2MD

east side of lake macatawa - by Heinz I went back and had another one on there later this afternoon - was whipping a happy meal moonshine spoon (smaller size) and a king drilled it and came out of the water - lots of minnows jumping around there too - I think the kings are advancing down the lake... anyone find them in Holland channel again today OR out front off the piers? been too busy to get out there and try it...

took a stroll down to Crescent Marina - lots of drain water flooding out into Mac - 4th cast whipping the Mepps 5 and had a Chinook on - only lasted about 20 seconds - screaming the drag and shaking thee ole head - gone this is very early for Crescent - probably not many in there - will try a little later again

well done man - glad to hear they are still out there - hens to boot

nice gnarf! were they mainly in the Muskegon channel or were you trolling Muskegon lake?

Thanks for the reports guys and for the tip on the trying on the southside out off of Tiara

Tired of the last thread over orange boards - interested instead in an update report on the salmon bite out front and in the channel. Any one been out yesterday or today? Also, a thread or two back I asked if anyone had a strategy for bagging kings as they move further east into Mac - would love to hear about that....

for the kids and I the best speed was 2.7-3.0 on the busiest day (SAT aft) I attribute the lack of bites to not only the scare factor of all the boats but to so many other guys trolling at speeds of 1.5-2.0 and forcing us to do the same as we waited in line at a safe distance it is bizarre this year how many large walleye we have hauled in - this usually happens in a turn on the inside rod which is slowing down - always on jplugs off the riggers - we have gotten 8 of em in the last 10 days and my 5 year old reeled in one that weighed 9 pounds one thing I would REALLY love information on because this whole fall gig is still very new to me and now I finally have the right boat to do it is what I would describe as the "phase 2" king fishing in Mac. I am talking in about a week when the bite softens in the channel and so many of the fish are in Mac itself. I know they show up at Crescent Marina mid-Oct and the kids and I go after em there from the shore even but what I would love to try to learn about and figure out would be a way to pick them off in the narrows and all the way down the shipping channel. Anyone done this and had luck? What was the strategy and lure selection that worked best? Thanks,

fished the channel and mouth the last 3 nights on the 18 foot jon with the kids FRI night went 9 for 23 with everything happening in the channel really - nothing inside of Mac - big lake was grumpy rough and the turns outside the arms were intense - 15 of our fish hook ups came on flasher fly believe it or not - mono 40 back - everything we boated was a male SAT night went 3 for 5 - same type of program just an insane amount of boats spooking the fish - all males again SUN night (tonight) was finally sweet relief because hardly any one was out there other than a sailboat and a guy on a kayak (who netted a hog by the way - nice job man!) - we got a late start but managed to go 3 for 6 - my 7 year old son was fighting the last hookup just after dark in front of the arms - unfortunately the fish shook loose after about 20 minutes - it was just a monster and would have loved to have seen it - all our bites that night were either out front of the piers or what was best was between big red and the end of the piers (we just kept circling through there) - 2 hens and 1 male

in other news... on the run back in I hit (not grazed but drilled head on) the #11 green marker buoy back up on the east side of Mac - the all aluminum welded jon boat held up really well with just a small indentation and some green paint. The buoy went a rolling. Obviously I had too many things going on and wasn't paying attention. It scared me and the kids no doubt - aluminum hammering up against steel going 18MPH creates a loud noise! I hang my head in shame and am just thankful no one got hurt. I think I am going to tie a moonshine jplug to the top of the thing so this never happens again! I know of others who have hit this one and always said it would never happen to me. Why the coast guard leaves the green ones unmarked at night never made a ton of sense to me...

went out and fished the west side of Mac for about 50 minutes coming into dark tonight. Ran 8 rods with variety of lures. Went through the lake side of the channel and all back through the shipping channel up to the no wake markers. Not even a bump. Will probably try again tomorrow. The amount of current in the channel and even in Lake Mac was unbelievable.

