/21-fished south in the Herring Hole. Caught fish from 55-90 down on the riggers, 160 back on wire, and on 225 copper. Moonshine Sarge, SS glow back Blue Dolphin were good early on the riggers. Once the sun came up the SD/fly and meat rig bite came on. Green SD/Riverside fly, green glow meat rig.

7/22-Went north to the point. My greens of the previous days did not produce a bump. Changed out lures to mountain dew colors and pick up my 5 and a throw back laker. All were on SD combos with either a matching fly or meat. Fish were deeper from 80-110 down with the south winds of the previous day. Mag dipsey back 180 on 1.5.

Most fish were 4 yr olds ranging from 12-18lbs and were full of 5-6inch alewifes.

Tight Lines.