targa18

i had the privilege of filming the big lake trout 21.80lbs on the boat almost paradise boat for the salmon showdown tv show.....i hope i pressed the record button but they sure were hooping and hollering or maybe that was just the cameraman. it won flat bread big fish for 1,000 won 333 big check 1,000 and biggest lake trout 250 and maybe the 2nd day biggest box for $500.for Am (side note) when i met the team and was prepping the boat with cameras on fri night i ask the guys if the game plan was to fish for lakers and they commented we dont like lakers and we dont fish for them lol This team of 2 sons and father are some of the nicest guys i've met on the tournament trail and the manistee area people are top notch people:)

Congrats Chris. North of the stacks but not in front of them....hint hint. probably just dumb luck and chance;) gotten limits 4 of 5 trips in last ten days but alot has to do with who your in contact with e.g. so if my guys are landing 10 to 20 fish on that morning's charter my goal is to catch 25 to 50% of there numbers that evening. U should check out the salmon wagon facebook page captain mike harvey has been killing it all week and his details of what's hot and water depth.....well u can take it to the bank bc that dude catches fish. sea flea charters has been posting pics of 15 22 fish all week too. captain willis at fishon bait and tackle on m-104 too is a stand guy u can stop in his shop in early afternoon and he will tell depth and what baits worked for him that morning .(it helps to buy a fly or two too lol) these guys put me on the fish its my job to figure out how to catch these pea brain sized kings that r gifts from God himself:thumb:

not sure what to tell u but two boats at the launch recognized me from fishing tournaments and they saw my cooler full of fish so not sure what to tell u. but i live in allendale if u want to come by and see the carcasses bc they are still sitting in a five gallon bucket:lol: i'll make u a better offer u come to my subdivision and i will give u the whole bag of fillets and the ziplock bags full of eggs. i only take home a 1,000 a week if im lying u take my paycheck .....u can follow my gps tracks bc i mark all bait balls and where i catch the fish 505 to 507 are the waypoints. If i win u bury the guts in my garden for me and u post a pic of yourself on this website holding the guts.

landed ten but kept 1 bleeding coho the big steelhead and 3 big kings. I was the only boat north of the stacks( no other boats from ps were north of me but had 3 boats surround me while i was fighting fish at the end:lol:) My charter friend has been getting big kings in grand haven in 45-65fow all week i just didnt believe him and assumed it was just the river scum line he was fishing:no:: my buddy was in 70 fow fishing south of port sheldon and he was the only boat that shallow when i found them at 8pm but he was using meat rigs and landed a 23# in there last night too. i offered two guys at the launch if they wanted my fish and they both said no bc they only had one ugh. that was after they saw the fish and I think they saw how dark they were lol

just posted a detailed report from last night:D pickup some herring oil from fishon tackle and dip your flies and spoons in it and u wont have to run meat rigs and i put velcro tape on my spoons and put the herring oil on that ......not sure it works but it adds scent lol

dont want to post this info but most guys are fishing out too far. i started in 70 and trolled to 200fow lots of cohos in 185 to 200fow all on dipsies with 8in yellow dot pro troll with a mirage fly with purple and yellow beads the steelhead was over 12lbs and pushing 34inches and not a skam. so was trolling in and hit 70fow and the screened blewup with baid so i turned on a s and sw troll and all 3 rods went within 2 minutes and landed all three:lol: was fighting fish for the last hour an half letting the 2 & 3yr and cohos go. braid back on 90 w magnum mag lurk uv diver (this diver is hot!!!!!! on dipsies) w nitro blue with black dots spoon(10ft leader to the dipsey with 2 snubbers so i can handline the fish solo wo losing a finger when they dive at the net lol. riggger down 70 free slider with double ss gold orange crush took 2 17to 19lb kings and the copper 300 with yellow dot closer with oceana took some......was catching fish as fast as i could reset and the cohos and little kings were in the bait susp 39to 55 with marks but the big kings were under the bait and 10 to 15ft deeper water ...hint (80 to 85)lol s or sw troll 2.4 to 2.7at the ball. was a huge temp break at 45down and the rigger was in the 40's at the ball set 70down. a charter landed 9 kings in there this morning before the waves got too rough and my buddy pulled 17 from 70 to 90 this morning using meat rigs. Sorry for sharing info buddy but these fish are so golden brown they wont last long before running the river and the so many guys only had a couple of fish at the launch. Im a cameraman for salmon showdown tv so my fishing has come to an end unless i can get out tonight:mad: check the port sheldon bouy temp map if its in the 40's 55 to bottom those big 4 yr olds will be there bc there lazy and r staging to run the rivers....all those 4yr olds had the hooks buried so the feed is still on. good luck and fish on!!!!:thumb:ps u wont mark them til late evening bc i trolled thru there in the afternoon and marked one or two but they are there hugging bottom with there big bellies and eggs cooling on the bottom sand.

