numberguy77

Pretty slow in Muskegon last night but managed to go 2 for 2. 9# King, 100' down on rigger, 170 fow, Michael Jackson spoon (on the 3 year anniv. of his passing) 11# King, 100' down on rigger, 130 fow, Moonshine glow spoon No waves at all made for a pleasant night. Minimal radio chatter as it seemed most boats were slow. Fish seem to be really scattered right now. Wonder what the predicted warm weather will do...

Managed to go 2 for 2 in a short evening trip out of Muskegon last night. Worked the 80-100' depths south of the arms and picked up a nice, fiesty 16# female King right after getting all 3 lines set in 95fow on a blue/green dolphin spoon 65' down on the rigger. Also picked up a 6# female King on the same setup in the same water later. Only action for me. A lot of boats were deeper than me, but not a lot of radio chatter. Some boats around me; not many shallower. Unfortunately, NOAA's 0-1' wave forecast was just a touch off. The 1-2' chop, with the occasional 3'-er, was not a big deal, just a little surprised as I was expecting calmer conditions.

Managed to pick up a nice 13# female King in 150fow on a Blue Thunder spoon off a free slider on a rigger set at 50' down. Marked quite a few fish from 130-160fow, but that was the only taker. Nice, flat night out there last night.

Managed to pick up a nice 10# King last night in 125 fow, 95 down on the rigger with an SWR on a Blueberry muffin spoon. That was it for me. Seemed really slow for most on the radio. Not many boats out. Flies were absolutely terrible. Everything is so early this year as this really seems like mid-late June fishing, instead of mid-late May. But, the lake was dead flat, or, as a guy I used to work with always said, "it was like piss on a plate out there last night". (Not sure who would actually piss on a plate, but, that's what he always said when it was calm out!) Nice surprise to meet PB & J and Fishmael back at my marina. Nice to have another fisherman in the same marina.

LBBF, The nets should be marked by red, black or white flags on staffs. This usually works well if it is fairly calm out, but, when it gets rough, you might not see the flags until you are right on top of them. There is a web site with coordinates, but that hasn't been updated since last August. www.fishdock.net But, if you go straight out of Muskegon you should be fine. Numberguy

My son and I fished from 6:30-9:00 off Muskegon last night. Went 2 for 3. Lost fish in 128 fow, green dolphin spoon, down 75 on rigger. Caught 6# King, 125 fow, orange ladderback spoon, free slider off downrigger parked at 75'. Caught 7# King at dusk, Shelly Snack glow spoon, 85 fow, off rigger parked at 50'. Several boats out. Radio chatter was minimal as it seemed pretty slow for most. Beautiful night out there though, with hardly a ripple on the water. So, they seem to be moving in a little closer and up higher in the water column. I usually go straight out of Muskegon and haven't seen a net yet this year, but I hear there are several nets south and shallow near Mona Lake. Let's be carfeul out there.

Well, this won't be one of those gaudy "19 for 27" recent Muskegon fish stories, but it's the only one I have. Managed to get out and back Saturday morning before the rain came and landed a nice 13# female King in 105 fow, 75' down on the rigger with a green dolphin spoon. That stiff east wind made the predicted "waves around 1' ", more like 2-3 footers. Not a big deal heading west; made it pretty bumpy heading back to port.

After getting caught in the freakin' huge traffic jam on US-31 North going home last night, I finally made it out for a quick solo fishing trip. Went 1 for 1 for 2 hours of fishing. Nice 11# King hit a green dolphin spoon, 95' down off the rigger on an SWR in 135 fow. Not many other boats out. Surface temp was 41. About 1' waves, but that slight breeze made it pretty chilly out there. Nice to see the fish are starting to move in a little shallower, I hope.

Great job and thanks for posting. Good to see you found some fish that actually had bait in them. Most other posts I've been reading have stated that fish had empty stomachs.

In the picture with the 250 copper there is a spoon and below that there is a triangle shaped attractor. How did you place that in your setup? Looks like one that I got at a seminar put on by Dan Keating back in March in Holland, but I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to use that attractor yet. Thanks.

I was also out of Muskegon solo last night and went 4 for 6 fishing from 6-8pm. Set up in 125fow and headed west. Nothing for the first hour of trolling but when I hit 225fow the fire drill started. Had 2 double-headers go off, going 2 for 4 on them. Finished with 3 kings, 9,8 & 6 lbs, and 1 small steelhead. SWR 90 down with blue/green dolphin spoon was 3 for 4 white paddle, blue/green fly off a dipsy back 225 was 1 for 1 Lemon Ice spoon down 105 off the rigger was 0 for 1 Great night out. Nice and calm (otherwise I wouldn't have motored out to 225fow).

Thanks for all the comments guys, I really appreciate them.

Plum, Yup.

mriversinco: I don't know if it welded or rivets; I haven't actually seen it in person yet. Plumkrazy: Thanks for that info.

I'm taking a strong look at a 1999 Sylvan 2300 Offshore great lakes fishing boat and wondering if anyone on this site has experience with owning one. Pros, cons, any comments would be appreciated. Thanks in advance and tight lines to all.

FF, Thanks for the worth while post. I haven't seen that web site before and I'm going to bookmark it along with the many other fishing related web sites I visit regularly. Tight lines.

Well, made it out for maybe the last time this season last night and was met with flat seas and uncooperative fish. Motored out to 250 fow (which, according to my handheld GPS, is about 7 miles out from the Muskegon pier) and marked a ton of fish deep, 180' down to the bottom, but not much on top. I figured the deep fish were mostly lakers, which I don't keep anyway. Set up out there with a deep rigger, 125' down, a rigger at 75' down and a 3 color. Made my way east and didn't get anything until I picked up a 5# King in 150 fow off the rigger at 75' down with a Shelly Snack glow spoon right at dusk. (He'll be on the grill tonight.) And that was it. 1 for 1 on a beautiful, calm, comfortable October evening on the big pond.

Going to try to get out this week as the weather/waves finally look agreeable to my 18'-er. Anybody get out yesterday/today off of Muskegon? Water temp looks to be mighty cold with that big north blow. Any reports would be welcome. Thanks.

FM, Do you mean 1800?? If so, give me a holler on 68, or I'll shout for you and we can compare notes. Thanks.

Anyone going to be out there this afternoon/early evening off of Muskegon? Thinking about going and didn't want to be the only one out there. Looks like there might be a window of opportunity this afternoon/evening before tomorrow's big blow comes.

Chummer, I presume the boat in your Avatar is your boat and I was just wondering what it was? I like the looks of it. Thanks.

Fire Escape, To me, working on a double out solo beats work any day! (Even though it can be challenging.) Thanks for the report. Planning on heading out in the AM.

Hey Fire Escape, How did you do out of Muskegon this morning? Thanks.

It looks like the wind is going to force me to combat fish Muskegon, too. At least for the next couple of days. How far down and how far back were you running your J-plugs in the Muskegon channel? Thanks for your help.

Hey Fishmael, Good job on those fish out in 140. I stayed in close and managed to boat a nice 20 lb. 5 oz. male King in 54 fow straight out from the filtration plant with a Wonderbread J-plug 45' down. Fishing solo was an adventure getting that big boy into the net and boat.