Dennis - that is downright impressive you caught that king all the way back by the no wake buoys - were you centered out off the shipping channel or were you on the south or north side of the no wake perimeter. I see from your report you were running a dreamweaver spoon. I have done well in Mac this year off flashers but I get so many weeds - maybe I need to try more spoons. Have you had good look with spoons in Mac, not just this year but other years? I guess hotntots and rapalas probably would be a decent choice too...

Looking for a report in close off of Holland tonight? I saw you out there Kevin. You were right in the water where we found them last night. Curious if they were still biting or if they got lock-jaw. Saw lots jumping but none netted as the family and I went for a little joy ride at sunset tonight... Thanks,

So the East wind cooled the shoreline down off Holland today (it won't last but I figured it was going to for at least today) so I went out trolling on the jon boat again with the kids again. Surface temp was 62 degrees. Didn't get anything in Mac or the channel and there were loads of boats passing through so shifted out in front of the pier. Did well there. 3 for 4 on hogs. Just north of the pier in about 25-30 FOW was where they were hanging out tonight. South troll was best. Big fish of the batch was 22# male. The others were probably in that 17-19# range. Green and yellow jplugs. Orange boards with drop weights and then the halfcore. Ran 4 dipseys but nothing on dipseys. Nothing on the riggers either which kind of surprised me since I was running the plugs a solid 100 feet behind the ball which essentially mimicked the board. Conclusion the fish were there and eating they just were only going for long leads and scared of the boat. A buddy of mine caught a 23# male and missed one other. He and I were the only boats really working that area. His was on a wire diver of all things in 30 FOW with a meat rig. Bummer the lake is going to warm up again. Tomorrow morning is going to be red hot for whoever can get out there - this east wind is still pounding away and I bet the surface temp will kiss mid-50s before jerking back the other direction and this will inevitably bring in some fresheys.

Kevin, Sorry... I was just going through my tackle and what I meant was different than what I wrote (I think at least) - I was wondering about Luhr Jensen's "jet-diver" and do you run those and if so how do you use them. I am gathering from your reply that you do not. I read about these and they seemed to be ideal for trolling in Mac. What I could not grasp though was how it would go if one were to do relatively sharp turns. On a related note... I am contemplating trying to ditch the 2 orange boards on the next trip and instead run 4 mono dipseys in Mac and the channel (maybe on Mon or Tues). Question: is this a pipe dream to think I can go short poles on the inside dialed on 1.75 without the ring say about 30 back and then long poles on the outside dialed at 3.5 without the ring say 45 back? Have you ever tried this with the shallow routine? I do it all the time in 60+ FOW but just question if the turns will trigger wrap up tangles. I realize I will have to problem concede not running flasher flies which is a bit of a heart break since last week those were the ones were red hot. Respond if you have time... if not I will just give it a whirl and let you guys all know how it goes... Seems like the cold water has left for now so whatever I try I am going to need luck more than anything to get the fish holding in there to bite.

Kevin, What boat do you use mainly these days? If I recall years ago you always had a blue four winns decked out with gear? Are you still on that or was that you I saw on a crestliner last night? With the kids and I cleaning up on em the last few days it came at a price - I lost 3 dipsey rigs and spooled several reels with snags. Years ago I know you posted about using slidedivers instead and sure wish I know how to do that with size 4-5 jplugs. Does it work and what is your setup like? Thanks Ryan

4 for 7 wed nigh - the first two hooked up on green hotchie flasher fly just out in front of parkside marina in mac - the first weighed 24.25# and the second 24.75# - nothing like watching one of these jump 4 feet in the air 7 for 12 thurs night - all but 2 of the fish came inside the channel and mac - as far back as parkside again - hooked a big male in the clean water out front right after sunset - got blown south and fought him all the way to almost the first slider and then got em in the net - never weighed him - big boy though First 2 trips on the new jon boat with the 3 older kids were a success