red hot last night for me in 118 to127fow south of the stacks 2.7 at the ball but when fighting big ones slowed down to 2.2 and the paddle fat nancy with mirage and yellow beads went off at 79 down but only 68down on fish hawk screen. 3 kings in 18lb range and the biggest 21.76lbs i posted pics in salmon and trout gallery bc i cant figure out how to post them to this thread:confused: filed under targa18 pics. i left them behind my boat at the launch bc didnt think anyone would believe me lol if someone can post those pics to this thread would be grateful:thumb:im the guy in green hat with 5kings with tapemeasure. big kings are coming to grand haven soon wink wink other 2 rods were 250 300 coppers with mtn dew spinne with pickled sunhine fly and the other was dark green clear spinnie with pickled sunshine fly 8" too ne or sw trolls. hope this helps and made for a great birthday present:lol:

was bored so went fishing during the day. first of all i saw more perch fisherman out there than salmon fisherman, just south of the piers maybe 15 boats. Cohos are in 81-84fow with 250 copper taking 2 for three on same DW pearl with black dots j-plug on an east or west troll and the kings are in ................i know u wont believe it but they moved in to 67 69fow!! another guy on the radio found them first was doing good on all jplugs on 7clr and full core. I got two 15-17lbers in that same water on and east and west trolls on 250 coppers with dw jplug and a green mylar j plug. nothing on meat rig ran three rods and tried 90 back to 150back on wire. but nothing dead water from 75-90fow but it was in the middle of the day.lol Didnt mark hardly any bait today with the only huge bait balls in 51 and 54fow sog 2.7-2.8 tried 3.0 and 2.2-2.5fow heading to manistee and onekema to fish and hang treestands so which me luck and be safe:lol:

setup in 70fow at 630pm tons of bait but not takers until i hit 87fow and the 225 copper went with a DW pearl w black dots j-plug landed 24lb king by myself with the 2-3footers.lol This plug has caught me 6 kings over 20lbs in the last 2wks. while fighting that one the wire diver went w meat rig with DW showtime spinny with moo moo meat rig....the fish was still on after 20minutes of fighting big king. 10lb laker. reset and the other meat rig with green froggy spinnie with pickled sunshine meat rig on braid set at 140 on 3 landed 17lb king and right at sundown the 22 5copper went again with pearl j-plug landed 15lb king all on south or sw troll 2.7-2.8sog lost my brand new probe on tuesday. i was just south of port sheldon a little but there seems to be a school in there all week from 74-90fow and lots of bait. I find i catch more kings on the suspended bait balls over the bait sitting on bottom. Where are all the 2 -3yrs old kings?. i catch shakers or mid teen or higher kings all year out of port sheldon. I posted a pic of the eggs out of the 24lber not sure if it will work since i'm over 40 :lol:but it gives u idea of where the weight is coming from on these big females

well it looks like the pic didnt work but u can see it in the gallery under salmon eggs from 24lber next to 11" paddle

i took a new guy out tonight out of port sheldon tonight and he landed one over 24lbs:lol: We took tons of pics with the moon in the background will try to post pics tomorrow when i get them from. In manistee this weekend 2 kids caught their biggest fish to date on my boat so a great week for newbies. ok the important stuff. J-plugs j-plugs j-plugs!!!!lol the green lightning &yellow lightning silver hordes from the outdoorsman in Jenison we caught cohos and big kings on them 3 and 4inch. troll speed 2.7 at the ball on a east southeast and south troll. cohos were in 105-115fow on 200 coopers 3 &5 colors. Big kings 17-24lbs on 300copper and 45down on downriggers 2 on fixed sliders at that depth moonshine double trouble and ss blue dolphin. lots and lots of bait suspended 25-45down there was so much bait the downrigger cables were shaking when we went thru them. FYI there is way more fish down here than manistee and onekema at the barrell guys up there were avg 1-3 fish per trip with alot of lakers:thumb:( we took them in 200fow up there... i cant believe im telling u this part but i think have to work the rest of the week but the big kings were in 90-105 didnt mark as much in there but that's where the biggins were:lol: Good luck and be safe and be kind to your neighbors.

added pics to photo gallery under trout and salmon. That is a full size cooler and the tail is as wide as the cooler.lol

just a fyi i fished the big red classic today and a guy weighed in a 33.30 pound king! it is huge! i took a pic of it in the cooler but not sure i can legally post the pic but the guy fit a beer can in its mouth:lol: hopefully someone will post it soon.

just posted another thread to a great lakes magazine forum. Does anyone have a contact number if people are registered users on this site? please post it and i will edit both threads.

Thread about the clinic has been added to tourney trail website.

u can put me down for the seminar and i will work on getting the word out by trying to post a thread on the tournament trail website later this afternoon. I fished on Mike harvey's boat and the guy can put alot of fish in the box and a great tournament fisherman.

I will there also and will get the word out about the seminar......i think most guys dont know about it because they're not on this site checking fishing reports. Maybe list the info under all the fishing reports including ice fishing, if this site has icefishing?

employee called in sick so i have to work tmrw........so if u want the bigger kings and are patient most of the bait was in 77- 80fow between the radio tower and lake michigan water treatment plant w north winds today the biters were south of the bait 50 to 150yards south of it. white paddles with white flys...pickled sunshine didnt work 2.7 to 3.0 speed over ground. i know its out of temp but they were there with no boats anywhere close:D

Because i finally landed my 20lb king at 2pm today i will share some info. I was hearing that all the kings were deep so i went out at 11am to kill some time and work on my tan. I set-up in 130fow a rigger at 90down and went to set the other rigger and turned back to see the 1st one screaming....I was in shock.lol i landed that one and reset and within 15minutes had 2 more fish. I wouldnt have believed it if i wasnt there 3 kings in the 13-15lb range but somehow ended up in some cohos for the next 2hrs in the 6-8lb class easy to release. couldnt get back in the water i landed the kings(by myself) so i headed to 150fow and didnt get anything to go so i headed east still working on my tan when the rht rigger went screaming! i got to the rod and it was screaming but then just didnt move and i wondered if i had a snag so i just put the motor in neutral and slowly reeled very slow it felt like i was reeling in a log or something but it swam past my boat and i knew it was a hog. (38inches but girth of a real slob). details details all kings and coho caught on a DW 11" white paddle that looks purple and blue when the sun hits with an Arctic blast fly with clear beads with a hint of purple(fish on tackle sold it to me last wk and said it was hot so if thats not the name please tell me) north and nw troll in the 130's fow but east to 109fow marked lots of bait just new those big kings were down ther so i dropped to bottom and landed 3 more pigs all the way to 80fow 2.7 sog i lost my probe 2wks ago when someone called mayday on the radio so i reeled in my dipsey and riggers and took off to save them but left the cannon balls down with the probe.. The guy wasnt in trouble he just had a dead boat but was drifting to Wiscousin and was panickg i thought he was joking bc there was about 15boats in 80fow and nobody responded bc it was 7ooam primetime but when i heard him again in 120fow (i was in 135fow) i pulled lines to find him....i passed 7 boats fishing to grab him. there were 3 fisherman within 5oyards of him:confused: marks lots of fish in the 130 with 135fow the best all fish were right at the thermocline at 90down nothing on 10color or dipsey which i kept switching between the two and 2 riggers. All rigger bites set at 85 and 90 down. Another boat at the launch had 5 for 7 130-170fow with a flounder pounder j-plug they couldnt keep in the water all troll directions so at least today the kings have come in closer so im off to the atm and the taxidermist!!!! ended 8for 12ish cohos were realeased with the boat in neutral to fight another day.lol set back for the paddle was only 20ft from the ball(10lb). dont look at water temps if u find bait the big kings are close my buddies are catching salmon at the dam in Gr right now in 74degree water!!!!!!lol surface temp is 71.6 ps 2 of my kings were bronze and their bellies are dark from sitting on the btm in the sand being lazy and following the bait.hehe