I couldn't agree with you more on the wind/wave forecast Fished Holland tonight and ended up south of Saugatuck. 4 for 7 80-100 FOW - SE troll was best Rigger 62 down - went 3 times Rigger 55 down went once FireDipsey 175 back went twice FireDipsey 225 back went once Lost 3 really large fish tonight - 2 on the dipseys that ran out 600+ ft only to shake the hook out - 1 on a rigger jplug 55 down that got off in the net The 4 year olds are starking to look pretty dark

started trolling inside Mac where the channel starts - wham while setting lines - fish on! turns out it was a monster sheephead though - trolled out of the piers and made 2 passes - picked up a small king on the second pass in 19 FOW on dipsey with coyote white flasher and fly. continued making passes - 4th pass in had 50 ft sailboat ride right over 2 of our orange boards. Nearly spooled the reeles before eventually the baits cleared the keel and everything righted itself. Decided to bail on the pierheads since the sailboats kept coming. Trolled all the way out to 90 FOW - nothing. Turned and trolled back. While just south of the pierheads after dark in 38 FOW had a huge king rip a dipsey. Weak spot in old fireline apparently because it broke off and was jumping all over behind the boat with the flasher and fly in its mouth. That was it for the night. Kept passing the pierheads trying to get something else to go. So much bait was surfacing you could reach down and catch it in your hands. My son saw a king porpoise and pick off bait. Too little too late for me. Should have never left the shallow water tonight.

yes - the buoy info is helpful - the thing about the buoy though is it is a couple miles off shore and we want to be harvesting kings on the beach - part of the shoreline cooling (if I understand correctly) is that it is colder out deep first off and getting these in tight temps confirmed is a game changer. Does anyone know where this port Sheldon buoy sits. I think someone said it is 2 miles out?

Here is the Beach report from about 1hr ago: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MICHIGAN 1032 AM EDT WED AUG 14 2013 LAKE MICHIGAN BEACH REPORTS WATER WAVE FLAG LOCATION TEMP HEIGHT COLOR LUDINGTON STATE PARK 55 F 0 FT GREEN MEARS STATE PARK (PENTWATER) 55 F 0 FT GREEN DUCK LAKE STATE PARK 56 F 1 FT GREEN MUSKEGON STATE PARK 48 F 2 FT GREEN P.J. HOFFMASTER STATE PARK 48 F 1 FT GREEN GRAND HAVEN STATE PARK 53 F 0 FT GREEN HOLLAND STATE PARK 60 F 1 FT GREEN SAUGATUCK OVAL BEACH 65 F 2 FT NONE SOUTH HAVEN FILTRATION PLANT 61 F 2 FT NONE You can see that if you were fishing Grand Haven that the bait and mature fish would be in the piers. Holland is more of a lottery card at this point as to where they are. If the cold pocket from GH slides down to Holland then they may be right out front. Probably won't though because wind died so that leaves them if I had to guess in that 40-90 FOW and probably in the upper part of the water column. Others chime in and share opinions please. I am going to go fishing tonight and tomorrow too out of Holland.

Trolled off Holland Friday night - came with high expectations setting lines at 7pm - trolled from 110 out to 150 FOW and back several times - nothing Eventually the bite showed up. Ended up going 4 for 8. 65-85 feet down on the riggers - moonshine spoons (happy meal & flounder). Even took a king (random bite) on a half-core with drop weight double-orange-crush) Dispeys were firing off too even 30 minutes after dark we got our last bite of the night. 200 feet back fireline dialed to 3 with moonshine magnum spons again was the ticket on the dispeys No biggens for us - all the fish were 5 to 11 pounds which was a bit of a bummer since we wanted another 20+ king. Oh well next time.

awesome job - a couple hogs you got! hey how far out were you trolling this morning?

Thanks for the reply Erik

fished out of Holland last night 2 for 7 - could not keep them on all hits came 40-85 down with our best depth being around 115 FOW large-size dipsey dialed to 2 and back 175 was the most active lost one monster king that pulled the swivel apart other hits came on riggers 55 and 65 feet down full-core 10 color took a fish as well Just a slew of boats out there - can someone tell me what that was last night? Is it a steelheaders club or something? At 6pm about 30 boats left the pierheads going out to troll. Heard one of the guys on the radio say he went 11 for 16.