just hookin' r u fishing the big red classic? I used to see u going out of port sheldon all the time a couple of yrs ago but i heard u bought a big fancy boat

fishing was decent until the waves started:( they start at about 50fow with the offshore winds kicking the waves up 2-3 with some 4's. 5 for 8 solo with a mix of kings and cohos. big kings still in 68 to 78 fow even though u wont mark them mosty on a nw or se trolls bigger kings wanted mag spoons with blue green split betw the spoon like alley cat and flea for all and blue flounders moonshine. they wanted it slow 2.4 and 250 coppers (only copper i have lol) hit some cohos in 100-110fow they hit on high divers(braid) 145-160back with spinnies with solid colors of blue and dark green with pickled sunshine and aqua howie flys when cloudy, evening or morning cohos wanted 2.7 2.9 at the ball but im looking for big kings for the tourney.lol so i left them after having 4 on in 20 minutes . be careful coming in pigeon lake bc the water is still dropping by the cattails to the left when going out 1.6fow and u can see sand instead of water in the reeds so be careful coming in and out. guys on the radio said had limits in 120-160fow on a nw troll riggers at 50down and wire divers 100-130 back and high divers 140-160back with big flys and paddles. fished from 7-10am marks lots of fish in 120-125after getting limit.

i promised a charter capt i wouldnt tell:mad: but i just realized i get my best info from here.lol fished pier on monday and packed with baitfish 1oo per cast net. anyway the alewives are in close 38-47fow was smoking! but if too many boats in there the fish will leave. 2color and 3color leadcore with yager bomb standard sz spoon(pink green & orange) south troll and east troll. U will mark huge schools of bait in there and then a little farther behind was 4 big schools of cohos 4-6lbers and browns on the bottom (football browns) riggers 24-35down with big white double fish scale paddle with big weenie frostd luke fly( white with yellow beads) only 10-15fts leads on the paddle. didnt matter what speed from 2.6-3.0 water temp at the ball was 47.9 on the fishawk went out to 100fow and marked nearly nothing but it was 2pmlol but came in trying to find perch schools to mark for later and the graph blew up when i hit 48 was south of port sheldon where u can see the highest dunes just before they get smaller. They should be there in the morning. hope this helps

for u newbies on the leadcore lines u want to attach the board and let at least another 100ft of line all the alewives were getting off the piers is 3-5inches so use standard sz spoons

dont listen to the first reply on water depth. i caught my limit out there from 2pm to 430pm this afternoon in the 3ft waves in an 18ft. cohos and browns

The fishing picked up from last night. caught 8 for 10 with 2 downriggers and one dipsey and netted the last 6 fish with my hands. I donated a net and blood tonight and waiting for a free t-shirt from all those biting flys:mad: i was told not to tell but i'm trying to save some gas money to all u fisherman plus its my boat and i found the hot bite. details details! caught all my fish tonight in 126 to 128fow of water straight out in front of the stacks on north and south trolls riggers 120 and 110 down did not mark any fish in here but marked bait balls the previous night and noticed the water temp was the same on the fishawk at 45.9-46.1 Raised them up the last hour to 90 and 100on the riggers.

Trust me on this one the only thing i ran was a double fish scale white DW paddle with a frosted luke uv fly(yellow beads) has been awesome. Key is to keep your speed at the ball at 2.7-2.8 and sog was about the same but a liitle faster at times. All the fish were 8-15lbs the guys at the launch had 1 to 3 fish but they fished spoons and fished out deeper in the 165-180fow. I guess nobody read my post from last night which makes this post a waste of time!. If someone can post how to post a picture please let me know bc i took some pics but cannot download bc i dont know what a URL is?sorry im over 40.lol

i just went and measured the fly length at 36.5inches from the swivel to the tip of the fly. Just got back from fishon tackle and grabbed another dreamweaver paddle and the package says its a DBL Pearl Fishscale with frosted luke UV fly. Hope this helps

i'm opening the package and tying right to the paddle. The white paddle w tape kinda has a tint of blue/and purple when the sun hits it. I was 9 for 10 solo last tuesday and all the big kings released were caught on this same set-up. The yellow beads on the flys work better on sunny days and green beads seem to work better on cloudy days.